Burnett Local Group

The Burnett Local Group Committee meetings are held on the 1st Thursday of the month at 5:30pm at the Burnett Club.

Contacts

Benjamin Taylor
Chairperson
P: 0410 681024

Adam Johnston
Treasurer and Secretary

Michael Egan
Other Committee Member

REGIONAL NEWS

Central Qld Regional Engineering Conference 2013

Engineers Australia - Bundaberg Regional Group - June News

In this edition: Successful Risk Seminar - 150 attended from five regional groups; CQUniversity Bundaberg courses - flyer attached; Bundaberg Careers Expo on Wednesday July 25 - Engineers needed for CQUniversity's stand; Charted Status Workshop - 17:30 Wednesday August 8 at Civic Centre; Australian Engineering Week - 6 to 10 August; and our next informal meeting - Thursday August 2nd, 16:30 to 17:30 at the Old Bundy Tavern.

Successful Risk Seminar

On Friday 29 June, five EA Regional Groups (Burnett, Central Highlands, Gladstone, Mackay and Rockhampton) and 150 of their members were linked via CQUniversity's ISL video conferencing system and participated in the Central Queensland Engineering Risk Management Seminar, which was hosted by the Burnett Regional Group and sponsored by CQUniversity, The Risk Engineering Society and Queensland Division of Engineers Australia. The event was highly successful with an unprecedented number of connections between regional groups for any CPD accredited presentation in Queensland. The participating groups service an area almost the size of Victoria (205,000 km²)!

Dr Ron Black has kindly agreed to provide his presentation as a guide to risk assessment. A PDF is available by email request. Also, for those who missed the seminar, it can be viewed online:

Part 1 - Opening address and presentation by Dr Ron Black

Part 2 - Presentation by Mr David Cox and acknowledgements.

The event was well timed to celebrate the establishment of the engineering faculty in Bundaberg and their courses commencing next year. The University has agreed to allow EA Regional Groups ongoing access to their ISL theatres to ensure high quality CPD presentations are regularly shared throughout Central Queensland. We look forward to seeing you at the next streamed presentation.

CQUniversity Bundaberg courses

Attached is the University's flyer for their engineering courses commencing semester 1, 2013: Bachelor of Engineering; Bachelor of Engineering Co-op/Diploma of Professional Practice; and Bachelor of Engineering Technology (Specialisation). In last week's Engineering Reference Group meeting it was revealed the faculty will be staffed by one fulltime lecturer (Engineering Skills) and  two part-time lecturers (mathematics and physics) and these positions will commence in October and will be advertised shortly. Also, to support the Co-op program, local businesses will be approached for students to undertake industry projects which are described by Ian Devinish (Associate Dean - Engineering Co-op Program):

In Term 2 First Year, CQUni engineering student teams undertake a 10 week industry project to broaden their understanding of what it is to be an engineer. The students will work on their projects from early July to mid September. Often these projects can be found in organisational quality improvement plans where there is no budget to progress small projects.

Once a project is identified, the workload for the client is not expected to be more than that required for a guiding hand for the direction of the outcome. There should be no direct financial cost to the client. It is also a great opportunity to expose the company to future CQUni engineering co-op students and graduates.

As they are in first year, the students do not necessarily have a wide range of technical knowledge, however the outcomes of previous projects have reflected their enthusiasm, and their ability to research and analyse problems to identify a range of valid solutions. Many past clients have significantly benefited through the implementation of project outcomes. By working in teams to complete these projects the students develop their professional and technical engineering skills.

Please contact Ian for further information or to register your interests.

FURTHER INFORMATION: Flyer

Chartered Status Workshop

Following shortly will be your invitation to register for the Bundaberg Chartered Status Workshop at the Civic Centre on Wednesday August 8 from 5:30 (6pm start) to 8pm. Chartered status certifies that you practice in a competent, ethical and independent manner and more importantly is becoming a component of either advancement within an organisation or securing  a job.  This workshop will assist you to understand the process, how to write Career Episode Reports, CPD requirements and how the chartered status integrates with RPEQ status.

This free workshop is presented by Mike Garrett and provides a great opportunity to speak directly with an assessor. Also, Mike will discuss the advantages of the new e-Charted online system. Don't miss this opportunity and we hope to see you there.

Australian Engineering Week (AEW)

To celebrate AEW (August 6 - 10) schools throughout Queensland are registering for short engineering presentations. At this stage we have two registrations and given the recent visits by the university we are unlikely to get many more. Once again, we are calling for volunteers. Email me if you are interested in participating in the AEW program.

REGIONAL ACTIVITIES