Guillermo Capati

Adjunct Professor

Guillermo "Bill" Capati, is an adjunct professor and professional engineer in the field of civil and environmental engineering.^[1] Currently, Capati is an adjunct professor at the University of Queensland since December 2008.^[2]

Capati was awarded the University of Southern Queensland Outstanding Alumni of the Year in 2020. In 2017, he was named Australia Queensland Professional Engineer of the Year. In 2013, Capati was awarded a Public Service Medal (PSM) by the Governor-General of Australia for his contribution to the water future of the Gold Coast and the border South East Queensland.^[3]

The Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte conferred the "Pamana ng Pilipino" award to him in 2016.^[4][5] This award is given to Filipinos living overseas, who have brought their country honor and recognition through excellence and distinction in pursuit of their work or profession.

Capati has worked at the University Queensland Centre for Water and Environmental Biotechnology, formerly the Advanced Water Management Centre. In 2020, Capati was conferred a University Queensland (UQ) Fellowship by Chancellor Peter Varghese AO at a special ceremony held on 14 November 2020 in Brisbane.^[6][7]

In 2023, Capati was a recipient of the Lord Mayor's Australia Day Achievement Awards for community service at the ceremony held at Brisbane City Hall.^[8]

Education

Capati completed his secondary education at Saint Louis School of Tuguegarao and graduated in the year 1968. The high school batch of 1968 was the pioneer graduates of St Louis School.^[9] Capati graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering in 1973 and Sanitary Engineering 1974 from Mapúa University, Philippines. Capati completed his Master of Architecture degree in 1982 from the University of the Philippines. In 1991, Capati completed his Graduate Diploma in Municipal Engineering degree from the University of Southern Queensland.

Notable works

Capati worked at the City of Gold Coast from 1994 to 2017, where he managed the city's water and wastewater needs and was responsible for the city's long-term water planning and recycled water release.^[10] Capati was involved with the following notable projects:

• Pimpama Coomera Waterfuture Master Plan - International Water Association (IWA) Project Innovation Awards (PIA) winner in the Planning Category. Awarded at the 2006 IWA World Water Congress held in Beijing, China.^[11][12] In 2007, the Pimpama Coomera Waterfuture Master Plan was awarded the United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) World Environment Day Awards in the category of Excellence in Water Management.^[13]
• Gold Coast Water's Four R's Project - From Vision to Reality. International Water Association (IWA) Project Innovation Awards (PIA) winner in the Planning Category which was presented at the 2010 IWA World Water Congress held in Montreal, Canada.^[14][15]
• Gold Coast Waterfuture Strategy - The project was honored with the Australian Water Association (AWA) Water Environment Merit Award, which was presented at the 2009 Ozwater Conference held in Melbourne, Australia.^[16][17]
• The Broadwater Assimilative Capacity Study and Gold Coast Seaway SmartRelease project provided a new benchmark for the sustainable operation and optimization of ebb-staged recycled water release systems.^[18][19]
• In 2003, while with the City of Gold Coast, Capati initiated discussions on the Model Based Management for Hydrogen Sulfide in Sewers and Sewer Corrosion and Odor Research (SCORe) Project with University of Queensland- Advanced Water Management Center.^[20]
• Model Based Management for Hydrogen Sulfide in Sewers - International Water Association (IWA) Project Innovation Awards (PIA) winner for East Asia & Pacific Region in the Applied Research Category which was awarded during the 2008 Singapore International Water Week.^[21]
• Sewer Corrosion and Odor Research (SCORe) Project - International Water Association (IWA) Project Innovation Awards (PIA) winner in the Applied Research Category which was presented at the 2014 IWA World Water Congress held in Lisbon, Portugal.^[22][23]
• In 2009, Gold Coast City Mayor Ron Clarke MBE, presented Capati with a Certificate of Appreciation for exemplary leadership and vision for contributing towards the Gold Coast Water being named as the Public Water Agency of the Year at the Global Water Intelligence 2009 Awards held in Zurich, Switzerland.^[24][25]

Major honors and awards

• 2023 Brisbane Lord Mayor Australia Day Achievement Award.^[8]
• 2020 Conferred the University of Queensland Fellowship (Honorary Award) in recognition of service to the university.^[7]
• 2020 Honored as the University of Southern Queensland Outstanding Alumni of the Year.^[26]
• 2017 Named as the Engineers Australia Queensland Professional Engineer of the Year.^[27]
• 2016 Honored with the "Pamana Ng Pilipino" award from President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines.^[28][29]
• 2016 Conferred IWA Fellow by the International Water Association.^[30]
• 2015 Named as The Outstanding Mapúan in the Professional Field of Civil Engineering.^[31]
• 2013 Awarded a Public Service Medal by the Governor-General of Australia for his contribution to the water future of the Gold Coast and broader South East Queensland.^[32][33]
• 2011 Elected Fellow of Engineers Australia in the Environmental College.^[27]
• 2010 Awarded as the Category 3 Fostering Participation in Policy-making Decisions through Innovative Mechanisms (2nd-place winner) at the United Nations Public Service Awards in Barcelona, Spain.^[34][35]
• 2010 Received The Sustainable Engineering Society Eric Brier Memorial Award (Engineers Australia Queensland Division).^[36]
• 2010 Elected Fellow of Engineers Australia in the Civil College.^[27]
• 2009 Honored with the IPAA Queensland Public Sector Professional of the Year Award.^[37]

Personal life

Capati is married to Minerva Capati and have three married children, Maria, Gian and Guia-Anna.

References

1. "Filipino recieves [sic] Australian Public Service medal | News". News. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
2. "Bill Capati". Advanced Water Management Centre. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
3. Cerda, Jovan. "Filipino awarded with Australian public service medal". philstar.com. Retrieved 6 August 2020.
4. "Adjunct Professor receives the "Pamana ng Pilipino" Award". Advanced Water Management Centre. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
5. "2016 Presidential Awards Souvenir Book" (PDF). Retrieved 9 April 2018.
6. "UQ Fellowship for AWMC Adjunct Professor". acweb.uq.edu.au. 14 November 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
7. "Minutes of UQ Senate Meeting on 1 April 2020" (PDF). University of Queensland.
8. "2023 Lord Mayor's Australia Day Awards". www.brisbane.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
9. "The past in the present – University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao". Retrieved 4 August 2020.
10. "Australia Day 2013 Honours List". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
11. ""A Global Win for the Gold Coast's Pimpama Coomera Water Plan" - Ecos, Issue 132, August-September 2006".^{[dead link]}
12. "2010 IWA Project Innovation Awards" (PDF). IWA.
13. "UNAA World Environment Day Awards 2007" (PDF). United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA).
14. "IWA Announces Project Innovation Award Winners". Water & Wastes Digest. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
15. sharon. "Western Corridor Recycled Water Scheme recognised as world's most innovative project — International Water Centre - Water leadership for the future". Retrieved 5 August 2020.
16. Capati G.; Hollingsworth A. (2007). "Gold Coast Waterfuture Strategy - Achieving Environmental, Economic, and Social Sustainability". World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2007. Proceedings: 1–11. doi:10.1061/40927(243)434. ISBN 9780784409275.
17. "Gold Coast Waterfuture Strategy Wins Australian Water Award". www.wateronline.com. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
18. "Governor General of Australia PSM Citations p.396" (PDF). 26 January 2013.
19. Stuart, G.; Hollingsworth, A.; Thomsen, F.; Szylkarski, S.; Khan, S.; Tomlinson, R.; Kirkpatrick, S.; Catterall, K.; Capati, B. (1 October 2009). "Gold coast seaway smart release decision support system: optimising recycled water release in a subtropical estuarine environment". Water Science and Technology. 60 (8): 2077–2084. doi:10.2166/wst.2009.630. ISSN 0273-1223. PMID 19844054.
20. "Save our sewers". www.uq.edu.au. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
21. "IWA Member Newsletter, p.5" (PDF). IWA Issue 32.
22. "Sewer Corrosion And Odour Research Project Wins IWA Global Grand Project Award". www.wateronline.com. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
23. "UQ Annual Report 2014" (PDF). Queensland Parliament. 27 February 2015. p. 38.
24. "Adopted Minutes of the Gold Coast City Council Meeting held Monday 18 May 2009. P.7". City of Gold Coast.
25. "Global Water Awards 2009 Programme" (PDF). Global Water Intelligence Global Water Awards.
26. "USQ honours outstanding graduates at 2020 Alumnus of the Year Awards - University of Southern Queensland". www.usq.edu.au. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
27. "Quick Chat with the 2017 Professional Engineer of the Year | Engineers Australia". www.engineersaustralia.org.au. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
28. Obispo, Beng. "Gallery of Presidential Awardees". www.presidentialawards.cfo.gov.ph. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
29. "Australia Day 2013 Honours List". The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
30. "2016 IWA Fellows". 2 September 2016.
31. "The Outstanding Mapúan Awards | National Association of Mapúa Alumni, Inc". nama.mapua.edu.ph. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
32. Users, Super. "Guillermo "Bill" Capati, Australia Day Public Service Medal Awardee". canberrape.dfa.gov.ph. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
33. "Pinoy engineer honored in Australia". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
34. "unpan039440 - [PDF Document]". vdocuments.mx. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
35. Good Practices and Innovations in Public Governance (PDF). United Nations Publication. 2010. pp. 140–143. ISBN 978-92-1-123188-5.
36. "Eric Brier Memorial Fund | Sustainable Engineering Society". www.seng.org.au. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
37. "public interest oct '09 | Public Sphere | Business". Scribd. Retrieved 28 July 2020.