At the 2011 Australian Engineering Excellence Awards dinner at the Great Hall of Parliament House Canberra last night, Wednesday 23 November, three members of Australia’s engineering team were honoured with individual awards.

2011 Professional Engineer of the Year – Dr Jane Sargison – Tasmania Division

Dr Jane Sargison has contributed significantly to engineering education in Tasmania both as a senior lecturer at the University of Tasmania, member of the senior executive of the School of Engineering and as an inspirational mentor to high school students considering studies in engineering. Jane was the 1998 Rhodes Scholar for Tasmania and completed her Doctorate of Philiosphy at the University of Oxford in 2001. She is the author of many research papers and has received numerous international awards.

Jane has recently applied her skills to the Rainbow Bee Eater project, a project that will generate energy from biomass and result in carbon sequestration with negligible cost, creating job opportunities in rural Australia. Jane has contributed to the community and profession, having served on a number of boards and committees including the Women in Engineering Group and is currently the Vice Chair of the Tasmanian Branch Committee of the Australian Institute of Energy.
Jane is a successful and inspiring business woman having run her own consulting practise in conjunction with her academic work. Jane has made significant achievements and major contributions to the profession throughout her career.

2011 Young Professional Engineer of the Year – Emma Charlton – Queensland Division

Emma Charlton is an Associate Director of AECOM and manager of the Brisbane Acoustical Group. She has played a key role in a wide variety of projects in the fields of noise and vibration, with a particular focus in the areas of architectural acoustical design, environmental noise modeling, vibration control and road and rail noise impact assessments. Emma also acts as project director on multiple projects in the Buildings Group, providing high level leadership to the project team.
In recognition of her role as a leader in the business, Emma was recently selected to attend the inaugural Senior Leadership Development Program developed by AECOM in conjunction with the Australian Graduate School of Management. She was one of only 25 people from the 4,500 staff across Australia and New Zealand selected for the course and the only person under 35 years of age.

2011 Engineering Officer of the Year – Jaswant Deo – Northern Division

Jaswant Deo has 30 year’s experience in varied capacities including management, engineering, design, construction, manufacturing, project management and dispute resolution.
He is currently employed with RP Project Management and involved in a number of professional bodies including; the Northern Division Management Committee of Engineers, the Society of Fire Safety, the Institute of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heating, and the Institute of
Arbitrators and Mediators Australia. Jaswant is a Chartered Member of Engineers Australia, a Registered Project Manager, a certified practising project manager, as well as a nationally accredited mediator and a qualified arbitrator.

Jaswant is a registered tutor with the Office of the Pro Vic-Chancellor Indigenous Leadership group of the Charles Darwin University for their Indigenous Tutorial Assistance Scheme (ITAS).
Jaswant is a high achiever and proactive member of his community involved in many volunteering roles, including umpiring, linesman and water duties for his local junior football club.

The winners of awards for projects were:

Sir William Hudson Award

Bushlight India Project – CAT Projects.

Australian Engineering Excellence Awards

ANZAC ASMD Active Phased Array Radar - CEA Technologies Pty Ltd.

West Gate Bridge Strengthening Project - VicRoads; John Holland; Flint and Neill; Sinclair Knight Merz.

Clem Jones Tunnel (CLEM7) - AECOM; Parsons Brinckerhoff; Golder Associates on behalf of Leighton Contractors and Baulderstone.

Utah Point Multi-User Bulk Export Facility - Port Hedland Port Authority and PINC Group.

FlexGrid™ - Finisar Australia.

State Theatre Centre - Redefining Structural Innovation - Airey Taylor Consulting.

Engineering Innovation Award - sponsored by AusIndustry

Organovo: The World's First Commercial 3D Human Tissue Bioprinter - Invetech Pty Ltd and Organovo, Inc.

Environmental Engineering Excellence Award

Rehabilitation of Former Snowy Scheme Sites – Kosciuszko National Park National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Engineers Australia National President’s Prize

Engineering Aid Australia, for their Indigenous Australian Engineering Summer Schools.

Further information and photos about all the 2011 AEEA project winners, finalists and personal awardees is available at www.excellenceawards.org.au

Media Contact: John Bright – 0407 234 490 / jbright@engineersaustralia.org.au
Engineers Australia is the peak representative body for the profession with a membership of over 93,000