Technical excellence in action: GHD announces 2026 Chair’s Award for Technical Excellence winners

Global professional services company GHD has named Dr Zhiyong Xia the winner of its 2026 Chair’s Award for Technical Excellence. Zhiyong’s work has been critical in advancing the understanding of microplastics and translating emerging science into practical strategies for water treatment and environmental remediation. 

Additionally, Sarah Hermano is the winner of the 2026 Young Professionals Award for Technical Excellence, for her work on fleet electrification for large-scale mining operations.

“This award celebrates GHD people who challenge the status quo, who solve complex problems, and who create real value for our clients and communities,” said Ian Fraser, GHD Chair.

Zhiyong has been recognised for collaborating with utilities, industry, and universities to develop practical, science-based strategies for managing microplastics in the water treatment and environmental remediation sectors.

Microplastics are tiny plastic fragments smaller than 5 mm that have been detected in oceans, soils, drinking water, and even food. There is growing community and regulator concern about these emerging contaminants because they can enter the human body and accumulate in organs, such as the brain, liver and kidney.

“We decided to act proactively by leveraging our broad expertise to tackle this important problem,” Zhiyong says. “By combining expertise from academia, environmental consulting, and operations, we can really solve this problem with many unique capabilities that no single discipline can solve alone.”

“Microplastics are a fast-evolving challenge, and there is still much to understand about how they move through the environment and interact with contaminants such as PFAS. This recognition belongs to the wider team and our collaborators, whose research and practical insight are helping us give clients clearer, science-based strategies for treatment and remediation,” Zhiyong added.

Sarah was recognised for adapting GHD’s ZEVO fleet electrification approach for large-scale  mining operations. 

The project developed a technology-adaptive fleet transition and range modelling framework that considered changing battery energy density, vehicle mass, payload, charging requirements and range over a planning horizon of more than 20 years. It also accounted for the commercial realities of contractor-owned fleets, including asset ownership, contract structures, replacement timing and total cost of ownership. 

“We took our original range model that we developed based on municipal bus fleets and we had to adapt it to the conditions of mining operations up to 3000 m above sea level,” Sarah said. “We have established more replicable workflows that we can use for future mining fleet optimisation problems, as well as helping other mining fleets decarbonise.”

“This year’s winners show technical excellence at its best: curious, collaborative and focused on solving the challenges that matter. Zhiyong’s work is helping turn emerging science into practical responses to microplastics, while Sarah’s leadership shows what is possible when we connect expertise across regions and adapt it to local needs. Their work reflects the ingenuity and impact we want to inspire across GHD,” Ian added.

The Chair’s Award for Technical Excellence recognises technical leadership, collaboration and innovation across GHD. It celebrates work that applies deep technical expertise to complex challenges and creates practical value for clients and communities GHD serves. 

About GHD

GHD is a leading professional services company operating in the global markets of water, energy and resources, environment, property and buildings, and transportation. Committed to a vision to make water, energy, and communities sustainable for generations to come, GHD delivers advisory, digital, engineering, architecture, environmental and construction solutions to public and private sector clients. Established in 1928 and privately owned by its people, GHD’s network of 12,000+ professionals is connected across 165 offices located on five continents.