Would you live in these Shelters in a Disaster?
The 2011 Gala Dinner was held on Wednesday 6th March at the Holiday Inn and was attended by over 180 members and guests. This is a record for the dinner.
Keeping with the theme “Year of Humanitarian Engineering”, Dan Baschiera from Charles Darwin University was the keynote speaker and talked about humanitarian issues in today’s world. Bronwyn explained to the audience that Charles Darwin University was the only university in Australia to offer under graduate Bachelor of Humanitarian Studies.
Gerry Wood, MLA was appointed as expert judge – one participant tried to bribe Gerry with money with another advising that “no chickens” were harmed in building their structure. Table 4 thought Minister, Rob Knight, MLA was judging and therefore plastered their structure with page 3 girls from the NT News – it didn’t work.
The activity this year was building a shelter out of the Northern Territory News and masking tape. There was certainly some creative constructions and not sure if you would trust them during a catastrophic event. Competition was strong (pardon the pun) with first prize going to Townes Chappell Mudgway combined tables winning for their innovative igloo style shelter which could actually house 4 people comfortably. Macmahon table was a close second but they utilised a chair which eliminated them from winning.
The wooden spoon definitely was awarded to Charles Darwin University teachers table. David Lilley, Chair of Structural Engineering quoted the following when presenting their structure “those who can do, those who can’t teach” and this certainly applied to their effort. The President’s table structure was a close second to the wooden spoon award.
The event continues to grow each year and is a much anticipated event on the Engineers Australia Northern Division event calendar
Photos from the event are below:
