Northern Division June Newsletter

June/July 2012 issue

What’s in this issue • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

From our Director From our President Our New Fellows Australia Day Honours Young Engineers Report Technical Presentations - Katherine Gove Engineering Professional Development Evening Alice Springs site visit to DAF Plant Technical Presentations - Alice Springs Last Chance to tickets to Excellence Awards Technical Presentations - Darwin Science & Engineering Challenge Sun Visors available for purchase New Members Young Engineers Golf Day Engineering Week/ Science Week - Dates for your Diary Eminent Speakers Fellows Luncheon Gearing up for Business Expo Science Week Events Calendar Engineering Heritage— 140th Anniversary of Overland Telegraph Venus Transit

This month has really demonstrated our commitment to the Year of the Engineering Team. We have had events in Alice Springs, Gove and Jakarta as well as multiple presentations in Darwin. Well done to our members in these places who have contributed to the planning and conducting of these events. These events are always advertised in the Weekly Email that we send to you each Wednesday. We try and limit the number of emails that go out unless we are having a poor response to an event and we need to know if you are coming or not.

Hence the Weekly is now our main source of information for you. Please take a few minutes to have a read when it comes. The links to register are in there as well until the closing time. If you get caught then please let us know.

It has been exciting to see our Jakarta group getting together again. If any of you are heading in that direction then please let us know as I am sure they would be pleased to meet with you.

As you know the Engineering Excellence Awards are happening on 26 July. If you haven’t purchased tickets you can call the Division and convince us as to why you haven’t registered yet.. We will need to be strict about not accepting latecomers this year as the caterers need to know well in advance for ordering purposes. Those that attended the presentations at City of Darwin were impressed by the standard of projects that have been submitted. So come along and have a good night with you friends and colleagues.

Charles Darwin University is revamping the Industry Engagement Group. This is a requirement to ensure the ongoing accreditation of the Engineering Degrees. If you think you would like to be part of this group then please let us know. It will be a commitment of 3 or 4 meetings a year and they would like to see some experienced members participate in this.

Bronwyn Russell Director – Northern Division

Diploma in Project Management Courses - Register your interest now!

Course will be conducted at Engineers Australia Northern Division on the following dates: • 15—16 October 2012 (Module 1) For more informa4on on this course contact • 11—12 February 2013 (Module 2) Engineering Educa4on Australia on • 15-16 April 2013 (Module 3) 03 9274 9600 or visit the website • 17—18 June 2013 (Module 4) www.eeaust.com.au • TBC August 2013 (Module 5)

Dates for your Diary

Partners

Well we are half way through the year now and the Engineering Excellence Awards are just around the corner!

I have now completed my application for chartered status using the new Stage 2 competencies. I promised in my last newsletter article that I would report back to you on how it went. Many moons ago, I had started my charted status application and found writing the career episode reports a very laborious task that I never seemed to be able to get around to finish. I also found that the old style career episode reports were clumsy when trying to reference competency units to parts of a story.

The new Stage 2 competencies, I am pleased to report, are a much easier, intuitive, logical and fluent style of writing.

There are 16 elements in total. You must write 500 to 700 words for each. It was easier to write because you could finish smaller portions of the application at a time. Writing an example to prove an element is much easier than the old style of writing a story and then fitting the elements to match. For those of you who have ever applied for a government position, it is very similar to answering selection criteria. I would encourage those of you who have tried before and didn’t get around to finishing, to try the new style. I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

I also have an update for you on the legislation for registration of engineers, technologists and associates. Recently, I contacted the Queensland President, Steven Goh and he put me in touch with the Registrar in Queensland, Clare Murray. Clare provided me with a copy of the Queensland legislation and has offered to come and meet with us when we are in the throws of getting the legislation through. I have also discussed the legislation with several government officers which are also keen to pursue the NT legislation. Another thought that came out of my discussions is that it could also be based on the NT legislation for registration of Architects. If any members have any views on which they would prefer, or the legislation in general please get in contact with me. Watch this space……

One last note. For those of you who do not know, I am moving on from my position with the Northern Territory Government. I will be starting up a new consultancy office for the Highland Infrastructure Group (HIG for short) here in Darwin.

The company is run by some Queensland colleagues of mine that have asked that I start a Darwin Office for them. It was a very hard decision for me. As most of you know, I love working with

the government and I have worked with some awe inspiring people and great teams during my time in the public service. However, this was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse and I am looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead of me.

Louise McCormick President Northern Division

Partner

Congratula4ons to our newest Fellows: •

Lakshman Rajaratnam

•

Jamal Ahmad El-Den

Congratula4on to members who have recently become Chartered: •

Jacinta Kelly MIEAust CPEng

•

Michael Collins MIEAust CPEng

•

Tom Gooding MIEAust CPEng

•

Chandon Kalase MIEAust CPEng

A belated congratula'ons to a member and supporter of Northern Division who were recipients of Australia Day Award Dominic V Fracaro Awarded Member of the Order of Australia For service to the community of the Northern Territory as a supporter of a range of charitable, historical, educa'onal and spor'ng organisa'ons, to the visual arts, and to business.

Brendan J Lawson FIEAust Awarded Public Service Medal For outstanding public service to the Northern Territory, par'cularly in the successful management of major infrastructure projects.

A message from the President of Young Engineers The Young Engineers have had a mixture of social and professional learning events recently. Early June saw the return of the ten-pin bowling competition. There were six teams involved in Darwin, and appropriately for Year of the Regional Engineering Team, a team from Alice Springs also took part in the competition, playing on the same night at their local bowling alley. After two games of bowling the scores were tallied and the eventual winners were... the architects! Some of the Young Engineers events involve creating networking opportunities with fellow professionals, hence the team of young architects were invited along again, although having won the bowling trophy for the past two years, we may “forget” to invite them next year so that an engineering team can win!

Another popular event returned later in June – a visit to the Naval base and a guided tour of one of their patrol boats.

Although confirmation of the tour was only given two days before hand, a group of ten were able to make it and shown around the Navy Patrol Boat HMAS Glenelg. The one hour tour took in amongst things the bridge, living quarters and engine room, with lots of interesting facts and figures on everything from engine performance to the onboard water recycling system. A big thanks for the Navy for offering the tour. No doubt will do it again next year for those that missed out.

There are more events coming up – including the golf day 14 September and we are very pleased to announce that the YEA National Committee will be coming to Darwin for their next quarterly meeting at the end of August. After a long time pushing for them to come up here, it will be great to finally show them what the Northern Territory has to offer engineers. There will be a chance to meet the national reps in a networking function, plus for those of them that are here for a few days a couple of social trips are in order. You can keep up to date with our events through Facebook (look for the YEA Northern Division page) twitter (follow @YEA_ND) and LinkedIn (via the Young Engineers Australia Northern Division group). And of course we are always looking for ideas of events, social and professional, so come along to one of our monthly meetings or email yeand@engineersaustralia.org.au Thanks, J-P President of YEAND

Sponsor

Young Engineers at the Navy Patrol Boat HMAS Glenelg

The Architects Winning Team

Technical Presentations - Project Entrants Katherine

Technical Presentations by project entrants in the 2012 Engineering Excellence Awards were held in Katherine in May 2012. Over 22 members, non-members and their guests attended this event, including the Mayor of Katherine, Faye Miller and Chief Executive Officer. David Laugher, along with Willem Westra Van Holthe and his wife Jennie.

The two presentations included Aurecon for the RAAF Base Tindal AEWC Facilities and Cullen River Bridge. Other patrons in the restaurant were also very interested in the presentations and asked a few questions.

The event included a 3-course dinner of extremely good food provided by the Stonegrill Paraway Motel.

All who attended enjoyed the event immensely.

Gove Engineering Professional Development Evening A dinner celebrating “The Year of Regional Engineering Team” was recently hosted by Pacific Aluminium and Engineers Australia at the Walkabout Hotel.

Sunny Bhatti, Young Engineers Australia (YEA) representative for Regional Special Interest Group (RSIG) Engineers Australia and Richard Parry, volunteer for the YEA Northern Division were the Master of Ceremonies with guest speakers, Dr Rob Heywood and Paul Mastin.

Dr Rob Heywood from Engineering Solutions is a forensic structural engineer and an educator. He is the Deputy Chairman of the Engineer Australia’s Structural College Board and recently completed a series of “Forensic Engineering” presentations in regional centres and capital cities around Austrlaia.

As guest speaker, Rob provided insight to civil and structure failures, investigations and determination of root causes.

Rob gave a personal recount of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake recover operation, the civil, structural safety hazards when working in a major disaster area, techniques used to define search areas and how victims were located. Changes have come about to design standards as a result of this natural disaster. In summary Rob reinforced the importance of the engineering profession, our responsibilities to the community and the importance of sound engineering practices.

Paul Mastin, Superintendent Mechnical Engineering at Gove Operations, originally from the UK spoke about his diverse engineering career. A light hearted entertaining presentation Paul explained how his career had covered a wide range of industries including gearbox, watch and spy camera manufacturing, heavy industrial processes and materials handling.

Highlights included his work as a volunteer for two years as an engineer in a developing country, where he met his Australian wife.

Paul has been employed by Gove Operations since 1994 where he has worked on numerous projects including the G3 expanstion. Paul was presented with an Engineers Australia Fellowship by Bronwyn Russell, Director, Engineers Australia Northern Division, celebrating his continual support as a Chartered Engineer.

The evening was celebrated as a success with the aim to make it a yearly event for Gove Operations. This event was partly funded by Young Engineers National Engineers Australia.

Sunny Bhatti

Sponsor

Alice Springs site visit to DAF plant

On Thursday the 21 June 2012, over 30 engineering and technical people from local /Territory government, local consultancies and private business attended the combined AWA and Engineers Australia Technical Tour at the Alice Springs DAF Plant, Commonage Road, Alice Springs.

The Dissolved Air Flotation has been operating since 2008, and Power and Water's (PWC) Water Services staff Abdul Basit Bashir, Billy Flanagan, Lewis Manners, Mark Wiltshire provided an enthusiastic explanation about the 8 ML of wastewater received each day on the 47 hectare site, and the treatment required for reuse south of Alice Springs.

Wastewater from the site has been limited in the past to nearby grazing areas adjacent to the showgrounds as Alice Springs is topographically divided by the MacDonnell Ranges.

Options for further reuse include the provision of reticulated reuse water that meets the health standards for irrigation for caravan parks, recreational areas and roadside enhancement, and this is currently being negotiated with key stakeholders including government and developers.

Another challenge is the need for bacteriological analysis of routine samples for pathogens , parasites (rotavirus) and E. coli, where a 36 hour time frame is critical in the determination of performance of tertiary treatment prior to irrigation for recreational areas. PWC has been working with the local Department of Resources laboratory to fulfil this requirement.

Upon the conclusion of the tour, many of the participants took the opportunity for drinks and eats at the Gap-View,a nearby 'watering hole' overlooking the MacDonnell Ranges Gap that separates the Alice Springs urban area, north of the MacDonnell Ranges, and the emerging development, the wastewater ponds and the airport to the south of the town.

Supporter

Engineering Excellence Awards Technical Presentations Project Entrants - Alice Springs Over 45 members, guests and general public attended the Technical Presentations for Alice Springs Project entrants in May 2012 at the Crowne Plaza, Alice Springs.

Uterne Solar Power Plant entry by Suncorp and Alice Springs Power Network Upgrade were the two entrants that featured for in the Technical Presentations.

Nstional President, David Hood took time out of his busy schedule to attend this “Year of the Regional Engineering Team” event as did the Hon Member for Braitling, Adam Giles.

It was pleasing to see the support that Alice Springs showed for our project entrants. The winners of last year’s National Engineering Excellence Awards, CAT Projects who went onto win the “Sir William Hudson” Award in 2011, showed their support with 11 attending to support this year’s project entrants.

A good evening was had by all who attended and it gave the opportunity for our National President to meet many members from Alice Springs.

Supporter

Engineering Excellence Awards Technical Presentation Project Entrants Darwin With 12 entrants in this year’s Awards, the Technical Presentations which were held in Darwin and hosted by the City of Darwin in their upstairs function room provided members and guests with an interesting evening. Project Entrants were given 10 minutes maximum to tell all about their projects and the last opportunity to “sway the judges” opinions. Keely Quinn kept her finger on the bell to ensure that they didn’t run over time with so many entrants for this year’s Awards.

Darwin City Council proudly hosted this event, as they have done for the past 3 years by providing food and beverage for those who attended.

The enthusiasm and dedication by those who entered the Awards was highlighted during the presentations.

Good luck to all the entrants in this year’s Awards and we look forward to sharing a great night with you all on 26th July 2012.

Supporter

Science & Engineering Challenge - Alice Springs comes up Trumps The 2nd & 3rd of May saw the 2012 Science & Engineering Challenge take place at Charles Darwin’s University Casuarina Campus, with 15 teams from 12 schools from Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs.

Alice Springs Team Overall Winner The 2 day event was re-named the Northern Territory Challenge and incorporated a team from Alice Springs, made up of 2 schools.

This was due to funding constraints that mean that an Alice Springs event wasn’t feasible. Thankfully interested schools in Alice Springs, with the help of the Alice Springs organising committee, banded together to make a team and get them to Darwin.

The days flew by as over 200 students per day took part in fun, but educational, hands on science & engineering activities.

New activities, such as the I-Fell Tower proved popular with students and spectators alike as creations made to stand as a tower were put to the test with crushing, and entertainingly destructive, force.

Over the 2 days school teams battled it out to be the champion of the Northern Territory for 2012. Alice Springs won day one, with an impressive 1236.74 with Marrara Christian College following up with 1126.94. Day two, had The Essington School win with a score of 1198.89, with Casuarina Senior College following up with 1125.02. After the 2 days, this placed the Alice Springs team in first place in the Northern Territory, not bad considering teams were made up of 2 different schools of students thrown in to teams together AND the long 2 day bus ride to get to Darwin!

Of course, none of the Youth Programs could go ahead without the support of volunteers. Volunteers from the NT Government, Aurecon, the Defence Force, AECom, GHD and CDU advised, assisted and observed our hundreds of students over the 2 days, and hopefully convinced just a few that engineering and science are great careers to consider.

A HUGE thank you goes to the Department of Education and Training and Charles Darwin University, without their support, this event could not happen. The support of DET and CDU allow Engineers Australia to inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists.

Protect your vehicle while promo4ng Engineering. Northern Division has sun visors for your car for sale only $20.00 each.

To purchase your visor online visit: www.engineersaustralia.org.au/ northern-division/resources Or call 8981 4137 UPCOMING HERITAGE EVENT Celebrating 140 years of the Overland Telegraph August 21 & 22, 2012 Plaquing ceremony Accommodation may be available at Dunmarra Inn or camping available Followed by dinner at Dunmarra Inn Registration opening soon

Day 2 winners Essington School

Supporter

Welcome to Northern Division’s New Members The following members have joined or re-admitted to Northern Division since April 2012. Welcome and we hope to see you at future events and look forward to assisting you further with your professional development in the coming year. All membership enquiries should be forwarded to nt@engineersaustralia.org.au or by phoning 8981 4137. Welcome to all who have returned and those new students and graduates.

New Members cont….

New Members

Miss Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Miss Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Miss Mr Mr Mr Miss Mr Mr Mr Mr Miss Mr

Anne Jopies Felix Matthew Callan Shinoi Chunatu Sunil Kumar Thomas Ellison Steven Mario Barry Joshua Adamo Roa Matt James Lewelyn Michael David Abraham Joseph Rhett Theresa Mohammed Gregorius Robert John Sara Louise Naman Radhesh Wenyin Lawrence Skye Ashaar Muhammad

Ababa Alex Baker Camilleri

StudIEAust GradIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust

Chunatu Cowie Croft De Venansius Densley Di Lembo Elicanal Fairless Ferreras Francis Gamuza Hicks Hogan Ibrahim Indra Putra Jackson Johnston Joshi Krishnan Li Liang MacFarlane Nawaz

StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust GradIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust

Supporter

Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr Mr

Robert Michael Nichols Sanjay Niroula Michael Nixon Oma Fitra Taylor Matthew Opie Ashton Pettit Anthony Pizanias Brandon Ashley Quinn Shane Ratcliffe Mohamad Rhein Kirby Edrian Sanchez Karti Singh-Freeman Rowan Dean Smith Drew Lawrence Stokes Mitchell David Tonkin Nguyen Vu Tran Trung Minh Tran Gab Villamer Jayde Nicholas Walding Kris Wilson Ashraf Youssef Clark Zhao

StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust StudIEAust

Re-Admissions Mr Mr Mr

Michael Manfred Erich Ben

Collins Hader Langdon

MIEAust MIEAust MIEAust

Mr

Paul

Mangohig

GradIEAust

Young Engineers Golf Day - Get your team together today!

Supporter

Engineering Week/Science Week - Dates and Events for your Diary

Defence of Darwin Experience Cocktail Event

Women in Engineering Luncheon Where: Cornucopia Fannie Bay When:

When: Thursday, 9th August

Time:

Time: from 5:00 - 7.00pm

Wednesday, 8th August 2012 From 12 noon Lunch will be at attendees own expense

Where: Defence of Darwin Experience, East Point Museum All welcome This is a free public event and is available to all who wish to attend Food and beverage will be served To register visit: https://engineersaustralia.wufoo.eu/forms/defencehttps://engineersaustralia.wufoo.eu/forms/defence-of -darwindarwin-experienceexperience-cocktailcocktail-event/

Women in Engineering are proud to advise that INPEX has come on board as a sponsor for this special interest group This luncheon will be a networking event to get ideas for 2012/13 All Women in Engineering members including CDU students are welcome to attend this luncheon.

To register visit: https://engineersaustralia.wufoo.eu/forms/ aew-women-in-engineering-luncheon/

Supporter

Eminent Speaker Series - Dr Trevor Bird

Friend

Eminent Speaker Series - Dr Robert Barr

Friend

Fellows Luncheon - Kick off to the New Financial Year The Mayor of City of Darwin, Katrina Fong Lim attended the first Fellows luncheon for the financial new year. She spoke of her vision for the City of Darwin and development of a Master Plan for the future, including transport and street scapes for the city and its surrounds. Katrina was interesting and informative and spent about 20 minutes answering questions from the floor.

20 Fellows attended the event with the presentation of a certificate for our newest Fellow Lakshman Rajaratnam who is our coastal and water representative on the Division’s management Committee.

The event was held in the Waterfront Foyer on the 2nd Floor of the Darwin Convention Centre which provided a brilliant outlook for those who were facing towards the wave pool and the weather was just perfect.

Friend

Gearing up for Business Exhibition and Display - Darwin Convention Centre The Gearing up for Business Expo was held recently at the Darwin Conven'on Centre. Engineers Australia Northern Division was invited to par'cipate in this event by the Department of Business and Employment. This was a perfect opportunity for the Division to highlight “what we do” and how we fit into the puzzle. Organisa'ons such as Laing O’Rourke, Inpex, ICNT, Recruitment organisa'ons (specifically rela'ng to Indigenous employment) and promo'onal organisa'ons were involved in this event.

This provided a networking opportunity for the director and staff with some excellent outcomes from this event. With over 28 exhibitor booths the event proved extremely busy.

Event

Date

Loca4on

Website/More Informa4on

Na'onal science week @ Nightcliff Middle school

14-Aug-12

Nightcliff Middle School

More info: www.scienceweek.net.au

Astronomy exploratorium

15-Aug-12

CSIRO Science Educa'on Centre

More info: www.scienceweek.net.au

Science week dance party

17-Aug-12

CSIRO Science Educa'on Centre

More info: www.scienceweek.net.au

“Magic marvellous materials” science spectacular

17-Aug-12

St. Mary's Catholic Primary School

More info: www.scienceweek.net.au

Henbury school science fair

17-Aug-12

Henbury School Hall

More info: www.scienceweek.net.au

Manme Mayh: The Gardens of 4-25 August Stone Country 2012

Nomad Art Gallery

More info: www.darwinfes'val.org.au/

Engineering Heritage Bus Tour

15-Aug-12

QANTAS Hangar

More info: www.engineersaustralia.org.au/ northern-division/events

Dinosaur Hunt

11-19 Aug-12 Darwin

Café Sci

16-Aug-12

More info: www.scienceweek.net.au

Darwin

Friend

Engineering Heritage - 140th anniversary of Overland Telegraph On 22 August 2012, Engineering Heritage Australia will be commemorating and celebrating the completion of the Overland Telegraph 140 years ago on 22 August 1872. The project is regarded as the largest national projects of the 19th century and on a comparable significance to the NBN today.

The spot where the single wire was joined was at Frews Ironstone Ponds which is about 30km south of Dunmarra.

Engineering Heritage Australia will be installing a new interpretive sign , re-enacting the joining charade, making fine speeches and visiting the actual Frews Pond on Hayfield Station. There may even be some Morse Code communication.

The Lead up to the joining of the wires The South Australian Government had contracts with the British and Australian Telegraph Company who were building the line north of Port Darwin including the submarine cable to Java ( immediately west of Bali). This contract contained savage penalties of approximately £3000 per month if completion of the Overland Telegraph Line was not achieved by 1 January 1872. This was a massive incentive for the South Australian Government to complete the work on time.

The detailed events in the last few months leading up to the joining of the wires at Frew Ponds are difficult to piece together from the published material. It is clear that work was proceeding on several fronts with independent parties working out of communication with other parties for considerable times and in some cases being supplied from different supply routes either from the south or from the Roper River.

Taylor says that the very last pole was planted on 9 August. All that remained was for Burton to finish wiring north from Tomkinson Creek ( between Powell Creek and Attack Creek).

Joining the Line Construction of the northern section of the line was de-

layed during the 1871/72 Wet Season which was particularly heavy and Todd inspected the incomplete section between Elsey to Tennant Creek in July 1872, accompanied by Patterson.

Todd decided to institute a ‘pony express’ or horse relay in order to maintain telegraph operations across the gap between the two ends of the line. The first horse relay was over a distance of 421 km and was carried out by John Lewis and one of his men on 24 June 1872, arriving at Tennant Creek on 1 July 1872. The horse relay was progressively reduced in length as the line was built.

Relief from the noncompletion penalties of the contract had come when the submarine cable between Darwin and Java failed on 23 June 1872: however Todd pressed on to have the Overland Telegraph completed as soon as possible.

Engineer, Robert Patterson, leading his team at Frew Ponds on 22 August 1872, joined the wires. He wrote the following account of the event in his diary: “Half the party seized hold of me and the wire, and the other half of the other end, and stretched with all might and main to bring the two ends together. All our force could not do this. I then attached some binding wire to one end. The moment I brought it to the other end the current passed through my body from all the batteries on the line. I had to yell and let go.

Next time I proceeded more cautiously, and used my handkerchief to seize the wire. In about five minutes I had the joint made complete, and Adelaide was in communication with Port Darwin. It would have been with England had not the (overseas) cable broken down” John Lewis described the scene as follows: “On 22 August, I went with Patterson and Mitchell to a point a few miles east of Frew’s Ironstone Ponds, where the two ends of the wire were to be joined, connecting

Engineering Heritage - 140th anniversary of Overland Telegraph cont…...

Adelaide with Port Darwin.

We met Will Harvey who told us the wires would not be joined until 12 o’clock, so we returned to camp, then made for the last join and arrived there at about 12 o’clock.

At ten minutes past twelve on 22 August, 1872, the wires were really joined. Twenty-one shots were fired from our Colt revolvers, and as bottle of supposed brandy was broken over the last post (I think it was cold tea).

Among those present were Messrs. Patterson, Rutt, Mitchell, Howley, Ricks, Hands, Bayfield, Hack and myself. It had long been a desire of mine to see the wire connected between south and North....”

Engineering Heritage Bus Tour

Todd officially opened the Overland Telegraph Line at Central Mount Stuart and the message he sent to Adelaide read: “We have this day, within two years, completed a line of communication two thousand miles long through the very centre of Australia, until a few years ago a Terra Incognita believed to be a desert” On the morning after the line was joined the Adelaide Post Office issued its usual daily weather report and for the first time it included a report from Port Darwin where the weather was stated to be “fine, cool and clear”. That information had been conveyed from Darwin to Adelaide by the Overland Telegraph.

The Adelaide Advertiser newspaper explained the significance of this weather report and said “...how many of our readers grasp the fact that our communication with Port Darwin is practically instantaneous?”

The cable ship Investigator located the fault in the undersea cable and spliced in a new section which came into service on 20 October 1872 The link between London and Adelaide was available for commercial traffic on Monday 21 October 1872; however, the congratulatory telegrams between the Mayors of London and Adelaide were not sent until Tuesday 22 October 1872. The latter date is considered to be the official opening date by the Institution of Engineers, Australia.

Ar cle supplied by Trevor Horman Engineering Heritage Commi ee

When: Wed, 15th August 2012 Where: Qantas Hangar, MacDonald Street, Parap Time: From 5:00pm Followed by BBQ at Qantas Hangar Over 10 heritage sites visited.

Register at https://engineersaustralia.wufoo.eu/ forms/engineering-heritage-bus-tour/ Open to all members and the general public

Volunteers Required Sunchase Solar Car and Boat Challenge Would you like to assist our Engineers of the future?

If you some spare time available please contact Keely

Date:

Friday 10th August 2012

Time:

Volunteers required: 8:00am - 2:30pm

Email:

kquinn@engineersaustralia.org.au

Tel:

(08) 8981 4137

Venus Transit A transit of Venus is one of the rarest of all astronomical events. It occurs when the orbit of the planet Venus take it between the Earth and the Sun. Our generation is very fortunate to have two such transits occur in our time. Grandparents, born between 1901 and 1910 never saw a Venus transit in their lifetimes. The last transit was in December 2004, the next on June 5th/6th, 2012. Transits don't occur every 8 years. They occur in pairs separated by 8 years with more than a century gap separating each 8 year pair. The next pair of Venus transits occur over a century from now on 2117 Dec 11 and 2125 Dec 08. The last pair were in 1874 and 1882 and the pair before that were in 1761 and 1769. Observing and timing the 1769 transit was the main reason that Captain Cook and Charles Green were appointed by the Royal Society to travel to Tahiti in 1769 (see sketch right). After the transit on the return voyage, Cook searched the South Seas for months looking for the great southern continental land mass, Terra Australis, that it was thought was necessary to balance the great continental masses in the northern hemisphere. There was no such continent but in the process, he stumbled upon Australia.

On the 6th June in 2012, Engineers Australia staff took the opportunity to look at this phenomena through a telescope and 3D flass which was kindly supplied by a visiting German Tourist on the Esplanade of Darwin. With lines 20 deep it was a truly “Inspirational� event.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Are you interested in sponsoring Engineers Australia Northern Division?

Our sponsorship prospectus is now available for 2012/13

Want to know more?

Contact Karen on 8981 4137 Or email krelph@engineersaustralia. org.au

Date

Ac'vity

Venue and Registra'on

26 July

Engineering Excellence Awards

Fannie Bay Racecourse “Schweppes” marquee Registration: www.engineersaustralia/northern -division/events

4 August

Cricket Match against Young Planners and BBQ

East Point

7-10 August

Back to School Program Young Engineers

Various

7—10 August

Engineering Week

8 August

Women in Engineering Luncheon

Register at www.engineersaustralia.org.au/ northern-division/events

9 August

Defence of Darwin Experience Cocktail Function

10 August

Sunchase Solar Car and Boat Challenge

Royal Darwin Showgrounds From 8.00am

15 August

Heritage Bus Tour - Science Week

Qantas Hangar Parap Registration Www.engineersaustralia.org.au/northerndivision/events

15 August - 20 August

Science Week

Various

16 August

Eminent Speaker, Dr Trevor Bird

Engineers Australia

From Wireless to Astronomy - Lessons from Engineering Career

14 Shepherd Street, Darwin

19—25 August

SMART Regional

Katherine Region

21-22 August

Frew Ponds Heritage Event— Celebrating 140 years of Overland Telegraph

Find details inside

28 August

Marita Chang, Young Australian of the Year

Darwin (details to be provided)

31 August

YEA National Meeting/Dinner

Tim’s Surf & Turf

31 August

Marita Cheng, Young Australian of the Year

Alice Springs (details to be provided)

1 September

YEA National Meeting

Engineers Australia

14 September

YEA Golf Day

RAAF Base

14 September

Sunchase Solar Car and Boat Challenge

Alice Springs

16 September

Eminent Speaker, Dr Robert Barr

Engineers Australia

Green Electricity Schemes Costs and Benefits

14 Shepherd Street, Darwin

Registration www.engineersaustralia.org.au/ northern-division/events

Registration www.engineersaustralia.org.au/ northern-division/events 29 September

YEA Heritage Bridge Painting and camping

Litchfield

October

YEA Networking Event

TBA

October

YEA CPEng Event

TBA