From the President

Welcome to the September 2022 edition of Materials Australia magazine. Since the last magazine was prepared, things have continued to move at full speed around us. It has been a very busy time for many Materials Australia members, with the northern hemisphere conferences in full swing. In my previous president’s message, I mentioned that I had recently attended two conferences. Since that time, I have attended another two and presented eight conference papers, all of which had been carried over from delayed events in 2020. Inflationary pressure globally is continuing to be a worry for many companies, and the difficulty in recruitment of staff is a global phenomenon. The ‘great resignation’ that has occurred over the past few years during the pandemic is impacting businesses all over the world. It has been forecast for some time that workers born in the mid to late 1950s would be retiring around 2020, but it seems the pandemic has exacerbated the issue, with those retirees suddenly unable to train new employees. At the recent World Congress on Investment Casting, for example, representatives from all over the world told the same story. A topic that has arisen on multiple occasions recently from existing and prospective Materials Australia members is recognition of Materials Engineering as a discipline within Engineers Australia (EA). Currently, Materials Australia is a Technical Society within EA (as we do not have enough practising people for a separate college). This means that Materials Australia has, for example, aligned our CPD requirements with those of EA to reduce paperwork for people who are members of both. Part of this discussion has been spurred on by the requirement for engineers to be registered in Victoria and other states. I have personally had a lot of experience with dealing with this topic so thought I might share some insights. * If a person has a four year engineering undergraduate degree recognised under the Washington

Accord, they are immediately able to meet the requirements of Stage 1 competency within EA upon graduation. * If a person has a three or four year degree that is different to the above (such as a three year science degree plus postgraduate honours), and wishes to become a member of

EA then the person needs to apply in writing to EA and have their qualifications recognised as meeting

Stage 1 competency.

* For people who attained their degree overseas from a non-accredited university, the person needs to have their qualifications assessed by EA to ensure they meet the competency requirements before working as a professional engineer. * When you join EA, you choose a

‘College’ to be affiliated with. This is the most contentious issue for materials engineers, since for EA this is the Mechanical College.

This affiliation includes not only

Mechanical Engineers, but all other engineering disciplines who work in the field, including manufacturing, industrial engineering, and a surprisingly large number of other fields. Importantly, being affiliated

with the Mechanical College does not mean you are a Mechanical Engineer! * Most qualified engineers should aim to gain Chartered status. This means you meet the requirements for EA Stage 2 competency, and this usually requires experience in a more developed role where supervision of complex projects may be involved.

You can also be included immediately on the National Engineering Register without separate assessment. In some areas of practice, this means that you are able to certify engineering drawings, designs and compliance certificates. Gaining chartered status with EA also makes registration as a professional engineer in states such as Queensland and Victoria simpler. * Later, people who attain more distinguished professional roles have the option of gaining Level 3 competency with EA (known as the Engineering Executive). This gives recipients chartered status in Leadership and Management together with their affiliated College, if they choose to retain it. If they haven’t already, they may also become registered as an International

Professional Engineer and can be included on the APEC Engineer register if they choose. With respect to advocating for Materials Engineering within the engineering disciplines, I take part in the EA meetings on this topic with other technical societies, and currently EA’s position is to maintain the status quo, at least for now.

It’s hard to believe the year is nearly over, but when I think of where we were only 12 months ago to where we are now, it is quite extraordinary. Like many people, I have travelled a lot internationally (having flown over 72,000km this year already), and tried to keep on top of a very busy workload. The year is quickly coming to a close, and I would like to wish you, your family and colleagues the best of health and to stay safe through the remainder of 2022. We have a lot ahead of us in 2023!

Best Regards Roger Lumley National President Materials Australia

Roger Lumley at the World Conference on Investment Casting, Anaheim, USA, 2023