About Daniel

Dr Jacobus (preferred name Daniel) van der Walt currently holds the position of Senior Lecturer (~Associate Professor in the U.S.) in the Department of Civil and Natural Resource Engineering (CNRE) at the University of Canterbury. His interests are in the areas of asset management, pavement engineering, network data, construction management, project delivery, and procurement.

His research group focuses on optimising the construction and maintenance of horizontal infrastructure using digital technologies. In addition, they develop methods to optimise collaboration and procurement. Daniel's research philosophy focuses on maintaining the infrastructure that we have instead of persistently building new infrastructure. 

While having published and represented the University of Canterbury in several international journals and conferences, Daniel also works with local New Zealand contractors to optimise construction and maintenance processes. 

Internationally, Daniel consults with multiple groups including the World Bank, developing transportation asset management strategies for developing countries. 

Teaching and Mentoring

Daniel has been teaching at CNRE since 2017. His teaching is linked to construction and infrastructure asset management in the double-streamed undergraduate courses. This topic is not particularly popular among students, and Daniel has therefore devoted much energy and effort to make it (and the course) more interesting and engaging for students. The success of his efforts is shown by the trajectory of Daniel’s teaching scores. In master level courses, which are closer to his research area, his teaching scores are even stronger (4.5 to 4.8). Additionally, this is demonstrated by Daniel's course in Risk Management being one of the most popular courses in Engineering at the master's level.

An important reason for Daniel’s success is his well-developed pedagogic philosophy, which he implements in all his teaching. Two important cornerstones of his philosophy are (1) real-world relevance and (2) show-casing the latest advancements in the field.

For example, Daniel uses real-world examples and involves professionals in strategic ways in his teaching. These approaches help to motivate students and prepare them for their professional careers. This link between philosophy and practice illustrates the maturity of Daniel’s pedagogic thinking.

In 2021 Daniel won the Faculty of Engineering's Emerging Teaching Award -  https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/engineering/schools/cnre/news/2022/research-and-teaching-awards.html 

One of Daniel's most impressive contributions to the faculty teaching is his involvement in the ENG ME! Mentoring Programme. Since 2019, Daniel has been the ENG ME! program leader, which involves responsibilities for the 

co-ordination, recruitment, planning, and leadership of the program (with the help of the ENG ME! team - 5 students and 4 staff). The ENG ME! peer-mentoring program has, for many years, helped first-year students (1100+ per year) by offering tutoring and academic help sessions across the Faculty of Engineering. Daniel has been instrumental in setting the strategic direction and ensuring the effective management of ENG ME!, and has therefore helped numerous students through their first year of engineering.

In 2023, ENG ME! won the national Engineering New Zealand ENVI Education Award - https://www.envis.nz/ 

Additionally, ENG ME! won the University of Canterbury Outstanding Teaching and Learning Transformation Award - https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/news/2023/awards-given-to-exceptional-uc-teachers-and-mentors.html 

Recently, ENG ME! won an international award from 

Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE) - The Engineering Education Engagement Award - aaee.net.au 

Memorable moments