MEMBER PROFILE
Janice Wilson
Janice is a water and wastewater treatment engineer with 15 years experience across mining, utilities and private industry. She is a director at Double Black Diamond Solutions, an engineering consultancy based in Mackay offering water and wastewater engineering, project management and contract management services. Janice serves on the Australian Water Association Queensland Committee as Regional Liaison, an inaugural role developed to connect with regional and rural stakeholders and highlight achievements across the state, “up north and out west.” In 2015-16, she was awarded a full scholarship to attend the International Water Centre Water Leadership Program, which built lasting relationships with other emerging leaders in the water industry across the country. Janice is a chartered professional engineer in the colleges of Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Asset Management and is a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ). She juggles her busy professional life with being a mum to twin boys (Norris and Nolan), wife to Heath and dog owner of two golden English Cocker Spaniels (Statler and Waldorf).
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What have been your career highlights? Leading the team who performed the first membrane slack adjustment on ZeeWeed 500D cassettes in Australasia at the Sarina Water Recycling Facility in 2017 was a moment I look back on with pride. It was uncharted territory for us and the supplier – we had no procedures and had to figure it out as went, working on critical equipment on a plant with extremely tight effluent requirements as it discharges to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. There was little room for error. Our whole team came together, and everyone rolled up their sleeves to play their part, learning a lot in the process. It was a very successful exercise. We provided the
ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | JUNE 2021
supplier with our procedures and made some design recommendations to make it easier for future models to get better access for maintenance. What has been the most valuable advice you’ve received that you will pass onto others? I have a young family, so I’ve been so lucky to connect with other working parents who have blazed the trail on the work-life balance front, such as Lauren Rovelli from G&S Engineering Services, Narelle D’Amico from Bundaberg Regional Council, Rebecca Caldwell from Maytree Studios, Anna Whelan from Townsville City Council and Carlie Sargent from the Queensland Water Directorate. They are like my Board of Directors for being
