Breaking Ground

David Thompson Industry Engagement Manager

On any given day, my portfolio leads me to a variety of interactions with industry leaders and practitioners. My base workload is aiding the development of professional services for the public works sector in the form of learning experiences for professionals, delivering workshops, product and resource development and executive support as required for several industry representative Working Groups. To achieve this, I have recently been involved in three very different projects.

First, I have commenced recording of a video segment called “Breaking Ground”. This is an interview targeted at engineers or technical professionals currently practicing in industry. It is designed to enhance the awareness of and engagement of engineers with IPWEAQ, while encouraging potential engineers and supporting professionals to the sector. The interviews are designed to showcase the personalities and achievements of individual professionals. The format is a lighted hearted oneon-one interview with me and a willing practicing engineer or technical professional. The questions put to the interviewees are a mix of un-intrusive personal and role focused questions designed to quickly draw-out the character and personality of the interviewee. This provides the audience access to an experience that may trigger a connection to the occupation of an engineer or technical professional.

A recent interview was with Brent O’Neill, Director of Urban Design at Wolter Consulting Group. Brent had an interesting segue into urban design coming from a Fine Arts career where he worked in theatre stage set design for major productions. Brent says there are a lot of similarities between set design and subdivision design. You can view the whole interview here. We intend to grow the bank of interviews and you will get to know a number of great public works professionals making a real difference to Queensland communities.

Secondly, having come from the civil sector I worked my way up from plant and field operations to manager of materials testing laboratories. I could see at times a disconnect between site practitioners and soil testing facilities and staff. Sometimes, as the soil tester, you are only seen as the bearer of bad news or the reason why a sample or lot has failed.

David Thompson, Industry Engagement Manager, with Brent O’Neill ‘Breaking Ground’.

Materials preparation and compaction mould filling for moisture density relationship.

James Price, IPWEAQ Media Coordinator, setting up the shot of a sieve analysis test at DTMR Materials Testing Services.

There was something missing that caused these site challenging events. It is a simple conversation on how to understand the test results; how test results impact the field operations and how the field practices impact the laboratory results. To bridge this breakdown in understanding, IPWEAQ began a project to digitally record a series of common and some infrequently used soil and concrete tests. My role is to project manage and produce the videos and have the recordings available on our website with a suite of tests and processes built up over time.

IPWEAQ has partnered with the Department of Transport and Main Roads Materials Testing Services to produce the videos. The recorded tests will provide an education tool and better understanding for industry practitioners by providing access to a reliable representation of tests that provide guidance and determinations for every day civil construction project processes and materials. Industry should then see a raised awareness on the methodology and intent of the targeted materials tests and gain confidence to reach out to the laboratory for guidance and call up certain tests to assist with site production and outcomes.

Finally, another more recent project that I had the honour to be involved with is the Dream Big ‘STEAM Ahead Program’ which enhances the futures of emerging female professionals by developing their confidence and capability to succeed in the workplace. The program helps women connect with industry mentors and employers, enhances their capabilities and elevates their potential to differentiate in today’s highly competitive employment market. The program is aimed at university students completing a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics Bachelor’s degree or a dual Bachelor’s degree with Arts.

I volunteered to be an Industry Mentor where I connected with a small yet diverse group of students. The mentoring sessions provided participants accelerated access to leaders and engagement with professionals to discuss their reflections and contextualize their learning from the program. I gained a deeper respect for these young people who asked for guidance on several very challenging workplace and interpersonal scenarios regarding leading and working with teams. Some examples of the queries include strategies for when first starting in a new organisation, how to get your point across when you are an introvert, how to have conversations with difficult individuals and handling conflict. All big challenges in the workplace.

I believe it is very important to assist the career development of new entrants to make their pathway to a profession much more knowledgeable and streamlined. Gone are the days where onboarding staff or developing the workforce is fend for yourself or deliberately letting individuals “fail” to learn. The faster new entrants become competent, through assistance and guidance from others, the more valuable they are as corporate knowledge and assets but more importantly they are empowered to achieve and will be more connected to the organisation and industry.