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NQ Branch President’s Report
Glenda Kirk, NQ Branch President Director Infrastructure Services, Mareeba Shire Council
We are just a few days away from the 2021 NQ Branch conference to be held in Townsville, 17-18 June. The program highlights projects and challenges unique to our region and offers an economical way for you to earn 11 CPD hours at just $32 per hour. Group bookings and discounts also available with a $200 discount available for your Graduates (up to five years post Bachelor’s degree).
The Branch Conference dinner will be held at the Queensland Country Bank Stadium which will be hosting Game I State of Origin this week. The dinner includes a tour of the stadium, an interview with CEO, Jeff Reibel and a former Cowboys player, and a live charity auction of a signed Cowboys jersey.
I hope you will join us for the final IPWEAQ Branch Conference for 2021, be a part of the biggest IPWEAQ Branch conference for 2021 - the SWQ Branch set the bar high with 204 delegates in March. Registrations close this week!
Also closing this month on 25 June, are nominations for the 2021 Excellence Awards. There are 17 project categories including three new categories for Community Road Safety, Road Safety Infrastructure and Projects over $20 million. While everyone enjoys a win, it is more important we ensure our projects are featured at the gala awards ceremony and in the annual commemorative book. One of IPWEAQ’s key roles as outlined in its Strategic Plan is to promote our achievements - as engineers, this is not something we are particularly good at. Also nominate your team members for any of the four people awards including Emerging Professional of the Year (within five years commencement of career) – see previous winners on page 35-39. The last people award winner in NQ was Tracy Greig, Project Officer at Trinity Engineering and Consulting who won Team Member of the Year in 2019.
Featured for June in the Every Community Needs an Engineer calendar is the Mirani Water Recycling Facility – a modern state of the art facility which plays a critical role in the prevention of environmental harm to our Great Barrier Reef. Jason Devitt, Director Engineering & Commercial Infrastructure at Mackay Regional Council will be discussing this project and shared superintendency with Whitsunday Regional Council and the Bowen Sewerage Treatment Plant. The theme for this month is ‘engineers are collaborators’. If you haven’t as yet, please download the calendar and post June around the walls of your council or organisation.
With just a few weeks until the new financial year, be sure to secure approval early to attend the Annual Conference in Cairns, 12-14 October, our last chance to host the Annual Conference in north Queensland for five years as it heads to Darwin in 2023. If you do still have a training budget to spend prior to 30 June, please contact Monica Robertson who will process a bulk registration for you. Last year, a COVID-19 affected Annual Conference welcomed 440 delegates in Brisbane, down on the previous year’s recordbreaking 525 delegates. We’re expecting to meet or exceed this target in Cairns so please make a diary note to join us!
In the meantime, I hope to see you with your Graduates in Townsville next week.
