IRTENZ President Chris Carr presents John de Pont with life membership to IRTENZ at the biennial conference in Hamilton this week.
The biennial IRTENZ (Institute of Road Transport Engineers New Zealand) conference not only brings experts in the field of transport engineering and compliance together, but the organisation also uses the occasion to honour its membership.
Held in Hamilton this week, the 2025 conference was no exception. Dr John de Pont was awarded lifetime membership for services to both IRTENZ and the wider transport industry. The IRTENZ life membership follows his induction in September this year into the New Zealand Road Transport Hall of Fame.
John studied for his undergraduate degree in science and maths at the University of Auckland, followed by a PhD from Cambridge in the UK.
Prior to its disestablishment in 1992, John worked at DSIR (Department of Scientific and Industrial Research), where he worked in the field vehicle-road interaction and dynamic pavement loading, earning him international recognition. He contributed to various OECD scientific expert groups and led New Zealand’s involvement in the DIVINE project – groundbreaking research helping shape global understanding of how heavy vehicles impact road infrastructure. In 1995, he was honoured with the New Zealand Science and Technology Medal.
Co-founding TERNZ in 1997 with Peter Bass, they set about establishing a transport research company built to serve industry directly. TERNZ became New Zealand’s leading transport research institute, and the sole research provider to the LTSC (Log Transport Safety Council).
John has worked in the areas of swept path analysis, load security, and was key in the development of SRT. Its introduction led to New Zealand becoming the first country to mandate minimum rollover stability for all large heavy vehicles.
John also played a key role in formalising New Zealand’s PBS system, adapting international frameworks to suit local conditions. He also led the design of HPMV pro-forma configurations.
He was part of the research team for developing a PBS system for regulating vehicle size and weight in Australia. He was an accredited assessor for the Australian PBS system, the only one of its kind outside Australia.
John has aways been a willing disseminator of his vast intellectual property, authoring papers and presenting at conferences and HVTT (Heavy Vehicle Transport and Technology forum) symposia both here and around the world throughout his career. He has helped organise numerous conferences and his roles with HVTT include treasurer, VP Asia Pacific, as well as president IFRTT (International Forum for Road Transport Technology, which changed its name to HVTT in 2019). John is a member of the HVTT role of honour.
John has been a member of IRETNZ since 1998 and a council member since 2014.
“His absolute humility in everything he does means his knowledge, achievements, and recognition for the work his has done both here and off shore are difficult to convey,” said IRTENZ president Chris Carr.
