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THE GROWING THE GROWING INFLUENCE INFLUENCE OF OF WOMENWOMEN ENGINEERSENGINEERS

CIVIL EDITION

Vol 87 No 5: JUNE 2015 $7.85 inc. gst

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CIVIL ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015

FROM THE PRESIDENT

By now you will be aware that I am strongly committed to increasing the diversity of the engineering profession, because I am certain this

will significantly improve the contribution we are able to make to society. I am therefore delighted to see that there are 19 women engineers in this year’s Top 100 Most Influential Engineers, up from 11 in 2014 and only 5 in 2013. There could not be a clearer demonstration of the growing and positive influence of women in our profession.

In mid-June, I was privileged to host the launch of the Strategy for inclusiveness, wellbeing and diversity in engineering workplace, at Parliament House in Canberra. The strategy was launched by the Hon Michaelia Cash, the minister assisting the prime minister for women. She was supported at this launch by the Hon Karen Andrews, the parliamentary secretary to the minister for industry and science. The strategy was developed by Dr Marlene Kanga, who was national president in 2013, and it is strongly supported by Engineers Australia.

This month also saw the first ever National Indigenous Engineering Summit, hosted by the University of Melbourne (see p. 16). Engineers Australia has been closely involved in the planning for this summit, which has identified strategies to lift the appallingly low level of representation in the engineering profession of Australia’s first people.

We will be supporting these strategies, and I look forward to a future when the percentage of Indigenous engineers in our profession more closely matches the overall population.Our first ever open electionsIn late 2015, we will for the first time be appointing new members to our Council (soon to be renamed the Board) from an open election of members. This is assuming the governor-general gives assent to our Supplementary Charter, following our successful governance ballot earlier in the year.

You will by now have seen the call for nominations, which closes on 31 July. The skills experience and attributes required are clearly documented in the selection criteria and I encourage you to consider nominating.

I am very hopeful that we will have a number of strong nominations from a diverse demographic, so that our Board has good diversity. As many businesses know and as

Strength in diversity

Dr David [email protected]

has been proven by research, diversity is not just the ‘right thing to do’ it is the ‘smart thing to do’.RecognitionI would like to give my personal congratulations to the engineers who were recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list (see p. 18). It is fitting that the contributions of these engineers to building a better world have been recognised in this way.Tomorrow’s engineersOn 22 June, I attended an important consultation forum led by the minister for industry and science, the Hon Ian Macfarlane, to provide feedback on the government’s response to the important STEM paper released by chief scientist Prof Ian Chu bb in September last year, titled Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics: Australia’s Future. I was able to emphasise to the minister the critical need for our school and higher education systems to prepare appropriately educated engineers to underpin our capacity to be a more innovative and competitive Australia. The minister and the chief scientist were left with a clear impression of how Engineers Australia and our members can assist in this critical agenda.New national engineering registerWe have recently launched a new National Engineering Register (see p. 32) to improve the public trust and recognition of engineers in Australia. I am excited by this development that we hope will, over time, avoid the potential proliferation of different state and territory schemes, which is not in the national interest. I sincerely hope that you will encourage engineers to join this national register.

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ENGINEERS AUSTRALIANATIONAL OFFICE11 National Circuit, Barton, ACT 2600phone 02 6270 6555

www.engineersaustralia.org.aumemberservices@engineersaustralia.org.au 1300 653 113NATIONAL PRESIDENT: Dr David Cruickshanks-Boyd, FIEAust CPEng EngExec NATIONAL DEPUTY PRESIDENT: John McIntosh, FIEAust CPEng EngExecNATIONAL IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: Prof Alex Baitch, HonFIEAust CPEngCOUNCILLORS: Dr Steven Goh, MIEAust; Alexandra Meldrum, FIEAust CPEng; John Olson, FIEAust CPEng EngExec; Simon Orton, FIEAust CPEng EngExec; Murray Thompson, FIEAust; Greg Walters (National Vice President – Finance), FIEAust CPEng EngExec.CHIEF EXECUTIVE : Stephen Durkin, FIEAustCOLLEGE CHAIRS: Prof Karen Reynolds, FIEAust (biomedical); Prof Robert Burford, FIEAust CPEng (chemical); Gerry Doyle, FIEAust CPEng (civil); Tiina Ratamo, FIEAust CPEng (electrical); Erik Maranik, FIEAust CPEng (environmental); Geoff Sizer, FIEAust CPEng (ITEE); David Singleton, HonFIEAust CPEng EngExec (leadership and management); Michael Lucas, FIEAust CPEng (mechanical); Dr Rob Heywood, FIEAust CPEng (structural).

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UK CHAPTERPeter Walsh, Chairman, [email protected]

ENGINEERS MEDIAEngineers Australia magazine, published by Engine ers Media (registered name Engineers Australia Pty Limited, ACN 001311511), a wholly owned subsidiary of Engineers Australia, is a magazine reporting impartially the latest news of interest to engineers. The statements made or opinions expressed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect the views of the Institution.

Engineers Media retains copyright for this publication. Written permission is required for the reprinting of any of its content.

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HEAD OFFICE: 2 Ernest Place, Crows Nest, NSW 2065 (PO Box 588, Crows Nest 1585), phone 02 9438 1533 www.engineersmedia.com.au

EDITORIAL EMAIL: [email protected] EMAIL: [email protected] MANAGER: Bruce RoffMANAGING EDITOR: Dr Tim KannegieterDEPUTY EDITOR: Desi CorbettEDITORIAL: Patrick Durrant, Callum RhodesACCOUNTANT: Tissa MohottiADVERTISING SALES: Qld, NSW, ACT: Maree Fraser, [email protected] 07 5580 9000Vic, Tas, SA, WA: Dee Grant, [email protected] 02 9438 1533ADVERTISING CO-ORDINATOR: Esme JohnstonePRODUCTION MANAGER: Chris GerelliPRODUCTION: Stefan Novak, Nicole Sidoti EA BOOKS: Dean Clarke

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contents

4

CIVIL ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA MAY 2015

EnginEErs AustrAliA

3 President’s column

6 CEO’s column

8 Letters

24 Launch of Transport Australia society

32 National Engineer Register introduced

69 Engineering Practice Advisory Committee meets

CurrEnt AffAirs

12 Pressuremountstoreformfiresafety

14 Infrastructure audit calls for better leadership

nEws

16 Indigenous under-represented

17 Engineering sector sees red

18 Queen’s Birthday honours

20 Opportunities for engineers across the country

22 Australia’s performance on infrastructure not up to scratch

26 NSW infrastructure booms

Engineering sector sees red 17

Member of Civil Edition Vol 87 No4ISSN 1448-496X

24,882April to September 2014

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5

CIVIL ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA MAY 2015

Project News

28 Games preparation on the Gold Coast

29 Melbourne’s Prima Tower hits high

29 Mirvac to develop Brisbane’s Eagle Farm precinct

ViewPoiNt

30 ‘Use it or lose it’ maxim particularly applies to engineers

LeadershiP & MaNageMeNt

83 Margot Cairnes on the need for mavericks and odd balls

coVer story

34 A higher number of women in this year’s list of Australia’s top 100 most influential engineers prompted a roundtable of prominent engineers to discuss the status and future of women in engineering.

austraLia’s toP 100 Most iNfLueNtiaL eNgiNeers

39 A breakdown of the country’s top engineers by category, as well as judges’ profiles, statistics and an A-Z listing.

Bridges

70 The Troja Bridge, a source of inspiration

74 ARUP engineers take a new approach

geotechNicaL

76 The benefits of geotechnical BIM

78 Addressing soft soils risk

geNeraL

27 People and companies

80 Terence Jeyaretnam on progressive corporations

81 Obituaries – Charles Bubb and Desmond Kelly

84 Diary

84 Classifieds

86 EA Books – The Engineers Bookshop

Benefits of BIM for geotechnicalA source of inspiration 70 76

FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE

6


Creating valuable partnerships

The past few months have seen significant progress on a number of reforms at Engineers Australia and I am delighted to profile two of these initiatives.

An area of ongoing consideration at EA has been how we can continue to build the profile of our profession. You may have seen the recent Roy Morgan Image of Professions Survey 2015, where engineers have now moved from a rating of 7th to 5th of the most trusted professions in Australia alongside doctors, nurses, pharmacists and school teachers. This highlights the growing respect that the public has for the work of our engineering teams.

As the peak body of the engineering profession, EA has a profound responsibility to uphold this public trust. We are deeply committed to lifting the professional standing and public recognition of our critical role in the community.

Our response, after 12 months of deliberations and planning, is a new EA National Engineering Register (NER), outlined on p. 32. We are confident that the NER will further strengthen the brand of engineering professionals in the eyes of the general public.

Our new ‘badge of professionalism’ will provide public assurance that an engineer in the Engineers Australia Professional Standards Scheme (EAPSS), and listed on the NER, is qualified, experienced and has professional indemnity coverage. Registered members will be issued with a certificate of currency that confirms their commitment to contemporary business practices through ongoing continuing professional development and adherence to EA’s highly respected code of ethics.

A further element of the register is our relationship with the Professional Standards Councils (PSC). The councils are independent statutory bodies established by each of the Australian state and territory governments to oversee the Professional Standards Schemes (PSS). The sole purpose of the schemes is to promote professional standards and provide consumer protection.

This important connection with the PSC will further strengthen our new NER framework. For the first time, all members of the PSS listed on the NER will be recognised as professionals under law. In addition, those registered will automatically have access to the PSC’s PSS providing capped liability for eligible members. Over 50,000 accountants

Stephen [email protected]

and lawyers in Australia are members of this scheme.The NER will also be accessible to members of the public

so that any purchaser of engineering services (government, business or a private consumer) can be confident that the engineers they engage have met our benchmark standard of professionalism.

We believe that our NER will further improve the professional recognition and public trust of engineers in Australia, and promote the role of EA in advancing the profession.

A second key initiative is the significant agreement EA has signed with Macquarie Bank to deliver a suite of market leading financial products and services to our members.

Macquarie’s long term commitment to EA will see us work together to deliver innovative products and services to help members plan, build, manage and protect their wealth. The first offer is a range of home loans, including Macquarie’s award winning Qantas Points Flyer Loan, a major innovation in the home loan market.

Another important aspect of our agreement will see Macquarie and EA share our expertise, in particular to support a shared focus in the infrastructure space. At the same time this connectivity will enable us to deliver high quality professional programs of interest to our members,

for example in the area of infrastructure funding.

As part of our commitment to supporting members both personally and professionally, a key strategic priority for EA is creating valuable partnerships. This means aligning ourselves with some of Australia’s leading organisations like Macquarie and the PSC, who are leaders in their field.

It is in this way that we will deliver greater value to members and ensure that we position our organisation to best represent the engineering profession overall.

FOR THE FIRST TIME, ALL MEMBERS OF THE PSS LISTED ON THE NER WILL BE RECOGNISED AS PROFESSIONALS UNDER LAW

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LETTERS

8


Send your letter either in the body of the email or as an attachment in

Microsoft Word.

SEND TOThe Editor,

Engineers Media,PO Box 588,

Crows Nest NSW 1585

EMAIL TOletters@

engineersmedia.com.au

Letters should not exceed 200 words. Include IEAust

post-nominals, suburb, state and phone number.

Not all letters can be published.

By submitting your letter for publication you agree that Engineers Australia magazine may edit the

letter for legal, length or other reasons.

Unpublished letters cannot be acknowledged

or returned.

Cyclone solution for third world

The April article ‘Weak links let down strong buildings’

made a number of salient points regarding the ability of buildings to resist cyclones, highlighting the risks of complacency and a lack of understanding in our first world building industry.

Vanuatu, which suffered severe damage to 90% of its infrastructure, merited a passing comment yet countries like these

experience the most damage and suffering. Because of traditional practices that use expedient local materials, superstructures of houses that should be the strongest link are often the weakest.

Yet an alternate readily available material is all but ignored. Recent advances in stabilised compressed earth block machinery, stabilising methods and building technology have made possible reinforced

buildings that together with light roofs offer longevity and protect the occupants. Using local soils as the superstructure material requires only cement and steel reinforcement to be imported.

A derived benefit would be a sustainable industry providing employment

and safe hygienic housing with minimal reliance on imported materials.

George Burlow MIEAustVereeniging, South Africa

How much red tape?

The objective of reducing unnecessary requirements, so

called “red tape”, leading to an improved environment for innovation is a laudable objective. However, some red tape does serve the purpose of managing risk and facilitates good governance. Engineers have an obligation to manage risk in their work and should be careful to get the right balance of risk management tools, typically carefully crafted legal documents.

Without careful attention to its purpose, reducing red tape may unnecessarily increase the risk in a project.

It seems that increased uncertainty and risk arising from a more open approach (reduced red tape) to conducting government and commercial business can only lead to greater level of contract disputes which require expensive legal services. The application of sound engineering to manage the risks can reduce

the prospect of litigation and improve the outcomes of projects.

A balance needs to be struck between the administrative burden of regulation, and the risks and uncertainty which arise from inadequate regulation of vital services and public resources.

Peter Hitchiner CPEng FIEAustWestleigh, NSW

Lament for Pilgrim

I was saddened to read the obituary for David Pilgrim in the May

issue and I am sure most practising hydrologists in Australia will share my sentiments. David was one of nature’s gentlemen and my own career was significantly influenced by my association with him. I was privileged to attend the post-graduate

course in engineering and groundwater hydrology in 1970, where I first met David, and he subsequently provided me with a complete data set from his research catchment at South Creek for use in my MSc studies in Scotland. I was also able to contribute in later years to the revised version of ARR, drawing upon his extensive work

on the statistical rational method of flood estimation. Nothing was ever too much trouble for him to do to help and his courtesy was legendary. The Australian hydrological community is the poorer for his passing.

Dr Ron Black FIEAust CPEngForest Lake, Qld

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LETTERS

10


Go nuclear on submarines

The May cover story makes much ado of the importance

of Australia’s Future Submarine Project, using diesel technology to sail 7000 nautical miles in 70 days at sea. The article on the recent Energy White Paper mentions EA’s disappointment on the government’s failure to remove legal impediments

to development of a nuclear industry in Australia while noting the interesting development of small module reactors.

Surely there is a need here for a clearer voice from EA on these two issues. The government is embarking on a vast program to build submarines using “politically correct” technology. Australia is

missing an opportunity to maintain a position at the forefront of carbon friendly nuclear technology, and prospectively a constructive role in waste recycling and disposal.

Australia should abandon this ridiculous plan to build the ‘Holden of the Sea’ and either buy or lease nuclear submarines from our allies with the scale to

manufacture these vessels cost effectively. Our naval engineers will then gain expertise in this technology that should enrich our local capability for domestic nuclear industry development.

Andrew D Cummins MIEAustWest Sussex, UK

Engineering on the big screen

During my time on National Congress, we spent a lot of

time, money and effort on various initiatives to ‘raise the profile and awareness’ of engineers and engineering as a career choice.

I believe we have made some progress … but one ‘gap’ we identified were engineers as ‘lead characters’ in popular culture – particularly on television and feature films.

We did do some ‘lobbying’ to try and get engineers into some TV scripts … but without success. We couldn’t afford (then or now) to fund

our own show. Well, I am now writing to alert you all to a once in a decade opportunity! A novel by Andy Weir called The

Martian is being made into a feature film directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) and starring Matt Damon. And, yes, the main character is an engineer who must solve multiple challenges to stay alive when stranded on Mars.

This film will be BIG (trust me – I’m an engineer). So do yourself a favour and read the book, then get ready to ‘capitalise’ and celebrate engineering with the film’s release in October .

Chris Dalitz FIEAustGeurie, NSW

Electric vehicles not that environmental

I write about the increasing number of electric vehicles being

marketed in Australia as “zero CO2 emission” vehicles. This claim has the potential to mislead consumers when one considers the significant CO2 emissions associated with the current Australian power system used to

charge these vehicles. In fact, if the average CO2 emissions associated with the Australian power system are accounted for along with the energy/km consumed by these vehicles, these vehicles may be found to be responsible for producing comparable CO2

per kilometre as other small petrol/diesel/hybrid vehicles

currently on the roads.Of course, if our power

systems move towards more environmentally responsible emission levels, the “zero CO2 emission” vehicles will be able to move much closer to their claimed performance level.

Dr Ian Faulconbridge FIEAust CPEng Manuka, ACT

Public voted

In the May issue it was reported that the sacked Linking

Melbourne Authority CEO, Ken Mathers, is ‘devastated’ by the cancellation of the costly and controversial East West Link. He dismissed the decision as politically motivated.

At $1 million per metre, the Link was to be the most costly roads project in Australian history, with just $0.45 economic benefit for every dollar invested. It involved the devastation of scarce inner-urban parkland and demolition of hundreds of properties, many heritage listed. The Link lacked community and broad political support. These facts were conveniently ignored by Mathers in his lament.

This is a prime example of failure due to poor transparency and due diligence. The electorate voted for sustainable public transport projects, not more 1960s style mega-tollroads.

Ian Bird MIEAust CPEng (Ret)Carlton, Vic

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12

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015

Pressure mounts to reform FIRE SAFETY

Pressure is mounting to reform regulation of fire safety in the wake of a fire at the Lacrosse Apartments in Victoria’s Docklands last November. The Melbourne

Fire Brigade (MFB) has called for the state coroner to launch an enquiry into the use of non-compliant external cladding and the Victorian Building Authority’s (VBA) role in the regulation of the building industry.

Acting fire chief Paul Stacchino was recently quoted in The Age, saying he could foresee situations where the MFB might have to make the “terrible choice” of ordering its officers to withdraw from buildings similar to Lacrosse due to uncertainty over the widespread use of the combustible cladding.

MFB investigations found that the building’s Chinese manufactured external aluminium composite cladding was not compliant with the National Construction Code (NCC) and contributed to the rapid spread of the fire to 19 storeys of the high rise apartments.

In early June, amateur video footage captured a dramatic building fire in China which engulfed the whole external facade in seconds (see 9News report at http://goo.gl/ordHDM and still images right). Although it could not be confirmed that cladding was a contributing factor in that case, the speed of the conflagration highlights the risk.

National President of Engineers Australia’s Society of Fire Safety, Dr Weng Poh, hopes that the Lacrosse blaze will lead to a review of Australia’s complex building regulations.

“So long as it is not a major disaster, failure can sometimes be a good thing. In the Lacrosse case, there is no injury or death, but it has put a sharp focus on fire safety in buildings,” he said.

Safety concerns have prompted the VBA to use its coercive powers to audit over 170 high rise buildings in Melbourne and surrounds. The VBA has also investigated the conduct of Lacrosse builder LU Simon, and determined that the company used the same non-compliant cladding material, known as Alucobest, in two other buildings – the Aura on Flinders and Mitcham Village. The local municipal building surveyor is currently investigating what remedial action is required.

Asked to comment, Norman Disney & Young senior fire engineer Dr Millie Wan said mitigation measures to address non-compliant cladding depend on the function and use of the building and the extent and location of the non-compliant cladding.

“In the case of high rise apartment buildings, one mitigation measure that will be very effective in controlling fire spread is the sprinkler protection of balconies. However, not all balconies in high rise apartment buildings are required to be sprinkler protected and prohibiting storage of materials to control fuel load is very difficult to implement in practice,“ said Wan.

If non-compliant (combustible) cladding is located on the vertical facade of a building and exposed to potential fire sources such as windows or balconies, there is a risk of vertical fire spread. In such cases, the only mitigation measure that would reduce the risk to a reasonable level would be to replace the cladding with a compliant material.

On its website, the VBA states that it will contact over 20,000 building practitioners seeking information about the possible use of non-compliant cladding.

Wan said that the cost of replacing cladding could cause insurance companies to increase premiums for building owners, builders and other building practitioners.

“Given that the risk of fire resulting from the use of non-compliant cladding is now widely known, it will cause the insurance industry to reassess the risk premiums related to multi-level apartment buildings,” Wan said. Building practitioners may also face legal action and increased premiums if they had been involved in the design and approval of buildings with non-compliant cladding.

Poh explained that the issue of fire safety compliance is complicated by Australia’s varying building regulation systems. The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB), sets national technical standards, but administration and

enforcement are managed independently by each state and territory.

“Every state has their own regulations, but they are not the same. I don’t think anyone has sat down and said that there should be a unified system – it is very political,” he said.

One example of the inconsistency between state and territory regulations is the requirement for accreditation of fire safety engineers. Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland require accreditation, the other states and territories do not.

A mandatory national accreditation system for fire engineers would ensure that technical competency and qualifications were maintained throughout the country. According to Poh, the new National

CURRENT AFFAIRS

FIRE SAFETY COMPLIANCE IS COMPLICATED BY AUSTRALIA’S VARYING BUILDING REGULATION SYSTEMS.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS

13

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA JUNE 2015

Engineering Register (NER) maintained by Engineers Australia could provide a solution (see page 34).

“If all states agreed, NER would be a good vehicle, but it must be legislated,” he said.

Poh stressed that an effective fire safety design is not a simple matter of ‘ticking boxes’ to comply with prescriptive building codes, but ensuring that performance requirements for the building are met.

“In safety there are many aspects to look at, it depends on a combination of factors. To make things work, every component has to work. If one component fails it could bring the whole system down. You have to look at it holistically, that is what fire engineering is meant to be,” he explained.

In the case of the Lacrosse Apartments, although the cladding was a contributing factor, LU Simons maintained that the lack of sprinkler systems on balconies exacerbated to the spread of the fire. The MFB also found that the sprinkler system inside the building operated beyond its designed capacity, which prevented a more serious outcome.

The NCC is a performance-based code, which encourages innovation and holistic design, but also allows for prescriptive compliance through its ‘deemed-to-satisfy’ provisions. In the case of prescriptive compliance, fire engineers are not involved in design and systemic interaction of building components is not explicitly addressed.

According to Wan, the deemed-to-satisfy provisions are too inflexible in their treatment of external walls in high rise buildings, which only permit the use of non-combustible building materials.

“This goes against the trend where many new building facade materials are composites that cannot be classified as non-combustible. There should be an additional classification of materials of limited combustibility,” Wan said.

Wan also argued that regulations should require approval authorities to seek expert engineering judgement on what constitutes an undue risk of fire spread for building facades, as they may not have the engineering and fire testing knowledge required.

The small-scale test required under the NCC to determine non-combustibility may also be inadequate.

“Foreign codes and standards have full scale facade fire tests. We should adopt an internationally recognised full-scale facade fire test,” Wan said.

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14


Infrastructure audit sparkscall for better leadership

The release of the first comprehensive national infrastructure audit by Infrastructure Australia (IA) has sparked calls for an informed and robust

national debate that will ensure the upcoming 15 year infrastructure plan has widespread support from the public, funding bodies and all sides of politics.

“I’d like to see the sort of public leadership that drives the debate about how our cities will look in 20 to 50 years time. Once we have that understanding and the recognition of the need to act, the path forward becomes easier,” said Christian Griffith, chair of the new Transport Australia society (see article page 24).

The IA audit, published last month, highlights the need for a strategic, evidence-based approach to infrastructure planning as our population grows and infrastructure ages. It predicts almost three quarters of population growth in the next 15 years will be concentrated in our largest capital cities. If no action is taken to rectify current bottlenecks in road systems, the cost of congestion is likely to blow out by almost 300% of 2011 costs to $53.3 billion in 2031.

LISTEN TO THE PUBLICAccording to Garry Bowditch, CEO of the SMART Infrastructure Group at University of Wollongong, the most important initiative for infrastructure in Australia should be to improve the quality of community engagement. Bowditch said governments need to listen to the problems that the community sees, rather than convincing the community their solutions are correct. He believes new communication technologies have given policy makers the tools to achieve this.

For improved consultation to occur, government must overcome community apathy about long-term infrastructure planning. Griffith stressed the connection between our future quality of life and the infrastructure decisions we make now.

“It’s an enabler for all sorts of things – including the health and well being of our local communities. Infrastructure needs to be thought of in that context, otherwise no-one is interested,” he said.

Governments also need to explain the

nature and scale of infrastructure problems, and link them to community needs and interests. This builds an understanding of the inevitable trade-offs that occur when funding decisions are made.

“It’s an allocation decision – do you allocate x% of GDP to infrastructure projects or health care? What price or value do we put on our future lifestyle and productivity? Gaining community understanding makes decisions much easier to make,” Griffith explained.

DATA TO SUPPORT ROBUST DECISIONSAccording to Engineers Australia Victorian infrastructure spokesperson Prof JohnWilson, the audit confirms previous findings made by Engineers Australia. “Everything I read in this audit was very consistent with those things we found in the 2010 Engineers Australia infrastructure report card. It seems like we are on the same page,” he said.

With a projected 36.5% increase in the Australian population by 2031, the audit stresses the need to link infrastructure planning to information about where people work and live. “Where people are located influences land-use planning. Then when you can visualise where the people are and what their infrastructure needs are. that drives your infrastructure plan,” Wilson said.

Wilson praised the inclusion of international comparisons in the audit, as well as predicted population growth and infrastructure investment figures from the

1980s onwards. He suggested that the audit could have looked back further to the period between the 1950s and 1970s, when public sector infrastructure spending was a higher proportion of GDP.

Since the 1980s, the level of public infrastructure funding has dropped due to increased investment in other portfolios. This trend is likely to continue, with the audit suggesting that current levels of government expenditure on transport will be unsustainable in light of increased health and welfare costs to support the growing population. It recommends a broader range of user charges for roads and public transport to cover the shortfall. To gain

THE COST OF CONGESTION IS LIKELY TO BLOW OUT ALMOST 300% BY 2031.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS

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community and political support, these charges must be affordable.

Wilson emphasised that government funding is needed for services such as public transport, which may not have direct monetary returns for private investors, but provide less tangible social and environmental benefits.

According to Bowditch, the key to capturing these intangible benefits is to record the costs and benefits associated with large infrastructure projects at completion, and 5 to 10 years afterwards.

“We have to ask the question: is there a concern with the way we measure costs and benefits? The only way to do that is to examine previous projects and reconcile the magnitude and pattern of benefit that occurred. The lack of institutional memory is stopping Australia from even getting to first base in understanding this critical matter,” he said.

STOP THE POLITICAL FOOTBALLThe existence of Infrastructure Australia helps to decouple infrastructure decisions from the noise around the political cycle. However, as a statutory body, IA recommends priorities to government, rather than making autonomous decisions.

In his recent budget reply speech, federal opposition leader Bill Shorten said, if elected, his party would grant Infrastructure Australia independence similar to that of the Reserve Bank.

Wilson is supportive of this idea. “I’d like to see some independence so that we don’t have political footballs, but proper projects and proper outcomes. We need bipartisan support of outcomes, so everybody is singing from the same sheet,” he said.

But the nature of our political system makes this a complex matter to resolve. Treasurer Joe Hockey told ABC Radio that he was wary of setting up a new independent body that determines where the money goes, because as an elected representative of the Australian community, he was ultimately responsible for controlling the use of public funds.

Bowditch also has reservations about an autonomous infrastructure body, and feels that enhancing community input into developing and shaping priorities is more important. “I am unconvinced that a group of ‘the wise’ should tell Australia what it needs in terms of infrastructure,” he said.

Wilson stressed the need for a 15 year infrastructure plan that is evidence-based and supported by key stakeholders, including the community and business. “Then march on and get all party support, otherwise the plan becomes a political debating point and nothing happens,” he said.

Christian Griffith

Chair of the Transport

Australia society

Garry Bowditch

CEO of the SMART Infrastructure

Group at University of Wollongong

Prof John Wilson

Engineers Australia Victorian

infrastructure spokesperson

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The former CEO of Sinclair Knight Merz says the Indigenous community has been under-

represented in the engineering profession with major negative consequences.

The first ever National Indigenous Engineering Summit was held last week comprising the engineering industry, professional bodies, educational providers

and policy leaders. They gathered to exchange ideas and develop strategies to create and support pathways into the engineering profession for Indigenous Australians.

Led by University of Melbourne alumnus and former Sinclair Knight Merz CEO Prof Paul Dougas, the Partners for Pathways program is aiming to “vastly

improve opportunities for Indigenous engineering students and to increase the number of Indigenous engineers working in Australia”.

“Indigenous engineers are part of the conversation and providing input into the building of the pathways. They are engineers and have gone through the journey into engineering,” Dougas said.

“These engineers can now be mentors to current students coming through the ranks and are able to provide advice on what barriers and experiences they had to help build a tangible pipeline into the profession.

“The Indigenous community has until now been underrepresented in the engineering profession, a situation that has had major negative consequences.”

Stakeholders are examining the blockages that are preventing Indigenous students from pursuing studies in engineering, with a view to devising ways of working around these barriers, the University of Melbourne said.

One of the key barriers is a lack of take-up of maths and science subjects among Indigenous school students.

Prof Ian Anderson, pro-vice chancel-lor (engagement), said the University of Melbourne has a commitment to population parity as a key feature of its 2015 Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

“Building on that commitment and taking greater steps towards setting hard targets to achieve population parity, the university will look towards the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students,” Anderson said.

“This will certainly assist with young Aboriginal children seeing real life role models of Indigenous engineers and how that it is possible,” he said.

Anderson dubbed the Summit as a “life changing event” involving industry, not for profits and education providers providing recommendations to help steer this pathway.

“We have a consultative approach that plac es current Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engineers at the centre of this approach,” he said.

Indigenous under-represented in engineering

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Engineering sector sees red

Engineers Australia has dubbed treasurer Joe Hockey’s recent comments on the state of the

economy as “misplaced and offensive” to the engineering profession.

Chief executive Stephen Durkin took the government to task over Hockey’s “flippant comments” to the effect that economic doomsayers were “clowns” and “complete fools”. Durkin said the government needs to show a real understanding of the state of play beyond headline figures.

Hockey continues to make news headlines with throwaway comments that have also included Sydney housing and employment issues.

“We need to see less sweeping rhetoric and more sweeping investment,” Durkin said.

“The engineering sector has been a big supporter of the government’s infrastructure investment agenda, but we need a recommitment to this vision, as well as urgent and coordinated action to drive bottom line spending and growth across the sector.”

Durkin said the engineering profession has seen almost three continuous years

of declining job vacancies. With the end of the resources boom having savaged engineering employment in Australia, Durkin explained there is no rebound in sight that the federal budget figures would suggest.

“Infrastructure is a key factor in our

ability to transition from a resource-dependent economy to a high-tech, high-value economy,” he said.

Durkin called on the government, as a major player, to ensure it is on board with the challenges facing engineers.

Federal treasurer Joe Hockey.

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18


MEMBER AM IN THEGENERAL DIVISION

Peter Stewartson COCKBAINMorpeth, NSWFor significant service to electrical engineering, particularly in the mining and energy sectors, and to professional organisations.

Barry Frederick COLLINSStra thfield, NSWFor significant service to chemical engineering, through contributions to the mining, paper and steel industries, and to the community.

Dr William Terry O’BRIENKew, VicFor significant service to maritime engineering, to the development of innovative marine navigation equipment, and to education.

Arvo TINNIBirchgrove, NSWFor significant service to engineering through contributions to the road construction sector, as an industry leader, innovator and mentor.

MEMBER AM IN THEMILITARY DIVISION

Brigadier Wayne BUDD CSCBrigadier Darren NAUMANN

MEDAL OAM IN THEGENERAL DIVISION

John MCILWAINRon GREERDr Vecihi (John) BASARIN

CONSPICUOUS SERVICE CROSSCaptain Colin DAGGLieutenant Colonel Tyron DE BOERLieutenant Colonel Jennifer HARRIS

CONSPICUOUS SERVICE MEDALSquadron Leader Anton VOJKOVICCommander Troy BATTISHALLColonel Jeremy KING

PUBLIC SERVICE MEDALDr Owen ARNDT

AUSTRALIAN FIRE SERVICE MEDALJohn LAWRENCE

At least seventeen members of Engineers Australia have received Queens Birthday Honours in 2015:

Engineers receive Australian honours


NOMINATE NOW

engineersaustralia.org.au/elections

Nominations for 2016 open from 15 June to 31 July 2015

Nominations and Elections

Any member can now nominate for election to our board

This year marks an exciting watershed for the governance of Engineers Australia.

As a result of the overwhelming agreement from voting members in the Ballot earlier this year, we are delighted to now call for nominations from any financial member to be elected as a director to our peak governing Board (except students, companions and affiliates).

The call for nominations for Board Directors has been included with the regular annual call for nominations and elections for positions on Division Committees and College Boards.

Two director positions are being advertised for election by National Congress in November 2015. Candidates elected as directors on the Board will have a three-year term, and may seek re-election for a second term.

The Board Directors nominations will be managed by the newly formed Nominations Committee, which consists of members from the current Council and from National Congress. National Councillor John Olson is Chair of the committee, and is joined by fellow Councillor Murray Thompson and National Congress delegates Nee Nee Ong and Barry Tonkin.

If you know of a member of Engineers Australia who you feel would make an excellent contribution at Board level for your professional association, please consider nominating them for election.

GET INVOLVED. LEAD YOUR PROFESSION.

Getting the best directors for Engineers Australia’s Board

Nominate for an Office Bearer position with Engineers Australia: Board Directors | Division Committee | College Board

20


by Desi Corbett

The recent release of the federal government’s White Paper on Developing Northern Australia

outlines major plans to open up a range of employment opportunities for those wanting to work in the region but not everyone will be pleased with the changes.

According to the government, “busi-nesses in the north require an adaptable and mobile labour force with a range of skills: from engineers to fruit pickers; from welders to medical specialists and managerial staff ”, but the big questions are can and will engineers be able to work there?

The government says it will draw out Australia’s “untapped workforce

potential”, with a multi-pronged attack.The one of most interest to engineers

will concern the existing problems with licensing across jurisdictional borders. For NT at least, this will be a thing of the past with the federal government promising to support the Territory government’s approach to streamlining its occupational licensing processes.

“The federal government is deter-mined to make it simpler and less costly for Australian workers to move to the north,” the white paper states. “The complication and restrictive system of state based trades licensing provides a time and cost barrier to skilled workers wishing to relocate to the north.”

The government asserts that this is what has been slowing the north’s devel-opment. Under the new arrangements, a qualified worker from other parts of Australia will receive an NT licence “on the spot” so that they can “start work on the same day”.

“This will allow licensed workers from the rest of Australia to be issued with an equivalent NT licence immediately,” the white paper states.

“The government will assist the NT to fast track implementation of streamlined occupational licensing processes through the secondment of Australian Public Service employees to the NT public service.”

NEWS

Changes to processes set to expand Northern Australia workforce

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21


However, the government is also changing the rules to the Zone Tax Offset (ZTO) noted in the recent federal budget. Declaring the current offset as out of date and poorly targeted, with recipients receiving on average $420 per year, the government says 20% of the claimants are fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers.

While acknowledging that FIFO is a legitimate way for employers to get the workers they need particularly in Northern Australia, the government says it “should not subsidise FIFO”. Consequently, the eligibility criteria has been amended so that it is only available to those who genuinely live in specified remote areas and will exclude FIFO workers who live outside the zone.

There are also plans by the Abbot government to expand the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) Visa Programme for overseas adults aged 18-30 years. The

programme will be amended to extend the 12 month allowance work with the one employer for a further six months. This applies to Working Holiday (subclass 417) and Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa holders working in mining and construction.

“Working Holiday 417 holders already have access to a second 12 month visa

and this change means WHM Visa Programme participants could potentially be able to work for the entire duration of their two-year stay in Australia,” the white paper states. In 2013-14, 239,592 WHM visas were granted. The govern-ment says it will monitor and review this programme after two years for its impact on the domestic labour market.

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Australian infrastructure does not rank internationally

The chairman of Infrastructure Australia says Australia’s ranking on infrastructure internationally

is low, with our performance not up to scratch.

Mark Birrell made the comments at the recent Australian Financial Review (AFR) Infrastructure Summit.

“We think far too much about infra-structure being a single project, rather than a national agenda,” Birrell said. “Australia’s ranking on infrastructure against international peers is poor. Our performance is simply not good enough.”

Federal infrastructure minister Jamie Briggs said relying on government funding alone for infrastructure is “a false dream”.

“We are currently funding and deliver-ing infrastructure much as we did a generation ago,” Briggs said.

Victoria’s premier Ted Baillieu asked Briggs how he would like to see costs fall, adding that the “escalating cost of construction is pricing us out of the infrastructure of the future,” Baillieu told the summit.

Briggs admitted labour costs are an issue, citing unions that are “disruptive”. However, he also pointed to the need for earlier planning to reserve road corridors so that major projects don’t need to go and acquire land.

He held up Western Sydney as an example of good infrastructure planning, where the infrastructure is being built

before the growth in the area.The first principle for infrastructure

investors, according to Briggs, is consist-ency. He pointed to the “tearing up of contracts”, referring to Victoria’s defunct East West Link project, which has cost the state a reported $420 million, as well as the union movement’s campaign against NSW premier Mike Baird as examples of problems in this area.

He said Australia needs to embrace more innovative ways to fund infrastruc-ture with new models for user charging. The government is willing to look at flexible project funding models on a case by case basis, including semi-funded projects put forward by the private sector, according to Briggs.


The first effect was to compact the sub-grade, strengtheningit to better support the tanks despite the marine clays below.

The second effect was the re-levelling of the tanks. Uretekinjections were continued systematically until the exact levelswere achieved, the greatest amount of lift being 107mm. Theslotted links between tank-top walkways were returned totheir specified positions to allow the small freedom ofmovement required between tanks during the empty/fill cycle.

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The six 14m Ø tanks had subsided differentially as much as107mm. During the Uretek application the tanks contained between 17,000 and 128,000 litres.

The walkways between the tops of the tanks had alreadymoved to the maximum extent allowed by the slotted connections. So strains were about to be exerted by the out-of-level tanks on their neighbouring tanks to force them out-of-level also.

The cause of the subsidence was a 26m deep weak stratumof fluid, marine clays lying below the 3m thick sub-grade.

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NEWS

A new voice for transport professionals

A new technical society of Engineers Australia has been launched, intended as the new home for transport professionals in Australia. The Transport Australia

society (TAs) was launched last month with the approval of EA’s Council. It is now open for membership and running launch events around the country.

The board of the Civil College identified the need for a multi-disciplinary transport society over two years ago. According to the key drivers behind the initiative, TAs treasurer Alan Thompson and chair Christian Griffith, the society is needed because there has been no high level and nationally focused group able to lead the transport debate on key matters affecting the growth of our cities.

According to Thompson, Australia’s national wealth and well-being are underpinned by its transport system and engineers play a vital role.

“The engineering profession plays a vital role in designing, building, operating and maintaining the whole transport system, including shipping and ports, aviation and airports, rail services, roads, cars, buses, trucks, cycle ways and footpaths. We can be proud of our achievements to date,” Thompson said.

“The extent of the challenge and need for action are outlined in Infrastructure Australia’s recent audit,” Griffith said. “Dealing with future cities twice the size, while protecting our much valued liveability rankings, requires careful planning and good decision making. Building a productive and sustainable future is heavily reliant on getting the right transport projects and reform agenda in place. With so much at stake, TAs aims to be front and centre in the discussion, and at the decision-making table across a range of forums.”

Australian federal, state and local governments are already investing around $30 billion pa in transport infrastructure but this is struggling to keep up with demand, most notably in congested cities where more than 80% of Australians live and work. According to Griffith, this outlook offers tremendous opportunities for skilled

WE NEED TO IMPROVE THE PUBLIC DEBATE ABOUT STRATEGIC TRANSPORT ISSUES AND ENSURE ENGINEERS ARE PART OF THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS.

engineers, but he said there are at least three reasons why we should not be complacent, summarised as follows:• Over recent decades, the engineering

profession has frequently not been part of the decision-making process for large transport infrastructure. National and state governments regularly take decisions about large infrastructure investments without any input from engineers. Then, once the decision has been taken, engineers are tasked to “get on with it, and deliver this or that road, or rail line, or airport”. This is very different to the way policy and investment decisions are made across healthcare and many other sectors.

• Some important transport projects are only viewed as a “cost to the community”, and important benefits are ignored, notably safety, pollution reduction, congestion reduction and export competitiveness. Engineers and transport economists have frequently been ineffective in providing evidence about the benefits of these transport projects. Rigour and transparency around decision making should be a high priority for all governments.

• Transport technologies are rapidly evolving – think driverless cars and driverless trains, new battery technologies, and mechanised container handling.

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NEWS

relevant college boards, and are ably managed by existing technical societies. TAs will continue to work closely with all colleges and technical societies in the development of a coherent and compelling “story” to present to government and the community.

In establishing the society, the committee will consult with new members to develop a set of early priorities, potentially focusing on some of the issues listed below. Griffith said all of these issues are likely to require inputs from a wide range of engineering disciplines and allied transport professionals.

A key objective of TAs is to ensure that the engineering profession has a say on key transport issues. TAs will work with both the CEO and National President of EA in arriving at an agreed position on important matters, following which it will release statements to the media and industry where relevant.

However, TAs will also consider itself successful if it has provided the forum for engineering professionals to “widen and deepen” their knowledge of key transport issues, thus allowing these individuals to contribute to the public debate on an informed basis.

Any EA member who has an interest in any mode of transport is welcome to join TAs. TAs is seeking members who are involved across all phases of the “transport task”, including policy, research, front end planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance phases. The committee is looking for enthusiastic people willing to share their own knowledge, and willing to learn from others. This will allow the new society to deliver on our purpose statement, and positively influence key transport decisions for Australia.

Go to <www.transportaustralia.org.au> for more information.

Again, leadership by the engineering profession should be essential if the community is to adopt the best ideas.

Griffith said the Civil College knows the profession has good systems in place to nurture and to improve our technical skills for roads, tunnels, signalling, aviation and shipping. However, it has also realised that the engineering profession could better respond to the transport challenge if there was a forum to bring together all of the transport professionals, from across all transport modes.

“We concluded that we needed to improve public debate about strategic transport issues, and ensure that engineers are part of the decision-making process when governments at all levels make decisions about transport infrastructure and major transport investments,” Griffith said

The new society will focus on “front end” decisions about transport policy, infrastructure and technologies, and provide a forum for a wide variety of transport practitioners to “compare notes”.

Griffith said the new society will not be seeking to involve itself in detailed technical issues, such as bridge design, tunnelling technologies, vehicle robotics, pavement design, etc. These issues will continue to be the responsibility of the

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Engineers from where?

Until recent times, countries like the United States, Japan, European countries and other

developed nations have been the highest producers of engineering graduates, but the tide is turning.

According to research conducted by the World Economic Forum, Russia is leading the way, producing 454,000 engi-neering, manufacturing and construction graduates on an annual basis.

The US comes in second, with 237,826 while Iran is rated third with 233,695. Due

to a lack of data, China and India were not included in the research; however, some sources say the number in China alone could be well over 500,000.

Developing and emerging econo-mies like Australia’s Asian neighbours Indonesia and Vietnam are in the top 10.

Indonesia produces 140,000 graduates each year, while engineering graduates in Vietnam top 100,000.

For further information, the World Economic Forum is available at

< ht tp : / / re p or t s . we for u m . org /human-capital-report-2015/>.

Infrastructure booming in NSW

The NSW government has deliv-ered its 2015-16 budget, with a windfall in stamp duty revenue

and proceeds from the partial privatisa-tion of electricity businesses earmarked for key infrastructure projects.

Infrastructure has received a $68.6 billion allocation over the next four years, including $38 billion for roads and transport.

Sydney’s WestConnex project will receive $1.7 billion towards construction, while $1.4 billion has been allocated for the Pacific Highway duplication project.

Almost $1 billion will go towards delivering the Sydney Metro Northwest (formerly known as the Northwest Rail Link), which is expected to open in the first half of 2019.

The capital program also lays

the foundation for the government’s Rebuilding NSW initiative, funded by the $20 billion lease of 49% of the NSW electricity network. Under the initiative, this year’s budget provides $591 million for work on a second harbour rail crossing near the CBD and for light rail around Parramatta, along with a number of road and hospital projects.

The lease transactions have yet to occur, but state treasurer Gladys Berejikilian said the passage of the privatisation bill in June meant that money was now guaranteed.

The budget, Berejiklian’s first, predicts surpluses for the next four years. She said economic activity in NSW has grown faster than in any other state.

“Record low interest rates and ris-ing wealth has boosted household

consumption,” she said. “This, coupled with the strength of our economy, and the government’s investment in infrastruc-ture, is triggering massive investment in new dwelling construction. In addition, our population continues to grow, helped in part as people move back to NSW from the resource regions.”

The NSW Treasury’s budget overview paper also noted the lower dollar, a strong property market and a growing popula-tion supp orted continued economic growth in the state.

However, Berejiklian also warned the wider national outlook was mixed. Exposure to the volatility of stamp duty and varying Commonwealth grants, as well as soft international demand for exports, posed challenges.


PEOPLE & COMPANIES

27


Alberto Calderon has taken the helm at Orica, replacing former CEO Ian Smith. Calderon said he wanted to ensure the company had a “culture of respect, collaboration and performance”, which will be critical in improving returns at the explosives giant after the sudden departure of Smith. Columbian-born Calderon was previously a senior executive with mining giant BHP Billiton, and was a candidate to succeed Marius Kloppers as the group’s CEO. He has also been CEO of Columbian coal and oil companies Cerrejon and Ecopetrol.

David Robinson, CEO of McConnell Dowell, has announced his retirement after 37 years with the company and 15 years as its CEO. The firm said a succession plan has been activated and the replacement process is already underway. David will remain in the role until the transition is complete.

Former WestConnex project delivery director Paul Goldsmith has joined the transport team at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff, taking the role of major projects executive. Goldsmith’s 29 year career has seen him develop major transport infrastructure projects in the UK and Australia. The firm has also welcomed Darren Wren as its new project and construction services executive, to head its project and construction management team in Australia and New Zealand.

Mitsubishi Electric Australia has appointed mechanical engineer Jeremy Needham as managing director. Needham has been with the organisation for 27 years, and replaces Takeshi Shihonmatsu, who will take on a new role with the group in Tokyo.

Thales has opened a new facility in Townsville, strengthening its ties to the Australian Defence Force. The team in Townsville will primarily support the ADF’s Bushmaster vehicles, and will supplement the company’s main Bushmaster support centre at Eagle Farm, as well as the protected vehicles manufacturing facility in Bendigo.

Clare Murray has left her position as CEO of the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland, to take up the role of CEO with the Queensland Farmers Federation. Murray’s departure ends the tenure of one of the Board’s most successful registrars. She oversaw an unprecedented rise in the number of registered professional engineers in Queensland, from around 5000 to more than 11,000 today.

Clare Murray

Email changes in key engineering personnel to [email protected]

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Games for the Gold Coast

The Queensland government has announced a $160 million package for major road upgrades on the Gold Coast in the lead up to the 2018

Commonwealth Games. The package is under development in cooperation

with the Gold Coast Council and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation, and will target trouble spots on the region’s road network.

Among the proposed upgrades is the widening of the Southport–Burleigh Road to six lanes from Southport to Broadbeach Waters. The program also includes the widening of other roads, intersection upgrades, and traffic signal installations.

Acting premier Jackie Trad said the investment would deliver a safe and reliable road network.

“Importantly, our investment in pedestrian, cycling, public transport and road improvements will leave a

lasting legacy for residents and visitors, not only when the international spotlight is on the Gold Coast, but for years to come,” she said.

The Gold Coast is Queensland’s fastest-growing city, and population growth and increasing tourism numbers are testing the region’s road network, according to main roads and road safety minister Mark Bailey.

“It’s forecast that six million extra journeys will be made across the Gold Coast during the 2018 Commonwealth Games,” Bailey said. “We want to ensure that residents and visitors to the Games have the road infrastructure they need for safe, smooth and seamless travel.”

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100)

Carrara Stadium will host the athletics events and the opening and closing ceremonies. PHOTO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

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Melbourne CBD tower completed

The $300 million Prima Tower in Melbourne’s

Southbank has been completed by construction firm Brookfield Multiplex (BM), delivering the second tallest building to roof in Australia, and fifth tallest overall.

The 255 m, 72 storey residential tower for developers Schiavello and PDG is cloaked in a dramatic glass facade and houses some 661 apartments.

Graham Cottam, Victoria regional managing director for BM, said staged handovers enabled the contractor to deliver the project ahead of schedule.

From June 2014, around 300 apartments in the tower became occupied, creating a live residential environment on the lower floors of the tower, while work progressed on the higher floors.

Strategic planning was also required to deal with the sheer scale of the building, Cottam said. Due to the significant height of the building over previously constructed apartment buildings, BM revised construction methods to maximise onsite productivity and safety.

The development features resort-style leisure and entertainment amenities for residents, including an indoor pool, spa and sauna, fully equipped gym, cinema and virtual golf driving range.

Mirvac to redevelop Eagle Farm

Real estate group Mirvac has won the right to redevelop the $850 million Eagle Farm Residential Precinct in

Ascot in Brisbane’s north in partnership with site owner Brisbane Racing Club (BRC).

The 5.4 ha development is expected to deliver more than 1200 apartments in eight towers on land around the heritage-listed Eagle Farm Racecourse. The residential precinct is the centrepiece of a $1.2 billion master plan for the area, which also includes the nearby Doomben Racecourse, BRC chairman Neville Bell said.

There had been intense interest in the joint venture opportunity, according to Bell, and Mirvac was chosen ahead of several other developers vying for the site, including Walker Corp and Leighton Properties.

Construction on the 10 year project is expected to start in 2016, with full planning approval for the project already attained.

PHOTO: BM

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30


Problems with engineeringby Mark Bro wnley

I spoke to a young engineer recently. He was confident, proud and effusive; ebullient in fact.

There’s nothing wrong with that.He told me he hasn’t used much of his electrical

engineering degree and doesn’t look like doing so anytime soon, all of which means it’s probably too late. His career and remuneration have advanced too far to unscramble the egg, and others are ferociously nipping at his heels from the graduate ranks. To return to technical, he’d have to sacrifice salary and status. The “use it or lose it” maxim applies particularly to engineers. In the time he’s been fluffing about doing ‘strategy” work, his competition has passed him on the inside lane.

Although he continues to impress his peers and employer, it’s not through his mastery of engineering but simply by application of a curious, rigorous and disciplined mind. Talk to him and he didn’t learn these during his degree. Rather, they were the genetic traits he inherited from his mother and father and honed in high school. At university he learned principles to unlock limitless possibilities of the physical world, which he hasn’t to date.

I think there’s a lot wrong with that.There’s also a pattern here. It’s not the first time I’ve

heard of raw engineering talent atrophying over time. That was nearly 30 years ago and that was me. My specialisation was chemical engineering and I didn’t use much of my degree either. I started in software systems and process control. There was a subject in third year dedicated to process control. One subject in a four-year degree. Even in my darkest hours coding critical control systems, I still didn’t use any of it in anger.

My degree was the perfect bridge to a MEngSc or PhD, but it offered little in the way of practical skills for success as a software systems engineer. That was a craft I had to learn from the ground up when I arrived at Honeywell.

I got a job, presumably because someone thought I was “smart”. I then went on to build a middle career just by being smart, rather than the four years learning the foundations of chemical engineering. My degree was an interesting, intellectual exercise but not especially relevant.

These days, when recruiting, I specify a related undergraduate degree and/or relevant professional experience. Whereas once I would never have contemplated a non-degree-qualified “engineer”, I now know they exist. One of the most gifted “engineers” I’ve ever met has no degree. He often talked about going to university to get his degree, while we simply argued – why? He was everything I could ever need and more.

That’s because it’s industry, not universities, that

produces engineers. There’s a subtlety here that’s lost on many. Universities produce graduates but if they don’t practise engineering after they graduate, they don’t become engineers. Conversely, those that didn’t study engineering but go on to practice it anyway still become highly prized employees in the technical domain.

A sample space of two is not statistically significant but the number of non-engineer-engineers I’ve worked with is, just like the underlying message for the profession, industry and the tertiary sector, which is:

If you employ engineering graduates, you must give them real engineering work until they become real engineers. If you educate engineering undergraduates, remember that most will enter the workforce – not enrol for a masters or PhD. And, as for the profession, arbitrate between the employers and the educators such that their graduates may use all of the arrows in their quiver. And if they can’t, change the arrows.

STOP THE LEAKAGEFewer high school students, especially females, are choosing engineering. As engineers we focus, quite rationally and wrongly, on marketing and role models as a solution. Wrongly, because the problem is not just a lack of supply but that engineering graduates abandon the profession, either voluntarily or unwillingly.

Engineering is a very difficult course. It’s demanding

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VIEWPOINT

31


intellectually and it’s an extremely heavy workload, almost equivalent to an unpaid full-time job for four years. There are few in society that could attempt and actually succeed at engineering. As engineers, we’re at the top of the bell curve. There is a small gene pool from which to choose.

In the meantime, the world has in many ways become ‘soft’. It’s not as resilient and women and men of science are no longer revered. As long as engineering is hard in a soft society, many today will seek out easier options.

Then there’s the question of practise. Rarely do I meet a lawyer who hasn’t or doesn’t practice law. Same with accountants, who are nearly always CA or CPA. I meet engineers all the time who haven’t practised or no longer do so, and are rarely CPEng.

That’s because our profession leaks like a sieve. Leakage is a phenomenon that describes the defection of engineers and would-be engineers to management consulting and many other places that can’t turn them into real engineers.

So the simple challenge is to stop the leakage. It is likely to be a more successful strategy than trying to attract more students to the profession.

What might work is an industry commitment to absorb and train all graduates to engineer status, regardless of the business cycle. A compelling and enduring employment proposition is a powerful lure. The Australian Defence Force has always operated this way. Upon graduation, all its engineers receive a Queen’s Commission and are put straight to work in their chosen field, not strategy.

The more graduates we turn into real engineers, and the more they savour the fruits of the profession, the more likely they are to stay.

A compact within industry to employ all graduates will provide a significant uplift in qualified and experienced professional engineers when the economic and business cycles rebound. Academic record is irrelevant. Industry can make competent professional engineers of all graduates.

We constantly hear that in the long run, the engineer is in demand. But in the long run, said the eminent economist John Maynard Keynes, we’re all dead. That means, in the short run, we must act.

If we do, those ebullient young engineers I meet can hang onto their salary, their status and multiply their professional options, as real engineers know only too well.

THE NEED FOR COURAGEJustifiably, the profession spends a lot of time lauding its greatness, but preaching to the converted doesn’t vest the real power and influence that engineers should wield. That happens when individuals’ successes are celebrated, disseminated and popularised. General Sir John Monash and Sir Douglas Mawson were exemplars in that way, but they were of a time when technical mastery commanded social cache. If Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce,

was an engineering graduate instead of a science major, engineering might once again grab the headlines. It’s impossible to argue he isn’t courageous, and newsworthy.

I think courage is a key word missing from the discourse about the positioning of the profession into the future. It’s a word that resonates with our time and the disrupted VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world in which we live. However, it’s not a word used in business or industry anywhere near its potential.

Engineers and engineering leaders need to be more courageous. Monash and Mawson had it in spades. They blazed trails across the profession, society, the political class and our institutions. Today, there’s no one to worship.

However, we can all be courageous. With businesses and industry in a perpetual state of disruption (opportunity) from technology, we need brave, far reaching decisions by engineers and engineering executives to adapt to that disruption and to get ahead of the curve.

Engineers are famous for great cognitive abilities. Adding courage, engineers will be well suited to navigate the challenging complexity of layered and shifting business models that characterise work today.

So make a decision today. And make it a courageous one.

Mark Brownley FIEAust CPEng EngExec (pictured)is a senior executive in the energy sector.

General Sir John Monash.

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PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

32


RE-ENGINEERING THE PROFESSION A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

One of EA’s strategic goals is to be the definitive voice of the profession. In particular, it aims to provide trusted and highly respected leadership

and advocacy for the engineering profession, and to raise the standing and recognition of the profession.

Consequently, Engineers Australia CEO Stephen Durkin has announced that it is time for EA to more actively promote the value of engineers and their professionalism to the broader community.

“Part of our response is to launch a new EA National Engineering Register (NER),” Durkin revealed.

“This will improve professional recognition and public

trust of engineers in Australia. EA as the trusted voice is committed to changing the community’s perception of engineers by broadening the requirements for registration. This isn’t new territory – there are many countries around the world where this has been successfully achieved. EA is in a position to champion recognition.”

NER will replace the existing National Engineering Registration Board (NERB).

As part of the new register, EA has applied to the Professional Standards Councils (PSC) to endorse a new professional standards scheme for the organisation. The PSC is a statutory body represented in every state and

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PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS

33


territory, which has the role of ensuring the community can have trust in the professionals who are members of an endorsed scheme.

PSC does this by ensuring that association members adhere to strict criteria such as appropriate professional indemnity insurance, ongoing learning and a required number of years of practice, all underpinned by law.

NER will deliver a uniform national benchmark of professionalism so consumers can be confident that the engineers they engage meet fundamental standards expected across professions.

Membership of NER will provide assurance that an engineer has achieved the required standard via:• a recognised qualification• minimum experience levels• currency of continuing professional development• professional indemnity insurance• an annual certificate of currency• adherence to EA’s strict code of ethics.Professional Standards Councils CEO, Dr Deen Sanders, said: “We see being a professional as being part of a bigger strategy around good regulation and the way we work as a nation. So our job is to encourage professions to be strong, to act uniformly and to be properly directed to good community outcomes.

“Engineers can be proud of EA, as it is a very strong outfit, a very public and robust community. The proposed new registration will build on the level of trust that the wider community has for the engineering profession.”

Sanders said professionals are becoming more important in their role in society with research showing people are not sure who they can trust for sound information based on expertise.

“So to develop a professional standards scheme, which for the consumer resolves the question of who do I trust to provide the information I need, makes perfect sense,” he explained.

Sanders’ comments make even more sense in light

of what the new breed of engineers will face during their careers, such as a totally global workplace that will present greater opportunities to work elsewhere in the world, particularly in developing countries. This means that internationally recognised qualifications and professional standards are increasingly important as the global practitioner becomes a more likely reality. As a consequence, Chartered status will remain the highest accreditation available to engineers.

In our rapidly changing world, our professional standards must also change if the profession is to maintain its relevance, and most importantly, trust and credibility.

EA is responding with NER and also has plans in train for simplification of the Chartered assessments process to encourage more engineers to apply for the highest accreditation and passport to practise internationally.

“As the voice of the profession, we are responding to ensure our members are equipped to be recognised as the highest qualified engineers both nationally and internationally. PSS will be available to our Chartered members first and is expected to also be available, subject to PSC approval later this year, to our non-chartered members who can demonstrate a minimum of five years post graduate experience,” Durkin said.

“I look forward to sharing more information with you over the coming months about these significant changes, not only for our members but the profession overall,” he added.

To fi nd out more and to register your interest for priority updates on NER go to

www.engineersaustralia.org.au/pss

A NEW ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA NATIONAL ENGINEERING REGISTER WILL IMPROVE PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION AND PUBLIC TRUST OF ENGINEERS IN AUSTRALIA.

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COVER STORY

WOMEN IN ENGINEERING

WOMEN ENGINEERS TACKLE GENDER BIAS

COVER STORY

34


by Desi Corbett

In recognition of the higher number of women represented in Australia’s top 100 list of infl uential engineers this year, a roundtable of prominent engineers drawn from industry, government, parliament and academia discussed the status and future of women in engineering.

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COVER STORY


Women in engineering has been the subject of much discussion in Engineers Australia and across industry in recent years, with a range of issues that continue to impact the number of

females joining and remaining in the profession.These issues span pay inequality, career opportunities,

STEM study, attracting female students to engineering, and the myths around the roles of women in society.

The foremost issue in engineering for women is gender imbalance, with the majority of the profession historically male. Hand in hand with the imbalance are issues of attracting women into engineering, the continuing issues associated with inequality of pay and lesser opportunities for women engineers, including those who return to the workforce after having children.

NSW Greens MP and spokesperson for women and multiculturalism, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, is a civil and environmental engineer who has strong opinions about inequality for women.

“We know that in Australia over the last two decades the gender pay gap has actually widened and it’s up to 19% now,” she said. “I think it’s shameful for one of the richest countries in the world to still have this inequality.”

Faruqi emphasised that there are distinct barriers for career development for part-time women employees.

“You are not considered as someone who is hungry for a career just because you are the primary caregiver or may have chosen to work part-time,” she explained.

“I have pushed for women who have children to come back and work part-time or job share so they can still remain in high leadership positions. The barriers I’ve faced have mainly been raised by men about this notion that you can’t be a project manager and work part-time or you can’t be a project manager and share a job.”

THE SOCIETAL ISSUE IN MY VIEW IS THAT WE’VE GOT 50% OF THE POPULATION NOT ACHIEVING THEIR POTENTIAL IN THIS COUNTRY.

35



36


COVER STORY


She said these myths need to be dismantled and that the women in the workplace who want to work part-time or job share must be supported.

Nee Nee Ong, an electrical engineer and the chair of Engineers Australia’s Women in Engineering National Committee, says as more men are becoming primary caretakers and utilise flexible work arrangements they do not encounter the same barriers as women. Flinders University professor of biomedical engineering Karen Reynolds, believes it’s about an ingrained perception of the female role.

“The males who are staying at home or perhaps taking some more of the family responsibility are still accepted when they come back to the workplace as being what they were before. I certainly believe that they are not treated the same as women when they come back. In fact they are celebrated.”

Jade Gan, a mechanical engineer and the chair of Women in Engineering in EA’s Sydney Division, says countries such as Sweden and Norway make it compulsory for the father to take time off and this may be something for Australia to look at.

“It gives it a sense of the norm rather than something to celebrate; not special in a good way or a bad way.”

One avenue of normalising attitudes to women engineers, for NSW chief scientist and engineer Prof Mary O’Kane, may start at the top, in getting more women appointed to boards.

“If you look at the women that get appointed, they’re largely from the legal and accounting professions. If you look at boards in the US however, there is a much greater emphasis on getting technical representation onto boards.”

O’Kane went on to say that one important thing for Engineers Australia and Women in Engineering to be doing

is to focus on the issue of women on boards, and getting women engineers onto boards.

One way of doing this is through quotas for women or for diversity. NSW Greens MP Dr Mehreen Faruqi said gender imbalance is also a big issue in the NSW parliament, and sets a bad example.

“In the Upper House there were 13 women MPs out of 42 members before the 2015 election, now we have 10. Most of the office bearers are men. This is a clear difference we also see in society.”

CEO of Standards Australia Dr Bronwyn Evans says not only women engineers but engineers in general need to be on boards. Of course engineers of any persuasion need to focus on their performance and Evans said a way of doing this is to have a high profile.

“Performance is key, but getting a profile is as important an element of being successful in your career. You do that through having a certain presence. That’s where we need to help younger people,” Evans said.

“How do you develop a profile? Whether it’s through sponsorship or advocacy. How do you help people present a presence which is around delivering on your commitment?”

O’Kane has some sage advice to women engineers on getting ahead and making their mark.

“I found that I got it [an opportunity] because they wanted a woman engineer. I grabbed the opportunities and found that then I got appointed in my own right,” she said. “One of the things I say to young women engineers – you will often get appointed for the wrong reasons because they do need a woman on something … but you run with them.”

Drilling engineer and Youth Without Borders founder Yassmin Abdel-Magied is a believer in women engineers grasping opportunities.

L-R: Alexandra Meldrum, Mehreen Faruqi, Mary O’Kane, journalists Desi Corbett and Patrick Durrant, Bronwyn Evans and Jade Gan.

WOMEN ARE DIFFERENT. THIS DIFFERENCE AND DIVERSITY IS A MASSIVE STRENGTH, ESPECIALLY AS WE TACKLE THE COMPLEX PROBLEMS WE FACE TODAY.


37


COVER STORY


OVER THE LAST TWO DECADES THE GENDER PAY GAP HAS ACTUALLY WIDENED AND IT’S UP TO 19% NOW. I THINK IT’S SHAMEFUL FOR ONE OF THE RICHEST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD TO STILL HAVE THIS INEQUALITY.

“The concept of affirmative action, quotas or targets or whatever you want to call them; they do work. If you look at countries that have put them in, like Norway and Rwanda, and various other places; they have obviously shown results,” she said.

“And yes it makes some people uncomfortable and I think that’s what I see in my generation that’s coming through,” Abdel-Magied says.

“It represents the fact that women get more opportunities because in their mind, it’s just like they’ve got a disadvantage because of all the issues they have to face.”

Nee Nee Ong, the chair of the Women in Engineering National Committee took the notion of sponsorship one step further, saying that women in key positions could be mentors and sponsor/recommend other qualified women for key positions or opportunities, and so proactively help future women engineers. This would help to eradicate the “boys club” mentality that exists.

Faruqi believes women should actually promote their gender as a point of difference.

“Women are different. This difference and diversity is a massive strength, especially as we tackle the complex problems we face today,” she said.

The issues concerning female students and STEM subjects are widely known but O’Kane put forward a way of catching up with the current university lag in the number of women becoming engineers.

“Just as you don’t have to study mandarin in high school, to get a degree in mandarin,” she said, “we should be able to allow students who have dropped maths somewhere at school, but have maths aptitude, to study engineering at university and finish in minimum time.”

O’Kane says maths can be taught in an accelerated way if the person is motivated. She explained it was done in the

1990s when there was a great demand for ICT graduates. “We’d say to people ‘it doesn’t matter if you didn’t study maths; we can get you there’ and we did!”

Rethinking the university course structure and entry level was fully supported by Bronwyn Evans who related an anecdote about her niece discovering the joy of physics in her 30s on going to university then.

O’Kane, who was involved in Engineers Australia’s university accreditation system around 25 years ago said today’s issues remain the same. “We probably need to make sure that women in engineering and the accreditation board are much more tightly linked,” she says.

Linking the two is necessary, O’Kane says, and it would have to be overseen “to make sure that conversation, of the sort we’re having here, goes in very firmly into the accreditation structures of our professional body”.

University-based Reynolds supports the idea of other maths pathways but adds that getting students to that point is only half the problem.

“By the time the kids get into high school, if you haven’t got them hooked into science already, you’ve lost them. Then they get into high school and the people teaching them, the more technical subjects like physics and technology, are highly likely to be male.”

“Add to that, high school teachers who don’t necessarily understand what engineering is and what careers are available. I often hear people linking engineering with something to do with fixing a car.

“And so, instead of talking to people who can inspire them, they [girls] are kind of unaware of the breadth of opportunity available to them.”

According to Faruqi, exposing girls to engineering through internships or work experience would be very beneficial and she called on Engineers Australia to push for more of these for young engineers.

L-R: Alexandra Meldrum, Mehreen Faruqi, Jade Gan and Mary O’Kane participate in the lively discussion about women in engineering.


38


COVER STORY


EA National Councillor Alexandra Meldrum, a chemical engineer, says there are “really broad issues of inequality … we need a whole range of things because clearly, the societal issue in my view is that we’ve got 50% of the population not achieving their potential for our country.

“There is a loss of prosperity, a loss of potential; there is a loss of human potential as well as economic potential.”

O’Kane said what is needed is a diverse set of initiatives to address the challenges for women in engineering. “It’s many pathways for women. There needs to be a very diverse set of approaches and government can be part of it.” ●

The science and engineering professions came together to launch a strategic framework for

increasing diversity and inclusiveness in the Australian STEM sector at Parliament House in early June. The strategy was launched by Senator Michaelia Cash, minister assisting the prime minister for women and was attended by leaders in science and engineering from around Australia.

Parliamentary secretary for science, Karen Andrews, Andrew Mather, vice president for development WSP Parsons Brinkerhoff and member of the Consult Australia Champions for Change, Dr David Cruickshanks-Boyd, national president 2015, Engineers Australia, and Dr Marlene Kanga national president 2013, Engineers Australia, participated in a lively panel discussion.

This is the first time that organisations in the STEM sector have come together with a practical approach to address the low numbers of women in the science, engineering and technology sector.

It is a timely initiative, given that the Australian government has recognised that STEM skills are important for

Australia’s workforce of the future as new industries will increasingly rely on technology. Yet the numbers of young people studying science and mathematics, the enabling subjects for these careers, continues to be low. It is also a concern that women engineers and scientists continue to leave these professions in large numbers.

While considerable effort has been spent on diversity policies in engineering and science organisations, there has been limited success. For example, 90 percent of engineering workplace have policies for flexible working arrangements but a survey by Engineers Australia shows that the uptake is low. Engineering and science workplaces continue to be difficult and unsupportive with issues that are insidious and invisible and which continue to cause women, in particular, to vote with their feet and leave the profession.

The benefits of diversity to an organisation are of course significant. While these policies encourage the employment of those with different background in terms of age, ethnicity, gender and other characteristics, inclusiveness goes further to value the

differences. The worlds’ most innovative companies have recognised that a diverse workforce is high performing and innovative, will develop solutions and products that are relevant to its customers and will deliver significantly higher and less volatile financial performance.

For Australia also, the benefits are enormous. Utilising those who already have the crucial skills in science and technology is essential and one of the key reforms that can be implemented without significant cost. Other countries have already recognised the importance of diversity in the workforce, especially for innovation and new technologies. Many of these countries have higher proportions of women in science and engineering than in Australia. It’s a myth that engineering and technology are male dominated industries. In Asia and the Middle East, 50% of engineering students in many universities are women. In Malaysia, 30 percent of women registered to practice by the Board of Engineering Malaysia, are women.

The strategic framework is available at: http://bit.ly/1QRazQd. ●

L-R: Karen Reynolds, Bronwyn Evans, Nee Nee Ong and Yassmin Abdel-Magied all have strong views on the status of women in engineering.

Launch of strategic framework for diversity and inclusiveness


Engineers Australia | June 2015 39

ACADEMIA & RESEARCH : TOP 100

Selecting the top 100by Tim Kannegieter,Managing Editor

In the 12th edition of our Top 100 Most Influential Engineers in Australia,

we celebrate the highest ever number of women appearing on the list: a total of 19. We decided to recognise this by interviewing a number of them for this issue’s cover story (see p. 34).

In addition, we have also had a rec-ord turnover of candidates, with 37% new faces compared to last year’s list, although some have appeared in previous years.This is partly because of an unusually high movement of people to new roles, but it’s also due to a greater investment on our part in researching leaders in each category, particularly the research and expertise areas.

The main innovation in this year’s list is the introduction of a new category called Panel’s Pick. We included this new category because we wanted to recognise a number of people who are influential simply because they are inspirational. People admire what they do and seek to emulate them.

40 Advisory Panel

41 Statistics

42 Alphabetical Listing

44 Academia & Research

47 Associations

48 Community

50 Consulting

52 Contractors & Services

54 Entrepreneurs & Experts

58 Industry

61 Manufacturing

63 Politics

63 Public Service

66 Utilities

68 Panel’s Pick

The College of Leadership and Management is the proud sponsor of Engineers Australia magazine’s 2015 list of Australia’s Top 100 most influential engineers.

ENGINEERS AUSTRALIACollege of Leadership and Management

AUSTRALIAAUSTRALIA''SSTOP 100TOP 100MOST INFLUENTIALMOST INFLUENTIALENGINEERS 2015ENGINEERS 2015

However, the inclusion of a new category made judging harder than ever, because it meant there was less room for people in other cat-egories. Recognition must therefore be accorded to the advisory panel (see p. 40), which included a larger number of academics to better evaluate the academic, research, innovation and expertise categories. While we aimed to be as objective as possible in comparing candidates, we often had to rely on the experience of our panel to make the hard decisions on who to omit.

The judging process remains un-changed from last year. Candidates must be eligible for membership of Engineers Australia and either be Australian citizens or foreign nationals working in Australia. Practically, we sought an equitable dis-tribution across the range of categories and compare candidates primarily within their category .

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40 Civil Engineers Australia | June 2015

TOP 100

ADVISORY PANELAlex Baitch HonFIEAust, CPEng

Prof Alex Baitch was the 2014 national president for Engineers Australia and has served EA in

various roles for more than 35 years. He is the principal of his own consulting practice in electrical engineering and is an honorary professorial fellow of the University of Wollongong. Baitch is active within the IEC and Standards Australia on matters related to power quality, embedded generation and high voltage installations.

Robin King

FIEAust CPEng

Robin King was formerly pro-vice chancellor for IT, engineering

and the environment at the Uni-versity of South Australia. He has honorary positions at that institu-tion, the University of Technology Sydney and the University of New South Wales. He now works as an engineering education consultant and is chair of the ATSE Education Forum.

Paul Dougas HonFIEAust EngExec

Prof Paul Dougas is the former CEO of

Sinclair Knight Merz and is currently on the boards of several organisations, including Global CCSI, Mount Gibson Iron, Epworth Health and the Calibre Global. He was the inaugural chairman

of CELM and also chair-man of the Engineering Leadership Conference 2014 steering commit-tee. He is a professorial fellow in the Engineering School of the University of Melbourne, covering industry engagement and leadership.

Robert Care AM FIEAust

Dr Robert Care is a Fellow of Engineers Australia, the Aus-

tralian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering and the Australian Institute of Management. He is a principal of Arup Group based in Canberra. His commitment to the community is reflected in his appointment to the RedR Australia (Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief) Board in 2006 and subsequent election as Chair from 2008 to 2010. In 2012 he was made a member of the Order of Australia for his services to Engineering, Business, Humani-tarian Pro-grams and Athletics. In 2014 he was re c og nis e d as Engineers Au s t r a l i a’s Professional Engineer of the Year.

Doug Hargreaves AM FIEAust EngExec CPEng

Prof Doug Hargreaves is a mechanical en-

gineer with 28 years experience in academia (QUT) and 11 years in industry. At QUT, he is currently the deans scholars academic direc-tor. Hargreaves is the

executive officer for the Australian Council of Engineering Deans and, as such, coordinates the deans of 37 universities across the country. He was national president of Engineers Australia in 2010.

Alexandra Meldrum

FIEAust CPEng

Alexandra Meldrum is a member of the National Council of Engineers Australia and was the 2014

president of the Sydney Division. She is a Fellow of Engineers Australia, Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Meldrum is a change management specialist and has 20 years corporate experience as an engineer, senior executive and director.

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Civil Engineers Australia | June 2015 41

TOP 100

DisciplineCIVIL32%

CHEMICAL13%

MECHANICAL15%

ELECTRICAL15%

OTHER17%

ITEE8%

OVERSEAS5%

This year saw a big leap in the number of women in the Top 100 – up from 11% last year and just 5% the year

before. NSW retains its premier position, but has seen its lead eroded by 3% from last year, though it is still up on its 38% share in 2012. Similarly, the University of NSW remains the biggest source of Top 100 engineers, but is down by 2%, as the University of Queensland’s share has

surged 4%, taking second spot from the University of Sydney last year. All the main disciplines saw their lead eroded in the face of a rise in speciality disciplines, led by ITEE, which made the chart for the first time, breaking our 5% cut off rule. The percentage of members in the list fell from a high of 75% last year.

Gender University

OtherAustralian

Universities27%

InternationalUniversities

28%

UNSW16%

MONASH6%

USYD5%

UWA8% UQ

10%

LocationNSW40% WA

15%QLD14%

SA 4%TAS 2%

ACT 6%

VIC14%

Members59%

Non-members41%

19%81%

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TOP 100

• Savvides, George – Medibank Private, p. 58

• Scales, Neil – Qld Government, p. 65

• Shepherd, Ian – GHD, p. 50

• Sindel, Rob – CSR, p. 62

• Singleton, David – Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia, p. 47

• Skafi das, Stan – Centre for Neural Engineering (University of Melbourne), p. 57

• Sloan, Scott William – ARC Centre of Excellence for Geotechnical Science and Engineering (UON), p. 54

• Stewart, David – QLD Government, p. 63

• Taylor, Ross – UGL, p. 52

• Taylor, Elizabeth – RedR Australia and RedR International, p. 49

• Templeton, Guy – WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff , p. 51

• Th orne, Colin – Defence Materiel Organisation, p. 64

• Vann, Andrew – Charles Sturt University, p. 44

• Velletri, Robert – Monadelphous, p. 53

• Verdes, Marcelino Fernandez – CIMIC Group, p. 53

• Waters, Ralph – Woolworths, p. 60

• Wilson, Jimmy – BHP Billiton Iron Ore, p. 59

• Wood, Andrew – WorleyParsons, p. 51

• Worlock, Steve – BAE Systems Australia, p. 61

• Wyeth, Gordon – Queensland University of Technology, p. 46

• York, Merryn – Powerlink Queensland, p. 67

• Young, Ian – Th e Australian National University, p. 44

• Young, Kevin – Sydney Water, p. 67

• Yuan, Zhiguo – Advanced Water Management Centre (UQ), p. 68

• Zelinsky, Alex – Defence Science and Technology Organisation, p. 65

• Abdel-Magied, Yassmin – Youth Without Borders, p. 48

• Amal, Rose – University of NSW, p. 57

• Arns, Christoph – University of NSW, p. 55

• Bailey, Peter – Arup Group and Australasia region, p. 50

• Barrie, Matt – Freelancer.com, p. 55

• Beynon, John – Global Engineering Deans Council, p. 45

• Bose, Neil – University of Tasmania, p. 46

• Broe, Barry – Qld Government, p. 63

• Brown, Geoff – RAAF, p. 65

• Brown, Lizzie – Engineers Without Borders, p. 49

• Cameron, Alec – University of Western Australia, p. 45

• Caspari, David – Optus Business, p. 59

• Charlton, Scott – Transurban, p. 60

• Cheng, Marita – Robogals Global, p. 68

• Coleman, Peter – Woodside, p. 60

• Cox, William – Aurecon, p. 50

• Cransberg, Alan – Alcoa of Australia, p. 61

• Crozier, Stuart – Th e University of Queensland, p. 55

• Cruickshanks-Boyd, David – Engineers Australia, p. 47

• Cutifani, Mark – Anglo America, p. 59

• Dennis, Peter – Seqwater, p. 66

• Dougherty, Maureen – Boeing Australia and South Pacifi c, p. 62

• Douglas, John – Coff ey International, p. 50

• Durkin, Stephen – Engineers Australia, p. 48

• Evans, Bronwyn – Standards Australia, p. 47

• Every, Bob – University of NSW, p. 58

• Fagg, Kathryn – Reserve Bank of Australia, p. 59

• Farrell, Mick – ResMed, p. 62

• Faruqi, Mehreen – NSW Parliament, p. 63

• Ficca, Nino – AusNet Services, p. 66

• Finkel, Alan – Australian Academy of Technological Science and Engineering, p. 48

• Flecker, John – Brookfi eld Multiplex Australasia, p. 53

• Goodwin, Andy – SMEC, p. 51

• Graham, Vince – Networks NSW, p. 66

• Guo, Yingjie – Global Big Data Technologies Centre (UTS), p. 57

• Hallion, Jim – SA Government, p. 64

• Harding, Andrew – Rio Tinto, p. 58

• Heiser, Gernot – University of NSW, p. 54

ALPHABETICAL LISTING • Academia & research

• Associations

• Community

• Consulting

• Contractors & services

• Entrepreneurs & experts

• Industry

• Manufacturing

• Politics

• Public service

• Utilities

• Panel’s Pick

• Higgins, David – HS2, p. 67

• Hirschfeld, Kathy – ASC, InterOil, Transfi eld, Toxfree Solutions, p. 69

• Jenkins, Chris – Th ales Australia & NZ, p. 62

• Jensen, Colin – Brisbane City Council, p. 64

• Johnston, Archie – University of Sydney, p. 44

• Kanga, Marlene – R&D Incentives Committee, p. 49

• Kendall, Mark – Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (UQ), p. 57

• Khan, Stuart – University of NSW, p. 68

• King, Grant – Origin Energy, p. 67

• Labbad, Dan – Lend Lease, p. 53

• Laslett, Craig – Leighton Contractors, p. 52

• Lawson, Bill – Beacon Foundation, p. 49

• Lee, Peter – Southern Cross University, p. 45

• Leslie, Keith – CSIRO, p. 56

• Liveris, Andrew – Th e DOW Chemical Company, p. 61

• Lovell, Nigel – University of NSW, p. 56

• Mareels, Iven – University of Melbourne, p. 45

• Marmion, Bill – WA Government, p. 63

• Mau, Sandra – TrademarkVision, p. 69

• McKinnie, Shireane – Defence Materiel Organisation, p. 65

• Meka, Zimi – Ausenco, p. 51

• Michener, Alistair – Drawboard, p. 68

• Morrow, Bill – nbn, p. 67

• Murphy, Sue – Water Corporation of Western Australia, p. 66

• Noble, Alan – Google Australia and New Zealand, p. 58

• O’Kane, Mary – NSW Government, p. 64

• O’Rourke, Cathal – Laing O’Rourke Australia, p. 52

• Ostergaard, Paul – Norwood Systems, p.56

• Paterson, Adi – ANSTO, p. 46

• Pinczewski, Val – University of NSW, p. 55

• Power, Nev – Fortescue Metals Group, p. 60

• Raper, Judy – University of Wollongong, p. 44

• Reynolds, Karen – Medical Device Research Institute (Flinders University), p. 54

• Rio, Robert – Rio Industrial Group, p. 61

• Roberts, Chris – Cochlear, p. 62

• Robinson, David – McConnell Dowell Corporation, p. 52

• Sahajwalla, Veena – Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (UNSW), p. 56

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Recognising excellence in leadership

Our goals

College for Leadership and Management

The College of Leadership and Management will strengthen and promote the value of engineers as leaders.

• Promote excellence in engineering leadership and management;

• Connect engineers in leadership and management;

• Voice and champion issues of importance to engineering leaders and the community;

• Encourage and empower engineers through their leadership and management journies;

• Attract and retain members of Engineers Australia whose careers encompass broader disciplines; and

• Provide opportunities for personal development and recognition of achievements.

For more information:Jennifer Woodward, Board Administrator Email [email protected]

Membership of CLM is open to all members of Engineers Australia.

engineersaustralia.org.au/college-leadership-and-management

Untitled-11 1Untitled-11 1 19/06/15 2:02 PM19/06/15 2:02 PM


ACADEMIA/RESEARCH : TOP 100

Archie JohnstonDean, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies, University of Sydney

Civil engineer, Heriot-Watt University, UK

Johnston oversees one of Australia’s top ter-

tiary engineering fac-ulties, with a staff of 430, more than 5500 students and an an-nual turnover of $160 million. His global suc-cesses include two new

alliances with Chinese universities Shanghai Jiao Tong and Tsinghua, his board appointment to Chile’s New Engineering for 2030 by Chile’s Min-istry of Economy, a stra-tegic partnership with global security company

Northrup Grumman and a $62 million relation-ship with multi national Rio Tinto.

ACADEMIA/RESEARCH

Ian Young AO HonFIEAust CPEng

Vice-Chancellor, The Australian National University, Canberra

Coastal and ocean engineer, James Cook University

Young is responsible for the strategic di-

rection and operation of The Australian Na-tional University (ANU). He is also chair of the Group of Eight (Go8), the representative body of Australia’s leading research universities, and the Victorian Research and Education Net-work, which supplies ITinfrastructure to Victo-rian universities.

Over the last year, 14 of ANU’s disciplines ranked in the top 25 in world, and four in the top 10, according to the QS World University Rank-ings. This was more than any other Australian uni-versity. Young has also led major administrative reform across ANU and played a major role in public debate on the de-regulation of university tuition fees.

Andrew Vann FIEAust

Vice-Chancellor and President, Charles Sturt University, NSW

Civil engineer, Trent Polytechnic (now Nottingham Trent University), UK

Vann’s role at Charles Sturt Univer-sity (CSU) sees him responsible for

40,000 students, the equivalent of 2200 full time staff and an annual turnover of $500 million. CSU is in the process of instituting an engineering degree and will also open its new Port Macquarie campus soon.

This year, he has taken on the conve-

nor role for the NSW Vice-Chancellor’s Committee and has continued as presi-dent of the Australian Higher Educa-tion Industrial Association, as well as his appointment with the NSW TAFE Commission Board.

“There is a lot of change and uncer-tainty occurring around tertiary educa-tion,” Vann said. “From my perspective

it is really important that educational leaders are focused on producing the skills and knowledge that industry and the community need.”

Judy RaperDeputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), University of Wollongong, NSW

Chemical engineer, UNSW

In addition to her position at UOW, Raper is a member of the Austra-

lian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation and UniMutual boards, as well as several research institutes.

Under her stewardship, the uni-versity has seen significant increases in funding over the past year, as well as increases in publications and im-pact. The university’s class research facilities have also grown, with the completion of the Illawarra Flame house at the Innovation Campus, the Early Start Facility and the ground breaking for the i-Accelerate Centre.

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Alec Cameron Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), University of Western Australia

Robotics engineer, University of Oxford, UK

In his role at UWA, Cameron leads the academic programs and educa-

tion mission for the institution’s 26,000 students. He oversees the use of infor-mation technology, course structures, international activities, student recruit-

ment and engagement and relationships with key education partners.

Prior to joining the university, Cam-eron was president of the Australian Business Deans Council, and he was the driving force behind the Australian

School of Busi-ness, overseeing its emergence

from the integration of academic units at UNSW after being appointed the School’s inaugural dean in 2006.

John Beynon FIEAust

Chair, Global Engineering Deans Council, Adelaide

Metallurgical engineer, University of Sheffield, UK

The Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) has members in

over 30 countries and major corporate partners like Airbus. In 2014, GEDC established a working relationship with the World Bank to support their devel-opment projects in sub-Saharan Africa through the develop ment of engineering

education, and likewise their similar work in India. Beynon played an active role in this effort.

He also addressed an Organisation of American States meeting of science and technology ministers in Guatemala, March 2015, on the contribution of engi-neering education to economic well-being.

Peter Lee FIEAust CPEng

Vice-Chancellor and President, Southern Cross University, Lismore

Chemical engineer, Monash University

Lee oversees about 900 staff and an annual turnover of around

$200 million. He is also chair of the Regional Universities Network, a group of six universities located in regional Australia, and is on the board of Uni-versities Australia, NICTA, Coffs Har-

bour Technology Centre, and Higher Education Services. In 2015, Southern Cross University continues the rollout of its engineering programs, with new laboratories commissioned and the planned introduction of mechanical engineering in 2016.

Iven Mareels FIEAust CPEng EngExec

Dean, Melbourne School of Engineering, University of Melbourne

Electromechanical engineer, Ghent University, Belgium

As Dean, Mareels initiated the university’s Melbourne Accel-

erate Program, an effort to assist entrepreneurs and startups. He also introduced the Master of Entrepre-neurship Program.

Mareels is chair of the Go8 Deans in Engineering and is an advisor to the International Federation of Automatic Control. He received the IEEE Control Systems Society Technology Award, for

his work on the control of large scale irrigation channels. Mareels is also a sought after speaker in the sustain-ability sector, and has presented plenary lectures at international conferences in Spain, Sri Lanka, China and India.

As part of the Go8 Deans, he hosted the Indigenous Engineering Summit, promoting parity participation for indigenous people in engineering education and professions.

NEW

NEW




Gordon Wyeth FIEAust

Executive Dean, Science and Engineering Faculty,Queensland University of Technology

Computer engineer, The University of Queensland

NEW

Adi Paterson FIEAust

CEO, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), NSW

Chemical engineer, Universityof Cape Town, South Africa

Paterson oversees ANSTO’s 1200 staff at the organisation’s Lucas

Heights, Camperdown and Clayton sites, with an operating budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars. ANSTO operates a portfolio of nuclear businesses, key landmark infrastructure and user services for industry and academia.

Among its capital works under-takings, ANSTO is currently con-structing a global scale processing facility for the production of mo-lybdenum-99, which will position Australia as a major exporter of the vital medical radionuclide .

Neil Bose FIEAust CPEng

Principal and CEO, Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania

Naval architecture and ocean engineer, University of Glasgow, UK

Bose’s main role is to lead planning

to guide the strategic direction of the Austra-lian Maritime College (AMC) and to deliver its mission of provid-ing maritime education, training and research.

AMC has recently developed innovative ef-

fective maritime training courses for Torres Strait Islanders in conjunction with the Australian Mari-time Safety Authority. The College is also developing a strong international group focused on human elements in seafaring and has been awarded fund-ing for a next generation

autonomous underwater vehicle under the Antarc-tic Gateway project.

AMC is also making a feature of industry based PhDs, especially in mari-time defence, through an Australian Research Council co-funded In-dustrial Transformation Training Centre.

NEW

Wyeth’s faculty educates 10,000

STEM students each year, and he manages an annual turnover of $200 million. The faculty has a rapidly growing list of achievements in research, including

international awards for the enrichment of foods for developing countries, fellowships for statistical machine learning and $19 mil-lion in funding to give robots the ability to see and understand.


ASSOCIATIONS AND NGOS : TOP 100


David Singleton HonFIEAust EngExec CPEng

Chair, EA College of Leadership and Management, Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA)

Civil engineer, University of Nottingham, UK

Singleton is active in public policy and is sought for his expertise and

influence across leadership, infra-structure planning and delivery and enterprise sustainability.

Over the last year, ISCA has ex-panded to include New Zealand and

the South East Asia region, and has seen a record number of project rat-ings. Singleton’s leadership and influ-ence have been vital in producing long term sustainable infrastructure that facilitates socio-economic growth across Australia.

At the College of Leadership and Management, he is driving a program of activity to reconnect and re-link disenfranchised engineers with EA and with the broader industry, commuities and businesses.

Associations and NGOsDavid Cruickshanks-Boyd FIEAust CPEng EngExec

National President, Engineers Australia

Metallurgical engineer, Birmingham University, UK

In addition to leading EA’s National Council, the institution’s governing

body, Cruickshanks-Boyd is currently the national director for sustainability at Parsons Brinckerhoff, and chair-man of Scope Global.

He has been deputy chair of the national board of the Centre for Engineering Leadership and Man-agement, and was very active in the proposal that led to the establishment of the new College of Leadership and Management. Achievements this year include the successful campaign to reform the governance of Engineers Australia with over 80% of members endorsing the changes.

Bronwyn Evans FIEAust EngExec

CEO, Standards Australia, Canberra

Electrical engineer,University of Wollongong

As CEO of Standards Australia (SA), Evans is responsible for

defining and delivering on the stra-tegic plan for the business, Australia’s peak non-government standards organisation. SA has 110 staff with responsibility for 1050 national tech-nical committees, 450 international technical committees and over 7000 expert contributors.

Evans is director at the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering, and was chair of the Centre for Engi-neering Leadership and Management. In the past year she also won the 2014 EA President’s Award, was appointed to chair the Medical Technologies and Pharmaceuticals Growth Centre, and was appointed to the board of the Australia-Japan Foundation.

NEW

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ASSOCIATIONS AND NGOS : TOP 100


COMMUNITYYassmin Abdel-MagiedFounder and President, Youth Without Borders, Perth

Mechanical Engineer, University of Queensland

At 16, Yassmin Abdel-Magied founded Youth Without Borders,

an organisation focused on enabling young people to work for positive change in their communities. She is a social advocate and regular commenta-tor both nationally and internationally, and has appeared on programs like the ABC’s Q&A. Based in Perth, she works as an offshore drilling engineer for a major multinational energy company.

In the past year she was given the title of 2015 Queensland Young Aus-tralian of the Year. She has expanded the presence of Youth Without Borders, with the organisation now having a presence in three states. She also spoke at the National Press Club in Canberra and won Instyle magazine’s ‘Women of Style’ Charity and Community award.

NEW

Alan Finkel AM FIEAust

President, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Melbourne

Electrical engineer, Monash University

Finkel’s role sees him provide strategic and public direction to

ATSE’s 830 Fellows and permanent staff. He is also chancellor of Monash University and executive publisher of Cosmos magazine.

In the last year, ATSE’s Research Engagement Australia proposal, which aims to develop metrics for measuring the level of engagement between industry and research in-stitutes, has been submitted to and

publicly supported by the relevant ministers and is now in a proof of concept trial with South Australian and Queensland universities.

Finkel has also led a new approach to secondary school science education, based on weekly lessons in the context of articles published in Cosmos magazine.

COMMUNITY : TOP 100

Stephen Durkin FIEAust

Chief Executive, Engineers Australia

Civil engineer, Monash University

There have been a num-ber of achievements

and highlights at EA over the past year, according to Durkin. For example, the institution has taken big steps in its plans to modernise, particularly with the success of Ballot 2015.

EA’s strategy to be the trusted voice of the profession is also playing out well, with a five-fold increase in media coverage from when the effort was kicked off a few years previously.

In 2014, Durkin was recognised as the Monash Univer-sity Civil Engineering Alumnus of the Year, and received an award from the World Federation of Engineering Or-ganisations (WFEO) in acknowledgment of the work that went into EA’s successful bid to host the World Engineering Convention 2019, to coincide with the 100 year anniversary of Engineers Australia.

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COMMUNITY : TOP 100

Bill Lawson AM FIEAust

Founder and Chair, Beacon Foundation, Hobart

Civil engineer, University of Tasmania

The Beacon Foundation, established in 1988 by Lawson, has grown to

become a national not for profit or-ganisation, operating in all Australian states and territories. Beacon focuses on disadvantaged communities and areas of high youth disengagement and

unemployment, where the risk and the need are greatest and it will assist over 15,000 young Australians from just over 120 schools and communities in 2015. Lawson is also a member of the Prime Minister’s Expert Panel for Constitutional Recognition of indigenous Australians

and co-chair of peoples’ movement Recognise in Tasmania.

In the past year Lawson consolidated Beacon’s influence with the federal gov-ernment and was invited to be the first Tasmanian to join the board of Recon-ciliation Australia.

“R edR Australia is amazing”, Taylor says. “Since it start-

ed in 1992 the engineering profes-sion has nurtured and supportedits growth.

“It is now a highly respected pro-vider of competent and committed ex-perts, from telecoms engineers to child protection officers, relieving sufferingin disasters.”

RedR training hones skills, and presently the organisation is sup-porting 51 deployees worldwide, including Nepal and Vanuatu. RedR Australia is a Standby Partner of eight

Lizzie Brown FIEAust

CEO, Engineers Without Borders Australia, Melbourne

Environmental engineer, The University of Queensland

Lizzie Brown has been involved with Engineers Without Borders

Australia (EWB) since 2004, first as a volunteer, then as the education co-ordinator, and then in 2010 she became the CEO. A global leader in humanitarian engineering, she drives a community of 15,000 sup-porters – including 2000 volunteers who recognise the role that engineer-ing, technology and infrastructure play in creating sustained changefor communities.

Brown was recognised last year for her contribution to humanitarian engineering as a winner in The Aus-tralian Financial Review and Westpac 100 Women of Influence Awards.

Marlene Kanga AM

HonFIEAust CPEng

Chair, R&D Incentives Committee, Sydney

Chemical engineer, Indian Institute of Technology

Ma r l e n e K a n g a chairs the R&D

Incentives Commit-tee, which administers the largest innovation support program for industry in Australia via the R&D incentive. Approximately 13,000 companies are expected

to claim the Incentive for the 2013-14 year, with total R&D expenditures exceeding $20 billion. Kanga is also acting chair of Innovation Australia, an independent statutory body established to assist with the administration of the Australian gov-ernment’s innovation programs, and a board member of the Sydney

Water Corporation, the largest water utility in Australia.

In June a strategic diversity and inclu-sion framework, de-veloped by Kanga for engineering and tech-nology workplaces, was launched by Senator Michaelia Cash at an EA event at Parliament House in Canberra.

Elizabeth Taylor AO HonFIEAust

Chair, RedR Australia andRedR International, Sydney

Civil engineer, University of NSW

UN agencies. Taylor also serves as chair of the

EA Accreditation Board and is the EA delegate to the International Engineering Agreements. In 2014, the Australasian Association for Engineering Education awarded her the title of Distinguished Member, and inaugural inductee into their Hall of Fame along with Prof Robin King.

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CONSULTING : TOP 100


Peter Bailey FIEAust CPEng

Director, Arup Group and Australasia Region CEO and Chair, Sydney

Structural engineer, University of Sydney

Bailey is a member of the global board of Arup Group overseeing the entire

Arup operation. The company’s presence worldwide consists of 91 offices, in 39 countries, with 12,000 planners, designers, engineers and consultants. Arup global rev-enue increased to $2.3 billion for 2014/15. There are 12 offices with over 1380 staff in the Australasia Region and its revenue was $252 million in the same period, represent-ing an increase in profitability of 4.5%.

Bailey is a Consult Australia “Champion of Change” and a public advocate for gender diversity in the industry. In the past year Arup was awarded Best Engineering Firm (>$200m) in the Financial Review Client Choice Awards.

CONSULTINGIan Shepherd FIEAust CPEng CEO, GHD, Perth

Civil engineer, Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University)

As CEO, Shepherd is responsible for the

implementation of GHD’s client-service led strategy and under his leadership, the company has devel-oped a geographically balanced global business

with revenues of $1.5 billion expected for 2015.

The recent merger of GHD and CRA has creat-ed one of the top privately owned companies in the global engineering and technical consulting sec-tor. GHD now has 8500 people across more than

200 offices around the world. The company is also one of only two com-panies in the engineering and technical consult-ing sector to receive the Employer of Choice for Gender Equality cita-tion from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.

William Cox FIEAust

Managing Director ANZ, Aurecon, Sydney

Civil engineer, University of NSW

Cox has overall responsibility for the leadership and performance

of the business in Australia and New Zealand – including safety, client en-

gagement, staff engagement, project and financial performance. He leads the Aurecon business in delivering projects across the advisory and asset management, built environment, resources

and energy and infrastructure markets. Recently, Cox has been instrumental in driving the company’s

diversity business case across Australia and New Zealand. Most prominent is his championing of gender equality and cultural and racial diversity through Aurecon’s Reconciliation Plan. Cox is also an ambassador for the Workplace Gender Equality Agency Pay Equality Programme.

NEW

John DouglasManaging Director and CEO,Coffey International, Sydney

Civil engineer,University of Adelaide

In his four years as Managing Director, Douglas has re-focused

Coffey on its core businesses of geo-services, project management and international development. Coffey employs about 4000 people working in 80 countries around the world.

“In 2015, we’ve further built on our client focus, winning two awards at the Financial Review Client Choice Awards,” Douglas said.

The awards were for the Best Provider to the Construction and Infrastructure Sector and the Best Queensland Firm.

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CONSULTING : TOP 100


Zimi Meka FIEAust

Managing Director and CEO, Ausenco, Brisbane

Mechanical engineer, Queensland Institute of Technology

(now Queensland Universityof Technology)

Meka is responsible for a global team located across 31 offices in 19

countries. He is vital in developing and managing Ausenco’s corporate strategy, and mentoring the company’s leaders to continue to grow the business, without limiting the company’s ability to move

quickly when new opportunities arise.In the current cost-sensitive environ-

ment, Ausenco’s reputation for innova-tion, combined with their expertise in asset optimisation, is winning the company business in new markets from new and existing clients. Meka continues to be one of 11 business leaders taking a public stand on the issue of gender diversity as a Queensland Male Cham-pion of Change.

Guy Templeton FIEAust

President and CEO Asia Pacific,WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff, Sydney

Electrical engineer, University of NSW

Templeton is responsible for around 5000 staff in the Asia Pacific working on rail, road, mining,

power and water infrastructure projects. WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff combined in late 2014 and is now one of the world’s leading engineering professional services consulting firms operating with two highly-respected brands.

Recently, Consult Australia named the company ‘Large Firm of the Year’ (2013 and 2014). WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff won the ‘Safety in Design’ and ‘Sustain-ability in Design’ awards for the Central Thermal Plant in Sydney’s Central Park Precinct.

AndyGoodwin

Managing Directorand CEO, SMEC, Melbourne

Mechanical engineer, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa

Goodwin is responsible for SMEC’s revenue of over $450

million last year and the overall management of the SMEC Group with 5400 employees across a net-work of 75 offices in more than 35 countries. Since taking over last year, Goodwin has set a number of key focus areas in place.

“I plan to focus on: building long term partnerships with our clients; growing the business organically; strengthening our capability in emerg-ing markets; further developing our people; and fully integrating our sys-tems and processes globally,” he said.

Within the last year, SMEC has won several prestigious awards with success at the Consult Australia Awards for Excellence, Governor of Victoria Export Awards, Australian Charity Awards, Consulting Engi-neers South Africa (CESA) awards and the South African Institution of Civil Engineers awards.

NEW

Andrew Wood FIEAust

CEO, WorleyParsons, Melbourne

Civil engineer, University of Adelaide

Wood is respon-sible for executive

leadership of WorleyPar-sons, a leading provider of project delivery and consulting services to the resources & energy in-dustries. WorleyParsons has a comprehensive global network compris-ing 35,100 people in 157 offices throughout 46

countries, generating an-nual revenue of around $9 billion.

Recently, Wood has identified five long-term goals for the company: building a world class consulting business; be-coming the leading glob-al project management consultant; creating a leading asset services and

maintenance business; being the most agile lo-cal service provider; and developing low-cost, lo-cal delivery centres.

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CONTRACTORS/SERVICES : TOP 100


Craig Laslett FIEAust

Managing Director, Leighton Contractors, Sydney

Civil engineer, Universityof South Australia

Craig Laslett leads the new construction engineering com-

pany for the CIMIC Group (formerly Leighton Holdings).

Recently, Laslett achieved the start-up of the company that is now providing strong engineering and technical support to the CIMIC Group in Australia, New Zealand and across Asia. In addition, as part of his broader leadership role within CIMIC, he continues to provide strong leadership to industry and in the community through his board associations with CareerTrack-ers, EA’s College of Leadership & Management and the Australian Constructors Association.

Cathal O’Rourke CPEng

Managing Director,Laing O’Rourke Australia, Sydney

Civil engineer, University of Birmingham, UK

Ov e r s e e i n g t h e company’s Austra-

lia Hub, O’Rourke has responsibility for op-erations across Austra-lia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and South East

Asia, overseeing more than 3000 employees and revenues of around $3 billion.

In the past year, Laing O’Rourke conducted a strategic expansion of its regional infrastruc-ture skills into new sectors and complex infrastructure projects. O’Rourke has cham-pioned the company vision of challenging

and changing traditional methods of construction and fostering the indus-try’s best people. This en-hanced focus saw Laing O’Rourke recognised as Australia’s 8th Most In-novative Company in the prestigious BRW Top 50 Innovative Companies list and also voted by graduates as the #3 Best Graduate Employer in Australia (AAGE index).

Contractors/Services

Ross Taylor MIEAust, CPEng

Managing Directorand CEO, UGL, Sydney

Civil engineer, University of Queensland

Taylor joined UGL as CEO in November

2014, following his suc-cessful implementation of a five year operational turnaround and strategic plan at Tenix as Group CEO. Taylor is also a director on the board of the Australian Contrac-tors Association and is a non-executive direc-tor and chairman of the Bairo Pite Clinic, a not-for-profit organisation focused on the provision of health care in Austra-lia’s nearby neighbour Timor-Leste.

At UGL, Taylor has led a comprehensive

review of the diversi-fied engineering ser-vices company, putting in place a new operational structure and defined path to improving finan-cial performance.

“This is an exciting time for the business. As of the end of the 2014/15 financial year, we have a committed forward order book of $5.1 billion and are about to commence some major contracts within our Technology Systems and Asset Ser-vices divisions, which will further complement our core Rail, Power and LNG projects,” he said.

David Robinson FIEAust, CPEng

CEO, McConnell Dowell Corporation, Melbourne

Civil engineer, Universityof Western Australia

Robinson heads the corporation and its subsidiary companies

with more than 7500 employees and group annual revenues in excess of US$5.5 billion. He also serves as di-rector of McConnell Dowell’s South African parent company, Aveng.

Recent achievements saw two McConnell Dowell projects among the final six shortlisted for the Australian Constructors Associa-tion (ACA) Excellence Awards. The APLNG Pipeline Project was also awarded the 2015 Infrastructure Partnerships Australia (IPA) Con-tractor excellence award.

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CONTRACTORS/SERVICES : TOP 100


Marcelino Fernandez VerdesExecutive Chairman and CEO, CIMIC Group, Sydney

Civil engineer, University of Barcelona, Spain

Fernández Verdes is responsible for the leadership and strategic direc-

tion of CIMIC Group, one of the world’s leading international contractors and the world’s largest contract miner, and for the leadership of the company’s board. He is also the chairman and CEO of German construction company HOCHTIEF.

This year Fernández Verdes com-menced a strategic review of CIMIC’s operations to transform the company’s model by internationalising and stream-

lining its operations. This included strengthening the company’s balance sheet, streamlining its operating model and improving project delivery. It also involved the establishment of dedicated businesses focused on contract mining, construction, public private partnerships and engineering.

Fern ndez Verdes was also a recipient of a Commendation of Number of the Order of Civil Merit from the Kingdom of Spain.

Dan LabbadCEO International Operations, Lend Lease, Sydney

Civil engineer, Universityof Technology Sydney

Labbad was appointed to the CEO International Operations

role in 2014. He is responsiblefor overseeing the expansion of Lend Lease’s Europe, Americas and Asia regions.

Labbad has recently outlined an ambitious plan for the company’s international operations, promising that the group will target fewer markets and be more disciplined than during its previous period of offshore expansion. Targeting the US, Britian and Asian growth markets of Malaysia, Singapore, China and Japan, Labbad has been given the task of increasing international earnings by 10% (up from 25% in 2014).

Rob Velletri MIEAust

Managing Director, Monadelphous, Perth

Mechanical engineer, University of Western Australia

Velletri joined Mon-adelphous in 1989

and has taken on the role of managing direc-tor for the last 12 years.

During this time, he has overseen Monadelphous’ strategic development into one of Australia’s leading construction and services companies in mining, oil and gas and infrastructure sectors.

In the past year the company has broadened its revenue base seeking opportunities in the off-shore energy sector. The mining downturn has also made improving produc-

tivity a top priority.“By working together

we are able to harness the collective talents of our people to reach our goals and those of our customers,” Velletri said. “In these challenging times it is particularly important, as we work at improving productiv-ity, focus on innovation as well as continuing to broaden and diversify our markets.”

John Flecker FIEAust

CEO, Brookfield Multiplex Australasia, Perth

Civil engineer, University of Western Australia

Flecker leads an or-ganisation of more

than 1000 employees in Australia, spanning several sectors including non-process infrastruc-ture, such as remote accommodation in the mining sector, water, commercial, infrastruc-ture, health, retail, resi-dential and education.

In the past year, Brookfield Multiplex (BM) acquired the En-gineering Innovations Group (EiG). EiG works across all BM projects, rationalising structural designs and enhanc-ing construction and erection techniques. As part of the Westadium consortium, BM was

appointed as the de-sign and construction contractor for the new Perth Stadium.

NEW

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ENTREPRENEURS/EXPERTS : TOP 100


ENTREPRENEURs/EXPERTs

Karen Reynolds FIEAust

Director, Medical Device Research Institute (MDRI),Flinders University, Adelaide

Biomedical engineer, Oxford University, UK

As Director of Flinders University’s Medical Device Research Institute

and the Medical Device Partnering Program, Reynolds is committed to connecting research and industry to enhance health technology innovation. She is playing a pivotal role in the devel-opment of a Health Innovation precinct at the $124 million Tonsley campus.

In 2014, in recognition of her signifi-cant contributions to industry develop-ment and medical device innovation, Reynolds was awarded the Medical Technology Association of Australia’s Outstanding Achievement Award. She was also elected as an inaugural Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.

Gernot Heiser MIEAust

John Lions Chair of Operating Systems, UNSW School of Computer Science and Engineering, Sydney

Computer engineer, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Scientia Prof Gernot Heiser also leads National ICT Australia’s (NICTA)

Software Systems Research Group. His research interests are “truly dependable” operating systems, microkernels (and microkernel-based systems virtualisa-tion), energy management and real-time systems. Heiser’s first main achievement in microkernel research was to show that microkernels could be used in low

overhead environments like embedded systems. His second was showing that a specific microkernel could be proved to be free of bugs, redefining people’s notion of the possible and triggering worldwide efforts for verifying systems code.

Last year Heiser was made a Fellow of the ACM, the largest and oldest association of computing profes-sionals worldwide.

Scott William Sloan FIEAust CPEng

Founding Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Geotechnical Science and Engineering (CGSE), University of Newcastle


Sloan leads the 160-strong CGSE which has a total

research budget of close to $13 million pa. CGSE pioneers new scientific ap-proaches to geotechnical en-gineering design to underpin Australia’s energy and trans-port infrastructure, resulting in increased productivity and sustainability of the nation’s major export industries.

In May, Sloan was elected to a Fellowship of the Royal Society of London (FRS) – a very rare honour for an Australian engineer. Re-cently the CGSE has been making groundbreaking contributions to the cost-effective analysis and design of transport infrastructure, pipelines and offshore oil and gas facilities.

NEW

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Matt Barrie FIEAust

CEO, Freelancer.com, Sydney

Electrical engineer,University of Sydney

Matt Barrie’s Freelancer.com, the world’s leading online

marketplace for freelancing and crowdsourcing, recently surpassed 15 million users with over 7.7 mil-lion projects posted in 850 areas of work. The company also entered the payments space by acquiring the largest online escrow company, Escrow.com, and further expanded its network with the integration of local services.

Professors Christoph Arns and Val Pinczewski received inter-

national attention earlier this year when the digital core analysis tech-nology they co-developed with ANU researchers sold to US company FEI for $76 million. The buy-out was seen as a textbook case of technol-ogy transfer from lab to industry, delivering financial returns and the UNSW Inventor of the Year Award and the Innovation Impact Award for its co-creators.

Arns was elected to the council of the Interpore Society and ischair of Magnetic Resonance in Porous Media, a division of the Ampere Society.

Pinczewski established a Coal Seam Gas (CSG) research program at UNSW and was advisor to Chief Scientist and Engineer Mary O’Kane (and fellow Top 100 Engineer) during her review of CSG activities in NSW.

Val PinczewskiProfessor, School

of PetroleumEngineering, University

of NSW, Sydney

Chemical engineer, University of Newcastle

NEW

NEW

Christoph ArnsProfessor, School of Petroleum Engineering, University of NSW, Sydney

Petroleum engineer, University of NSW

Stuart Crozier

Associate Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and IT,The University of Queensland

Biomedical engineer, Queensland University of Technology

Prof Crozier’s main role facilitates the

growth and viability of research activities across the faculty, as well as engaging with indus-try, government and the wider community to significantly contribute to the faculty’s research outcomes. In addition, he is the chief technical officer of Magnetica, a University of Queensland start-up company that designs and develops solutions for magnetic resonance imaging

The commercial and academic impact of Cro-zier’s work has been sig-nificant, with about two thirds of all high-end, clinical MRI systems installed worldwide after 1997 containing patented

technology co-invented and fully developed by him. In 2013 UQ named him as one of its Top Five Innovators for his work to improve the functionality

and effectiveness of high-field MRI technology. He has published more than 200 journal papers and holds 20 patents in the field of medical imaging.

NEW




Paul OstergaardFounder and CEO, Norwood Systems

Electronics engineer,University of Western Australia

Ostergaard is respon-sible for implement-

ing Norwood’s overall strategic direction, plan-ning and day-to-day run-ning of the business. He and his team developed t h e c l o u d s e r v i c e platform, CORONA, which reduces mobile phone voice roaming

charges by more than 70% for travellers.

N o r w o o d Systems recently won the 2014 National iAward for CORONA, as well as a National Merit Recogni-tion award. The company has won two WAiTTA

Incite awards, and was a finalist representing Australia at the APICTA 2014 Awards in Jakarta.

NEW

Veena Sahajwalla FIEAust

Director, SMaRT, University of NSW

Metallurgical engineer, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India

Scientia Prof Saha-jwalla directs the

Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) at UNSW; delivering

scientific and engineer-ing advances in sus-tainability of materials and associated processes i n c o l l a b o r a t i o n with industry.

As Australian Re-search Council Laureate Fellow and Georgina Sweet Award recipient, Sahajwalla not only leads the development of all-new fundamental high temperature e-waste investigations for the development of high-value products, but she has also implemented ‘Science 50:50’ – a wide-reaching program de-signed to inspire women to pursue careers in science and engineering.

Keith LeslieResearch scientist, CSIRO, NSW

Electrical engineer, University of Melbourne

Leslie, along with CSIRO physicist Cathy Foley, was a joint recipient

of the prestigious ATSE Clunies Ross Award in 2015, in honour of his work on LANDTEM, a highly sensitive magnetic device that detects ore bodies with extremely weak magnetic fields.

The technology has been responsible for discovering ore deposits valued at more than $10 billion globally, $4 bil-lion of which was located in Australia. LANDTEM is also less invasive and environmentally damaging than some other exploration methods.

NEW

Nigel LovellFIEAust CPEng

Scientia Professor, Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of NSW

Electrical engineer, UNSW

Lovell leads research and de-velopment teams that are de-

veloping wearable technologies to detect and predict falls as well as developing a retinal neuropros-thesis or so-called “bionic eye”. His primary responsibility in the latter has been in the design of stimulation strategies to provide the most effective forms of vision to future implantees.

In 2015 Lovell was awarded the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society Technical Achieve-ment Award for “world class contri-butions to research, clinical trialling and commercialisation of medical device technologies and wearablesensors, including visual pros-t h e s e s , t e l e h e a l t h s y s t e m sand ambulatory fall monitors”.

NEW




Stan Skafidas FIEAust

Director, Centre for Neural Engineering (CfNE),University of Melbourne, Melbourne

Electrical engineer, University of Melbourne

As CfNE Director, Skafidas fosters multidisciplinary teams bringing

together neuroscientists, cell biologists, neurologists, psychiatrists, mathemati-cians, physicists, chemists and engineers to better understand brain function and the underlying biological causes of disorders such schizophrenia, epilepsy and autism.

In the past year his teams have de-veloped a new point of care diagnostic

platform to measure molecules of inter-est at the bedside, reducing delays, costs and transport requirements for many types of pathology testing.

CfNE has also printed cortical (brain) tissue using stem cell and printer technologies to form groups of cells which grow connections and are electrically active, opening up new avenues for understanding brain func-tion and drug discovery.

NEW

Rose Amal FIEAust

Scientia Professor, School of Chemical Engineering, University of NSW


Amal is the Director of Particle and Catalysis Research Labo-

ratory in the School of Chemical Engineering at UNSW and Deputy Chair of IChemE (Australia).

Amal was awarded the ARC Laureate Fellowship (2014-2019) which aims to engineer hybrid pho-tocatalytic systems for sustainable fuel generation. She will develop next generation hybrid photoelectrode systems that will effectively harness solar energy to transform carbon dioxide into sustainable fuels using a multi-scale approach.

Mark KendallGroup Leader, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), The University of Queensland

Mechanical engineer, The University of Qld

In addition to his role at AIBN, Kendall is also

chief technology officer and director of biomedi-cal company Vaxxas, driving the direction of its nanopatch technology. He also chairs the UQ In-novation Champions. In this role, he helps foster the next generation of

innovators at UQ.In the last year, he

commenced a partner-ship with the World Health Organization, which has invested signif-icant funding in applying the nanopatch to polio vaccination of people in developing nations. Kendall said progress

has been strong and the project was on track to take the nanopatch to Cuba. Vaxxas has also taken the nanopatch into clinical testing on hu-mans, underpinned by a successful second round of fundraising worth $25 million.

Y. Jay GuoDirector, Global Big Data Technologies Centre (GBDTC), University of Technology Sydney

Electrical and electronics engineer,Xidian University, China

Funded by UTS and co-funded by CSIRO,

GBDTC serves as an international centre of ex-cellence for the develop-ment of enabling technol-ogies for big data science. Guo is an internationally established scientist with over 300 publications and expertise in antennas and wireless communications

systems, an innovator with strong and sustained industrial impact and a globally recognisedR&D leader.

In December, Guo was invited as a Distin-guished Visiting Fellow by the Royal Academy of Engineering to set up research collaborations between a number of

British universities, UTS and CSIRO. Since join-ing UTS last year, Jay has attracted a number of prominent professors from overseas to join GBDTC and secured substantial multi-year funding from industry.


INDUSTRY : TOP 100


Bob Every AO FIEAust CPEng

Chair, Wesfarmers, Boral, WA

Metallurgist, University of NSW

As chair of retail giant Wesfarmers and building products manufac-

turer Boral, Every is responsible for some 210,000 jobs. He will be step-ping down from his positions at both groups in November, and so much

of his work this year has been de-voted to creating a smooth succession,he said. In his time at the twocompanies, he has been named oneof the most powerful people in Aus-tralia’s boardrooms.

INDUSTRYAlan Noble Director, Engineering, Google Australia and New Zealand

Software engineer, Stanford University, US

In his eight years at Google, Noble has been responsible for the health

and growth of the firm’s engineering teams based in Sydney. The site has grown from 30 engineers to more than 500, and he has been involved in initiatives to increase the diversity of the workforce. Noble has also worked to improve Australia’s capa-bilities in STEM education through government engagement, advisory and developing outreach programs.

NEW

Andrew HardingChief Executive – Iron Ore, China, Japan and Korea, Rio Tinto, WA

Mining engineer, University of NSW

In addition to his role with Rio Tinto, Harding is a board member of the En-ergy and Minerals Institute at the University of Western Australia, and the

Australia-Japan Business Cooperation Council. As chief executive of the firm’s $11 billion iron ore product group, he is accountable for operations and projects in Australia, Canada and India and for Rio Tinto Marine. He also has executive committee responsibility for China, Japan and Korea.

George Savvides FIEAust

Managing Director, Medibank Private, Vic

Industrial engineer, University of NSW

Savvides is the longest serving managing

director in Medibank’s history, and his leader-ship has overseen more than 90% of the firm’s profit generation.

In November 2014, Medibank was listed on the ASX, becoming one of the exchange’s top

100 shares. The firm has continued to play a greater role in primary care through new ser-vices and advocates for quality and affordability in the healthcare system. In January, Medibank launched a program to make gyms more acces-sible and affordable.

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INDUSTRY : TOP 100


Mark CutifaniChief Executive, Anglo American, London

Mining engineer, University of Wollongong

In addition to his responsibility for a major diversified mining company,

Cutifani is also the president of the International Council for Mining and Metals. Despite external headwinds affecting the industry in the last year, Anglo American has driven operational improvements across its commodity

groups and delivered on its specific 2014 targets, according to Cutifani. Among the targets met this year was the first ore on ship at the firm’s 26.5 Mt/a Minas-Rio iron ore project in Brazil, and its best safety performance to date, with a 30% improvement in total recordable frequency rate.

Kathryn Fagg

Board member, Reserve Bank of Australia, Victoria

Chemical engineer University of Queensland

In addition to her RBA position, Fagg

is a board member for Boral, Incitec Pivot, Djer-riwarrh Investments and the Breast Cancer Net-work of Australia. She is also chair of the Industry and Innovation Forum for ATSE. As a member of the RBA board she participates in monthly decisions on monetary policy for Australia.

David CaspariVice President for Products, Solutions and ICT, Optus Business, NSW


Since joining Optus in April 2014, Caspari’s responsibility

has been to accelerate the firm’s transformation into an ICT provider in Australia, as well as to lead the development of global cloud offer-ings on behalf of SingTel. Over the past 12 months Optus Business has acquired two market leading organ-isations, and achieved double digit growth in its ICT product portfolio.

Jimmy WilsonPresident, BHP Billiton Iron Ore, Perth

Mechanical engineer, University of Natal, South Africa

Wilson has had an extensive career in the mining industry and held

key managerial and operating roles throughout BHP Billiton, including presidencies for Energy Coal and Stain-less Steel Materials. Since his most recent

role change in March 2012, Wilson has focused on engaging employees and im-proving productivity. His tenure has also seen reductions in external expenditure through lower demand, better rates and insourcing services.


INDUSTRY : TOP 100


Peter Coleman MIEAust CPEng

Managing Director and CEO, Woodside, Perth


Coleman oversees 4000 staff at Wood-

side, Australia’s larg-est publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production com-pany. In 2014, Woodside achieved a record under-lying profit of US$2.4 billion, and record pro-duction of just over 95 million barrels of oil

equivalent. The firm also grew its global ex-ploration portfolio, with permits now across 11 countries and a range of seismic and drilling activities planned inthe coming months. Also in 2014, Coleman was appointed Chair of the Australia-Korea Foundation.

Scott Charlton CEO, Transurban

Electrical engineer,Texas A&M University, US

Charlton has more than 25 years’ experience in the infrastructure

sector and is an electrical engineer. In addition to his role at toll road owner and operator Transurban, he is deputy chair of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia.

Under his leadership, Transurban has major transport infrastructure projects under way in Australia’s capital cities. These include North-Connex – Sydney’s longest road tunnel – and a major upgrade of CityLink’s western section in Mel-bourne. The firm has also proposed a $5.5 billion project including a tunnel and elevated motorway to provide an alternate river crossing for Melbourne’s western suburbs.

Ralph Waters HonFIEAust CPEng

Chairman, Woolworths

Mechanical engineer, RMIT

In addition to his role at Woolworths, Waters is also a director of ports and

rail operator Asciano and is chairman of Cricket World Cup 2015.

Despite it being a challenging year for most businesses, Waters said being involved in delivering the most success-ful Cricket World Cup ever staged was a contrasting highlight. The event saw 1.1 million people in attendance and over 1.5 billion watching on television.


MANUFACTURING : TOP 100


Robert RioFounder, Owner and ManagingDirector of Rio Industrial Group(RIG), Melbourne

Industrial engineer,Swinburne Institute of Technology

RIG is a group of manufacturing and

logistic companies based in Australia. These in-clude Carlton Chemi-cals, Quality Packaging Services, Quality Logistic Services Australia, Man-

pak and Zecca. The group was started by Rio in 1987 with the first year turnover being less than $50,000. RIG now turns over more than $200 million with a workforce

of over 100 people. In 2015 Rio was a

nominee for the EYEntrepreneur of theYear Award.

MANUFACTURINGAlan CransbergChairman and Managing Director, Alcoa of Australia, Perth


Cransberg manages the com-pany’s global alumina refining

assets, based in Australia, Brazil, Spain, the US and Suriname. As president of Alcoa Refining he is also accountable for Alcoa’s Global Refining Centre of Excellence and provides oversight and management support for all Australian operations. He is the chairman of the West Coast Eagles, and is on the boards of the Black Swan State Theatre Company, the US Alcoa Foundation and Our Watch – aimed at preventing domes-tic violence. He is also a member of CEO’s for Gender Equity.

In the past year he has overseen the transformation of Alcoa’s refin-ing portfolio, delivering lower cost of production in Alcoa’s global upstream business.

NEW

Andrew Liveris AO

Chair and CEO, The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, US

Chemical engineer, University of Queensland

Andrew Liveris is C h ai r m an and

Chief Executive Officer of The Dow Chemical Company, a global tech-

nology company focused on developing innovative solutions at the intersec-tions of the physical, materials, polymer and biological sciences with 2014 annual sales of more than $58 billion.

In 2014, Liveris was appointed AO for services to international business and he led Dow to earn 635 US patent grants – a record in the com-

pany’s 118 year history. He continues to support his alma mater as the Inaugural Chair of The University of Queensland in America Foundation. Recently, Liveris received an honorary doctorate of engineering from Michi-gan State University and was named an indepen-dent member of Aus-tralia’s Growth Centres Advisory Committee.

Steve WorlockDirector, Project Management and Engineering, BAE Systems Australia

Mechanical and aeronautical engineer, University of Bath, UK

With functional responsibility for over 1500 engineers, project man-

agers and technical staff, Worlock carries technical and maintenance authority for the company. This means he is ultimately accountable for the integrity and safety of all delivered goods and services.

As a company director and manage-

ment board member, Worlock has con-tributed to the delivery of the first of two Landing Helicopter Dock warships; selection as regional airframe sustain-ment lead for the Joint Strike Fighter; and diversification of the business into commercial aviation maintenance and the oil and gas market. NEW

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MANUFACTURING : TOP 100


Chris Roberts FIEAust

CEO and President, Cochlear, Sydney

Chemical and biomedical engineer, UNSW

Roberts oversees 2700 staff and a company that has been a global

leader in implantable devices for the hearing impaired for over three decades. Roberts said Cochlear’s leadership position is through technological innovation, closely connected to clinical need.

In the last year, the company released products from across its portfolio, including the Nucleus 6 System with the industry’s first truly wireless accessories, and Baha 5 Sys-tem, which has won the prestigious Red Dot design award.

Mick FarrellCEO, ResMed, San Diego, US


ResMed changes lives by help-ing millions of people breathe

in over 100 countries world-wide. Its focus is on sleep apnoea and chronic obstructive pulmonary dis-ease (COPD) and other key, costly chronic respiratory medical diseases. Farrell sits on the ResMed board of directors and on the board of directors of Zimmer Holdings, a multi-billion dollar public company that provides implantable musculoskeletal medical devices for patients globally.

During the last year, ResMed launched the world’s first 100% cloud-connected respiratory medical device solu-tion – leading the world in patient engagement for sleep apnoea and COPD therapy.

Rob SindelManaging Director, CSR, Sydney

Mechanical engineer,University of Queensland

CSR under Sindel’s leadership has greatly improved performance

in a competitive environ ment where access to products and services can now be achieved easily using global buying platforms. Many traditional business models are being disrupted by these digital platforms as well as changes in demographics, which are changing the way people live and work. Sindel sees it as his respon-sibility to identify the changes hap-pening in the external environment and then develop a business strategy for the organisation.

The management team at CSR has developed innovative new building systems to address the changing landscape of how buildings are built, while at the same time restructuring their existing business to be more competitive. In the past year CSR has been able to grow revenues by 16% to over $2 billion while profitability has doubled.

Maureen DoughertyPresident, Boeing Australia andSouth Pacific, Sydney

Mechanical engineer,Pennsylvania State University, US

Dougherty as presi-dent is responsible

for government affairs and coordinates all Boe-ing activities in Australia and the South Pacific region. The company’s presence in Australia is its largest footprint outside

the United States, with more than 3000 employ-ees in 27 locations.

In the past year Dough-erty oversaw a number of key milestones across the Boeing business in the re-gion. She served as chair-person of the American

Chamber of Commerce and supported Boe-ing’s Global Corporate Citizenship activities at organisations including the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the Aus-tralian War Memorial.

Chris JenkinsCEO, Thales Australia & NZ, Sydney

Mechanical engineer, University of NSW

Thales Australia & NZ under Jenkins’ leadership has been investing in new

developments in Defence capability and critical infrastructure over the past years and in 2014/15 several of these local innovations achieved important mile-

stones for our customers. The Hawkei lightweight protected vehicle for Army has demonstrated outstanding blast protection in the most arduous testing and is progressing on schedule for pro-duction in 2016.

Jenkins is over-seeing a range of world leading local developments in sonars, armaments, ordnance security and a wide range of other technologies being created in Australia.

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POLITICS : TOP 100


Mehreen FaruqiMember of Legislative Council, NSW Parliament, the Greens

Civil engineer, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan

Faruqi is the Greens NSW spokesperson for the environ-

ment, transport, roads and ports, status of women, multicultural-ism, animal welfare, drugs and harm minimisation, young people, Western Sydney and the lower Mid-North Coast.

Re-elected to the NSW Legislative Council in 2015, Faruqi developed the Greens NSW 2020 Transport Plan to advocate for a sustainable world class public transport system

and through a successful call for papers, forced the NSW Govern-ment to publicly release thousandsof documents related to the West-Connex Business Case. In 2013, Faruqi received the UNSW Judy Raper Women in Leadership Award and was voted in Fairfax Daily Life’s Top 20 Women who madea difference.

POLITICS Bill Marmion FIEAust CPEng

WA Minister for Finance;Mines and Petroleum, Perth


Bill Marmion is the member for

Nedlands in Western Australia, and holds ministerial portfolios in finance; minesand petroleum.

In the past year, Marmion introduced the Mining Rehabilitation Fund and con-tinued streamlining of mining regulation to encourage investment. In December, he took over as minister for Finance and began cross-government red tape reduction strategy. Marmion has led a major WA trade mission to Singapore, South Koreaand China.

NEW

Barry Broe FIEAust

Coordinator-General, Queensland Government, Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning, Brisbane

Civil engineer, University College Dublin, Ireland

The Coordinator-General is an independent statutory body with

wide-ranging powers to coordinate and deliver large-scale infrastructure projects.

During 2014, Broe made 136 statutory decisions, a rate over twice as high as the historical average. Environmental assess-ment times have been reduced by 57%.

Seven major projects were approved, with a capital value of almost $34 billion

and the potential to create 40,000 jobs.The 106,000 ha Galilee Basin State

Develop ment Area from the Basin to Abbot Point was also declared, a critical milestone in opening up this resource-rich Basin.

Public servicePUBLIC SERVICE : TOP 100

David Stewart FIEAust

Director-General, Queensland Department of Premier and Cabinet, Brisbane

Civil engineer, Queensland University of Technology

Stewart provides strategic, tactical advice and insight to the Premier and

Cabinet and is responsible for whole-of-government leadership, with more than 20 agencies reporting to the role. He has

been at the forefront of co-ordinating Queensland’s community response after this year’s severe weather events. As the former Secretary of Transport for NSW, Stewart oversaw the $50 billion Transport

Master Plan and delivered on a range of projects including Syd-ney’s $8.3 billion North West Rail Link.

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PUBLIC SERVICE : TOP 100

Colin Thorne AO

GM Land and Maritime, Defence Materiel Organisation, Canberra

Electronics engineer, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Thorne leads a group of about 2500 military and Australian Public

Servants engineers, project managers, sustainment managers, logisticians and procurement specialists responsible for an acquisition and sustainment pro-gram of about $4 billion this year. Hiswide-ranging program includes ships, vehicles, weapons, munitions, sol-dier systems, uniforms, combat ra-tions and pharmaceuticals. He is also responsible for asset manage-ment policy and professionalisationin Defence.

Milestones this year include de-

livery of the Navy’s largest ever ship,the HMAS Canberra Landing Heli-copter Dock.

Mary O’Kane HonFIEAust CPEng

NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, NSW Government, Sydney

Engineering physics PhD, The Australian National University

O’Kane provides the NSW Government high quality advice on contentious policy matters

with major science and engineering aspects.She completed her high profile review of coal

seam gas activities in NSW in September last year. Her final report contained 16 recommendations to government.

In 2014, O’Kane was awarded the Pearcey Medal – a prestigious annual award recognising a distinguished lifetime achievement and contribution to the development and growth of the ICT professions, research and industryin Australia.

Colin Jensen FIEAust

CEO, Brisbane City Council

Civil engineer, Queensland University of Technology

Managing an annual budget of $3 billion and an asset base of $21

billion, Jensen oversees the largest lo-cal government in Australia serving a population of 1.1 million people. He also delivers Council’s key initiatives in the pursuit of its Brisbane Vision 2031.

Recent Council achievements include completion of the 4.6 km Legacy Way tunnel, and the popular New Farm Riverwalk Replacement. The $72 million Riverwalk which opened in September 2014 provides a structure that has significant flood resilience.

Jim HallionAM FIEAust CPEng

State Coordinator General, South Australia, Adelaide

Civil engineer,University of Adelaide

Hallion’s role is to drive invest-ment, cut red tape and create

jobs for private projects over $3 mil-lion for commercial and mixed use development and multiple projects that exceed $3 million.

In the past year, Hallion was conferred AM for significant service to public administration in SA, par-ticularly to transport infrastructure, energy and agriculture. He has facili-tated private sector development for over 230 projects of economic sig-nificance and led major reforms on intergovernmental relations in areas of education, health and housing.

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PUBLIC SERVICE : TOP 100

Neil Scales FIEAust CPEng Director-General, Queensland Departmentof Transport and Main Roads, Brisbane

Control engineer, Sunderland Polytechnic (now University of Sunderland), UK

Scales is responsible for more than 7000 Department of Transport and

Main Roads (TMR) staff across the state. This year, TMR will undertake $4.5 bil-

lion of works. The department is currently planning and implementing multiple large projects such as the Toowoomba 2nd

Range Crossing and the Gateway Up-grade North, and helping to deliver the Moreton Bay Rail Link. TMR has also undertaken major reconstruction across the network due to cyclones Maria and Oswald, restoring road, rail, port and regional airport connections.

Alex Zelinsky HonFIEAust

Chief Defence Scientist, Defence Science andTechnology Organisation (DSTO), Canberra

Electrical engineer, University of Wollongong

Zelinsky leads the DSTO with 2200

staff and an annual bud-get of $426 million. The key challenge for DSTO remains the implementa-tion of its Strategic Plan. Three years into a five year plan, Zelinsky seeks to build an agile organisa-tion that provides the best science and technology for the ADF.

Significant highlights include the recent commissioning by the

Royal Australian Air Force of Joint Direct Attack Munitions that include DSTO-designed wing kits for extending t h e i r r a n g e a n d precision; and delivery to the Afghan National Security and Defence Forces of low cost, robust and lightweight force protection systems developed by DSTO and produced by Australian industry to address the threat of improvised

e x p l o s i v e d e v i c e s . Z e l insky has b e en selected to receive the 2015 M A Sargent Medal for his contributions an d l e a d e r s h ip i n electrical engineering and computer science for Australia.

Shireane McKinnie FIEAust EngExec

GM Joint, Systems andAir, Defence Materiel Organisation, Canberra


McKinnie oversees a pro-gramme of acquisition and

sustainment of military systems ex-ceeding $6 billion this financial year.

Her recent priorities have includ-ed governing once-in-a-generation replacements of a range of aircraft and helicopter types and electronic systems. She is a champion for engineering in Defence, actively mentors women in executive and engineering roles and is very focused on materiel safety.

Geoff Brown AO

Chief of Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Canberra

Mechanical engineer, Darling Downs Institute of AdvancedEducation (now University of Southern Queensland)

Brown oversees al-most 19,000 per-

manent, reserve and civilian employees. He is responsible for over $4.4 billion per year to fund workforce costs, minor capital and oper-ating expenses.

As the Royal Austra-lian Air Force (RAAF) transitions fifth gen-

eration capabilities into service, Plan Jericho is Brown’s plan to trans-form the RAAF into a fighting force for the information age.

Plan Jericho will en-sure the RAAF capitalis-es on the technologically advanced systems that are being introduced in the next few years.

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UTILITIES : TOP 100

66 Engineers Australia | June 2015

Sue MurphyFIEAust CPEng

CEO, Water Corporationof Western Australia, WA

Civil engineer, Universityof Western Australia

Water Corporation is the principal supplier of water,

wastewater, drainage and bulk ir-rigation services across an area of 2.6 million square kilometres in WA.

Murphy said the past year had been one of transitioning from a period of huge capital growth to a renewed focus on maintaining and operating existing assets.

“We have been on a fast track to climate independent water sources, with the runoff into Perth’s dams now less than one sixth of the his-torical average,” she said. “We have invested billions of dollars in seawa-ter desalination, demand manage-ment initiatives and, most recently, groundwater replenishment.”

Peter Dennis FIEAust

CEO, Seqwater, Queensland

Chemical engineer,University of Newcastle

Dennis leads a 600 strong workforce in managing more than $10 bil-

lion of water supply assets in South East Queensland (SEQ), in addition to ensuring the drinking water supply for more than three million people.

In the past year, he has led the Seqwater team in delivering a range of strategic initiatives, including the development of SEQ’s 30 year water security program, investment in re-silient catchments to improve source

water, future proofing of the Mount Crosby Water Treatment Plant, and a major dam safety review.

UTILITIESNino Ficca FIEAust

Managing Director, AusNet Services(formerly SP AusNet), Vic

Electrical engineer, Deakin University

As Managing Director, Ficca is responsible for AusNet Services’

2600 employees which manage $12 billion of electricity and gas assets. AusNet Services has launched Aus-tralia’s largest network battery trial and received engineering awards for two leading safety and reliability technologies developed in-house. Ficca has also taken a new role as chairman of Deakin University

Engineering Advisory Board and was awarded the Deakin University Alumni of the Year Award 2014.

Vince GrahamCEO, Networks NSW (Ausgrid, Essential Energy, Endeavour Energy), NSW

Civil engineer, University of Sydney

As CEO of three utilities, Graham is responsible for the supply of electricity to 3.3 million NSW

customers, as well as the safety of 11,000 employees. The first three years of the NSW government’s

Electricity Reform Program have seen a reduction of $3 billion and more than 3000 jobs in capital and operating programs, and the continuing control of electricity price increases throughout NSW to within consumer price index rates.

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Engineers Australia | June 2015 67

UTILITIES : TOP 100

Kevin Young FIEAust CPEng

Managing Director, Sydney Water, NSW

Civil engineer, University of Newcastle

Young leads Austra-lia’s largest water

utility, with 2400 employ-ees, 4.75 million custom-ers and total revenue for 2013-14 of $2.6 billion.

In the past year, he has encouraged a new constructive approach of working across the organisation and with external partners, and

also introduced a new corporate strategy for the utility.

He advises young en-gineers to put people before pipes. “For the early part of my career the focus was on assets, it was all about the pipes we built and maintained,” he said. “But now, you can’t achieve success and lon-

gevity in a business with-out a constructive people culture and an engaged, diverse workforce.”

Sir David HigginsExecutive Chairman, HS2, UK

Civil engineer,University of Sydney

Higgins has been executive chairman of the UK’s $90 bil-

lion High Speed Two (HS2) project since March 2014. In the last 12 months, the UK government has confirmed construction on the line will begin in 2017. The HS2 phase one Bill remains with parliament, and it is hoped the Bill will receive Royal Assent by the end of 2016, providing authority for the construc-tion of the project.

Merryn York FIEAust

Chief Executive,Powerlink Queensland, Qld

Electrical engineer, The University of Queensland

York is accountable for the deliv-ery of electricity transmission

services to Queensland, and oversees Powerlink’s $6.4 billion transmission grid and more than 1000 employees. In the last year she has continued to guide Powerlink through a period of immense change in the way elec-tricity is delivered and consumed. Projects to extend the Powerlink network into the North West Surat Basin are also nearing completion.

Bill Morrow

CEO, NBN, NSW

Electrical Engineer, Condie College

Morrow has been CEO of nbn, the

company established to deliver the National Broadband Network (NBN), s ince Apri l 2014. He is recognised globally for his experi-ence in leading complex turnarounds and capi-tal intensive start-ups across the technology and telecommunica-tions sectors.

In the last year, he instigated significant or-ganisational and cultural change at nbn, increasing engagement with indus-

try and the community. The NBN is expected to bring broadband Inter-net to 8 million homes by 2020.

Grant KingManaging Director, Origin Energy, Sydney

Civil engineer, University ofNew South Wales

King has headed Origin Energy since 2000, and under his leadership the firm has grown to be-

come Australia’s leading integrated energy company, with the country’s largest energy customer base and portfolio of power generation assets.

Over the past year, according to King, Origin’s operational performance and quality of service in its energy markets businesses has improved, following a period of significant investment in new technology; the Australia Pacific LNG project, a major Origin investment, has also passed several milestones recently.

NEW

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PANEL’S PICK : TOP 100


Zhiguo YuanDirector, Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland

Aeronautical engineer, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China

The Advanced Water Management Centre is a world-renowned insti-

tution in urban water management. Yuan is also the leader of the Future Technologies Program of the $117 million Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities.

The sewer corrosion and odour research project that Yuan led in

partnership with the Australian water industry delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in savings and won the 2014 B/HEERT Outstanding Excellence in Collaboration Award, and the 2014 IWA Global Project Innovation Award. Yuan was also selected for the 2015 ATSE Clunies Ross Award.

Marita Cheng Founder, Robogals Global, Vic

Mechatronics engineer, University of Melbourne

Robogals Global has taught more than 30,000 girls in seven coun-

tries and 31 chapters about robotics. Cheng is also the founder and CEO of 2Mar Robotics, a startup developing a robot arm to aid people with limited upper mobility.

In the past year she was awarded the 2014 Global Engineering Deans Council Diversity Award. Cheng

also appeared on a special science episode of Q&A, alongside Chief Sci-entist Ian Chubb and Nobel laureates Brian Schmidt and Peter Doherty. She also launched a telepresence robot, Teleroo, at the Sydney Opera House for TEDxSydney.

PANEL'S PICKStuart Khan MIEAust

Associate professor, School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, University of New South Wales

Civil and environmental engineer, University of New South Wales

In addition to his teaching respon-sibilities, Khan has been involved

in government and community en-gagement on topics relating to water quality and treatment. In particular, he has promoted the importance of recycling as a future water supply strategy, and was the primary author of a major report on the subject for the Academy of Technological Sci-ences & Engineering. He also made contributions to the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer’s coal seam gas review and additions to the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. Khan has been appointed to the World Health Organization Water Qual-ity and Health Technical Advisory Group, and was also appointed the Hans Fischer Fellow to the Technical University of Munich.

NEW

Alistair MichenerFounder and CEO, Drawboard, Vic

Chemical engineer, Monash University

Michener came up with the idea for an app allowing engi-neers to mark up and annotate plans on a tablet device

while he was working at WorleyParsons. Since he successfully courted Microsoft, Drawboard’s flagship application is now preinstalled on millions of Microsoft Surface devices and has grossed more than any other app in the past year. Engineering firms around the world, including Rolls Royce, PCL and FM Global are now using Drawboard PDF. The company will soon be releasing an enterprise version for the engineering and con-struction industries, which will provide real time, collaborative PDF markup and document management.

NEW

NEW

NEW

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PANEL’S PICK : TOP 100


Kathy Hirschfeld HonFIEAust

Director, InterOil Corporation, Transfield Services, ASC,Toxfree Solutions, Qld

Chemical engineer, The University of Queensland

H irschfeld’s engineering and busi-ness experience feed her passion

to ensure operational risk management is not overlooked. In addition to her roles in ASX and NYSE listed companies in the waste, services and oil and gas industries, she is also a board member of the UN Women Australian National Committee and a senator of UQ.

Hirschfeld chaired the Chemeca 2013 conference and was also a keynote speaker at IChemE Hazards Australasia 2015 conference. Last year she visited Papua New Guinea (PNG) for the first time, to see InterOil’s exploration opera-tions at Elk-Antelope and other sites. She also met with PNG’s UN Women program office, to understand how

Australian funds are used to improve the markets and provide safe trans-port for women. She became the 9th woman to be recognised as an Honorary Fellow of EA in 2014.

Sandra MauCEO, TrademarkVision, Qld

Robotics engineer, University of Toronto, Canada

T rademarkVision is a startup working on “visual brand protection”, and was listed on AntHill’s Smart 100 Companies 2015 list. The company has devel-

oped the world’s first visual search engine for trademarks and logos, based on image recognition technology.

Mau was the founding chair of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Queensland Women in Engineering group. She was a speaker at the Committee for Economic Development Australia’s Women in Leadership Forum, and has been listed as one of Australia’s top 50 female programmers by Pollenizer.

NEW

Engineering Practice Advisory Committee meeting – March 2015

Engineers Australia’s Engineering Practice Advisory Committee (EPAC) met in Canberra late

March. The EPAC meeting is attended by all College, Technical Society and Special Interest Group Chairs, the National President, the Chief Executive Officer and is chaired by the National Deputy President. The meeting is attended by more than 50 volunteers and staff.

EPAC is an opportunity for Engineers Australia’s key office bearers to meet in a single forum to exchange information and consider matters relating to the learned society function.

The initial part of this year’s meeting was to seek feedback to the following three questions: • What’s working well?• What could be improved?• What’s not yet quite right and how

might we fix it?The feedback received centred around encouraging STEM, simplifying complex-ity, better communication (both positive and negative) and the strong support Chairs receive from staff.

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) – Quality over Quantity - was the major focus of the second part of the meeting and the

main points of the discussion were around delivery mechanisms, the need for a CPD financial model, alternative platforms for CPD delivery, the need for CPD to address the different stages of careers and members and many more.

The feedback provided was invaluable and Chairs will shortly be asked to identify the key areas they would like progressed throughout 2015. One of the major outcomes of this activity will be the development of a national CPD framework that will be consulted and then implemented across the organisation.

LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT

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Building Infrastructure Value.Staged Construction EfficienciesWhether it’s a staged construction or column-to-wall connections, utilising 500PLUS® REIDBAR® with coupler systems allows continuous reinforcing through the slab. Simplifying detailing and reducing conjestion of reinforcing and are just one of the many ways OneSteel Reinforcing can help improve the construction process.

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Detailing & SchedulingAccurate and timely scheduling is crucial in keeping a project running smoothly. OneSteel Reinforcing has the largest and most experienced scheduling team in Australia, available to ensure your project stays on track, on time and trouble free.

Project ManagementOneSteel Reinforcing has dedicated project managers to work with your team to manage the changes while keeping everyone informed and the project on schedule.

Concrete & Building AccessoriesWe offer an extensive range of building accessories including bar chairs, steelfixing materials, dowels, jointing materials, polythene sheeting, crack inducers and various types of galvanized lintels.

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LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT

THE BIGGEST RISK TO MOST ORGANISATIONS IS THE CHANGE THEY HAVEN’T SEEN COMING. WE NEED PEOPLE WHO CAN SEE WHAT OTHERS CAN’T.

Would you put this man on your board?by Margot Cairnes

R ecently I had a web appointment with an executive from a US firm. I looked him up on LinkedIn and

saw a picture of a fresh faced all American dad smiling back at me. When I met this chap face to face on Google Hangout, he more closely resembled a Hell’s Angel. He had a sleeve of tattoos, a long grey beard, was dressed very casually and was balding. His opening line to me was that he was just back from a week long meditation retreat.

I was intrigued and did a little more research. His Facebook site contained many four letter words and a lot of radical messages (he has a social activist side). His hobbies were wide, various and weird. One of the photographs posted was of him with a large gold circle painted on his forehead.

The following week I was asked to address the chairs and CEO of major superannuation funds on increasing the diversity in their boards. Armed with pictures and information on my new US friend, I started my superannuation talk with a question: “Would you put this man on your board?”

In our rapidly changing world we need people who are different – who look different, think differently, and who ask awkward questions. We need people who are prepared to grow emotionally, mentally and spiritually. The biggest risk to most organisations is the change they haven’t seen coming. We need people who can see what others can’t.

Recruiting such people is only half the challenge – the other half is appreciating them when we find them, integrating them in a way that allows them to express their difference and be heard. And last but not least, there is the challenge of keeping independent thinkers within highly restricted corporate structures.

As the superannuation heavies discussed all this it was noted that not so long ago Australia was well endowed with credit unions. Credit unions got complacent; their leaders thought that their position in the mar-ket was secure. Today, less than a third of those are still operating. The story of Eastman Kodak is another example of lead-ership that just didn’t see the future coming their way, despite winning awards in governance and risk management only months before they filed for bankruptcy.

The guy I introduced in my speech was Bill Duane (picture); rabble rouser, meditator and character. He is the superintendent of wellbeing and sustainable performance learning for Google, responsible for its global line staff and performance sustainability. Previously, he was head of Google’s

worldwide production engineering functions for Gmail, docs, chat/hangouts and enterprise (to name but a few). Bill told me that at Google, if an engineer brings forward an idea that can be achieved and actioned using current resources, they are sent away to come back with something more radical. Google (one of the world’s most successful organisations) is only looking for breakthrough ideas and solutions. They want mavericks, odd balls and off-centred thinkers.

How often do we let our need for certainty, predictability and control get in the way of our opening up to new people, new ideas and new ways of doing things? In today’s environment, complacency and sticking to our knitting may be the kiss of death.

Margot Cairnes is a leadership strategist and can be contacted at <[email protected]> or visit <www.

margotcairnes.wordpress.com>.

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BRIDGES

FEATURE

72


The bridge will include a double-track tram line running through the pairs of ‘legs’ at each end. PHOTO: MOTT MACDONALD

The Troja Bridge is 35 m wide, with a welded steel box section arch and post-tensioned reinforced concrete tie beams. PHOTO: MOTT MACDONALD

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THE TROJA BRIDGE a source of inspiration

Since its offi cial opening in November 2014, Prague’s Troja Bridge has served as a source of inspiration for the development of similar bridges globally.

At 35 m wide, with a span of 200 m, it is one of the world’s largest network arch bridges, carrying trams, cyclists, pedestrians

and four lanes of road traffi c across the River Vltava. Global management, engineering and development

consultancy Mott MacDonald provided the detailed design alongsi de Koucky Architects,

while Czech company Metrostav managed construction. Mott MacDonald’s

senior bridge engineer, Ladislav Šašek, describes the project.

BRIDGES

FEATURE

INNOVATIVE DESIGNIt is the balance of aesthetic and practical considerations which makes Troja so distinguished. The architect requested the arch to change and flow across the river, giving it a unique shape. From an engineering perspective, it was necessary for the arch to be the same stiffness and have identical cross-sectional areas across its entire length, while maintaining the steel plate at a constant thickness. To achieve these requirements the planes of the hangers in cross-section slope in towards the centre to meet the arch, which is a single polygonal steel box section for the central half of the bridge. This is 7 m wide and flat near the centre, becoming higher and wider towards the edges before splitting into a pair of legs at each end, to allow the double-tracked tramway to pass between.

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BRIDGES

FEATURE

Troja’s arch is unconventionally low at 20 m high – half the height which would normally be needed for a bowstring arch – and with a 1:10 height-to-span ratio. Two hundred inclined steel rods connect the steel box-section arch and the pre stressed concrete bridge deck at 1.8 m intervals, providing stiffness and stability to the slender structure. With a mid-span of just 90-130 cm deep, the elegant arch is economical in its use of steel and concrete. The bridge’s deck was prestressed longitudinally, putting it into compression and allowing it to be unbelievably thin at just 280 mm thick.

There is an element of simplicity in Troja’s design – it is symmetrical and so the structural behaviour at one end of the bridge can be replicated at the other end. Steel rods were chosen for Troja’s hangers in preference to cables, to avoid stretch and give greater control over hanger tension, as well as because they are less prone to erosion. It has been confirmed that fatigue failure, which can be a problem with inclined hangers on suspension bridges, is an unlikely problem on network bridges and, if necessary, individual rods can always be removed and replaced.

Static and dynamic load testing, which is common practice in the Czech Republic, was carried out on the bridge to verify its structural behaviour. In the static test, 24 heavy trucks and two 44 t trams were placed in different loading positions. The bridge proved to be stiffer than expected: the maximum deflection under the full 911 t load at the centre was 51.5 mm, 13% less than the predicted deflection of 59.2 mm. The dynamic tests involved two trucks and two trams driven at different speeds, and gave a low dynamic amplification factor of 1.1 – just 10% higher than the equivalent static loads. Construction challengesConstruction of Troja Bridge was complex. Five temporary piers were erected on piles in the river and temporary steel lattice girder was built on one bank, incorporating

parts of the finished bridge. Steel chords formed the upper longitudinal members of the temporary girder, while concrete transverse beams were slung underneath the chords. The girder was then slowly launched across the river to the other bank and the concrete deck was cast.

The arch was brought to the site in small sections and then site-welded into three larger sections and aligned on the deck. Temporary towers were built over the piers to full arch height before the three sections were hoisted up. Once the arch was anchored to the deck, the hangers were installed and tensioned in a carefully predetermined sequence. The temporary piers and girder could then be carefully disassembled underneath. The longitudinal prestressing of the chords and deck were carried out in three stages. The first third was carried out after the concrete deck casting and before the arch erection. The second was after the arch was erected and the bottom chord of the temporary truss had been cut. Finally, the third was carried out on completion of the bridge.

Tuning the hangers presented another significant challenge. Although the hangers of a network arch bridge are naturally prestressed by the weight of the structure, analysis showed some of the hangers near the ends of the bridge would switch from tension to compression under certain loading conditions. Troja’s hangers required an innovative tuning method, with a hydraulic device called a ‘techno-tensioner’. Tuning is made tricky by the fact that the bridge’s arch and deck are very thin. Any tuning of a single hanger affects the stresses throughout the bridge including the tension in adjacent hangers. This means no part of the bridge can be tuned in isolation.The future of network arch bridgesAlthough the concept for network arch bridges was first developed in the mid-20th century, the idea has only recently been taken up. The analysis of their designs is complex and can be a costly process, but the benefits are worth

considering. Slender design means that network bridges can be less visually intrusive than conventional arch or cable-stayed bridges, and there are advantages in terms of low maintenance and sustainability, as they decrease material usage. They also keep deflection to a minimum. This is particularly useful for railways bridges as it minimises risk of derailment, avoids passenger discomfort and prevents damage to the rails.

As research into integrating parametric 3D modelling with analysis is developing, there are greater opportunities to move network arch bridge designs forward. Troja Bridge is proof that work of this nature can be carried out on a huge scale. As experience grows in both the design and construction of network arch bridges, they can be expected to be seen in a wider range of situations globally.

The bridge will carry pedestrian, cycle traffi c and four lanes of road traffi c. PHOTO: MOTT MACDONALD


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BRIDGES

FEATURE

According to ARUP engineer Naeem Hussain, bridges have not been designed for easy inspection and maintenance until now.

“The modern bridge, we are treating more like a building where you actually design, from day one, proper access so that you can inspect every part of the bridge in an easier and safe way,” he says.

“[In old bridges] you can’t even go in and see what’s happening. Now we make sure that we can have access everywhere.”

Hussain says the reason for doing it this way is to get more life out of the bridge.

“That’s quite important because the life of a bridge doesn’t mean that you don’t do anything after you build it. If you have proper maintenance you should be able to get greater longevity out of it.”

In bridges like the Stonecutters project in Hong Kong or the Forth crossing in Scotland, there was detailed design and systems from day one where Hussain says he could “touch” any part of the bridge and be able to inspect it.

In the future, more than just maintaining bridges, Hussain says engineers of the future may oversee the replacement of large parts of the structure.

“We need to be like other industries, such as the automobile industry. They replace parts. We may design bridges in the future where we have very robust foundations but maybe the whole of the superstructure – whole of the deck or parts of it – can be replaced,” Hussain says.

“We already do it … we replace movement joints, we replace crash barriers, we replace bearings, but you can take it one step further. Replace whole decks.”

Current research is concentrating on parts of the bridge deck that consist of composite materials, which could translate to the whole deck, according to Hussain.

“As the price of composites comes down, we may find that with even older bridges, you can replace a very old, heavy concrete deck with a much lighter composite deck. We can use existing foundations and we might have more life out of it, even though they might be in a bad state. With sufficient repair, it might be able to extend.”

With climate change upon us, Hussain says the design of bridges – not necessarily for traffic, but for extreme events, is becoming critical.

“We are finding the power of typhoons, for example, is going up. We are building in highly seismic areas,” he says.

“That’s leading to more research which means not just the structure, it’s also the wind side, the environmental side.”

He says there is also research focused on making much longer crossings and longer spans in extremely adverse environmental conditions. This is leading to how engineers build bridges and how a bridge is protected if it is impacted by a ship. Design also comes back to how to maintain these bridges and material that would survive in very extreme, pragmatic conditions.

A new approach to bridges ARUP engineer Naeem Hussain recently spoke with Patrick Durrant about new approaches

to designing and maintaining bridges.

Stonecutters Bridge in Hong Kong. SOURCE: ARUP (MARCEL LAM PHOTOGRAPHY)

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78


The benefi ts of geotechnical BIMIn this article, Gary Morin argues that applying BIM principles to geotechnical data will reinforce the message that geotechnics is an integral part of every

phase of a project, not just a ticking the box exercise.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is becoming the accepted approach to major construction projects in many countries around the world and

is increasingly being mandated by clients. For example, the UK government has stated that all public projects will require fu lly collaborative 3D BIM as a minimum by 2016.

In its 2012 National Building Information Modelling Initiative Report, buildingSMART Australasia estimated the Australian economy could be better off by as much as $7.6 billion over the next decade if BIM is more widely used, and that it would also help towards a low carbon future.

Last December, the Framework for the Adoption of Project Team Integration and Building Information Modelling, developed by the Strategic Forum for the Australasian Building and Construction Industry, was launched.

The framework advocates a ‘whole of industry’ approach to inspire more advanced and innovative use of BIM. The result, the forum says, will be “smoother construction processes with less wasted effort and construction products, increasing end-user satisfaction and longer asset life for use by the community”.

BIM encourages true collaboration, which is essential to reap the full benefits: faster, more economical projects that have less environmental impact. It enables better decision making during the planning and design stages of a project, throughout construction and into the operational and maintenance phases.

However, BIM models can sometimes neglect the geotechnical aspects of projects. BIM often appears to start from the ground up, with the subsurface considered as homogenous substance. This implies there is no risk in the ground, which is clearly untrue, particularly for infrastructure projects with significant underground sections.

There is a host of benefits to applying BIM principles to geotechnical data management and including geotechnical data in BIM: it allows considered design optioneering and refinement at the outset of a project; minimises geotechnical risk in construction; and enables cost effective repairs and maintenance of assets throughout the project’s lifetime.

Moreover, by highlighting the critical importance of high quality geotechnical information in creating an

accurate BIM model, project participants will recognise that early and thorough site investigation can reduce project risk, and that geotechnical engineering is an integral part of project success.

Using BIM also means geotechnical contractors and consultants can collaborate easily. Data sharing and central data management can result in big improvements in efficiency and quality.

Of course, sharing of geotechnical data digitally is nothing new. For example, the UK’s Association of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Specialists (AGS) began developing its digital transfer format in 1989 and since then AGS format has become widely used (and specified) around the world, including Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

However, while there are benefits in using this format, there are issues. AGS format is fine for factual data but does not currently allow the transfer of interpreted data, such as geological surfaces.

Fortunately, geotechnical data management systems are available that can export both factual and interpreted data, including that from our own company. These systems can manage all of a project’s geotechnical data (including

Incorporating geotechnical data in BIM allows considered design optioneering and refi nement at the outset of a project; minimises geotechnical risk in construction and enables cost-effective repairs and maintenance of assets throughout the project’s lifetime. IMAGE: MOTT MACDONALD

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79


GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

FEATURE

historical information) and extensions allow visualisation of information such as geological surfaces for use in BIM models.

The sharing of interpreted data appears to be one of the main sticking points of incorporating geotechnical information in BIM. While sharing of geotechnical data is common between site investigation companies, laboratories and geotechnical consultants, anecdotal evidence suggests it is rarely shared with the rest of the project team.

It appears many geotechnical teams are reluctant to supply digital data (rather than written reports) with the wider project team as they are unable to separate factual from interpreted information. This means they are concerned by the possibility of interpretative data being misused.

In fact, better data sharing should actually lead to a more complete understanding of the project elements – resulting in more informed decision making throughout the project lifetime – and improved collaboration should also reduce the risk of interpreted data being misused.

It should be recognised, however, that determining a geotechnical BIM strategy is difficult, as what works for one project may not work for another. It may therefore be a better approach to adopt a geotechnical BIM framework that can be adapted to each project.

Having a clear image of the proposed design and access to full project information will also enable the geotechnical team to optimise the various phases of site investigation. During the desk study, for example, being able to view the latest site plans will clearly be of huge benefit in highlighting any potential points of concern and can help planning.

Furthermore, it is often very difficult, if not impossible, to change the focus of an investigation, without commissioning additional phases. Having access to field data in real time and incorporating it into BIM almost immediately gives the opportunity to refocus sampling and testing mid-investigation. This should deliver more useful data, hence reducing risk and potentially saving money in the long term.

BIM will, without a doubt, become the norm in construction projects in the future. One of the biggest benefits of its adoption will be to give geotechnical teams the opportunity to share their visions and concerns for the ground conditions early in the

design, as well as to provide input throughout the project, including the operation and maintenance phases.

The geotechnical profession has been working for many years to improve the standing of geotechnics and for this

reason, if nothing else, it should be embracing BIM and helping to improve the way geotechnical data is managed and shared.

Gary Morin is technical director at Keynetix.

Case study: Tunnel

Perth-based CMW Geosciences digitised geotechnical data and created 3D models to help

the design of a proposed tunnel beneath Brisbane.“The aim was to create a 3D model to aid

engineering design and also to help non-technical staff better visualise the project,” CMW Geosciences principal geotechnical engineer Craig Butterworth explained.

Of particular importance, was the ability to develop a ‘live’ 3D ground model to help understand the nature of the geology through which the route passes – while site investigation was underway.

“Due to time and cost pressures, the team wanted to gain the maximum benefit from site investigation and ensure there were no significant gaps or unknowns in the ground model derived from the boreholes,” Butterworth said.

As a result, data was transferred to CMW immediately after each of the boreholes was completed. CMW then transferred this data into a 3D model using Keynetix’s HoleBASE SI Extension for AutoCAD Civil 3D.

“The AutoCAD Civil 3D model was then sent back to the project geologists within a 3D visual viewer. As data was collected in electronic format compatible with HoleBASE SI, the process was much faster and avoided data entry errors,” Butterworth explained.

“The live model helped the team visualise the ground model in three dimensions rather than using traditional 2D sections. By using geotechnical BIM, the tunnel alignment could be altered quickly as the ground model was updated with new data.”

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GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING

FEATURE

Addressing soft soils riskBy Richard Kelly and Scott Sloan

Since Australia’s first national soft soil field test facility (NFTF) was established in Ballina NSW in 2013, researchers at the ARC Centre of Excellence for

Geotechnical Science and Engineering (CGSE) have been busy validating new theory and methods at field scale.

An increasing amount of physical infrastructure is being constructed on soft soils both offshore and onshore. The response of these geomaterials is complex and highly variable, representing major design and construction risks.

Standard industry practices for sampling and laboratory testing of soft soils result in significant errors in measured material properties. These fundamental data errors then propagate through design and construction, affecting the risk and cost of construction. CGSE has been investigating soil sampling, using a variety of techniques, and it is clear that the fixed piston samplers provide the best quality.

A new soil sampler has been developed by In-Situ Geotechnical Services (IGS). IGS wanted to verify that its sampler provides high quality samples. The CGSE verified this was the case through a process of CT scans and laboratory tests.

Standard laboratory testing techniques for these soils have been shown to alter the material properties. The CGSE is working with the Australian Geomechanics Society to develop recommendations for sampling and testing of these materials.

Generally, geotechnical risk is judged by experienced engineers. However, the variability of geomaterials suggests

that stochastic methods should be used with numerical computation, in order to quantify probability of events and assess consequences.

Stochastic methods are seldom used because of the expense and a lack of computational tools. To address these issues, CGSE performed a large number of tests to provide a database for spatial variability of soil properties in three dimensions. Methods are being developed to incorporate this data with other in situ and laboratory measurements to generate stochastic geotechnical models.

Predicting embankment performance in soft soils is a fundamental component of the design process. Two embankments have been constructed at the NFTF in the past year and are being monitored. An International Numerical Prediction Symposium, targeting embankment performance will be held in September 2016 in Newcastle (http://cgse.edu.au/eps2016), aimed at improving practice and reducing the risk of inaccurate design predictions.

Several new products and theories are in the process of being validated at the NFTF. For example, biodegradable vertical soil drains made from natural jute fibres, manufactured by the Indian Jute Board, have been installed for comparison with conventional plastic drains. Normally the plastic drains are left in place forever. Jute drains will not have a similar long term environmental impact. After about nine months of settlement, the jute and plastic drains are performing identically.

Installation of the vertical drains requires them to be pushed into the ground which causes disturbance to the soil and slows down the rate of settlement. Until now, estimates of disturbance have been made by back analysis of performance or by small scale laboratory tests. Field measurements were taken during installation of the vertical drains, we believe for the first time, and have been used to validate theories developed based on small scale testing. This will lead to more accurate estimates of settlement times and better long term performance of pavements constructed on embankments.

Upcoming research includes development of new variable rate soil penetrometers; investigation of shallow foundations performance on soft clay (for supporting offshore seabed structures); and the performance of embankments constructed using vacuum consolidation and stone column ground improvement methods.

Prof Scott Sloan is director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Geotechnical Science and Engineering

at the University of Newcastle. Dr Richard Kelly is a visiting industry fellow

at the centre and a senior principal at Coffey.Conventional drain material (left) and jute drain fi bres.

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SUSTAINABILITY

82


Progressive corporationsby Terence Jeyaretnam

Milton Friedman, an economist, famously said in the 70s: “… a corporate executive is an employee of the owners of the business. He [sic] has direct

responsibility to his [sic] employers. That responsibility is to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society …”

The world has changed significantly in 40 years. “Companies able to tackle issues such as poverty, climate change and population shifts are those most likely to succeed in the future,” said eight global business leaders working as a World Business Council for Sustainable Development group called Tomorrow’s Leaders. Companies represented include BP, TNT and Swiss Re.

“We should not see such signals as someone else’s problem, but as risks for our businesses, which we have a role in addressing, along with governments and international bodies,” the group said. “Dealing with such issues makes business sense. It is directly in our interest to avoid operating on a polluted planet in which billions are too poor to afford the products we create …”

Progressive business must continue to look to create value, but do so recognising emerging risks and future market segments. Beyond this, social responsibility for business will simply be to adhere to the basic rules of society.

In the case of climate change, tomorrow’s corporation does not need to be carbon neutral (unless it is to enhance its reputation and, as a result, sell more). It simply needs to be mindful of the technological advances that will shift the energy mix, sometimes radically, in a carbon constrained world, and therefore invest wisely in its energy budget. It also needs to be mindful of the risks of climate change, including such risks as extreme weather, water availability and sea level rise on its operations. Companies should therefore advocate for governments to manage these risks on behalf of its unit holders. This is an example of managing an emerging risk to create future value.

Taking a separate example, such as poverty alleviation, tomorrow’s business needs to recognise this as a business opportunity at the bottom of the pyramid – and therefore a future market segment. Those businesses that find a way to alleviate poverty through new products and services will create value. The Tomorrow’s Leaders group started from the basis that the fundamental purpose of business is to provide continually improving goods and services

for increasing numbers of people at prices that they can afford. In other words, creating value by solving a social need, which indeed was always the fundamental basis for trade and business.

Finally, tomorrow’s corporation must partner with government and civil society in tackling these future risks and markets as neither of these actors are capable of dealing with these enormous challenges on their own – nor are they incentivised as much as business is. Such collaboration will provide leverage, the licence to operate and drive innovation.

Terence Jeyaretnam is a Partner, Climate Change and Sustainability at EY, based in Melbourne

[email protected]

The views expressed in this article are the views of the author, not EY. This article provides general information, does not constitute

advice and should not be relied on as such. Professional advice should be sought prior to any action being taken in reliance on any of the

information. Liability limited by a scheme approvedunder Professional Standards Legislation.

Milton Friedman

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OBITUARIES

83


Charles Bubb 1928–2015

On 17 May, one of Australia’s most eminent civil engineers, Charles Thomas James Bubb

FIEAust, passed away. Bubb was born and educated in Perth and graduated with a civil engineering degree from the University of Western Australia in 1950. Thereafter, he joined the construction side of the then Commonwealth Department of Works and Housing, and worked with the department in its various guises until his retirement in 1987. At that time, he was the director of engineering, the top engineering position in the Commonwealth public service.

Two significant events occurred during Bubb’s career that had a seminal influence on his contributions to professional engineering in Australia: the 1968 Meckering earthquake and Cyclone Tracy in 1974.

In the early 1960s, earthquakes were not thought to be a significant problem in Australia. The M6.8 Meckering earthquake, which destroyed the town of Meckering in WA and caused damage as far away as Perth, changed that view for a number of structural engineers. Bubb became an active member of the Australian National Committee for Earthquake Engineering, which was formed in 1971. He led the development of Australia’s first earthquake code, AS2121–1979, and in his retirement played a leading role

in the establishment of the Australian Earthquake Engineering Society, of which he was the inaugural President, from 1990 to 1995.

Bubb was also aware of the risk from tropical cyclones to northern Australia, and within the department he had been a strong advocate for giving attention to them. After Cyclone Tracy, he quickly recognised that an opportunity had arisen to change thinking in relation to wind design. His strong support of the investigation into the damage to Darwin, and particularly the subsequent recommendations for changes to building and design practices, was a major factor in their

implementation despite political lobbying from the building industry.

Bubb’s involvement with earthquake and wind engineering design resulted in him playing a leading role in the initial development of the structural design loading codes that are used today. He recognised the superiority of limit state design over working stress design, which underpinned almost all structural design at the time. With the support of Bubb and the department, Australia led the way internationally in changing its design codes to this approach.

Desmond Roy Kelly 1934–2015

Dr Desmond Roy “Des” Kelly AM FIEAust CPEng was a prominent civil engineer in the Western Australian community, who gave 48 years’ service

to the state.Kelly first worked on the Fremantle Harbour Works

in Perth before moving to WA’s north and working on projects including the Wyndham and Derby jetties. His first full project responsibility was as resident engineer on the Broome Jetty.

His work in developing the state’s North West continued with his appointment as chair of the Pilbara Regional Development Committee, and playing a major role in establishing infrastructure to support the iron ore industry, including railways, ports and the township of Karratha.

Kelly later served as director general of the WA Department of Minerals and Energy (1980–1993) before

being appointed director of the WA Department of Resources Development (1993–1999). In 1992, he was named Member of the Order of Australia for his services to mining.

As a testament to his passion to develop the next generation of engineers, Kelly was elected to the senate of Murdoch University (1982–1991) and was the university’s pro chancellor in 1991.

On Kelly’s retirement in 1999, Colin Barnett, then WA’s resources development minister, paid tribute to his extensive contribution to the mining community.

“Kelly’s dedication to the growth of the state’s resources industry was synonymous with the sector’s emergence as the mainstay of Western Australia’s economy.”

Kelly passed away in May, aged 81.

Charles Bubb with his wife Viki.

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CLASSIFIEDS

84


Support ADAC!BricsCAD + ADACXwww.bricsys.com

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CONFERENCESSustainable Engineering Society ConferenceThe Sustainable Engineering Society (SENG) is holding

its next national conference on 9-10 September at the

Adelaide Convention Centre. The conference theme,

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maintaining healthy, balanced dynamic activity in both

the economy and ecosystem. Presentations will cover

topics ranging from energy, resources and waste to

infrastructure and leadership. For more information go

to <bit.ly/1GOS74F>.

ATS Tunnel Design and ConstructionEA’s Australasian Tunnelling Society (ATS) will again host

the Tunnel Design and Construction short course, from

7-9 October in Brisbane. The format will be two days

of presentations on topics related to tunnel design and

construction, followed by a day of practical workshops

at the Mount Coot-tha Quarry. The course is open to

members and non-members of the ATS and Engineers

Australia. For more information go to <bit.ly/1zG6XVf>.

Australian Engineering Heritage ConferenceThe 18th Australian Engineering Heritage Confer-

ence will be held in Newcastle from 7-9 December,

hosted and organised by the Newcastle Division of EA

and Engineering Heritage Australia. Early technology

transfer between Britain and Australia will be a primary

theme. A pre-conference tour will start on 3 December

at Sydney’s Central Station. The tour ends in Newcastle

in time for the conference reception. Registration for

the conference and the tour opens on 1 May. For more

information visit <bit.ly/1JG3BbE>.

Engineering and Project Management Consultants

Forestry Corporation of NSW civil and construction projects

Forestry Corporation of NSW is seeking to appoint a panel of qualifi ed engineering consultants or consultancy fi rms to advise on and provide project management services for its $40 million a year state-wide program of civil and construction projects.

The Expressions of Interest document is available by registering at tenders.nsw.gov.au (reference: FCNSW14/15).

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Expressions of Interest must be received by 2pm on Thursday 16 July 2015.

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