news | 20 May 2013

Federal innovation grant for electric rail maintenance system

An innovation grant for a new device to monitor and pinpoint failures on electrical transmission wires for rail and trams has been granted to Tasmanian manufacturing company Hivotech.

news | 20 May 2013

Tasmanian mining conference discusses state of local industry

The issues and future economic benefits of mining and minerals processing in Tasmania have been discussed by speakers at the Tasmanian Minerals Conference recently held in Hobart.

news | 20 May 2013

New insights into how materials transfer heat

Science Daily reports engineering researchers in the U.S. have published new insights into how materials transfer heat, which could lead eventually to smaller, more powerful electronic devices. They studied materials in which heat is transferred by atomic vibrations in packets called phonons. Their results were recently published in Nature Communications.

news | 20 May 2013

Mayan pyramid demolished for road fill

ABC News reports: ‘A 2,300-year-old Mayan temple in northern Belize has been demolished by a construction company wanting to use the rubble as gravel for road repair work.’

news | 17 May 2013

Capital works in the budget

This week the federal government handed out its budget for 2013/14, highlighting the capital works programmed for the coming year, and laying foundations for further works in future years.

news | 17 May 2013

CSIRO scientists print solar panels

Australian scientists have found a way to print large but extremely lightweight solar panels, just like money. Scientists from the CSIRO said the A3-sized panels, which are created by laying a liquid photovoltaic ink onto thin, flexible plastic, could soon mean everyone has the ability to print their own solar panels at home. Story courtesy of econews.

news | 17 May 2013

Crews finish installing World Trade Center spire

CNN reports construction workers have bolted the last pieces of a 408-foot spire into place atop the One World Trade Center in New York. ‘The spire brings the iconic building to a height of 1,776 feet … it makes the building the tallest in the Western Hemisphere and the third-tallest in the world.’

news | 17 May 2013

2013 Australian Construction Achievement Award

The Australian Construction Achievement Award for 2013 has been presented by Engineers Australia and the Australian Constructors Association to the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne by Lend Lease and the RMIT Swanston Academic building by Brookfield Multiplex.

news | 16 May 2013

CELM Queensland Advisory Group's first meeting

The CELM Queensland Advisory Group met in February to provide advice and support to the Queensland chapter of CELM, starting with an overview of Engineers Australia and CELM.

news | 16 May 2013

Regional freight infrastructure plan for WA

The Western Australian state government has announced it has released a blueprint of its regional freight infrastructure plan for the development of the state’s regional roads, rail lines and ports.

news | 16 May 2013

Green light given to 'talking car' technology

ABC News reports a trial of car-to-car communication technology in the United States uses Australian technology developed by a company called Cohda Wireless. If conditions are safe, the vehicles can change the traffic light to green or let the driver know if a light is about to change.

news | 16 May 2013

Engineering a Fulfilled Life - Bhupal Kumar Baweja (1924 – 2013)

Bhupal Kumar Baweja had an adventurous and fortunate life, passing away just 1 month short of his 89th birthday. From an early stage, Bhupal was passionate about engineering in general and electrical engineering in particular (both his sons are engineers). Long before iPods, he built a radio back in the 1930’s from scratch.

news | 15 May 2013

Engineers Australia says budget lacks vision for the future of the nation

Engineers Australia Queensland Division today recognised the investment in roads and rail contained in the Federal budget, but is concerned with the overall lack of vision to support the future growth of our nation.

news | 15 May 2013

Supercomputer set to help engineering projects

Engineers and their firms seeking large amounts of computing power to research and progress their projects are set to benefit from the new supercomputing centre to open in Perth later this year.

news | 15 May 2013

Curtin Engineering First Year Project Presentations

Engineering Foundation Year at Curtin University wish to extend an invitation to members of Engineers Australia to participate in the audience for our engineering student’s first year project presentations.

news | 15 May 2013

Standards Australia Young Leaders Applicants Needed

Young Leaders Applicants Needed. Standards Australia are looking for people in their 20s and 30s for the Young Leaders Program and mentors of any age who have had experience with Standards Australia

news | 15 May 2013

Dr Marie-Faith Fiawoo Memorial Scholarship Fund

A scholarship fund that will support students in engineering has been established in memory of Monash University staff member Dr Marie-Faith Fiawoo, who was tragically killed in the Carlton wall collapse in Melbourne last March.

news | 15 May 2013

The weird and wonderful world of 3D printing

Printers that can create 3D objects have become one of the hottest topics in technology in recent months – ushering in a world of weird and wonderful possibilities that could be manufactured with the push of a button. But they’re also pushing the moral and legal limits too, as we saw just last week when a student in the U.S. fired the Liberator – the world’s first 3D-printable handgun. Story courtesy of BBC Future.

news | 15 May 2013

New technology uses plants to generate power

Engineers at the University of Georgia say they've taken their queues from nature and are working on a new technology in which plants generate usable electricity. Story courtesy of Latinos Post.

news | 14 May 2013

Federal budget undermines workforce professional development

Engineers Australia has expressed strong disapproval at measures in today’s federal budget to limit tax deductibility to $2,000 for work-related self-education expenses.