THE NEWSLETTER OF THE SYDNEY DIVISION OF ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA
JUNE 2012
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
It’s Time! Sydney Division Key Sponsors
Despite nearly 25 years involvement with Engineers Australia and the engineering profession, I am constantly amazed at the ‘new’ pockets of the profession that I come across (previously unknown to me) that each have decades of history and achievement to celebrate. Each engineer with his/her own story to tell of their professional journey, each pocket of the profession working in their own area of specialisation, all contributing towards ‘our’ engineering profession in Australia and beyond. And yet it is the fragmentation of our profession that continues to prevent us from realising our full potential. Engineers Australia provides the framework and opportunity for improvement – and membership is the gateway to involvement, participation and contribution. It’s time for the engineering profession to become increasingly focused on delivering outcomes that serve the community’s needs. With a new CEO, Engineers Australia has a renewed vision for improving the relevance and sustainability of the organisation, as the foundation for enabling and empowering the membership and broader engineering profession. A clear strategic direction, improved communication of governance arrangements, greater awareness of member needs, and refocusing the mindset of staff on serving the volunteers, who serve the membership, who serve the community. The volunteer Office Bearer’s of Engineers Australia have a critical role to play – engaging with members to identify needs and objectives, and working with staff to constantly review and improve the suitability and effectiveness of our activities. The annual Nomination and Election of Office Bearer’s will be undertaken over the next
few months. I again encourage all eligible members to understand how best to contribute, consider nominating, and to make your vote count. I would personally like to see a vast improvement in member participation in the voting process in Sydney Division in 2012, as an indication of the interest and participation in your profession. It’s time we each became more accountable for ‘our’ profession. It’s time that we improved the effectiveness of our engagement and collaboration, that our initiatives and activities became more visible by continuing to ‘fly the flag’, and that we establish engineering hubs wherever there is a ‘need’ to be addressed and we have engineers willing to work together to address it. Finally, it’s time that each of us continue to progress our membership grades – for students to take-up graduate membership, for graduates to move to full membership and towards becoming chartered, and for those with the necessary experience and achievement to become Fellows of our institution. I look forward to presenting our new Fellows at the next Fellows’ Luncheon in November 2012. Brendyn Williams, BE(Civil)(Hons) MIEAust FIPWEA President, Engineers Australia Sydney Division
Interested in getting involved? … the call for nominations for vacant Division Committee, College Board and National Congress positions for 2013 will open on Monday 9 July, 2012 and close on Friday 24 August, 2012. Look out for the call for nominations and electon advertisements on the web at: www.engineersaustralia.org.au/elections This is your opportunity to not only benefit from an increased engineering network and to contribute to the governance of Engineers Australia, you will have an opportunity to influence and to give something back to the profession.
www.engineersaustralia.org.au/elections
Deputy President’s Corner
Key Division Staff Executive Director – Steve Finlay Executive Operations Manager – Richard Hanna Events Manager – Aimee Najdovski Industry Relationship Manager – Elana Huthnance Events Coordinator – Jessica Marshall Communications and IT Coordinator – Nimali Herath Membership Services Officer – Julia Bresolin Membership Services Officer – Danielle Tuazon Membership Services Officer – Anna Holtby Account Manager – Rimma Kolodizner Chartered Assessors – Roland De Broglio, Amal Hanna Neil Wyles and Guy Beaubois National Stage 1 Assessor – Guy Beaubois and Maurice Allen National Manager Careers – Jenny O’Donovan Auditorium Operator – David Zhao
Your Division Committee for 2012 President – Brendyn Williams Deputy President – John Nichols Immediate Past President – Maryam Khajeh National Councillors – Bruce Howard, Marlene Kanga and Alex Baitch National Congress – Kevin Dixon, Ted Tooher and Michael Myers
Elected Members: David Edwards, Nikki New, Rosemary Crowhurst and Michael Lucas
Appointed Members: Young Engineers Australia, Sydney Division – Sam Green Women in Engineering – Julie Mikhail Regional Group Representatives – John Stornelli and Rosemary Crowhurst College and CELM Representative – Alexandra Meldrum Chair Education and Assessment Sub Committee – Norm Himsley Electrical Branch – Allan Sangster Unit Representatives – Norm Himsley and Allan Sangster
Produced by Engineers Australia Sydney Division Editor – Steve Finlay Designed by Engineers Media
Sydney Division
Level 3, 8 Thomas Street, Chatswood NSW 2067 (PO Box 1389, Chatswood 2057) phone 02 9410 5600 fax 02 9410 0000 sydney@engineersaustralia.org.au www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sydney The views expressed in Engineers Sydney are not necessarily those of Engineers Australia Sydney Division.
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2 ENGINEERS SYDNEY JUNE 2012
I was intrigued by a comment made by Dr Kate White, visiting eminent speaker from the US Army Corp of Engineers, relating to the philosophical difference between Engineers and Scientists, in which she implied that fundamentally scientists make their mark by disagreeing - whereas engineers make their mark by collaborating. To illustrate her point she indicated that throughout history scientists who are recorded with great discoveries or who are considered to have had great influence over human thought never did it by agreeing with other scientists, they did it by disagreeing and in many cases disagreeing violently with other scientists. They proposed something different to conventionally held belief, something contrary to consensus or intuitive thought. Classic examples of this are Nicolaus Copernicus and the theory on heliocentric cosmology, Charles Darwin with the theory of evolution of life, Alfred Wegener with continental drift and Albert Einstein with Relativity. No scientist would be remembered, be considered as being great or would be considered as achieving anything of awe if all he did was agree with everyone else. Engineers on the other hand, fundamentally tend to collaborate rather than disagree, to combine resources and to seek conservative, collective median solutions. Needless to say there are very good reasons why engineers adopt this philosophy – to be not as conservative as what one should be when designing Sydney Harbour Bridges or hundred storey sky scrapers can have absolutely disastrous consequences. And obviously conservatism, co-operation and collaboration are necessary to achieve physical engineering durability and greatness. While it may be said that scientists disagree and engineers collaborate there are many important issues facing society that fall in between the realms of science and engineering. Issues of which many people are extremely passionate and have intense diverging contradictory opinion: climate change, nuclear energy, mining, coal energy, environmental conservation, transportation infrastructure and water resource strategy. Perhaps in the solution of these complex engineering, scientific, economic and social issues, engineers may have to learn from the philosophy of scientists: that it is acceptable to be radically different from the status quo, that insoluble problems may need radically different approaches, solutions, concepts and theories, and that engineers may need to be visibly outspoken on some very unpopular topics. John Nichols BE (Civil), CPEng, FIEAust Deputy President, Engineers Australia Sydney Division
WorkCover NSW is here to help businesses and workers understand how the new work health and safety laws make the workplace safer. New work health and safety laws now apply in NSW. While many parts of the new legislation are the same or similar to previous arrangements it is important that businesses, industry and workers know what the differences are. WorkCover NSW is here to help businesses and workers understand and implement these new laws to reduce the incidence of workplace injury. Because, at the end of the day, it’s about helping people work safe, so they get home safe. For more information call 13 10 50 or visit workcover.nsw.gov.au
NEWS
WSRG events In the month of May, WSRG had two excellent events. The first event was a “Stormwater in Western Sydney” presentation at the University of Western Sydney. Geoff Hunter from J. Wyndham and Prince spoke about the different design aspects of Water Sensitive Urban Design in Western Sydney and the importance of considering all aspects including mosquito control. His presentation has been uploaded on the WSRG webpage for Engineers Australia members. Geoff’s presentation was followed by a presentation on Integrated Water Cycle Management (IWCM) by Dr. Peter Coombes from Bonacci. Peter discussed the importance of starting analysis from a small scale working to the larger scale and indicated that North West and South West Growth Centres would have a greater Net Present Value if IWCM is utilised in the design. The analysis discussed in the presentation was conducted as part of a larger project for Sydney Water and the importance
of holistic catchment management. WSRG would like to thank both speakers for excellent presentations. The second event was a site visit to Toongabbie to watch the construction of a bridge replacement over Greystanes Creek by RailCorp. As construction continued along at an excellent pace in the background the attendees were given presentations from the lead designer, Ken Maxwell of Hyder Consulting and from the head of RailCorp’s bridge renewal program Nathan Hoffmeister. Despite the demolition and construction noise in the background Ken and Nathan provided details of the design process and constraints of this bridge and the difficulties of safe construction in the railway environment. WSRG would like to thank both speakers, and the construction teams for the excellent presentation and show provided.
Women in Engineering Mentoring Program 2012 The Engineers Australia Women in Engineering (WIE) Sydney Division held mentoring training at the AECOM boardroom on Thursday 8 May. The event was sponsored by RailCorp and supported in kind by AECOM. The event was attended by 45 mentors and mentees of the WIE mentoring program. The majority of the program members were new to mentoring, and the purpose of the training session was to provide guidelines for both mentors and mentees. Through a training presentation and group activities / discussion, the mentors and mentees gained an understanding of mentoring and the roles and responsibilities of mentors and mentees. It was also an opportunity for mentors and mentees to meet each other and identify any issues that would prevent a successful mentor /mentee relationship. As a result three new matchings were arranged. There was positive feedback from the members that the training was informative and the networking opportunity was great. The program has over 30 mentees on the waiting list due to overwhelming response. Engineers who have more than 5 years professional experience are encouraged to consider being a mentor of the WIE mentoring program – both male and female engineers are welcome.
For more information please email program coordinator Mai Yeung at sydwie_mentor@engineersaustralia.org.au Mai Yeung, Mentoring Program Coordinator WIE Sydney Division
NSW Chapter of Australian Society for Defence Engineering
LHD Amphibious Assault Ships: Realising Platform Optimisation The Australian Defence Force potential to manoeuvre, deploy and sustain ground forces from the sea will be significantly enhanced from 2014 with the delivery of two LHD Amphibious Assault Ships. At 27,000 tonnes the LHD ships are approximately a third larger than the ex-RAN aircraft carriers Melbourne and Sydney. However, the concept basis for the LHD ships to deliver task organised forces to decisive points by air and sea insertion for combat related, disaster relief or humanitarian assistance tasks will be demanding in every respect. The presentation will provide an overview of the LHD ships and the path to realising platform optimisation, while assessing their potential impact to the future Navy, Armyand Air Force. Monday, 2 July 2012 5:30 for 6:00 pm – concluding by 7.30 pm Harricks Auditorium Ground Floor, 8 Thomas Street, Chatswood Presenter: Rowan Tink, AM, Business Development Manager BAE Systems – Australia (Maritime) Contact: Doug Roser: dougroser@bigpond.com
engineers sydney JUNE 2012 3
COMPANY PROFILE
Everything Infrastructure Everything Infrastructure was founded in Sydney in 2006, and is now acknowledged as an industry leader in Australia’s infrastructure and systems markets. It holds a highly regarded reputation for consistently delivering successful outcomes for its clients. EI enjoys strong relationships with major government and private sector clients across Road, Rail, Water, Energy and other government sectors, with its services often extending well beyond what is traditionally considered as infrastructure. EI is currently servicing clients throughout Australia and has international projectbased assignments in New Zealand, Indonesia and China. Our roles embrace capital investment, portfolio management, strategic direction, commercial advice, process leadership, transaction management, documentation, evaluation, negotiation and resolution. We tailor our services to complement our client’s capabilities and we design processes to best meet our clients needs and we specifically focus on knowledge and skill transfer within the context of continuous improvement. We hold demonstrated leading industry expertise in expediting major capital investment initiatives and in delivering successful outcomes within complex political, commercial and social arenas. We have key roles in the largest and most complex projects in Australia including urban and rural motorways, ports, utilities, communications, desalination plants, hospitals, urban and transcontinental rail, rail rolling stock, ticketing systems, maintenance, facilities management, housing, law courts, commercial offices, dams, mines and airports. Our transaction expertise covers the full portfolio of project delivery models including privately financed, design and construct, operate and maintain, alliance, managing contractor and early contractor involvement.
Our Mission Everything Infrastructure is a centre of excellence in the definition, procurement and delivery of services and infrastructure. Our mission is to: • attract the most experienced and capable practitioners; • support the most challenging and interesting projects; • undertake roles which are meaningful and which influence success; • develop long-term relationships with industry participants founded on mutual respect and trust; • always respect the clients circumstances and make client needs the priority; • transfer knowledge at all opportunities; • actively participate in the project teams and foster teamwork; and • enjoy the roles we are engaged for and encourage enjoyment in those around us.
Our Sponsorship of the Project Management Excellence Award One of the synergies within our organisation is that many of our people have originally trained as engineers. While our further education, training, experience and expertise embraces financial, economic, commercial, contractual and business skills, we often share a foundation in project engineering, engineering management and design. Additionally, the success of many of the projects which we develop relies upon project management excellence, particularly in respect of commercial issue management. Given our origins, and the reliance of project on the quality of management, it is a natural extension for Everything Infrastructure to have a particular interest in the Project Management Award of the 2012 Engineering Excellence Awards.
Our Engineers Everything Infrastructure predominantly focuses on transaction processes, commercial arrangements and technical requirements which underpin the procurement and delivery of services and infrastructure. Our personnel, frequently trained in one of the engineering disciplines, are each experts in the art of project needs analysis, unambiguous documentation of project requirements and the design and implementation of robust and transparent processes to procure the project delivery. Our people have combined their technical skills and training with financial, economic, commercial and contractual expertise which has been developed over ten to forty years experience in project procurement and delivery.
Our People Being a part of Everything Infrastructure is being a member of an exclusive club of specially skilled people. The organisation has focused on the retention of senior experienced and proven practitioners complemented by the excellent developing engineer/managers. The common bond within our staff is the desire to provide excellent service and to deliver our clients objective. Cooperation, teamwork and mutual respect underpin our services.
Major Achievement Our people have delivered key roles on the largest and most complex projects in Australia over recent years. Our team has led the procurement of the largest, most complex and most challenging projects in Australia. Our greatest achievement is the industry recognition and respect afforded our organisation generally. This is a clear indication of the quality of our people and their contribution to project success. 6 engineers sydney JUNE 2012
NEWS
Women In Engineering Kayaking Family Event What a lovely and enjoyable day Saturday 21 April was when Narrabeen Lake was the venue for social kayaking and a spit roast lunch. A good mix of 25 engineers, family and friends, women and men, as well as experienced kayakers and beginners gathered to enjoy the good weather. The afternoon progressed very smoothly as some enjoyed a leisurely paddle on the lake including some beginners who had never picked up a paddle before. At the other extreme, World Champion canoe polo player Caroline Houghton and her family showcased their impressive skills. The event provided a relaxed environment for female engineers, along with their families and friends, to socialise and network. Most importantly, the event provided an opportunity for those women with family commitments who struggle to attend evening events with the chance to network and meet new people within their profession. Mai Yeung WIE Sydney Division
YOUR CONSTRUCTION PARTNER
Kayaking at Lake Narrabeen.
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Contract Management Training Practical courses presented by experienced industry practitioners that can answer your questions
Upcoming Courses July - November 2012 Sydney » 17-20 July Tender Management for Principals and their Agents Decision Making and Writing for Superintendents Advanced Contract Management Sydney » 11-14 September Preparing Winning Quotes, Tenders and Proposals Advanced Contract Administration Engaging and Managing Consultants
In partnership with our clients, GHD has advanced to Stage 2 of the Engineering Excellence Awards. Congratulations to the teams that have put in the hard yards for these projects including our Stakeholder Engagement and Water groups!
Newcastle » 30 October - 2 November Engaging and Managing Consultants Administration of Construction Contracts Preparing and Defending Security of Payment Claims
WE ALSO PROVIDE IN-HOUSE TRAINING Contract Control International Call Mary on +61 7 3236 1936 training@ccintl.com.au www.ccintl.com.au
engineers sydney JUNE 2012 7
YOUR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT – DIARY DATES Most events are held at EA Harricks Auditorium, Ground Floor, 8 Thomas Street, Chatswood with refreshments provided prior to the session. Events are subject to change or cancel at short notice. Please check our website www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sydney/events for up-to-date information. PLEASE NOTE: To view video streams and to download slides of selected Technical Presentations please visit Online CPD at our website: www.engineersaustralia. org.au/sydney/onlineCPD
Thurs 28 Southern Highlands & Tablelands Regional Group
JUNE
Advances In Bionic Eye Research Seminar and Dinner Mineral Springs Room Mittagong RSL (Old Hume Hwy/Bessemer St) 18:00 for 18:30 Contact: Gerald di Corpo Email: secretary_shtrg@ engineersaustralia.org.au Cost: EA Members $30,Non members $35
Thurs 21 Women In Engineering WIE Panel Discussion: Women Striving For Leadership – Is It Worth it? Rydges World Square, 389 Pitt St Sydney 18:00 to 20:00 Contact: Julie Mikhail Email: pjmikhail@optusnet. com.au Cost: EA Members Free,Non members $10 Tues 26 Civil and Structural Engineering Panel Steel Fibre Reinforced and Ultra High-Performance Concrete Zenith Centre, Corner of Railway & McIntosh Sts, Chatswood 17:30 for 18:00 to 19:30 Contact: Steve Foster Email: s.foster@unsw.edu.au Cost: Free Wed 27 Geofabrics Australasia Pty Ltd Innovation in Ground Stabilisation Harricks Auditorium 12:00 to 16:00 Contact: Joe Little Email: j.little@geofabrics. com.au
JULY Mon 2 Australian Society for Defence Engineering LHD Amphibious Assault Ships: Realising Platform Optimisation Harricks Auditorium 17:30 to 19:30 Contact: Doug Roser Email: dougroser@bigpond. com Cost: Free
Tues 24 Civil and Structural Engineering Panel Sydney Light Rail: Planning for the future Zenith Centre, Corner of Railway and McIntosh, Chatswood 17:30 for 18:00 to 19:30 Contact: Brendon Hyde Email: hydeb@tpg.com.au Cost: Free Wed 25 Nuclear Engineering Panel Fukushima – second year: doses and health effects Harricks Auditorium 17:30 to 19:30 Contact: Tony Irwin Email: tonyirwin@bigpond. com Cost: Free Tues 31 Risk Engineering Society Joint seminar with SESA Harricks Auditorium 16:00 to 20:00 Contact: Ruben Welschen Email: RubenW@scottlister. com Cost: To be advised
Tues 17 Centre for Eng. Leadership and Management Passing the Baton and the Role of Leadership in Inspiring the Next Generations of Engineers Harricks Auditorium 17:30 to 19:30 Contact: Ian Ackland Email: Ian.Ackland@ncsi.com. au Cost: Free
Online CPD Presentations slides and notes of following events now available online to download at: www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sydney/techpresentations
View video stre ams of following Sydney events and over 500 more covering all areas of engineering at: http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/webcasts/mediavisionz
• WHS Legislation Designer Duties Relating to Structures in NSW (May 2012)
• Life Cycle Management and Rebuilding Engineering Capability in the RAN post the Rizzo Review (May 2012)
• The NCCOE Guidelines for Coastal Implications of Climate Change (May 2012)
• LHD and LSD - The Evolution of Australia’s Amphibious Capability (May 2012)
• Stormwater Quality Management in Western Sydney (May 2012)
• Fire Resistance of Masonry and Concrete (April 2012)
• Design of Transition Zone for Cement Deep Mixing for a Port Reclamation Project (April 2012)
• PPIR: Engineering for the 21st Century (March 2012)
• Use of Limit State Design in Foundation Engineering (April 2012)
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• Mentorship – Mentoring, What does it mean for Engineers? (March 2012)