Engineers Australia Northern Division
Annual Report 2009 Survey House, 14 Shepherd Street Darwin GPO Box 417 Darwin NT 0801 Director Bronwyn Russell Telephone 08 8981 4137 Fax 08 8981 3449 Email nt@engineersaustralia.org.au Website: www.engineersaustralia.org.au
President’s Report This is the culmination of my two years as your president. How quickly time has flown and what a busy period it has been. The theme this year has been looking forward looking back, celebrating our 90 years as an organization. This was reflected in our gala dinner with Doug Walters as guest speaker and at our excellence awards. This has been a busy year for me. As well as your President I have represented the Division on the National Committee on Transport Engineering, I have been on Council’s Regional Committee and I chaired the Division’s Engineering Excellence Awards Judging Panel. The Divisional Engineering Excellence Awards were a huge success. Great projects and great people, culminating in a wonderful awards dinner. I thank all the entrants, the attendees and the staff that made the awards such a success. It was my great honour to attend the National Engineering Awards. As well as seeing a fabulous array of engineering projects from across Australia, I saw Tom Maher proudly accept his award as Engineers Australia’s Technologist of the Year. The Works Section of the 1st Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force while not winning a major prize were specifically mentioned by the National President for their work in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan. I want to congratulate Dave McHugh on his election to the Engineers Australia Council. Just reward after his outstanding service on Congress, the Civil College Board and at Divisional level. Well done. I also want to recognize and congratulate Paul Tyrrell who was awarded an AO in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. This year has seen some other firsts. Your Deputy President Len Chappell when he takes over the reins at the AGM will be the first Technologist Divisional President. This year has seen Charles Darwin University appoint Professor David Lilley to the new Chair of Structural Engineering. Engineers Australia has been most supportive of this and this has also enabled Charles Darwin University get its full accreditation approved by National Office. As President I have attended meetings of three standing consultative groups of the university, the Industry Engagement Group, the Course Advisory Group Engineering and the Course Advisory Group Information Technology. These forums provide the opportunity to assist the university in producing graduates educated to meet the needs of industry. As well as Engineers Australia representa-
tion there is a need for more industry representation. It is pleasing to note an increase in engineering enrollments in both the degree and diploma areas. The Electrical College Board met in Darwin for the first time and the Chair gave a presentation to a well attended gathering of interested members on the board’s role. This year saw visits from Engineers Australia’s Eminent Speakers Ron Cox (Civil College), David Skellern (ITEE) and Keith Crews (Structural College). While they were only able to present in Darwin within the Division, their slides and video presentations are available on the web. National President Peter Godfrey and his wife Jayne visited the Division and had the opportunity to see Alcan Rio Tinto’s plant at Gove, Bushlight installations at Bawaka, SIHIP projects on the Tiwi Islands as well as various projects around Darwin. A highlight was attendance at the Dawn Service on ANZAC Day especially poignant with Jayne’s father having served in Darwin during WW2. Engineering Week was launched by Deputy Chief Minister Delia Lawrie. There were a number of events including sponsorship of a race on Darwin Cup day which gave wide publicity to Engineers Australia and Engineering Week. CPD delivery remains a challenge both in Darwin and in the regions. Our numbers are small, our budget limited and the challenges significant. CPD delivery is a challenge in all regions, some of which are as big as our Division. Not surprisingly this has been the top issue in the considerations of the Regional Committee. Electronic solutions will help but are only part of the actions needed. 2012 is proposed to be the Year of Regional Engineering and should add focus to addressing regional issues. We are losing some of our long term members Peter Tonkin to Perth, David Rolland to Melbourne and Barry Chambers to the Sunshine Coast. In conclusion I wish to recognize the efforts and support of the Divisional Management Committee members and Divisional staff . Without the team there would be little to report. I hand over to Len Chappell, offer him my support as Immediate Past President and wish him all the best for 2010 and beyond. Peter Hagan President 2008/2009
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Director’s Report In 2009 we have had a few staff changes. Justine returned to work part time but in recent times has decided to be a full time Mum and so we have said good bye once again. Tara Keogh joined us and Karen and Rosemary continue the good work they have done for a few years now. This year we chose to theme our events around the 90th birthday with a great deal of enthusiasm starting with the Gala Dinner early in the year. I would have to say the building skills of members and guests were varied but all of the “tank” concoctions held water which was impressive. Doug Walters and Minister Delia Lawrie had the unenviable task of judging the winners but spirits were high and everybody joined in and had some fun. Sadly this year the heritage committee has fallen into a bit of a hole. We have had excellent articles for the newsletter however which I am sure you will agree and we intend to have the two remaining plaquing ceremonies for the Stuart Highway in Katherine and Tennant Creek early in the New Year which will also mark the 150th anniversary of Stuart coming to the NT. I hope to regain the enthusiasm of our members in 2010. We have been awarded funds to reprint our heritage brochures which are very popular with tour operators in the Top End. In addition to the NT Business Council we have taken on the secretariat for the Built Environment Design Professions (BEDP) during 2009. These two groups help us keep in close contact with Government and other agencies on topics that affect the membership. We continue to have representation on various Government advisory groups, committees and boards that affect members. Thanks to those members who donate their valuable time to these functions that assist other members of the Division. Next year is the Year of Engineering Leadership and we plan to highlight activities that relate to the theme. We have had a quiet time with CELM this year so we hope that you will support these activities with enthusiasm in 2010. Engineering Week has been nationally set to occur during the first week in August for the next few years. This presents some challenges for us as schools have just returned from 4 weeks holiday and they won’t commit to events prior to going on leave. In addition it is the Darwin Cup and a public holiday that week every year so gaining any media activity is impossible. This year we decided to raise the profile by joining with the racing community and sponsoring a race. We certainly had more than 20,000 people see the race and our banner plus the race day publicity. We supplemented this with our banners around town. Other events included a launch by the Minister at Parliament House for the first time, Excellence Awards technical presentation for the public sponsored by the Lord Mayor at Darwin City Council and a Fellows lunch. The week is then followed by science week which we continue to support with the assistance of some of our younger members. We welcomed home some of our members after a tour of
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duty in Afghanistan and they went on to win the President’s Prize with their work at our Engineering Excellence Awards and also received a “Special Mention” at the National Awards. We have many members in the Defence Force in the NT who we enjoy working with although they get posted and deployed and we don’t usually have them for very long. Many of our members have served in a range of locations and we are always glad to have them back safely. Our Youth Programs expand each year. This year we added more remote locations to our SMART tour in the bush as well as running the usual events such as Sunchase, Science and Engineering Challenge and EngQuest. Our volunteers are very important to the success of these events so again a big thank you to you. The Excellence Awards were a great success thanks to the energy of the companies that put in their entries. The judges always have a difficult task separating the projects and are always grateful to the companies that arrange the site visits to enable them to see the challenges that each of them face in this difficult climate and terrain. Congratulations to Tom Maher who won the National Technologist of the Year Award. A big thank you this year to the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT who loaned us items for the “looking back” segment of the night and a special mention to Leo Izod who prepared and built a replica Oldsmobile that he was willing to loan us! We topped this off with a new Lexus convertible to showcase the “looking forward” segment of the theme. Our second most senior member won a weekend with the car so he was seen driving around with the roof down and waving to all and sundry! Northern Division continues to pull its weight in many aspects of Engineers Australia and I look forward to another exciting year in 2010. Bronwyn Russell Director Engineers Australia Northern Division
Engineers Australia Northern Division Team wishes all our members a merry Christmas and a very happy and safe 2010
1. Public Role and Professional Standing Engineering Excellence Awards celebrating Engineers Australia’s 90th Birthday The 2009 Engineering Excellence Awards dinner was held on Friday, 18th September with the following projects entered for consideration This year’s entries included:
2009 Winners 2009 Engineering Excellence Award ANZSES Sustainability Award Research, Development and Innovation
Crowne Plaza Alice Springs “Solar Array” CAT Projects Pty Ltd
Reports, Procedures & Systems
Report for Nationally Significant Infrastructure for the Northern Territory GHD Pty Ltd Works Section Afghanistan Mentoring & Reconstruction Task Force (MRTF1) Instrumented Air Weapons Range Bradshaw Training Field Area Macmahon Contractors Broadbanding the Top End Arnhem Land Fibre Project Telstra Corporation Ben Hammond Complex Redevelopment Stage 2 GHD Pty Ltd and Power & Water Corporation
Project Title
Submission
Arnhem Land Fibre Project
Telstra Corporation
Ben Hammond Complex—Power & Water Corporation
GHD Pty Ltd and Power & Water Corporation
Bonaparte High Pressure Natural Gas Pipeline
APA Group
President’s Award People’s Choice Award
Bradshaw ICTC Towers
Macmahon Contractors Pty Ltd CAT Projects Pty Ltd
Highly Commended Project Management
Crowne Plaza Alice Springs— Solar Array Desert Knowledge Australia Solar Centre
CAT Projects Pty Ltd
Darwin City Waterfront Pedestrian Bridge
Macmahon Contractors Pty Ltd
Darwin City Waterfront Recreation Works
Sitzler Pty Ltd
Report for Nationally Significant Infrastructure for the Northern Territory Leanyer Recreation Facility Upgrade
GHD Pty Ltd and Department of Planning & Infrastructure GHD Pty Ltd and Department of Planning & Infrastructure Australian Defence Forces (MRTF1)
Works Section of the 1st Mentoring 7 Reconstruction Task Force, Afghanistan (MRTF1) People in Engineering Award Winners
Highly Commended Community Engagement
Highly Commended Environment & Sustainability
Desert Knowledge Australia Solar Centre CAT Projects Pty Ltd
2009 National Award Winners National Engineering Technologist of the Year
Tom Maher, TMIEAust Darwin City Council
Special Mention
Works Section Afghanistan, Mentoring & Reconstruction Taskforce
Thank you to our sponsors of the Engineering Excellence Awards. Nilsen; Northern Territory Government (Department of Planning and Infrastructure, Department of Housing and Local Government, Department of Business and Employment); Townes, Chappell, Mudgway; GHD Pty Ltd; BMD; Macmahon; WorleyParsons; ERA; Wallbridge & Gilbert; Airducter; Hays Engineering; ANZSES and Darwin City Council. Judging Panel Thank you to our team of judges for 2009 - Peter Hagan, Damien Hill, Evelyn Robinson and Bob Calaby
Professional Engineer of the Year Lindsay Monteith MIEAust GHD Pty Ltd
Engineering Technologist of the Year Tom Maher TMIEAust Darwin City Council
Young Professional Engineer of the Year Captain Michael Thompson GradIEAust Australian Defence Forces
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1. Public Role and Professional Standing Division Liaison The President, Director and members of Northern Division represented Engineers Australia at many events and meetings on many occasions during the year. These include Government and Ministerial liaison:
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Hon. Paul Henderson, MLA Chief Minister of the NT
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Hon. Terry Mills, Leader of the Opposition
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Hon. Robert Knight, MLA, Minister for Housing and Local Government
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Hon Kon Vatskalis, MLA Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing, Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources
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Department of Planning and Infrastructure, Richard Hancock, CEO
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Building Industry Reference Group
Hon. Delia Lawrie, MLA, Depty Chief Minister of the NT, Minister, Department of Planning and Infrastructure Hon. Kezia Purick, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Hon. Malarndirri McCathy, MLA, Minister for Statehood and Indigenous Policy
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Museum and Art Gallery NT
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Northern Territory Business Council
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NT News, ABC Television, Mining Advocate, Imparja Television, ABC Television and ABC Radio (Alice Springs and Darwin)
Defence liaison, Army & Navy Defence Support Industry Skills Network Secretariat: Built Environment Design Professionals Media:
Building Advisory Board NT Building Practitioners Board
2. An Inclusive Professional Team Gala Dinner - 90th Birthday Celebrations You may recall the water tower featuring in our February issue of the newsletter with an article by our Heritage representative Peter Poole. Peter was delighted that the tower was Over 150 guests enjoyed Legendary Cricketer Doug chosen as the activity at the Gala Dinner. Walters speak at the Engineers Australia Gala Dinner at SKYCITY Grand Ballroom on Thursday, 19th March to help Engineers Australia celebrate their 90th birthday. Doug entertained guests with anecdotes of his cricketing history and his visit to Camooweal where he reminisced about one of the patrons at the local drinking establishment “Daryl” and his experience with the local water tower in that town.. Each table was given the mission to reconstruct a model of Darwin’s World War Two Water Supply Tower with each table given 30 seconds to explain their expertise behind their Engineering feat. Doug and the Deputy Chief Minister, Delia Lawrie were the judges, with Wallbridge & Gilbert and guests team taking top honours as overall winners. They were presented with mini cricket bats duly signed by Doug. The Judges comments included “bribery will always work” and Daryl hanging from the water tower sealed their fate as winners. A good evening was by enjoyed by all who attended with the grand finale being an auction of a cricket bat signed by Doug and Mr Bryan Stapley being overjoyed that he was the highest bidder.
Engineers Australia Members and Doug Walters reconstruct a piece of Darwin History
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2. An Inclusive Professional Team Colleges Structural College and Building Advisory Board
Civil College The Civil College Board met twice this year with our March meeting in Sydney and October meeting in Brisbane. The main focus of the board this year has been: 1. The combined international conference with the structural college in Sydney in August 2010 – known as the CECAR 5 and ASEC 2010 Conference. A number of key members of our Board are managing the delivery of the conference. 2. Civil Engineering awards presented to individuals this year were:
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Sir John Holland Award for Civil Engineer of the Year 2009 to Christopher Dann.
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Warren Medal 2008 to Brian Burnam, David Ticcolo and Gary Moyston.
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Northern Division was again represented by Peter Russell on both panels and has attended numerous meetings and several subcommittee meetings. Representation to the Northern Territory Government committees by structural engineers and the division is good with representation on Building Appeals Board, Building Advisory Committee, Builders Registration Board, Power & Water Corporation, Cyclone Subcommittee and Building Industry Representative Group. A draft comment on the revision of the wind code was distributed to Structural College Board and others for comment during 2009. The New Chair of Structural Engineering has taken up his position at CDU. The Director of Northern Division was instrumental in obtaining funding for Prof David Lilley. It is the intended to maintain the close relationship with CDU and Engineers Australia. Northern Division was not successful in securing the 2012 ASEC conference however Darwin will be considered for the 2014 conference—a decision made at the recent Structural College Board meeting held in November this year. Peter Russell Structural College and Building Advisory Board Representative
Rod McGee Medal 2008 to Elisabeth Smolinska.. Support for the many learned Societies and Engineering Committees that report to the Board on their conferences, conferences papers and CPD presentations. Monitor and encourage divisional CPD presentations to assist members with their efforts to maintain there competency in the field of engineering in which they practice to ensure they retain their CP Eng status. Encourage and sponsor the eminent speakers programme to regional centres as well as the major cities. Stage 2 Competency matters were work-shopped at our last meeting with follow-up action by some us prior to the next meeting in March 2010. David McHugh was appointed as the Civil College Board Repre- Electrical College sentative on the National Coastal and Water Engineering ComThe National Electrical College Board met twice this year with mittee. the first meeting taking place in Brisbane o 4th and 5th June. The secDave McHugh th th Civil College Board Representative ond meeting was held on 6 and 7 November in Darwin.
The main functions of the electrical college are to: . Promote electrical engineering . Promote CPD The Mechanical College Board nationally conducted two face-to-face . Nominate and award prizes to eminent and outmeetings during 2009 with a number of teleconferences to discuss standing electrical engineers and graduates mechanical engineering issues such as: . Promote research and development • Strategic Planning 2010-2015 . Review and comment on policy documents. • Joint Agreement with IMechE The June meeting was held in Brisbane in conjunction with the MA Sargent Medal award dinner. This year saw Brisbane take out • MOU with IMechE all of the top awards with the MA Sargent medal being awarded to • JSME Dr Keith Hilless and the Professional Engineer of the Year being • Competency Standards & NPER awarded to Simon Bartlett. • Continuing Professional Development One interesting statistic to come out of this meeting was the • Awards for Young Mechanical Engineer, George Julius news that out of 455 electrical CPD audits carried out to June 2009, Medal & AGM Michell Medal only 303 were deemed to be satisfactory. The November meeting in Darwin was a first for the Electrical • Year of Engineering Leadership College Board as they have never held a national meeting here before • Governance Workshop Also emerging trends/issues were on the agenda in the past and many of the delegates had never been to Darwin previously. One of the highlights of the visit was a meet and greet evening held on the year: Friday evening. It was good to see so many of our young electrical • Mandatory reporting engineers turn up to meet the College Board members and to hear a • Energy and sustainability short presentation, on the Board’s function and aims, from our chairThe members of the College Board attended the 2009 Warman Albert Koenig. man Design-and-Build Student Competition National Final on SunThe ECB has expressed thanks to the Northern Division office day 27th September 2009 and dinner. staff who helped make their Darwin visit and meeting such a success. Young Mechanical Engineer Award was presented to Mr They commented that the Darwin hospitality was second to none. Derek Mulder from Queensland to acknowledge his achievements as a young mechanical engineer and his contributions to the activities of Len Chappell Engineers Australia. Stefania Fikus Electrical College Board Representative.
Mechanical College
Mechanical College Board Representative
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2. An Inclusive Professional Team Regions Nhulunbuy Nhulunbuy was privileged to host a visit by the National President in April. A Fellow’s certificate was presented at a special function which was attended by local engineers to Steve Petrofis. I am also looking for a replacement for myself on the Northern Division’s Management Committee. This representative does not necessarily have to be a senior engineer, it can be young engineer who may wish to enhance their skills. Cam MacDiarmid Nhulunbuy Representative
Alice Springs 2009 was again a relatively quiet year with few activities for members who live in the Alice area. In August, the Engineering Excellence Judging Panel visited to assess entries from the region. A function at the
Crowne Plaza and presentations were made to local members of some of the entries. Several local entries were to receive awards (see the report on the Engineering Excellence Awards). In April, members participated in the annual Science and Engineering Challenge held at Alice Springs High School to help develop interest in these areas in our upcoming youth. September’s highlight was another Youth program, Sunchase, a model Solar Car and Boat Challenge where school students build solar powered cars and boats and race them. This leads to a National Championship, this year it is being held in Melbourne in late November. This promotes an interest in science and engineering as well as renewable technologies. Thank you to our sponsors Power and Water Corporation, Alice Solar City, Desert Knowledge, Lee Point Electrical, BP Solar, Eco Engineering, Alice Springs Town Council, Mbantua and Stuart Rotary Club. In 2010 we hope to have more events so helpers and suggestions are most welcome. Steve Sawyer Alice Springs Represemtatove Engineer Amol Gupta helps the Braitling Car Team
Membership Groups Associates I was pleased to be able to represent Northern Division Engineering Associates in 2009. Although the Associates represent only around 8% of total membership, across the Territory and region, all are equally supported and catered for as the Technologists and Professional grades. Luccio Cercarelli from Darwin City Council is the National Associates Representative on Civil College. National Committee for Engineering Associates meetings were held in Sydney during April and Canberra in November. The April meeting was held in conjunction with a visit to RAAF Base Richmond, hosted by Associates National Chair Wing Commander Ross Magno. Highlights from the National Committee for Engineering Associates for 2009 were the implementation of an Engineering Register and support from Engineers Australia to have Associates and Technologists included in ‘Regulation of the Engineering Profession’ proposals in WA. National Congress has endorsed a review of the Bye-Laws including consideration of equal voting rights for all grades. A personal highlight this year was to be included on the Judging Panel for the Northern Division Engineering Excellence Awards. There were no candidates for Engineering Associate of the Year. My two-year term as Division Representative expires at the
Northern Division AGM on 03 December 2009. Due to work commitments I will not be seeking re-election. Associates have been well supported by the Division President Peter Hagan, Director Bronwyn Russell and her team. We are grateful for that assistance. Bob Calaby OFIEAust Associate Representative
Membership Honorary Fellow
1
Senior Member
1
Fellow Member Companion
3
Graduate
101
Student
171
Tech Fellow
2
Tech Member
5
Tech Graduate
3
Tech Student
1
Officer Fellow
3
Officer Member
17
Officer Graduate
10
Officer Student
9
Affiliate
2
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2. An Inclusive Professional Team and put forward a number of comments and proposed Engineering Heritage Committee (Northern Division) Membership cont….. inclusions.
Division membership has decreased slightly in 2009. This is possibly due to the data cleansing program which was initiated by National Office in 2009 to ensure that all members records were accurate and up to date. Student numbers have increased by 11. Skilled migration enquiries have definitely increased in 2009 with the division staff assisting those with their applications.
Technologists Although relatively quiet on the local division front the National Committee for Engineering Technologists has been relatively busy this year, meeting face to face three times plus two teleconferences. The committee was determined to maintain the momentum of the 2008 ‘Year of the Engineering Team’ to ensure that Engineering Technologists maintained a high profile in both Engineers Australia and the general engineering public. The national committee came of age this year obtaining representatives from the Victorian, Sydney and Newcastle EA Divisions to back up the existing members from Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern division. We now have As a national committee we provided comment and input into a number of very important issues affecting all members of the engineering team. These included:
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The Accreditation Management System draft document. This document is updated every 5 years and defines the role of Stage 1 competency levels applicable to all levels of the Engineering Team.
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The EA Draft Policy Statement on the Engineering Profession. We were disappointed that both the Engineering Technologists and Associates were left out of this document, especially following the year of the engineering team. The committee thoroughly reviewed this document
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Discussion Paper on the Regulation of Engineers in WA. A considerable amount of time was spent reviewing and formulating a response to this document to ensure that Engineering Technologists views were catered for.
On the local front I wish to again congratulate Tom Maher, from Darwin City Council, on winning the Engineering Technologist of the year. The award could not have gone to a more worthy recipient. Len Chappell Northern Division Representative
Women in Engineering I took over the role of Women in Engineering representative from Louise McCormick. Due to her workload with Tiger Brennan Drive, Louise hesitantly resigned from the position. I take this opportunity of thanking Louise for her contribution . Our vision is that engineering is an inclusive profession which values, supports and celebrates the contributions of women in the engineering team.. Some key initiatives nationally include GirlTalk which originated in the ACT Division WIE Group. This program was developed and is run by women engineers to encourage more women into enegineering. It consists of a PowerPoint presentation that explains engineering as a career, the options available, subject choices and brief profile of the presents. These programs are mainly targeted at schools to encourage more women to study engineering. You can visit Women in Engineering on FACEBOOK under: Engineers Australia—Women in Engineering. An up to date flyer was also produced in 2009. I look forward to continuing my involvement with Women in Engineering in 2010. Nerida Beard Women in Engineering Representative
Engineers Without Borders The Darwin chapter of Engineers Without Borders maintained its contingency plan of building a solid and active membership which is now ready to act in early 2010. EWB stalls were seen at the CSIRO Science Fair and the Tiger Brennan Drive Open Day talking to kids about education and sanitation in underdeveloped communities, and both parents and kids on careers in engineering. Local members also represented EWB on a few other occasions in meetings throughout the year. EWB has just hosted its annual conference in Melbourne, from 26-28th November, called Engage 2009. This was EWB's 4th annual national conference aimed at representing the premier gathering of engineers working or interested in interna-
tional aid work, sustainable development, design and technology. 2010 has many exciting opportunities on offer for those like-minded people wanting to get involved. Every 6 months an intake is established for working in developing communities for EWB. Visit their website for further information or phone Rana Everett for local chapter involvement: 0416 320 498. Rana Everett Engineers Without Borders Representative
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National Congress Meeting National Congress met twice this year with both our July meeting and November meeting in Canberra. The main focus of National Congress this year has been: • The development and adoption of our new strategic plan for the next 5 years
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The launch of the “make it so” campaign and a report on progress to date
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Reform of our Royal Charter and Bylaws and report on progress
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Review and rework of our Code of Ethics and a report on progress
tion of engineering Organisations). The following matters were raised by congress delegates: • Nuclear Physics and Engineering - Encourage Universities to develop courses in these subjects
Council Report to Congress
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Complaints Commissioner’s Report
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Young Engineers Australia Report
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Report on 90th Anniversary Commemorations
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Congress Engagement Report
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Electronic communication committee Report
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Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council Report
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Report from the President of WFEO (World Federa-
Australian Engineering - Dictionary of Biography and Centenary 2019
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Division Committee Members be 2 years Congress meets twice per year
The following reports were provided to congress:
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Review of Ethics Practice
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Congress elect the Chair of Congress separately from the Deputy President Electoral process.
The following people were elected to the new National Council: • New Deputy President – Merv Lindsay
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New Councillors – David McHugh, Bronte Strout and Alex Baitch Dave McHugh
Congratulations to Dave McHugh for being appointed to the National Council of Engineers Australia
2. An Inclusive Professional Team Young Engineers Young Engineers Australia (Northern Division) has enjoyed another successful and fun year that included numerous social and educational events. The year began with a ‘meet and greet’ at the Beachfront Hotel in March with approximately 20 people attending including a few new faces. In June we held our GenX trivia night at the Larrakeyah Officer’s Mess. Simon Turner and his team from GHD proved themselves to be experienced in pub trivia, convincingly winning on the night. Towards the end of July the Young Engineers Australia Northern Division (and possibly Darwin’s!) premier social event, the ‘Golf Day’, was held at the Palmerston Golf Course. Beautiful Darwin dry season weather prevailed and the chance of a ‘round of 9’ with an early knock off and a few casual beers meant engineers and others attended in abundance. In the end, the golf side of things was dominated by players from Douglas Partners, but all had an enjoyable day no matter how many shots it took some of us to get around the course! With August came the CSIRO ‘Top End Science Fair’ and our chance to excite budding young engineers from Years 3 to 8 about some of the more interesting and exciting problems engineers deal with on a day to day basis. Not the easiest gig! But with a few keen committee members we managed to entertain the young ones and may have even influenced a few to become Darwin engineers!
On behalf of Young Engineers Northern Division, I’d like to express thanks to all our sponsors for the year, as many of our events wouldn’t be possible without your support. We look forward to your continuing cooperation in 2010 and hope to see you all at our events in future. I’d also like to take the opportunity to thank the YEA and Engineers Australia committee members plus other volunteers throughout the year for all their support, ideas and help! Report produced by Adam James On Behalf of Andrew Gane President Young Engineers
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2. An Inclusive Professional Team National Committees Transport Committee
Centre of Engineering Leadership and Management - Northern Chapter The year kicked off with the CELM Leadership Seminar held in conjunction with the National Committee for Women in Engineering on 03 March. Dr Julie Hammer past president of EA gave an inspiring key note address outlining her career in what was then a very male dominated profession. The seminar was interactive with participants taking on some role play in Leadership situations and the day was finished with a panel discussion This was followed on 11 March by a breakfast meeting with Grant Behrendorff as the guest speaker. Grant won the Northern Division Technologist of the Year in 2007 and went on to win the National title at the Australian Engineering Excellence Awards. He spoke about his career and his involvement in the 'Bushlight indigenous' renewable energy project. The project won awards at the Northern Division and the Australian Engineering Excellence Awards. The CELM joint Chair Board Meeting was held on the 26 August, 2009 at the University of Sydney. Unfortunately due to work commitments the Northern Division did not have a representative in person at the meeting. The board reviewed Doug Roser’s paper on “a roadmap for Engineering Executive” and a second paper detailing more background information about Engineering Executive. We look forward to the release of these papers next year. Kevan Blake, CELM Representative
The committee held two meetings during the year. There is now representation from all Divisions. Key activities include planning for a Transport Engineering Conference in 2011 likely to be in conjunction with the Australian Institute of Traffic Planning and Management, developing a paper on the benefits to society of transport based engineering studies, refining a paper on a series of key issues for discussion at a political level including road safety, port congestion, congestion management, the rail network, transport implications with – climate change, global warming, ETS etc and transport infrastructure funding. This year saw the publication of one edition of Transport Engineering Australia and the presentation of further papers on TEA Online 2009. The 2009 Student Paper Prize was awarded to Sarah Mahmoud studying at Monash University. Peter Hagan National Committee on Transport Engineering Representative
Congratulations to Tom Maher TMIEAust for winning National Technologist of the Year
3.0 Youth Appeal SMART/SMART Remote (Science Maths and
Charles Darwin University In 2009, the School of Engineering and Information Technology at Charles Darwin University had a successful year. We achieved full accreditation of our Civil and Mechanical Engineering programs from Engineers Australia and continue with electrical and electronics degrees In Collaboration with NT Government and local companies, CDU started a Cooperative program aiming to train and prepare engineers compatible with the requirements of industry. Thank you to the support of industry during this process. The school continued external delivery of engineering units as well as presenting diploma of engineering as a new programme. In future years, we will extend these activities in addition to proposed new programs for the Masters of Engineering. Engineers Australia continues to support the University by holding student BBQ’s and offering them the opportunity of free membership at these events.
EngQuest Due to the outstanding way EngQuest was managed last year, the registrations for the Northern Territory doubled this year as thirty schools entered the program for 2009 and enjoyed the rich resources provided to them on the web.
Real Technology)
In semester one 2009 over 700 regional primary school students in the Northern Territory enjoyed a Science, Maths and Real Technology (SMART) road show in conjunction with the Science and Engineering Challenge. Thanks to the additional help from ALPA, and the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR), this year the program was delivered to a much wider remote audience. It took a team including: one Engineers Australia Youth Coordinator, one ALPA host, a pilot and 2 University of Newcastle SMART Show presenters over 800 km of air, sea and road travel, hauling 100 kilos of equipment and 10 school days to reach over 500 students spread over 10 community schools. The schools included: Gapuwiyak CEC (Lake Evella), Shepherdson College (Galiwinku, Elcho Island), Milingimbi CEC (Milingimbi), Ramingining School (Ramingining), Belyuen School (Delissaville), Xavier Community Education Centre (Nguiu, Bathurst Island), Pularumpi School (Pirlangimpi, Melville Island), Mamaruni School Minjilang (Croker Island), Warruwi School (Goulburn Island), Gunbalanya School (Oenpelli) ALPA have indicated that they would be keen to help again next year and Newcastle are in the process of looking for fresh support from the Federal Government.
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3.0 Youth Appeal Science & Engineering Challenge
Sunchase
This year 350 students from Darwin and Alice Springs competed to win the privilege of traveling to Bendigo to attend the National Science and Engineering Challenge. Alice Springs conducted a one day event at Centralian Senior Secondary College and Darwin competitions ran over two days at the Charles Darwin University. Once the results were tallied, the outright winner was Darwin High School with a score of 1819.27 followed very closely by St Philips from Alice Springs with 1693.36. Acknowledgement must be paid to the wonderful support received by the Faculty of Health, Education and Science at the Charles Darwin University and the Bendigo Bank (Darwin) for assisting Darwin High School to send the 20 students to the National competition.
Supported by major sponsor, Power and Water Corporation and event partners, BP Solar and Lee Point Electrical, Ecoenergy, Alice Springs Rotary Club Mbantua and Alice Solar City, two regional events were held. Alice Springs ran their event in September at Centralian Senior Secondary College where 80 students competed in 3 categories: Model cars, boats and kit cars. The results were: St Phillips High School (first all girl team) in the model cars, St Phillips High School in the boat race event and Ross Park Primary in the kit car event. The Darwin event was held in October in conjunction with the Global Green Challenge (previously World Solar Car Challenge) scrutineering event at the Darwin Show Grounds. The day was cloud free which allowed two hundred primary school students to compete for middle and upper primary championships. Only solar kit cars were raced this year with the plan to include boats in 2010. Overall winner on the day was Larrakeyah Primary School. A poster competition was also conducted on the day with St Andrew Lutheran School the outright winner on the day. Thank you to our Sunchase major sponsor Power & Water Corporation and our friends BP Solar and Lee Point Electrical.
4.0 Chartered Status/Professional Development The Department of Infrastructure and Planning signed a PDP agreement at the launch of the Engineering Excellece Awards at the Darwin Convention Centre and a PDP agreement was also signed with Charles Darwin University at the student BBQ in March. The Make IT So Campaign was also launched on 3 December by Jamie Penrose, Director of Communications and Marketing, to our PDP partners.
• • • •
Congratulations to the following members on achieving Chartered Status Bryan Mower MIEAust CPEng Jarrad Simpkins MIEAust CPEng Brent Offer MIEAust CPEng Daryl McKenzie MIEAust CPEng
The Division currently has 160 CPEng members and 61 NPER members.
National Assessor Visits in 2009 Ewan Hazeldene, National Assessor visited the Top End on two occasions in 2009. The first visit was in March. Ewan visited Alice Springs, Gove and Darwin and held a successful professional interview and visited many of the PDP partners. The second visit was in November and during this time Ewan facilitated a professional interview assisted by chartered members. He also conducted six Workshops with a total of 29 members focusing on Writing Career Episode Reports(CERs) and the process for achieving Chartered Status. Attendees came from Worley Parsons, Aurecon, GHD, Department of Planning & Infrastructure, Conoco Phillips, Lucas, two sole practitioners and the Charles Darwin University. Ewan also promoted the benefits of belonging to a Professional Development Program(PDP) in order to receive ongoing assistance from an Assessor as CERs are being written during his November visit.
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5. Continuing Professional Development Technical Sessions/Seminars/Site Visits Month
Topic
Speaker
January
Low Maintenance Bridges - Jakarta
Golder Associates
February
Charles Darwin University Industry Engagement—Coop Degree
February
Young Engineers—meet n greet
Charles Darwin University— Engineering and IT Beach Front Hotel
February
Four Models in Vietnam
David Meigh—Jakarta
March
CELM Breakfast
Grant Behrendorff
March
National Assessor visit—CPEng—PDP workshops
Ewan Hazeldene
April
Department of Infrastructure & Planning—stimulus package
Mike Chiodo
April
Bridge Building Contest—Jakarta
Jakarta Engineering Members
June
National President - Technical Presentation Gove
Peter Godrey
June
National President—Meet n Greet luncheon Darwin
Peter Godfrey
May
The Inspiring Story of Sir John Monash
Peter Thomas
June
Eminent Speaker—Recasting the internet of things and the future of the digital economy
Dr David Kellern
June
A/Professor Ron Cox
June
Eminent Speaker - Climate Change Impacts & Adaptation for Settlement and Infrastructure Jabiru Technical Presentation
June
Technical Presentations - 2009 Engineering Excellence Awards—Alice Springs
Project Entrants - Alice Springs
June
Wave Pool Site visit
Darwin Waterfront Developments
July
Technical Presentations – 2009 Engineering Excellence Awards—Darwin
Project Entrants
August
Code of Ethics Seminar
Bob Nairn
September
Darwin River Dam Site Visit
Power & Water Corporation
October
Eminent Speaker - Environmental Scan
Keith Crews
October
A/Professor Ron Cox
November
Eminent Speaker— Climate Change Impacts & Adapation for Settlement and Infrastructure Electrical College Board—Meet n Greet
November
National Assessor visit—CPEng—PDP workshops
Ewan Hazeldine
Anthony Verna
Alfred Keonig/Len Chappell
6. International Reach & Influence The division continues to send its newsletters to its overseas members. A series of workshops were also held in Jakarta for our members which included technical sessions on Low Maintenance Bridges, A Bridge Building Contest and a Four Models in Vietnam semi -nar with keynote speaker
David Meigh. Thank you to Dino Sarac for informing the division to circulate the information on the technical presentations and seminars. It is great to see the Division continuing to communicate with our overseas members.
7. Internal Communications Our newsletter continues to grow with the distribution being wide spread. A query from a Katherine reader who was interested in Poole’s Ponderings and the telecommunications are article quoted “what a fun bunch engineers are – who would
have imagined”. We always try to make the newsletter interesting for members and if you have any articles of interest or ideas, please feel free to contact Karen at the office or email to krelph@engineersaustralia.org.au.
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8. A Capable Organisation 2009 Committee We would like to say thanks to our committee. We would not be able to function without your assistance.
Position
Name
Position
Name
President/Transport Committee
Peter Hagan
Women in Engineering
Civil College/Congress Representative
Louise McCormick/Nerida Beard Dave McHugh
Centre for Engineering Leadership & Management
Kevan Blake
Engineering Technologist National Representative
Len Chappell
Electrical College/Deputy President
Len Chappell
Engineering Associate National Representative
Robert Calaby
Committee Member
Sumesh Dhir
Committee Member
Capt Stephen Menscheyli
Ocean & Coastal Committee/Water Engineering National Committee
Eric Valentine
Engineering Heritage Australia /Heritage Committee ND
Peter Poole
Engineers Without Borders/CDU Student Representative
Rana Everett
Structural College/Building Advisory Committee
Peter Russell
Alice Springs Representative
Steve Sawyer
Mechanical College National Representative
Stefania Fikus
Nhulunbuy Representative
Young Engineers National Representative
Adam James
Cameron MacDiarmid
Young Engineers President Northern Division
Andrew Gane
Committee Representative
Kirsty McInnes
Defence Representative
Capt Stephen Menscheyli
Division Activities 2009 Month
Topic
Month
Topic
February
Meet and Greet Night – Young Engineers
September
2009 Engineering Excellence Awards
March
Welcome New Students Chales Darwin University BBQ
September
April
ENGQuest
May
Gala Dinner—Guest Speaker Doug Walters (Cricketer)
Sunchase Model Solar Car Challenge—Alice Springs Sunchase Model Solar Car Challenge - Darwin
May
Sponsors/Supporters Cocktail Function
May
National Presidents Visit—Darwin/Nhulunbuy
May
Students Thesis Presentations
May
Charles Darwin University Prize Giving
May
GenX - Larrakeyah Barracks
July
SMART (Science, Maths & Real Technology Program Alice Springs
July
Science & Engineering Challenge—Darwin & Alice Springs
July
Young Engineers Golf Day
August
SMART Program Darwin, Arnhemland
August
Engineering Week—Darwin Cup Day Race
August
Fellows Luncheon
August
Launch of Engineering Week
October December
Charles Darwin University Students Thesis Presentations Make It So Campaign Launch
Northern Division Fellows • • • • •
Congratulations to Northern Division newest Fellows Mike Burgess Prof David Lilley Reginald Connors Steve Petrofes and to our Division’s newest
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October
Campanions Chris Edwards Jean Luc Revell