John Nichols BE(Civil) FIEAust CPEng
Sydney Division President

John is a Civil Engineer and graduated from the University of New South Wales in 1977. He has worked in the concrete industry as a professional civil engineer in relation to buildings, roads and civil construction for over 30 years. John is employed by Cement Concrete and Aggregates Australia (CCAA) as Engineer Construction Solutions for New South Wales.

John was the Chairman of the Civil and Structural Panel in 2010.

Sydney Division President can be contacted via email sydneypresident@engineersaustralia.org.au

Alexandra Meldrum FIEAust CPEng
Deputy President

Brendyn Williams MIEAust FIPWEA
Immediate Past President

Brendyn has spent nearly 30 years in the building and construction industry. He is now the Principal Consultant and Managing Director of Pentagon Management Pty Ltd, which provides a range of professional support services for the infrastructure industry.

Brendyn is also involved in leading and supporting a variety of industry associations such as Engineers Australia, Consult Australia, IPWEA, CCF, SIA, EIANZ, IMC, and The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering. Brendyn is currently the Chairman of the Quality Panel and Deputy Chairman of the Risk Engineering Society in NSW.

Jonathan Barnes GradIEAust

After working in the railway industry for over 10 years, Jonathan joined RailCorp as a Civil Engineer in their Graduate program following completion of his engineering degree at the University of Western Sydney.
 
Jonathan is actively involved with YEAS, and has been a committee member of the Western Sydney Regional group for a number of years where he is currently serving as Chair.

Nathan Hanley BE(Hons) BSc(Physics) GradIEAust

Nathan Hanley is a Structural Engineer with GHD in their Sydney office. He joined GHD in 2012 after completing both a double degree in Science and Engineering, part of which was completed overseas at the University of California.

Nathan has been an active committee member of Young Engineers Australia Sydney division and has taken on additional responsibilities such as organising YEAS 2013 Barangaroo Forum Event. His current role is the YEAS representative for Engineers Australia Sydney division.

Norm Himsley FIEAust CPEng

Norm has over 35 years experience in the planning, investigation, design, construction, operation and maintenance of major engineering structures and infrastructure. He is currently a dam's consultant and member of the NSW Dams Safety Committee (DSC). Formerly he was the Executive Engineer of the DSC for over 20 years.

Norm has been involved for over 10 years with Engineers Australia education and assessment area, and has been Chair of Sydney Division's Education and Assessment Committee since 2000. He was the President of Sydney Division in 2005 and represents Sydney Division on National Congress.

Bruce Howard  FIEAust CPEng

Bruce Howard is an Electrical Engineer and has built his career working with NSW power utilities. He is a past President of Sydney Division. Bruce has been a member of National Congress since 2001. Bruce was elected to Council in 2002, and has held a number of portfolios including Public Policy, Marketing/Communication and being elected as Councillor Responsible for Finance (and Chair of Engineers Australia’s Audit and Risk Committee) for a number of years.

Michael Lucas MIEAust CPEng

Michael's professional experience is in the areas of design, sustainable manufacturing, robotics and logistics. He has worked for multinational corporations with global & regional responsibility for research, development and engineering as well as running his own startup businesses in engineering, design, manufacturing, information technology & computer graphics.

Michael is an experienced volunteer office bearer within Engineers Australia, he has previously sat on Congress; the Mechanical College Board; the National Committee on Automation, Control & Instrumentation; a Division Committee and several Young Engineers committees. Michael has been National Chair of Young Engineers Australia, given the closing address at a National Engineering Conference and was awarded the National Young Professional Engineer of the Year in 1999.

Julie Mikhail MIEAust

Julie currently works for the Department of Defence (DMO) as the Sustainment Operations Manager for Navy communications equipment, and has worked for the department for 13 years in various roles. Julie holds a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from Sydney University and a Masters in Engineering Science (Telecommunications) from UNSW. Julie is also the Chair of Sydney Women in Engineering group.

Michael Myers FIEAust CPEng EngExec OAM

Michael began his career as a Mechanical Engineer specialising in the design and manufacture of specialist Aluminium structures for the aerospace, automotive and shipbuilding industries. In 1982 Michael established CONCENTRIC Asia Pacific which became Australia's leading supplier of Engineering Technology to the Automotive, Aerospace, Defence, Mining and Consumer Goods industries.

In 1998, Michael founded the Re-Engineering Australia Foundation which is focused on attracting students into careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Michael is a Governor of the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering and has held numerous roles on Government advisory bodies.

Chris Skinner  MIEAust CPEng

Chris Skinner graduated from London University in Electrical Engineering while serving in the Royal Australian Navy and later from UNSW with a Masters of Engineering Science in Software Engineering. Since leaving the RAN in 1989 he has experience in project and general management in defence, aerospace, telecommunications, transportation and logistics and now lectures on intelligent transport and logistic systems at the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies in The University of Sydney Business School.

In Engineers Australia, Chris has served on division committees in Canberra and Sydney, national committees on software engineering and transport engineering, and on the ITEE College Board. Chris maintains membership of EA technical societies in systems engineering and defence engineering. He is a member of IET, IEEE, ACM and ACS and is a vice president of the Submarine Institute of Australia

John Stornelli BE (Civil) MIEAust CPEng

John graduated from the University of New South Wales as a Civil Engineer in 1983 and also obtained a Post Graduate Diploma in Structural and Foundation Engineering from Sydney University in 1999. He has been a member of Engineers Australia and of the Civil College since 1988.

John has worked in the building construction industry, in the Western Sydney area, as a professional engineer for over 27 years and is currently employed at A. D’Urso & Associates Consulting Civil & Structural Engineers.

John has also been a Committee member of the Western Sydney Regional Group since 2009 and was the Chairman in 2012.

Ted Tooher FIEAust CPEng EngExe

Ted is a  visiting Adjunct Associate Professor and senior lecturer In Engineering and Project management at universities, Director of Tooher Gale & Associates and founder, now Project Director of TSA Management, a Sydney based project engineering and management consultancy. Ted has over 30 years experience in the provision of management consultancy services to Government and Commercial clients. His experience covers assignments in strategic planning, feasibility studies, business process reengineering, asset management, staff/systems development and management change.

As chair for 2009 of CELM, Ted worked with young professionals on leadership programmes and investigated the difficulties with the current PDP process. His current work for Sydney Division is to provide leadership and direction on the Media Subcommittee and in supporting the PDP review.

Steve Finlay
Executive Director

After a distinguished career as a Director of Engineering in Local Government Councils, Steve Finlay FIEAust CPEng, joined Engineers Australia as Executive Director Sydney Division in September 2009. Steve is also currently Project Director of the Australian Rainfall and Runoff Revision Team.

Steve will be known to many of Engineers Australia’s staff, members, and office bearers from his long term commitment to the Institution and for holding various positions including  Sydney Division President in 2003.  Steve also served on the Engineering Excellence Awards committee 2003-2005.  He has had a long association with the Civil College Board and has been a member of the National Committee on Water Engineering.  As Chair of the Civil College Board 2005-2007 Steve represented the Board at Congress meetings.

Richard Hanna
Executive Operations Manager

Richard joined Engineers Australia in 1995, and has held various divisional and national roles. Currently he manages the Sydney Division membership team who are the first point of contact for engineers. He also conducts Chartered workshops for members to guide them in the process of applying of Chartered status. He is responsible for the Migrant Engineers Program. Richard promotes the benefits of Engineers Australia membership to engineering students. He is also responsible for the general Office Management. Richard is also responsible of for the Honours and Awards Committee and Educations and Assessment Sub-committee at Sydney Division.

Nimali Herath
Communications & IT Coordinator

Nimali joined Engineers Australia in 2006 as Membership Services Officer. At present as Communications & IT Coordinator, she is in charge of e-Communication of Sydney division, which includes electronic direct mailing to the membership, monthly e-newsletter and the Sydney division website. Nimali is also responsible for division’s CPD events program. This includes providing support to more than 200 technical events annually while being the main contact for volunteers of Division Groups & Committees. Additionally, Nimali is the first point of contact for all divisional IT related matters.

Nimali holds an Honours degree in Information Technology. Before joining Engineers Australia, she was an IT and Software academic who taught undergraduates at Australian and international universities. 

Julia Bresolin
Membership Services Officer

Julia Bresolin joined Engineers Australia in March 2010 and currently works full time as the Membership Service Office for Sydney Division. Her role entails first point of contact to over 20,000 Engineering members in Sydney, helping with membership enquiries and updating member details. She also creates the monthly Sydney Division Newsletter and helps organises internal events within the Sydney Division Boardrooms and Auditorium at Chatswood.
 
Julia has a Bachelor of Communications and has previously worked within membership based companies before Engineers Australia.

Danielle Tuazon
Membership Services Officer

Danielle joined Engineers Australia in January 2011 and enjoys her work in assisting the running of Membership Services in Sydney Division. Danielle’s main role is in ensuring the smooth administration of the Chartered Professional Program through the Division office. She supports the activities of and is able to assist in any inquiries related to Membership, Chartered Status, and Career Episode Reports. She is also involved in assisting with the operation of events at Harricks Auditorium.

Danielle currently works part-time while spending most of her time studying Environmental Engineering at the University of New South Wales.

Aimee Najdovski
Events Manager

Aimee started work with Engineers Australia in 2008 as Events Coordinator. Currently as the Events Manager, she is responsible for the organising, management and sponsorship of major events by the division such as the Engineering Excellence Awards, Australian Engineering Week, Honeywell Engineering Summer School, Abigroup Autumn School of Engineering, Fellows Luncheon's and Young Engineers Careers Expo.

Aimee has a Bachelor in Sports Tourism Management (Events) and was involved in organising large scale conferences during her time in the Conference Industry before joining Engineers Australia.

Jenny Ha
Events Coordinator

Jenny has recently come onboard to Engineers Australia since July 2012 as part of the events team. Her responsibilities include the coordination of Australian Engineering Week, Discover Engineering Days, The Education and Assessment Forum and Engineers Australia's participation in a range of Careers Expos. Jenny also supports the EngQuest program in Sydney Division.

Jenny has completed a Bachelor of Business in Hotel Management pursuing her career with events and has over four years of experience within the Hotel and Hospitality Industry before joining Engineers Australia.

Rimma Kolodizner
Accounts Officer

Rimma joined Engineers Australia in 1999 and is primarily responsible for all accounting operations in respect of Sydney Division including accounts payable, accounts receivable, the general ledger, reconciliation of corporate credit cards, managing events for panels and groups and providing them with financial reports.

Rimma has a Bachelor of Economics from the Moscow University and an Associate Diploma in Accounting for overseas-qualified accountants. Prior to her work with Engineers Australia, Rimma worked as an assistant financial controller in a number of established organizations of Australia.

David Zhao
Auditorium Operator

David joined Engineers Australia in February 2012 filling the role of Auditorium Operator and Member Services Officer. David is involved in the processing of Chartered Membership and the arrangements for Chartered Professional Interviews.
 
David is currently completing a degree in Mining engineering at the University of New South Wales.

 National Office staff working in Sydney Division

Jenny O'Donovan
Manager Career Development Centre

Jennifer O’ Donovan is currently the Manager of the Career Development Centre for Engineers Australia a position she has held since 2002. Although a national role she is located in the Sydney Division.  The Career Development Centre aims to provide career advice to members on subjects such as job searching, further study and career planning and the promotion of engineering as a career choice for high school students.

Jennifer has a Bachelor of Commerce in Management and Human Resources and worked for over seven years in various human resources roles in the private sector for national and multinational organisations, before joining Engineers Australia.

Dr Guy Beaubois
National Stage 1 Assessor

Guy works for Engineers Australia on a part-time basis as a Stage 1 and Stage 2 Assessor and is currently a Member of the Articulation Committee. Guy joined EA as a Chartered Assessor in 1996 and was concurrently nominated as Chair of EA's Foreign Qualifications Committee for European Languages. He retired from EA as Associate Director Industry and Careers in February 2008, was employed as an engineering consultant for Leighton and the Abi Group for two years before returning to Engineers Australia.

A Mechanical Engineer by profession, Guy holds Bachelor and Master of Engineering degrees, as well as a Doctorate in Business Management.  Guy is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of Engineers Australia, Fellow of the Institution of Agricultural Engineers (UK) and Honorary Fellow of the Society of Engineering Associates. Guy has worked for the UN, BHP Engineering and the NSW Department of Industrial Development. He was the National Engineering Manager of the NSW Education and Training Foundation.

Elana Huthnance
Industry Relationship Manager

Elana works as the Industry Relationship Manager at the Sydney Division since September 2010. This role involves working with a variety of organisations that have a commitment to developing career pathways for their engineering staff as well as engineering capacity within their organisations.

Elana comes to Engineers Australia with over ten years’ experience working with membership organisations in the health sector. Most recently she worked for the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, coordinating the roll out of a number of national programs across the network of 5,000 community pharmacies. Elana’s background is in Public Relations and Communication Management. She has a Masters of Communication Management and has held a number of roles on boards and committees for the Public Relations Institute of Australia at state and national levels. 

Amal Hanna
National Stage 2 Assessor

Amal is one of Engineers Australia National Assessors in Sydney Division since 2007 when she retired as a Senior Manager in the Electricity Supply Industry. She is responsible for assessing applications for Chartered Status from Sydney Division and overseas applicants and Engineering Executive Status applications.

Since the early 70’s, Amal has been a long serving volunteer member of  Engineers Australia and was past Chair of the Electrical College Board and President of Engineers Australia Sydney. 

Roland De Broglio
Deputy National Assessment Manager - Stage 2