Conference

Climate Smart Engineering 2023

8.30 am — 6.00 pm AEDT, 29 — 30 November 2023
1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf, VIC, 3006
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
A message from CEO Romilly Madew AO FTSE HonFIEAust
Help us to shape CSE23
Romilly Madew AO

Welcome to Engineers Australia’s Climate Smart Engineering Conference, CSE23, our flagship event now in its third year. CSE23 will be held at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 29 and 30 November 2023.

Since its foundation in 2021, CSE has become a focal point for debate and knowledge sharing. Last year, CSE22 explored the ways engineers can navigate the complexities of achieving net zero emissions and drive the transition to a clean energy economy.

This year, a full technical program will support the plenary sessions. CSE23 has a Plenary Program Advisory Council, chaired by myself and a Technical Program Advisory Team chaired by Engineers Australia Chief Engineer Jane MacMaster and comprising the input of 19 Engineers Australia colleges and technical societies.

CSE23 will bring you the latest in world-leading views and engaging debate on solutions to address climate change, responding to extreme events, biodiversity loss, boosting the circular economy and upholding the principles of sustainable practices in engineering.

As creative problem solvers and systems thinkers, engineers are at the forefront of the fight against climate change. The profession stewards the delivery of mitigation and adaptation strategies to address the worst impacts of global warming and innovates to deploy new technologies for a clean fuel and energy future.  

We invite you to join us and help us continue this important work with us at CSE23.

Engineers Australia members can also claim up to 15 CPD hours for attending CSE23.

Contact information

If you have any questions about CSE23 or the arrangements, please email the secretariat at [email protected]

 

Our partners
Supporting partners
Charity partners
Proudly supporting
CSE is proud to be partnering with Greenfleet to take climate action and offset our carbon emissions through native reforestation. Since 2021, our partnership has enabled the planting of enough native trees to absorb more than 3300 tonnes of CO2-e.
Certifications
CSE is certified carbon neutral by Climate Active; a rigorous, government-backed carbon neutral certification for businesses. This means we’ve reduced our emissions where possible and compensated for the remainder by investing in carbon offset projects.
Themes

Abstracts presented at CSE23 will explore these themes:

 

 

Abstract accepted?

Abstract paper submissions were due by 11.59 PM AEST on Sunday 23 July.

For more information about presentation types, view the submission guidelines and the speaker and author agreement.

Registration

Members can claim up to 15 CPD hours for attending CSE23.

Register now

Need help convincing your manager before you can join us at CSE23? Put forward your best case with this editable email template.

 Full conferenceDay registration – fullDay registration – plenary
Late or onsite registration prices
From Saturday 18 November
   
Member$1190$595$400
Non-member$1470$735$520
Student$425$240n/a
 Networking receptionGala dinner 
Member$80$250 
Non-member$80$300 
Group of 10 $2700 

Full registration does not include tickets to the Engineers Australia Excellence Awards dinner. To register for the dinner, be sure to select this when you complete the online registration form.

Group discounts

We offer a discount on the full registration rate for groups. Register online or for more information, contact [email protected]

AttendeesDiscount
5–910%
10–1915%
20 or more20%

Inclusions

Full registration includes:

  • In-person participation at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.  
  • Access to all plenaries and conference sessions within the program.
  • Access to the networking reception.
  • Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea each day.
  • Access to recordings of all plenaries and conference sessions.

Day registration – full includes:

  • In-person participation at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.  
  • Morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea on the day you are attending.
  • Access to the networking reception if it is being held on the day you have registered to attend.
  • Access to recordings of the plenaries and conference sessions from the day you registered to attend. Recordings from the alternate day will be available to purchase. 

Day registration – plenary includes:

  • In-person participation at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.  
  • Access to all plenary sessions on the day you have registered to attend.
  • Morning tea and lunch on the day you are attending.
  • Access to recordings of the plenaries and conference sessions from the day you registered to attend. Recordings from the alternate day will be available to purchase. 

Networking reception includes: 

  • In-person participation at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday 29 November   
  • Drinks and canapes.  

Gala dinner includes:  

  • In-person participation at Crown Melbourne on Wednesday 29 November.  
  • Three course dinner and drinks.  

If you have any questions about registration, contact [email protected]

 

Join now and save on registration
Not a member yet?

If you've been thinking about becoming an Engineers Australia member, join today and save on your conference registration rate.

 

  • All registration fees are quoted in and will be charged in Australian dollars.
  • To view the current foreign exchange rates, please visit x-rates.com.
  • Registration fees are inclusive of Goods and Services Tax (GST).
  • Sharing of registrations is not permitted, a separate registration is required for each individual.
  • A student is defined as a holder of a student identification card from an accredited engineering institution.
  • A copy of your student identification card must be supplied at the time of registration. Without this copy, the full registration fee will be charged.
Terms and conditions

Listed below are the terms and conditions for this event.

  1. The following refund terms will apply for cancellation of an event registration:
    • Cancellation more than 60 days before the event will incur a AU$50 cancellation fee.
    • Cancellation between 30 and 60 days before will incur a AU$100 cancellation fee.
    • Cancellation within 30 days of the event will not be refunded.
    • Transfer of event registration will be permitted if you notify us with at least five business days’ notice of the event. Any difference in fees will need to be paid if the substitute registrant is not entitled to the same event registration rate. No refunds will be provided for transfers to a lower event fee item.
  2. Engineers Australia reserves the right to alter, amend or cancel any or all of the elements in the event program.
  3. Where a payment has been made, there will be no refund for those who do not attend.
  4. By attending, or registering to attend an event, you agree to Engineers Australia's Terms and ConditionsPrivacy Policy and Terms of Access.
Speakers

 

CSE23 has an exciting line-up of expert speakers from across the profession, government and industry.

Master of ceremonies

Headshot of Arron Wood AM
Arron Wood AM
Sustainable business expert and former Deputy Lord Mayor, City of Melbourne

Arron Wood is a sustainable business expert and former Deputy Lord Mayor for the City of Melbourne, and is a News Ltd Telstra Micro Business Award winner.

At the pulse of what makes Melbourne an incredible city, Arron is Chair of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute and currently serves on the South East Water Board, and previously Chaired the Melbourne Ecocity World Summit Advisory Board and was a member of the Fisherman’s Bend Ministerial Advisory Committee.

In 2020 Arron was made a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to local government, to the environment and to the community of Melbourne.

Plenary speakers

Headshot of Denis Colbourne
Denis Colbourne
General Manager, genZ

Denis Colbourne has had an extensive national and international career in the technology and communications sectors. Starting in an IT related career as a computer systems engineer he transitioned into the communications field, which then led Denis to genZ. He has been instrumental in establishing genZ as a trusted provider of reliable energy solutions for organisations operating in often harsh environments where reliable communications is critical for safety and productivity. 

Testament to his vision, drive and innovative approach, Denis is now the General Manager of genZ – a leading Australian energy company.

Headshot of Simone Costello
Simone Costello
Graduate Process Engineer (Water), Arup

Simone joined Arup in February 2022 as a Graduate Process Engineer in the water team after graduating from the University of Melbourne with a Master of Chemical Engineering.

Her interests in water and sustainability led her to an industry project at Melbourne Water, and then onto Arup where she has since been involved in various projects in water and wastewater treatment, and increasing investigating water for hydrogen production. She brings curiosity and a drive to solve engineering challenges, especially through collaboration.

Headshot of Dr Alan Finkel AC
Dr Alan Finkel AC
Former Chief Scientist of Australia, Chair of Stile Education, Adviser to government and companies on clean energy technologies

Dr Alan Finkel AC is a neuroscientist, engineer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Career highlights include 23 years running US company Axon Instruments and eight years as Chancellor of Monash University. Alan was Australia’s Chief Scientist from 2016 to 2020, during which time he led the National Electricity Market Review, the development of the National Hydrogen Strategy and the panel that advised the Australian Government on the Low Emissions Technology Roadmap.

As Special Adviser to the Australian Government on Low Emissions Technologies in 2021 and 2022, he brokered bilateral low emissions technology partnerships between Australia and each of seven key countries and chaired the Australian Government-hosted Sydney Energy Forum.

He is currently Chair of Stile Education and a corporate adviser on climate change technologies. His book, Powering up: unleashing the clean energy supply chain, was published in June.

Headshot of Peter Halliday
Peter Halliday
CEO, Siemens Australia and New Zealand

Peter Halliday is the CEO of Siemens Australia and New Zealand. In a career spanning 25 years at Siemens, Peter has held senior roles in Australia, Asia, and Europe. Prior to relocating back to his home country of Australia, Peter was the global head of Siemens’ Building Performance and Sustainability and involved in some of the world’s most important building infrastructure projects.

Peter joined Siemens Australia as CEO in 2022, a milestone 150th anniversary year for Siemens in the region and he is passionate about the role that technology with purpose and sustainability will play in Australia’s next 150 years. 

Headshot of Ruby Heard
Ruby Heard CPEng
Director, Alinga Energy Consulting

Ruby Heard is a versatile and ambitious entrepreneur and electrical engineer with global experience and an affinity for sustainability. She began her career with Arup designing electrical and lighting systems for iconic buildings in Melbourne. In 2015 she transferred to San Francisco to follow her passion into the renewable energy sector, designing complex solar arrays and microgrids for Google campuses.

In 2018 Ruby volunteered with Engineers Without Borders on a six-month expedition to support the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees energy team in Ethiopia. On her return to Australia Ruby founded Alinga Energy Consulting. Alinga is a socially conscious engineering consultancy that provides specialist energy services to the commercial, government and NGO sectors within Australia and internationally. Her company has a particular focus on areas where energy accessibility and affordability issues prevent or limit the availability of reliable power.

With indigenous heritage originating from the Jaru people of the Kimberley, Ruby is especially driven to find solutions for Indigenous communities. In 2019 Ruby was recognised by Engineers Australia in their 100 Engineers Making a Difference list and was awarded Young Professional Engineer of the Year in Victoria.

Headshot of Mohamed Ishraf Mohamed Ismath
Mohamed Ishraf Mohamed Ismath
Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) student, Swinburne University of Technology

Mohamed Ishraf Mohamed Ismath, a dedicated fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Swinburne University, brings a global perspective from an overseas internship at Apus Zero in Germany. His fervour for energy, particularly in renewable energy, energy transition, smart and nano grids, solar energy and AI, underscores his commitment to a sustainable future. Eager to delve deeper, Mohamed envisions pursuing a PhD research degree in 2024. 

Beyond academia, he actively contributes as a volunteer at the university, serves as a student ambassador for Engineers Australia and Swinburne University, and holds key roles in multiple student societies, including the Swinburne Chess Club, Aviation Society and History Society

Headshot of Eytan Lenko
Eytan Lenko
Chief Executive Officer, Boundless Earth

Eytan Lenko is the CEO of Boundless Earth (Boundless), a non-profit backed by Mike Cannon-Brookes, with the mission of ensuring that Australia is on-track to becoming a renewable energy superpower by 2030. Boundless levers philanthropy, investment and advocacy to accelerate progress on a strategic topic at a time. Boundless has already pushed forward on electric vehicles, home electrification and climate jobs.

Eytan has an entrepreneurial tech and software engineering background. Eytan co-founded Outware Mobile and grew it to become the recognised Australian leader in mobile software development when it was acquired in 2017.

Eytan is currently Deputy-Chair of the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network and former Chair of the internationally-recognised climate solutions think-tank Beyond Zero Emissions. Eytan is also a direct investor and advisor to a number of ambitious cleantech companies.

Headshot of Amy Lezala Zahr FIEAust EngExec
Amy Lezala Zahr FIEAust EngExec
Chief Engineer – Rail, Department of Transport and Planning

Amy has spent her career in rail and has worked in maintenance, design and delivery. She started out in materials and fire engineering, then worked in RAMS and through life engineering. Amy has been in engineering governance for more than five years, bringing together her learned experiences.

Across her career, Amy has focussed on a ‘whole of life, whole of system’ view. She has a passion for sustainability and finding the balance for people, planet and profit.

Headshot of Eleanor Loudon
Eleanor Loudon
CEO, Engineers Without Borders Australia

Eleanor Loudon is the CEO of Engineers Without Borders Australia, a for-purpose organisation on a mission to redefine the purpose and impact of engineering practice as a critical enabler of sustainable development. Eleanor has more than 25 years’ experience in community development in Australia and overseas with organisations such as Australian Volunteers International, EarthWatch Institute, United Way Australia and ChildFund International.
 

Headshot of Dr Larry Marshall
Dr Larry Marshall
Former CEO of CSIRO

Dr Larry Marshall is Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AMCHAM) Board, sits on the Australian Government’s Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group and is a member of the Council of the Australia National University. He was Chief Executive of CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, from January 2015 to June 2023. CSIRO solves the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology, playing a pivotal role in Australia’s response to challenges including catastrophic flooding and bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Larry is a scientist, technology innovator, published author and business leader with a wealth of experience in creating new value and impact with science. He has a PhD in Physics and has been honoured as a Federation Fellow, an AIP (Australian Institute of Physics) Fellow, and an ATSE (Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering) Fellow and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD).

He has led six companies in biotechnology, telecommunications, semiconductors and venture capital. He has 100 publications and conference papers, holds 20 patents and has served on 20 boards of high-tech companies operating in the US, Australia and China.

He is the author of the 2023 book, Invention to Innovation: How Scientists Can Drive Our Economy, which charts a course for Australia to gain more economic benefit from its world-class research. He is a passionate supporter of Australian innovation, and the power of science and technology to drive Australia’s economic recovery and resilience to future challenges.

Headshot of Lisa McLean
Lisa McLean
Chief Executive Officer, Circular Australia

Lisa is a circular economy and zero-carbon business transformation leader. She has been successfully advising industry and governments in developing new policy frameworks and regulations that bring about market change to enable the circular zero-carbon economy over the past 14 years.

This work has covered the energy, water, waste and mobility sectors in the UK and Australia. Lisa established and led the Open Cities Alliance, a peak industry association with unique membership from government to private sector and research organisations. Open Cities advocates for the circular economy, prosumer rights and new local utility and mobility precinct approaches.

In Australia, Lisa initiated and established the Australian Solar Thermal Association (AUSTELA), advised electric mobility providers, and worked with Flow Systems from a start-up sustainable water utility to its major role in shaping a new sustainable water and now multi-utility market.

Starting her career as a political journalist working in the national press gallery, Lisa moved to advising ministers and premiers on education and climate policy, before heading to the UK to help establish the Clinton Climate Initiative.

 

Headshot of Dr Damian Oliver
Dr Damian Oliver
Assistant Secretary, Workforce Futures Branch, Jobs and Skills Australia, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

Damian Oliver is Assistant Secretary (Workforce Futures) at Jobs and Skills Australia. His team examines the current and future supply and demand for labour and skills across Australia to identify options for resolving workforce challenges, through innovative data techniques and extensive collaboration with stakeholders. Most recently he has led the JSA Clean Energy Workforce Capacity Study. He has worked on skills and labour market issues in research and policy roles for twenty years.

Headshot of Adrian Piani
Adrian Piani FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
ACT Chief Engineer, ACT Government

Adrian Piani is an Environmental Engineer with more than 20 years’ experience, predominately in the water resources, environmental and infrastructure sectors.

In 2019 he joined the ACT Government as the inaugural ACT Chief Engineer where he provides strategic advice to government on infrastructure projects and supports the engineering cohort through the ACT Government Engineering Workforce Plan. He is a Chartered Fellow and Engineer Executive of Engineers Australia.

Adrian is a proud Canberran and is passionate about the role that infrastructure plays in supporting our wellbeing and quality of life.

Headshot of Sarbjeet Singh
Sarbjeet Singh
Stormwater Engineer, City of Greater Geelong

Sarbjeet ‘Sunny’ Singh is a dedicated student currently pursuing his Bachelor of Civil Engineering at Deakin University. Throughout his academic journey, he seizsd an invaluable internship opportunity with the City of Greater Geelong, which eventually paved the way to his current role as a Stormwater Engineer.

In his capacity as a Stormwater Engineer at the City of Greater Geelong, Sunny discovered his deep-seated passion for combating climate change and fostering the development of climate-resilient cities. This passion has driven him to contribute significantly to the field of water management, where he is making a substantial impact.

Sunny's enthusiasm for the environment and water management is evident through his recent research project in Water Sensitive Urban Designing. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, along with an unwavering commitment to building a better, more sustainable future.

 

Headshot of Eve Smolinska
Eve Smolinska
Project Engineer, Symal Infrastructure

Eve Smolinska is a Project Engineer working in the construction sector at Symal Infrastructure. In the past year she has been working on Fishermans Bend Innovation Precinct Project in the civil and remediation space. Eve completed her Bachelor of Engineering (Civil and Infrastructure) degree at RMIT University and graduated in 2020 with First Class Honours. Her interests lie in the sustainability space, particularly due to a number of exciting initiatives happening across the construction industry aiming at waste minimisation and reuse.

Eve had been actively volunteering as a Student Ambassador while at RMIT and is continuing her engagement with Engineers Australia post-graduation as the Chair of the Victorian Civil College, further advocating for industry change and delivering a lifelong community for engineers.  

Headshot of Kane Thornton in blue suit
Kane Thornton
Chief Executive, Clean Energy Council

Kane Thornton is Chief Executive of the Clean Energy Council, the peak body for the renewable energy and energy storage industry in Australia.

Kane has almost 20 years experience in energy policy and leadership in the development of the renewable energy industry. He has been at the forefront of the development of the clean energy sector into a global clean energy superpower, influencing and driving the politics, policies and initiatives that have been critical to the industry's growth.

Kane has broad management and leadership experience having previously worked for IBM, Hydro Tasmania and DFAT based in Japan. He has held a range of advisory and board roles with government and non-government organisations in the climate change and energy sector including as the Chair of leading national community organisation Renew and the Deputy Chair of Sustainability Victoria.

Kane is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, has a Masters in Social Science and Bachelor of Information Technology. He grew up in regional Victoria, is an enthusiastic road cyclist and father of two teenagers.

Headshot of Professor John Thwaites AM
Professor John Thwaites AM
Chair, Monash Sustainable Development Institute and Chair, Climateworks Centre

John Thwaites is a Professorial Fellow, Monash University, Chair of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Chair of the Climateworks Centre and Chair of The McKinnon Institute for Political Leadership.

John is Chair of the Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group to the Australian Minister for Environment, the Hon. Tanya Plibersek MP. He is a Co-Chair of the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) launched by the Secretary General of the United Nations to provide expert advice and support to the development and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. He is also the Chair of the SDSN Association, which operates the SDSN network around the world.

John was appointed Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the environment and to the people and Parliament of Victoria in the 2021 Australia Day Honours.

John was Deputy Premier of Victoria from 1999 until his retirement in 2007. During this period, he held various Ministerial portfolios including Minister of Health, Minister of Environment and was Victoria’s first Minister for Climate Change. In these portfolios he was responsible for major reforms in social policy, health, environment and water. Prior to being elected to Parliament, he was a barrister and Mayor of South Melbourne.

He has degrees in Law (Honours) and Science from Monash University. He is a Fellow Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Headshot Emeritus Professor James Trevelyan
Emeritus Professor James Trevelyan FIEAust CPEng

Emeritus Professor James Trevelyan is an engineer, educator, researcher and recently a start-up entrepreneur. He invented Coolzy, a new energy saving, low emissions air conditioning technology for a global market. 

His research on engineering practice helped define the Engineers Australia professional competencies for chartered engineers. His books The Making of an Expert Engineer and Learning Engineering Practice are influencing the future of engineering education in universities and workplaces. 

He is best known internationally for pioneering research on sheep shearing robots from 1975 till 1993 and for the first industrial robot that could be remotely operated via the internet in 1994, one of the earliest demonstrations of the ‘internet of things’.  

He served on the National Committee for Applied Mechanics from around 1990 till 2000, including a term as chair. He was the founding chair for the National Committee for Mechatronics which he and others set up in 2006, and he served with the committee until 2020. He has also served on the WA Division Engineering Education Committee and is currently secretary of the Engineering Heritage committee in Western Australia.

Headshot of George Tuckwell
Prof George Tuckwell
Director, RSK

George Tuckwell is the Director responsible for the Geoscience and Engineering Division of companies within the RSK Group and is a Director of RSK Australia. RSK’s businesses have supported clients in the delivery of GW scale renewable, through MW scale industrial decarbonisation projects, to domestic installation of solar PV, batteries and heat pumps. RSK provides clients with full life cycle support for energy transition projects. They also provide strategic and practical support for the measurement and reporting of sustainability and net zero KPIs. George leads RSK’s innovation agenda and strategic relationships with higher education.

Dr Margie Warrell
Dr Margie Warrell
Best-selling author of Stop Playing Safe

Dr Margie Warrell is a bestselling author, leadership advisor and global authority on courageous leadership. Margie has walked the path of ‘courage over comfort’ many times since her childhood growing up in rural Victoria. A Senior Partner in the leadership advisory practice at Korn Ferry, Margie has lived and worked around the world and draws on her diverse background in business, psychology and coaching to help leaders navigate the complex challenges and risks in todays increasingly uncertain and volatile world. The titles of Margie’s Live Brave podcast and bestselling books – such as Stop Playing Safe, Find Your Courage and You’ve Got This! – speak to her passion for people to think bigger and lead braver lives.

A Women’s Economic Forum honouree, Margie sits on the board of Forbes School of Business and Technology. Her doctoral dissertation in women’s leadership informs her work advancing women to leadership roles. Currently living in Washington D.C., Margie is married to an engineer who also hails from Victoria.

Headshot of Zoe Whitton
Zoe Whitton
Managing Director and Head of Impact, Pollination

Zoe Whitton is Head of Impact at Pollination Group, a specialist climate change investment and advisory firm. Zoe assists companies and investors to navigate the impacts of climate change and to build new businesses and products which are transition aligned.

She previously led the award-winning APAC ESG Research team at Citi, advising institutional investors globally on climate change and sustainable development. Earlier in her career Zoe covered ESG and climate change at Credit Suisse and at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and served as a youth delegate to the UNFCCC. She serves on the boards of the Investor Group on Climate Change and the Centre for Policy Development, and on the Steering Committee of the Australian Climate Governance Initiative. She is also member of the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute’s Technical Advisory Group, and the Sydney Environment Institute’s Advisory Group.

Zoe has won numerous awards for her research and work on climate finance and risk, and regularly contributes to the wider conversation on sustainable finance by commentating in the Australian and international press along with various publications.

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Paul Williams
Managing Director of Mining and Energy, WSP 

Paul Williams leads the Mining and Energy business for WSP. As a business, WSP sees the importance of collaboration across mining and energy sectors to drive innovation and shared learnings on the path to decarbonisation. 

Paul has more than 25 years’ experience working across Australia, Asia, America and Europe in business design, change management, large project implementation and review and asset acquisition.

Paul has worked with clients, stakeholders and communities to enhance the world’s infrastructure across developing and growing cities, improving the resiliency of our communities and decarbonising the economy.

Paul champions WSP’s Inclusion and Diversity committee and is passionate about bringing change to gender gaps in the workplace and supporting more women into leadership roles. 
 

Headshot of Nick Fleming
Dr Nick Fleming FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
National President and Board Chair, Engineers Australia

Nick is an experienced non-executive director. In addition to Engineers Australia, he is member of the board of South Gippsland Water and an advisory board member with Infrastructure CoLab. He is managing director of advisory firm, Innergise Pty Ltd, and a faculty member with the Australia and New Zealand School of Government. He is an active thought leader, speaker and author, recognised for his expertise in strategy, innovation and complex problem solving. 

His 30-year professional career spans the infrastructure, natural resources, water, mining, energy, defence, social welfare and education sectors in Australia, NZ, the Americas, Asia and the UK. Prior to establishing his own advisory firm, Nick was the Director of Business Innovation at Jacobs Group (Australia). He previously held global roles at SKM including Chief Sustainability Officer and Technology and Innovation Manager, also sitting on Board committees leading strategy and corporate social responsibility.

Headshot of Romilly Madew
Romilly Madew AO FTSE HonFIEAust EngExec
Chief Executive Officer, Engineers Australia

Prior to joining Engineers Australia, Romilly was CEO of Infrastructure Australia overseeing the organisation's critical role in helping governments prioritise projects and reforms that best serve our communities. She served as CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia for 13 years. In acknowledgment of her contribution to Australia’s sustainable building movement, Romily was awarded an Order of Australia in 2019. 

She is currently a Member of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering Infrastructure Forum, Member of Placemaking NSW Advisory Committee, Director of Sydney Olympic Park Authority, Independent Chair of the Currawong State Park Advisory Board (NSW), Federal Government appointee on the Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group and G20 EMPOWER – Empowerment and Progression of Women's Economic Representation, Member of the National Women in Transport CEO Advisory Group, Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers Enabling Better Infrastructure Steering Group (UK) and Director of Minerva Network (supporting Australia’s elite sportswomen). 

Headshot of Jane MacMaster
Jane MacMaster FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
Chief Engineer, Engineers Australia

Jane MacMaster has worked as an aerospace, mechanical and systems engineer in Australia and internationally, focusing primarily on supersonic flight vehicle design, operations research and rapid prototyping in the defence sector. She has qualifications in Engineering (Mechanical) and postgraduate qualifications in International Relations.  

Jane has previously worked as a senior advisor within the strategy unit of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and as a management consultant in the financial services sector. Most recently she was Founder and Director of Ponder Enterprises, where she used her engineering skillset to address complex societal challenges. Jane also developed a conceptual model and practical techniques for complex problem solving which she taught at universities and to staff from Commonwealth and state and territory government departments.  

 

Technical speakers

Headshot of Shaw Abrey
Shaw Abrey
Senior Civil/Environmental Engineer and Ecologist, McGregor Coxall

Shaw is a Senior Water Engineer and Ecologist with a strong passion for Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), sustainable water management, waterway health, and urban channel naturalisation. Driven by the premise that the natural world is our greatest asset, Shaw uses his skillsets to combat pressing issues around water management and biodiversity, championing research-led and alternative solutions that push the boundaries of traditional engineering.

Shaw has a comprehensive understanding of urban hydrology, which formed the basis of his university thesis study comparing urban peak flows from the Rational Method with a linear reservoir model (ARR19). He is currently leading the Australia-India Water Security Initiative (AIWASI), a project with the core objective of transitioning disadvantaged communities toward water-sensitive states.

Headshot of Steve Adamthwaite
Steve Adamthwaite
NSW/ACT Water Business Leader, Arup

Steve Adamthwaite is a Water Business Leader at Arup, a global engineering and design consultancy, where he oversees the water strategy and operations for NSW and ACT regions. He has many years of experience in the water sector, spanning utilities, consulting, and nonprofit organisations.

Steve is passionate about delivering innovative and sustainable solutions for complex water challenges, involving multiple stakeholders, uncertainties and priorities. He has led and contributed to several strategic projects, such as wastewater treatment planning, water security assessment and water infrastructure design. He is also a vocal advocate for mental health and indigenous engagement, participation and inclusion in the water industry. 

Steve holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from the University of Newcastle and is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration with a focus on leadership from CQUniversity. He is also a volunteer leader and board member for several water-related associations and charities including WaterAid, Australian Water Association and Engineers Australia.

Headshot of Ahmed Al Kindi
Ahmed Al Kindi
Control Systems Engineer, GPA Engineering

Ahmed Al Kindi is a driven and enthusiastic professional with a contagious passion for industrial automation and control engineering. He obtained a Mechatronics Engineering degree from the University of Adelaide and has since built a solid foundation in PLC, HMI and SCADA design.

Always seeking to expand his knowledge and skill set, Ahmed proactively integrates control systems with IIOT and IT technologies to remain at the forefront of the industry. Currently serving as a Control Systems Engineer at GPA Engineering, a top-tier consultancy based in South Australia, Ahmed is committed to delivering exceptional results and driving innovation in his field.

Headshot of Maisara Al Rais
Maisara Al Rais
Digital Engineering Lead, WSP

Maisara is a Digital Engineering Lead with extensive hands-on experience in digital engineering and construction management for multi-discipline projects from pre-investment to handover and O&M stages. Maisara successfully delivered several 4D,5D/ and 7D BIM projects with clients and contractors, supporting the digital transformation in many organisations and projects, with practical knowledge of the related standards – ISO 19650, ISO 19115 and ISO 16739. Maisara has a long experience using data analytics to support data-driven decisions in project management and connecting the asset data with the designed models.

Maisara is completing a Master of Data Science at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and has a Master of Construction Management from the UNSW, Postgraduate Diploma in Construction Project Management from the UNSW, Bachelor of Architecture from the Alexandria University, Graduate Diploma of Project Management from the American University in Cairo, and is a member of the Australian Institute of Project Management. 

Headshot of Jason Amiri MIEAust CPEng
Jason Amiri MIEAust CPEng
Senior Engineering Manager, Nacap

Jason Amiri has around 25 years of experience working for renowned global companies as a mechanical, pipeline and facilities engineering and construction projects specialist. He has extensive expertise in renewable energy and the application of green hydrogen, having developed and implemented sustainable energy solutions over the years.

With a thorough understanding of the latest technology and trends in this rapidly evolving industry and strong leadership skills, Jason is well-positioned to provide valuable advice in the green hydrogen sector. His guidance will contribute to the advancement of a more sustainable energy future.

Headshot of Ahmad Amiruddin
Ahmad Amiruddin
PhD Candidate, Monash University

Ahmad is a PhD student in Resources Engineering at Monash University. He has a Master of Science in Sustainable Energy Systems from the University of Edinburgh, UK and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Hasanuddin University, Indonesia.

Ahmad has been working in the Directorate General of Electricity, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Indonesia since 2009-now. He has worked for several companies including Siemens (2007-2009), Schneider Electric (2007) and LG Philips Indonesia (2004-2007).

His PhD study is funded by Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP). His research interest is energy storage and the integration of renewable energy in Indonesia.

Headshot of Henry Andresen
Henry Andresen
Sustainability Engineer, Stantec

Henry is a Sustainability Engineer/Consultant who is driven to provide effective and realistic climate focused solutions across all aspects of a project. Henry advises on environmentally sustainable design (ESD) decisions for a wide array of building projects and has experience in delivering on building compliance with NCC Section J, Green Star Buildings, Communities, Design and As-Built and Interiors ratings, Life Cycle Assessments and Climate Change Risk Assessments and Adaptation Plans. Henry has ESD consultancy experience across multiple sectors of the industry, including residential, commercial office, hospitals, student accommodation and education facilities.

Henry joined the Sydney Sustainability Team at Stantec in 2021 and has completed his Bachelor of Environmental Engineering with honours in 2022.

Jerry Andrews
Jerry Andrews AffillEAust
Senior Client Manager - Victoria, Engineers Australia

With more than 20 years of working in client management across multiple continents, Jerry has gained invaluable experience in new acquisition strategy, sales process mapping, customer service, and building long term strategic relationships. Jerry considers himself to be a citizen of the world, having lived and worked in India, Europe and the UAE and now in Australia for the last 19 years.

Jerry enjoys partnering up with business clients, undertaking a comprehensive assessment of their current situation and listening to get a true feel for what they need.

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Mehrdad Arashpour FIEAust
Associate Professor, Monash University

Associate Professor Mehrdad Arashpour is an internationally recognised researcher and educator in the field of construction and civil infrastructure with a focus on automation and information technologies. His research explores generation of building and infrastructure digital twins; infrastructure computer vision and pattern recognition; intelligent automation of design and construction tasks; and integration of project information into visualisation and mixed reality models. He is one of 13 worldwide members of the Working Commission on Off-site Construction (W121) and Infrastructure Task Group (TG91), established by the International Council for Building (CIB).

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David Armstrong
Director, Australia Wide Engineering Recruitment

David is a mechanical engineer who has more than three decades of senior leadership experience in managing international companies' divisions both in Australia and in Asia. David possesses an ability to build and develop cohesive teams, increase sales, manage corporate P&Ls and negotiate profitable and collaborative, strategic client partnerships. 

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Dr Jacqueline Balston
Director of Sustainability, IPWEA

Dr Jacqueline Balston has been an applied climatologist for the past 25 years during which time she has researched the impacts of climate variability and climate change on agriculture, natural resources, ecosystems, emergency management and the built environment across Australia. She currently works as Director of Sustainability for IPWEA and as a private climate consultant to local, state and federal governments and other organisations nationally.

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Nolan Bear CPEng
Director, Costpro Pty Ltd and Lecturer, Swinburne University

Nolan has 35 years' experience leading cost control of billion-dollar complex construction projects including power, minerals and defense.

His roles include 15 years Lecturer in Cost Engineering and Industry Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology, Technical Society Representative to Engineers Australia Congress from 2017-2023, past Chair of the Australian Cost Engineering Society and past President of AACE Australia section.

Nolan is a Chartered Professional Engineer in Civil, Cost Engineering and Leadership and Management.

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Associate Professor Wahidul Biswas
Deputy Director of the Sustainable Engineering Group, Curtin University

Associate Professor Wahidul Biswas is the Deputy Director of Sustainable Engineering Group, Curtin University and a Co-Leader of Research Program 3 of HILT CRC (Heavy Industries Low Emission Technologies, Cooperative Research Centres, Australia). Wahidul was trained as a mechanical engineer, researching the performance of diesel engine using biogas fuel. He has gradually diversified his research to engineering for sustainable development, an interdisciplinary field. He has a Masters in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London and a PhD in Sustainable Futures from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Wahidul teaches and coordinates a core undergraduate Engineering unit, Engineering for Sustainable Development at Curtin University. He has so far carried out extensive life cycle assessment, climate change and sustainability related research on Australian agricultural, alternative fuels, building and construction, manufacturing, mining and water sectors for the Department of Climate Change, the Grains Research and Development Commission and Department of Agriculture and Food, Wester Australia, University of Western Australia, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria, Meat and Livestock Australia, Worley Parsons and Water Corporation, Enterprise Connect and Recom Engineering, Cedar Woods, Earth Care, and Department of State Development, Cockburn Cement Ltd, Waste Authority WA and Woodside Energy Group Ltd.

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Edward Bond MIEAust NER
Principal, Robert Bird Group

Ed is a structural engineer working out of the Melbourne office who brings a holistic design philosophy to his projects. Following successful delivery across global centres such as Melbourne, London and Dubai he has developed a well-rounded approach to engineering. His career spanning 20 years has given Ed the confidence to tackle projects covering a diverse sector spectrum. This experience varies in scale from intricate heritage refurbishments up to multi-billion mixed-use precincts.

As an advocate of sustainable design, his wide knowledge base allows Ed to identify where the most appropriate low carbon intervention can be made. Ed’s a supporter of introducing material optimisation principles from a project’s inception and sees value in tracking embodied carbon throughout the design journey.

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Sally Busch
Climate Resilience Engineer, Ausgrid

Sally is Ausgrid’s Climate Resilience Engineer and is leading Ausgrid’s Climate Resilience Network and Non-Network Solution development program. They have a background in Asset Management and have extensive experience in developing new engineering processes and asset modelling methodologies for complex assets.

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Yale Carden
Founder and Managing Director, GeoExchange Australia

Yale is the Founder and Managing Director of GeoExchange Australia and an Honorary Fellow with the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC), University of Wollongong. He has more than 25 years of experience in the sustainability sector, the majority of which have been specifically in renewable thermal energy and heat pump systems. His commercial and academic work has him advising the public and private sector across the Asia Pacific.

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Stuart Cassie FIEAust CPEng EngExec
Director, Tracey, Brunstrom & Hammond

Stuart has more than 20 years' leadership experience in complex infrastructure assets, holding senior global operational roles in Tier 1 engineering and professional services organisations and a government utility. He has acted as a consultant providing delivery and advisory services to assist large, complex infrastructure owners and developers evaluate, manage and deliver major capital projects and portfolios of sustaining capital projects for ongoing operations.

Stuart has been an advisor to executives across sectors and jurisdictions including government infrastructure, energy and resources, oil and gas, and utilities in Australia, Europe, Africa, Middle East and North America.

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Hayton Chan
Climate and Sustainability Group, Arup

Hayton Chan is interested in decarbonisation, sustainable building system design, building energy simulation and green building certification. She has participated in a variety of commercial projects in Hong Kong. Her experiences cover decarbonisation, building physics analysis, high performance building system design and green building assessment.

Hayton is also responsible for sustainable design and building assessments and involved in promoting sustainability and energy efficiency through integrated design methods and analysis.

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Renny Chivunga
Senior Engineer - Water, Aurecon

Renny Chivunga is an engineer, pilot, model, sailor and board member. Her experience includes research, planning, treatment, operations and circular economy. She sits on the Advisory board for the University of Newcastle Chemical Engineering Department.

Renny was a finalist for the Women in Industry Mentor of the Year Award and is Australian Water Association NSW Mentor of The Year. She appears on a few achievers making a difference list. She can be spotted in “The Great Gatsby” and both the ABC and City of Newcastle have told her story. She also tutors engineering complexity to students in Newcastle and Singapore.

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Christy Chow
Senior Consultant, Arup

Christy Chow is the sustainability specialist of outstanding commercial projects in Hong Kong. With her lead in sustainability goals and strategies, projects such as One Taikoo Place, The Airside are known as one of the best-in-class sustainable project in town, accredited the Hong Kong Green Building Awards and recognised by World Sustainability Built-Environment Conference. She drives the projects awarded the first-ever project in Hong Kong achieving five Platinum ratings in BEAM Plus New Building, CGBL, LEED and WELL and BEAM Plus Neighborhood.

Christy participates in design of optimised energy performed systems and pioneers in integrated innovative solutions for promoting green transport, smart waste management and decarbonization implementation. She is endeavor in analytic built environment study and sustainability neighborhood design for healthy and wellness community, as well as formulating carbon neutrality roadmap for public transit and real estate portfolio in Hong Kong and Mainland China to envision a carbon-free city.

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Dr Fangjie (Sam) Chen
Materials Regional Research Leader, Arup

Dr Fangjie Chen has extensive expertise in concrete sustainability and durability. He has developed innovative and sustainable solutions to decarbonise concrete for major infrastructure projects across Australasia region.

His hands-on experience in material design, testing, characterisation and production also allows him to utilise innovative recycled and waste materials to improve concrete structure performance in service, which provides valuable new and unique sustainability outcomes for major engineering programs.

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Chris Coath MIEAust CPEng NER
Senior Principal Transport Planner | Practice Leader - Parking Strategy and Implementation, Stantec Australia

Chris is the Practice Leader - Parking Strategy and Implementation, Australia at Stantec. He works daily in developing best practice car parking strategies for cities and activity centres across Australia. His work ensures competing activity centre demands of all modes are balanced to achieve resource efficiency, urban design, place making and economic prosperity objectives. More broadly, his skills encompass all major transport planning and traffic engineering areas. He is a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Engineers Australia.

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Anna-Kristina Collett
Extranet Manager, Level Crossing Removal Project

Anna-Kristina Collett is the Extranet Manager, Program Improvement at Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP). Anna is a project and product manager with a background in content, publishing, communications and stakeholder engagement. She manages LXRP’s knowledge sharing and collaboration platform, which supports continuous improvement and innovation

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Matt Colton FIEAust
Trustee, Institution of Civil Engineers and Director, MCE

Matt is a Chartered Civil Engineer, Fellow of Engineers Australia and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). He is a Trustee of ICE and a member of ICE’s Council representing Asia Pacific members. 

Matt is a Director of Management • Commercial • Engineering (MCE), a leading Australian linear infrastructure advisory business based in NSW, VIC and QLD.  MCE’s team comprise of industry leading delivery directors, program managers, engineering and design managers, systems and safety assurance, schedulers and planners, safety professionals and risk specialists promoting delivering sustainable linear infrastructure for transportation, water, utilities, and energy industries across Australia. 

Matt is presenting the recently updated PAS2080 highlights on behalf of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

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Melanie Collett FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
Director of Technical Excellence, Australia and New Zealand, AECOM

Melanie is the Director of Technical Excellence for the Australia and New Zealand region of AECOM. In this role, she is responsible for the implementation of Technical Excellence across all business lines in the region. By focusing on the teams delivering technical solutions, Melanie provides the leadership required to make technical excellence a priority. Her leadership is instrumental in developing a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence at AECOM.

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Damian Connelly
METS Engineering Group

Damian is a consulting engineer with extensive experience in the gold, copper, lead, zinc, uranium and iron ore industries with particular emphasis on gold. Experience has been gained in plant operations feasibility studies, detailed design, construction and commissioning, and all unit operations. He is an internationally recognised specialist in mineral processing having worked in North and South America, South East Asia, Africa and Europe.

Damian has spent the last 30-plus years working as a consultant metallurgist for mining, banking and engineering companies has provided a broad range of experience. Damian is a Registered Expert Witness and has been engaged on many cases.

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Simone Costello
Graduate Process Engineer (Water), Arup

Simone joined Arup in February 2022 as a Graduate Process Engineer in the water team after graduating from the University of Melbourne with a Master of Chemical Engineering.

Her interests in water and sustainability led her to an industry project at Melbourne Water, and then onto Arup where she has since been involved in various projects in water and wastewater treatment, and increasing investigating water for hydrogen production. She brings curiosity and a drive to solve engineering challenges, especially through collaboration.

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Jonathan Couldrick FIEAust CPEng NER
Associate Professor, Australian National University

Honorary Associate Professor within the College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernietics looking at common areas of needs to align defence, industry and academia to solve Australia’s future needs. Jonathan sits on the Joint Board for Aerospace Engineering that manages the collaborative strategy between Engineers Australia and the Royal Aeronautical Society (Australian Division).

His day job is as AIR MSP Portfolio Manager for Nova Systems Australia leading a high performance team of 150 members working primarily in defence. As the Project Director, Jonathan is responsible for developing and executing the program strategy for effective opportunity generation, project management and delivery of services and products. The program is a portfolio of projects that covers numerous platforms across Australian Defence in the fixed wing domain. The projects combine technical skills with an in-depth understanding of what is required to deliver and sustain capability.

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Cathy Crawley
Technical Director and Nature Based Solutions Lead, AECOM

Cathy is a Technical Director and is AECOM’s nature-based solutions lead. She draws on her experience in the delivery of corporate sustainability outcomes both as a consultant and executive responsible for implementing strategy within an organisation. From this she has developed a range of skills in leadership, strategy development and project delivery and has deep technical knowledge of the inter-relationships between the natural environment, business needs, and the multiple benefits gained from valuing the environment more holistically.

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Jared Crossley MIEAust CPEng NER
Principal Civil Engineer, AECOM

Jared Crossley is a Civil Engineer at AECOM in Sydney with a strong background in urban road design and multi-disciplinary projects in and around the road environment. Jared grew up, studied and began his career with AECOM in Durban, South Africa, before spending time abroad in the United Kingdom and now in Australia.

Jared is AECOM’s Design Manager on the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley Flood Evacuation Road Resilience Program and is inspired by the unique sustainability focus of the Program, which is on improving the running of the road network in an evacuation event as opposed to day-to-day.

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Dr David Cruickshanks-Boyd HonFIEAust
National Director - Sustainability, WSP Australia

David is the National Director, Sustainability for WSP I Parsons Brinckerhoff, in a part-time 50 per cent capacity. He was the 2015 National President of Engineers Australia and Chair of the Engineers Australia Board. 

His other Engineers Australia experience includes the Accreditation Board, National CLM Board, National Honours and Awards Committee, Code of Ethics Committee, Reconciliation Plan Steering Committee, Audit and Risk Committee, Sustainability Committee and 2023 Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group.

David chaired the 2014 Engineers Australia committee which developed the first Engineers Australia Climate Change Policy, and revised the Engineers Australia Sustainability Policy

In his 31 years with WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff David has led their national environmental business, had overall responsibility for their South Australian operations, and overseen significant transformation in their business both in South Australia and nationally. Under David’s leadership, WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff in South Australia has twice been awarded the company’s Global Project of the Year Award. 

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Dr Glen Currie FIEAust
Program Impact Manager – Energy Systems, Climateworks

Fellow of Engineers Australia and the Australian Institute of Energy. Active in the energy industry from electricity generation to retail, including commercialisation of new technologies.

More than 20 years of experience strategically planning and transforming processes. At CSIRO Energy Glen became passionate about the energy transition. Next, he started up solar and energy technology businesses and was recently awarded a PhD for his work on Consumer Roles in the Future Electricity System.

Glen leads complex problem-solving, quickly marshalling teams to respond to changing circumstances. His mandates in previous roles included helping to “fix” the commercial process and associated systems.

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Miles Dacre CPEng
Advanced Materials Segment Leader, AECOM

Miles has more than 35 years of experience in the concrete deterioration, durability design and asset management and remediation industry. His expertise also includes specialising in concrete repair techniques and site implementation practices.

He has been assisting clients with the assessment, analysis and development maintenance programs across a large portfolio of assets. He has been involved in the field of asset deterioration since 1986, particularly the assessment of structures, how they deteriorate, their future performance and assisting asset owners to define repair and rehabilitation strategies and manage the risks to their operations.

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Stacey Daniel FIEAust CPEng NER
Director, Board Presence

Stacey is an experienced Non-Executive Director, Board Consultant and Chartered Professional Engineer. She is the founder of Board Presence, author of Fly to the Boardroom: Your Essential Guide to Getting on a Board and was recognised as one of the Australia’s Innovative Engineers in 2020.

Stacey is as an entrepreneur, educator and engineer who develops, reviews and advises on sustainable solutions and strategies for public, private and not-for-profit organisations. She also facilitates and delivers programs to build professional capability, improve performance and support those; aspiring to, sitting on and working with, boards and committees.

Stacey is passionate about professional practice, effective decision making and positive outcomes for regeneration.

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Parth Dave MIEAust CPEng NER
Associate Director – Power Solutions, Engineering and Asset Management, KPMG

Parth is an Associate Director in the engineering team at KPMG. He is a Chartered engineer (Mechanical and Electrical) that has broad experience within the power and energy sector. His diverse experience spans from project development of utility scale renewables, network studies and the design of overhead transmission lines.

He has worked on projects across Australia from commissioning power stations in the Pilbara, developing utility scale BESS projects to designing transmission lines to connect large scale renewables across Australia in the National Electricity Market (NEM), South West Interconnected System (SWIS) and North West Interconnected System (NWIS).

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Adam Davis
ANZ Technical Practice Lead - Sustainability and Resilience, AECOM

Adam has more than 26 years’ industry experience in sustainability and resilience, using his skills and strengths to help asset and critical infrastructure owners and operators cope, recover and prosper from major shocks and stresses, in particular changing climate conditions. He has completed climate adaptation and resilience projects at local, regional, state, national and international scales, looking at hazards, risk, vulnerability and resilience.

Adam is AECOM’s project director on the Resilient Reefs initiative which has been developed to build the resilience of UNESCO World Heritage listed coral reefs to the globally significant threat of climate change, while also building the reef communities’ ability to adapt to a future of uncertainty.

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Dr Erik Denneman CPEng
Global Technical Manager, Puma Energy

Dr Erik Denneman is the Global Technical Manager for Puma Bitumen. He leads Puma Bitumen’s R&D program focused on developing ever more sustainable bituminous binders. His team is further responsible for rigorous quality control across Puma’s global supply network. Prior to joining Puma Erik was Director of Technology and Leadership at the Australian Flexible Pavement Association. Erik is a Chartered Professional Engineer based in Melbourne and has previously worked in the Netherlands, the US and South Africa.

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Graeme Dick
Manager Strategic Infrastructure Projects, GWMWater

Graeme is a civil and environmental engineer with more than 20 years of experience in consulting, local government and water utility businesses. Working in regional Victoria for the past 17 years, Graeme has delivered several significant rural water supply projects and is now involved in renewable energy and carbon emission reduction projects.

Graeme is passionate about finding sustainable, practical ways to enhance quality of life in rural areas.

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Trevor Distin
Group Technical and Marketing Manager, COLAS

Joined the COLAS Australia Group in 2016 as the Group Technical and Marketing Manager having held a similar role with COLAS in Southern Africa. Prior to that he held positions as National Technology Manager for Boral Asphalt, Executive Director of Southern African Bitumen Association and Bitumen Technical Services Manager for Mobil Oil South Africa. He has more than 35 years’ experience in the development, manufacture and construction of bituminous materials.

Currently serves on the Austroads Asphalt, Binders and Bitumen Surfacing’s working groups and AfPA’s National Technology Leadership Committee and Asphalt, Binders, Surfacings and Sustainability sub committees. Holds a Masters Diploma in Civil Engineering and Bachelors of Commerce.

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Phi Bang Do CPEng NER
Associate Director, McGregor Coxall

Specialising in climate adaptation and nature-based solutions, Phi Bang Do is a Chartered Civil Engineer and International Professional Engineer (APEC IntPE) with more than ten years’ experience in managing multi-disciplinary projects of different scales from master planning to detail design. His technical expertise varies from urban drainage planning and designing with Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) principles to flood risk assessment with hydraulic modelling analysis demonstrating leadership in project management to deliver high quality projects on-time and on-budget.

Over the past decade, Mr Do has overseen and delivered the sustainable engineering scopes on several international award-winning projects across the globe, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

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Anthony Douglas
Senior Consultant, Ramboll Australia

Anthony is a chemical engineer currently working in the role of Senior Consultant for Ramboll Australia’s Energy division. Anthony has more than 20 years’ experience in various process engineering, project engineering and project management roles.

Anthony was recently a Senior Process Engineer with HRL Technology Group and previously, Phoenix Energy’s Project Engineer during the development of the 460,000 tonne per year Kwinana Waste to Energy Project, now known as Avertas Energy.

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Luke Elsen
Sustainability and Resilience Consultant, AECOM

Luke is a civil engineer working as a sustainability and resilience consultant to embed sustainability in projects using his knowledge of environmental science and engineering design principles. Luke’s interdisciplinary approach, combining engineering principles with environmental sciences, enables him to address complex challenges related to infrastructure and sustainability. He has worked closely with clients to challenge and improve carbon accounting practices across the industry to ease implementation and deliver emission reductions.

His holistic worldview and understanding of the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of technical challenges guides his advocacy for engineering approaches that contribute to mitigating climate change impacts and promoting a more sustainable future.

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Charles Esson FIEAust CPEng
AIEglobal

Charles Esson is an engineer with an active 43 year career, using his real time programming experience to develop fresh fruit sorting equipment that dominated the Australian market for 25 years, with many systems exported overseas. Charles is now primarily involved in low and medium voltage power engineering. His academic qualifications include professional engineering, an honours degree in computer science and a graduate certificates in power engineering. He is currently undertaking a Masters in power engineering at UOW.

Charles is currently employed by AIEglobal as principle power engineer. AIEglobal also offer real time programming services for Beckoff Automation products. Recent work in developing distribution designs for high rise buildings has led Charles to the realisation that with the introduction of large volumes of electric cars, the distribution system is facing a serious issue. This has led to the development of the AIEglobal Charger Management Systems and consideration of the impact this load will have on the National Grid.

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Farid Fazel Mojtahedi
Phd Researcher, University of Melbourne

Farid Mojtahedi is a PhD candidate in the infrastructure engineering department at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on leveraging deep learning (DL) and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to develop an advanced early warning system for geohazards.

With a decade of work experience in various roles, Farid brings a diverse skill set to his academic pursuits. Notably, he successfully established a startup approximately six years ago, showcasing his entrepreneurial drive and innovation. Through his academic and professional endeavors, Farid is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of geohazard detection and mitigation for the betterment of society.

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Dr Jessica Feldman
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland

Dr Jessica Feldman is an early career researcher, who is working as part of the UniSQ NO WASTE Pilot Precinct. She is helping to establish sustainable local economies to convert waste streams not currently recovered into value-added products. To do this, Jessica is developing a circular economy model that can be used for a variety of materials including glass, plastics and paperboard to determine optimal pathways for waste and instruct redesign of supply ecosystems.

She is a specialist in use of food bioactives for nutraceutical applications and is a member of the UniSQ Food and Packaging Valorisation research team.

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Wayne Fitzsimmons OAM FIEAust
Chairman, Pearcey Foundation

Wayne Fitzsimmons OAM FIEAust FACS is Chairman of the Pearcey Foundation, which promotes the ICT sector in Australia to Australia – the Australia 4.0 initiative is conducted under the auspices of the Pearcey Foundation.

Wayne is an experienced executive and entrepreneur who has worked extensively in the US, UK, as well as Australia and is a director of several small privately owned early stage hi-tech companies in Australia including iPro, Cohda Wireless and Mooroolbark Group. Wayne holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications Engineering from the University of Queensland.

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Jason Fletcher
Education Manager, Engineering Education Australia

Jason Fletcher leads the Education team at Engineering Education Australia. He has more than three decades of Australian and international experience in education and training across a diverse range of industries and sectors.

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Dr Matt Flynn
Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland

Matt Flynn completed his PhD at Monash University, investigating the structure-reactivity relationship of main-group organometallic compounds. Since then, he has transitioned into researching sustainability in polymers, having worked as a research fellow at LIKAT in Germany working on biobased polymers, and now at the University of Southern Queensland as part of the NO WASTE pilot precinct. Here he is working on developing new methods of utilising plastic waste, with a specific focus on operationally simple processes, particularly for use in regional community.

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Neil Ganju
National Digital Engineering Director – Bridges, Maritime, Structures, WSP

As the National Digital Engineering Director – Bridges, Maritime, Structures for WSP in Australia, they bring a wealth of experience in BIM and digital engineering management to transport infrastructure projects. Demonstrating success in managing digital engineering for high-profile projects in Sydney and Melbourne, their focus is on utilising digital engineering to enhance design and construction site management. Prior to the current role, they served as a Delivery Manager at Digital Twin start-up, Willow, overseeing digital engineering for clients and contractors on commercial and transport infrastructure projects. With a diverse background in quantity surveying across commercial, residential and aviation projects, they hold a Master's degree in BIM Management from the University of Western Australia and a Master's in Construction Engineering from the University of Cambridge. Their thesis focused on the measurement of embodied carbon in construction projects using BIM/digital engineering techniques.

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Peter Geoghegan MIEAust CPEng NER
Director and Founder, Geotron Engineering Consultants

Peter Geoghegan is the Director and Founder of Geotron, an engineering consultancy that specialises in designing building structures  and infrastructure by delivering practical yet innovative design solutions to create a better built environment, coupled with personal service and exceptional ethics. As a professional structural engineer, Peter has more than 30 years’ experience within the construction industry including 24 years as a consulting engineer working with both small and large multi-national businesses.

Prior to founding Geotron in 2015, Peter previously held senior management roles ranging from Associate Director to Global Engineering Manager responsible for Australia, China, Asia and the Middle East within a group listed top ASX 200 engineering company. Peter’s diverse experience varies from both large and small-scale developments on award winning projects both nationally and internationally. His expertise includes working with local and large multi-national companies for public health buildings, sport facilities, commercial, low and high rise residential, community and infrastructure, and industrial facilities.

Geotron was announced in March 2023 at the national Consult Australia awards as winner of the 2022 "Small Firm of the Year" and winner of "Small Business Excellence" and a Highly Commended for "Technological Innovation" where Geotron has been developing an intuitive digital application for the Built Environment.

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Anne Gibbs FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
CEO, Asset Management Council

Anne is a Technical Advisor to Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and has developed global disaster resilient infrastructure programs across various infrastructure sectors. Anne has experience in providing engineering disaster aid in the Pacific region and Africa and has worked in South America and Eastern Europe undertaking financial and operational performance improvements for governments and is currently CEO of the Asset Management Council in Australia.

Anne holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering, Graduate Diploma in Municipal Engineering and Management, Masters in Business Administration and Doctorate in Business Management and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

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James Ghent MIEAust CPEng
Sustainability Engineer, Arup

A sustainability engineer and climate change professional who focuses on the use of nature-based solutions to deliver more value to the most vulnerable communities. Currently the natural infrastructure specialist in Peru, James is delivering and supporting the Peruvian government on their journey to a more resilient and sustainable future.

Using the gifts provided by our planet natural infrastructure can teach us a lot about how we can ensure future generations can enjoy the one planet we have been provided.

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Neil Greet
Director, Collaborative Outcomes

Neil is a Director of the Institute of Integrated Economics Research, and the consultancy Collaborative Outcomes. He is an Engineering Executive and Deputy Chair of the Engineers Australia College of Leadership and Management. Through Engineers Australia, Australian Security Policy Institute and other NGOs Neil has led policy development on energy security, humanitarian engineering, resilience and the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engineering. He is a Board Member of REDR (Australia). 

Neil served in the Australia Defence Force for 30 years with operational service in Iraq and Timor Leste. He also supported the ADF response to Black Saturday Fires in 2009 and worked on engineering projects in the southwest pacific and remote Indigenous communities during his military service.

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Dr Andrew Gunn
Lecturer, Monash University

Andrew Gunn is a Lecturer in Physical Geography in the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment at Monash University. His research is focused on the physical processes that create planetary surfaces, specialising in deserts and Mars. He also conducts research on climate and weather as a renewable energy resource.

Andrew was trained at the University of Melbourne (BS in Applied Mathematics), the University of Tasmania (Honours in Physical Oceanography), the University of Pennsylvania (PhD in Earth Science) and Stanford University (Postdoc in Geological Sciences).

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Finn Gurry
Senior Transport Modeller, AECOM

Finn Gurry is Senior Transport modeller in AECOM’s Infrastructure Advisory group, joining AECOM in November 2019. In his career he has been involved in multiple types of projects, from cost-benefit analyses, to model development, forecasting, and assisting in the integration of a Land Use Transport Interaction (LUTI) model. Finn is interested in solving problems through software, and through project work, past experience and his studies, Finn has experience with Cube, R, SQL, SPSS, QGIS, ArcGIS, Python, VBA, Java and C++.

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Charlotte Guthleben
Senior Consultant, Sustainability and Climate Change, Aurecon

Charlotte is a senior consultant in Aurecon’s Sustainability and Climate Change team with a focus on decarbonisation strategy and renewable energy. Combining her technical engineering background and analytical mindset, Charlotte helps to make the complex simple and produce projects with impact.

Charlotte has an in-depth understanding of energy markets and renewable energy applications. She has been heavily involved in work across the energy sector, including strategic advice for the development of renewable energy zones, economic assessment of multi-billion-dollar transmission networks, and decarbonisation strategy both for clients and to meet Aurecon's own net zero.

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Brian Haggerty
Western Australia Division Committee, Engineers Australia

Brian has a 40-year career in energy industries in Australia and overseas including as part of the executive leadership at Woodside Energy in technology, commercial and business development - gas, LNG and new energy solutions (including hydrogen). He has ten years of international experience with Shell PLC on LNG and gas to liquids developments and was based in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. He played a leading role in designing and constructing gas and hydrogen facilities, including the Pearl GTL project in Qatar. 

Brian has held leadership roles in the university sector for industry engagement and is actively engaged in the university sector to ensure students develop the skills required to lead Australia’s future.

Brian is Co-Founder and past Chair of the Hydrogen Society of Australia, Co-Founder and past Director of the Western Australia Technology Cluster for Hydrogen, Director of Australian Gas Industry Trust, member of the Programme Committee for LNG 2026, Doha, Qatar and Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia.

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Graeme Harding MIEAust CPEng
Technical Director - Process Engineering, Beca

Graeme has more than 20 years of international process experience, including design and implementation of large-scale heavy industrial projects and turnkey energy saving projects. Graeme has worked on projects with a large variety of processes, from gas turbines and reactors through to wash press filters, refrigeration and refining systems. He has established a track record of award-winning energy saving projects within the pulp and paper and food industries.

Graeme leads Beca’s Industrial Decarbonisation team, guiding some of the industry's largest food and beverage manufacturers to transition.

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Dr Anne Hellstedt FIEAust CPEng EngExec
Technical Excellence Leader, Mott MacDonald

Dr Anne Hellstedt is the Technical Excellence Leader for Mott MacDonald. She has a diverse background across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors with demonstrated leadership in sustainable development. Her experience spans roles as a sustainability consultant with LendLease and AECOM, and client-side roles with the University of Melbourne and ANSTO driving precinct development with a focus on exemplary sustainability outcomes.

She is the Chair of the National College of Leadership and Management Board, having been a volunteer with Engineers Australia since being elected to the Victorian Division Committee in 2013. 

She is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and a Chartered Engineering Executive, a graduate member of Australian Institute of Company Directors and a board member of Beyond Zero Emissions, a not-for-profit climate change solutions think-tank whose mission is to show a zero emissions Australia is achievable and affordable now.

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Craig Hood
Group Leader – Property and Civil, Stantec

Craig is a well-established civil engineer and project manager. Craig has more than 18 years’ experience as a civil engineer in the development industry, currently working as the Group Leader for the Urban/Civil Community Development Business Centre for Stantec (South Coast). Craig has a proven ability in urban design and project management to deliver feasible design solutions and outcomes, working in a collaborative way with stakeholders throughout the design and management process. 

Craig is tertiary qualified in Engineering (Civil), a member of Engineers Australia, a Chartered Professional Engineer (Civil) on the National Engineering Register, has a Diploma of Project Management and committed to further learning and career development. Areas of proficiency include project management, engineering urban subdivision design, business development, resource management, planning legislation and team leadership.

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Jonathon Horsfall MIEAust
Project Engineer, GWMWater

Jonathon has more than 7 years’ experience at GWMWater. He has planned, managed and delivered a number of larger key projects across the GWMWater region. Recent key projects he has been involved in consist of work with water and wastewater treatment plants, rural pump stations, bridges and trunk main duplications, demonstrating an extensive portfolio of engineering experience.

Jonathon’s motivation to pursue a career within the water sector was realised well before he attended university; with a country upbringing he wanted to remain local and provide services back to the communities that he grew up in.

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Daniel Hugo MIEAust
Senior Engineer, CSIRO

Daniel Hugo has 16 years' experience as an electronics engineer, currently with CSIRO's Data61 business unit. He has collaborated with colleagues to develop novel sensors, telemetry systems and online analytics platforms to enable CSIRO's research projects in the in agriculture, aquaculture, coastal science and built environment domains.

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Greig Hutton
Business Development Defence, Radlink Communications

Greig Hutton has been involved in the defence communications industry for more than 25 years. Starting as a radio technician to completing a BEng Electrical and Electronic, Greig has had a long history in understanding and designing power requirements for harsh environments. He has joined Radlink to leverage his extensive experience and focus on providing reliable “green energy systems” to businesses and government organisations.

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Andrew Iles
Partner, KPMG Australia

Andy is a Partner in the Commercial Advisory and Transactions team within KPMG Australia’s Infrastructure, Assets and Places division based in Melbourne. 

Andy brings a wealth of property development and finance experience in a professional career spanning more than 20 years, having held roles in both the private and public sectors delivering and advising in relation to some of Australia’s most complex urban renewal projects.

Andy’s particular strengths lay in his ability to create informative bespoke dynamic models for mixed urban renewal projects, and his ability to flow chart the complex interconnected elements of the development strategy and planning approval processes.

Throughout his career in both the private and public sectors, Andy has been responsible for the establishment and management of numerous projects and processes aimed at optimising the required value outcomes.  While the particular outcomes may be different in each case, the guiding principles that go to establishing the clarity, ESG transparency, stakeholder engagement, competitive tension and success of the projects and processes run are the same. These skills have been fundamental in Andy advising clients.

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Dr Dusan Ilic FIEAust CPEng
University of Newcastle

Dr Ilic is a Fellow, Chartered engineer and research academic at the University of Newcastle, located at the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources, with almost 20 years’ experience of consultancy and applied research.

Over the last five years, using a foundation of bulk solids handling and particle science, Dr Ilic has established and grown multi-disciplinary research programmes including characterising agroforestry residues, environmental and workplace health exposures, integrating low cost sensors and LiDAR into dust emissions management, engineering design, modelling and simulation of granular materials in minerals processing and materials handling systems.

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Chris Irvine-Brown
Operations Manager, Binnies Australia

As an experienced process engineer and project manager, Chris has dedicated his 18-year career to the water industry and the delivery and operation of essential infrastructure to municipal and industrial clients. Chris has recently moved into the Binnies Australia Operations Manager role, with the aim of growing the business and delivering sustainable and innovative solutions to the Australasian water market. 

Binnies (part of RSK group) is engaged in every aspect of the water industry and helping clients to efficiently and effectively collect, store, move and treat water and wastewater.

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Lyndal Isakhan
Sustainability and Environment Manager, ACCIONA Construction

Lyndal has a 20-year career in sustainability and environmental management, in the design and construction of major infrastructure. She is the Regional Sustainability Lead at ACCIONA Construction focused on embedding the aspirations of the business’ Sustainability Master Plan 2025 into project start-up and delivery.

Lyndal is a contributor to the national ISC Circular Economy Working group and on the Steering Committee for the Not-for-Profit Wellness in Infrastructure Committee.

“Throughout my career, I’ve been passionate about educating teams to look beyond traditional ways of working, embedding sustainability into all facets of decision making across infrastructure development and more recently focussed on ACCIONA’s regenerative journey towards decarbonisation and going beyond Net Zero”.

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Quentin Jackson
Aurecon

Quentin is Aurecon’s Australian leader for sustainability providing leadership and management to the sustainability team, as well as technical expertise and advice on sustainability projects. He has a passion for working with diverse teams to deliver projects that achieve practical sustainable outcomes without costing the earth (both environmentally and financially).

He is involved in shaping the built and infrastructure environment from strategy to construction, to post-occupancy evaluation and asset optimisation. He is frequently involved in constructing sustainability rating tools such as Green Star, ISC and has helped develop standards to create a positive change for our environment

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Thomas Jacquier
Systems Engineer, Shoal Group

Thomas Jacquier is a Systems Engineer at Shoal with experience in requirements and interface management, asset management, and modelling and simulation. He is a first-class honours Graduate in Mechatronics Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Adelaide.

While at Shoal, Thomas has managed interfaces across design stakeholders and geographical locations on a complex rail engineering project, led requirements elicitation workshops with senior project stakeholders, managed requirements through design review gates ensuring traceability and the provision of verification activities, and supported the development of a model-based framework for asset management. He also has experience using MATLAB to conduct data analysis and develop models of aerospace flight vehicle and radar systems.

Thomas is an INCOSE Associate Systems Engineering Professional.

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Dr Indunil Jayatilake MIEAust
Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering, TAFE Queensland

Indunil has been working in the higher educational sector for the past 25 years, with eight years of experience with TAFE Queensland in the associate degree in civil engineering course, as a lecturer, senior lecturer and course coordinator. She has completed her Bachelors, Masters and PhD in civil, environmental and structural engineering. She has more than 35 years’ experience in industry, teaching and research. She has published her research in refereed journals and presented her work at international conferences.

Indunil is currently working as a senior lecturer in civil engineering at TAFE Queensland. She is also collaborating with industry and researchers at Queensland University of Technology in the environmental engineering space.

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Prof Raymond L Johnson Jr FIEAust
Professor of Well Engineering and Production Technology, University of Queensland

Prof Raymond L Johnson Jr is currently Professor of Well Engineering and Production Technology at the University of Queensland, Centre for Natural Gas and General Manager of Technical Services for Novus Fuels. He has a PhD in mining engineering, a MSc in petroleum engineering, a Graduate Diploma in Information Technology and a BA in Chemistry.

Prof Johnson is a Life Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), technical co-chair of the upcoming 2023 SPE Unconventional Reservoir Symposium in Brisbane, past Queensland SPE Section chair, twice co-Chair of the SPE Unconventional Reservoir Conference Asia Pacific, 2019 co-Chair and 2021 Advisor of the URTeC Asia Pacific Conference, and twice SPE Regional Technical Award Recipient (Production Operations and Management and Information).

Prof Johnson has served in numerous technical and management positions in service, operating and consulting companies in the United States and Australia. Prof Johnson is a Fellow of Engineers Australia.

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Harry Jupp
Senior Associate Engineer, WSP

Harry currently works in the role of Senior Associate Engineer at WSP, in its Melbourne office, working in its Earth and Environment division. In this role, Harry provides lead designer and project manager services for a range of projects in the renewables, mining, water, and geo-environmental industries.

Harry is furthering his studies by completing a MSc in Renewable Energy Development and is passionate about the role pumped hydro energy storage has to play in Australia's energy transition and how we can make use of available space to integrate this technology.

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Kavinga Karunasekara TMIEAust
Sustainability Projects Officer, Wellington Shire Council

A chemical and process engineer from University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka and MBA holder from University of Colombo, Kavinga has 13 years' of expertise in the field of sustainability in Australia, Germany, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

With considerable background in environmental management systems, life cycle assessments, project management, waste management in various sectors including conglomerates, hospitality, apparel, agriculture, consulting, chemical sales industries and now in local government.

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Dr Ianatul Khoiroh
Associate Professor, University of Nottingham Malaysia

Dr Ianatul Khoiroh is currently an Associate Professor at Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia. She is a fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and a member of various engineering associations. She registered as Associate Member with the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), Fellow of The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining IIOM3), Graduate Engineer with the Board of Engineer Malaysia (BEM), and Professional Engineer registered with the Institution of Engineers Indonesia (PII). 

Ianatul's research focus is on the advancement of environmentally friendly processes, such as the utilisation of bio-based ionic liquids for separation processes, supercritical extraction techniques, and the development of lithium-ion batteries. She actively engages in the study of complex fluids and advanced materials by utilising molecular dynamics simulations to analyse their structure-property relationships. Her research interests also extend to the field of carbon dioxide capture and sequestration.

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Rob Kilgour FIEAust CPEng
Technical Executive - Materials Performance, WSP

A strategy-driven business leader and advisor, Rob has more than 20 years’ experience delivering results using technical and commercial knowledge in materials performance, energy management, buildings, and infrastructure development to contribute to climate change adaptation and the energy transition across Australasia, the Middle East and UK.

Rob has an established track record for providing clear, pragmatic advice, insights and solutions to complex problems founded upon a diverse array of experience covering the entire built environment asset life cycle. He is a curious and future focussed thought leader with a commitment to lifelong learning, professional development and continuous improvement.

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Andrew Kindness
Sustainability and Environmental Advisor, Cairns Southern Access Corridor Stage 3: Edmonton to Gordonvale Project

Andrew Kindness is a dedicated Sustainability and Environmental Advisor with a strong background in Environmental Sustainability and experience in infrastructure construction, including projects such as the Sydney Metro TSE Mega Project and Blue Mountains Heritage Station Upgrades.

Currently leading sustainability efforts for the E2G project in Cairns, Andrew excels in environmental compliance and infrastructure sustainability, fostering positive outcomes through stakeholder relationships, proactive environmental management and driving innovation.

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Joanne Knight-Smith
Principal Human Factors Specialist, HF Integration Pty Ltd

Joanne is a Principal Human Factors Consultant with more than 10 years' experience in providing human factors support to high-risk industries. Her experience expands across oil and gas, new energy, rail, mining and construction industries focusing on practical application of human factors in both project phases and operations.

Joanne's recent experience includes early integration of human factors in hydrogen, battery and carbon capture projects that has identified new challenges for human reliability in fast paced new energy projects.

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Maria Koutsimpiris
Project Controls Manager, Level Crossing Removal Project - Southern Program Alliance

Maria is a commercially focused senior leader with more than 20 years’ experience in complex, capital intensive multinationals, leading large cross-functional teams on multi-year, billion-dollar projects. She transitioned to infrastructure construction in July 2021, where she commenced as Regional Project Controls Manager for ACCIONA and is now the Project Controls Manager for Level Crossing Removal Project – Southern Program Alliance.

Maria is the Chair of the National Committee for Women in Engineering and Non-Executive Director with ANCAP Safety and the Highett Community Bank. She has an MBA from Melbourne Business School and BEng/BSc from The University of Melbourne.

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Lara Kruk
APAC Substations Technical Director, Jacobs

Lara has 20 years’ experience in transmission/utilities having worked on projects across Australia, NZ, the UK, Iraq and Libya and has undertaken a diverse range of technical and management roles. Lara is the Jacobs APAC Substations Technical Director, working as a Principal Protection Engineer on substation projects, she ensures technical development and knowledge sharing as part of her role as the Community of Practice (CoP) Lead for Electrical Switchyards and Substations and the Global Practice Lead for Protection and Control.

Lara has extensive experience in electrical design as both designer and owner’s engineer on various multi-disciplinary projects including brownfield substation extension and equipment replacements, large transmission network augmentations, greenfield terminal stations for renewable energy connections such as wind, solar and battery energy storage systems and HVDC interconnectors. Lara has a keen interest in innovative solutions and has led the implementation of a client’s first digitised substation using IEC 61850 and has developed a toolbox for sustainable solutions for substations and renewables.

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Dr Joanne Lackenby MIEAust CPEng NER
Consultant, Frazer-Nash Consultancy

Dr Joanne Lackenby (Jo) has 15 years’ experience in the Australian nuclear sector, the majority at the OPAL research reactor at ANSTO. Here she specialised in nuclear safety, licensing and regulation, and was also involved in the repatriation of radioactive waste from reprocessing. She recently joined Frazer-Nash Consultancy where she continues to provide nuclear expertise, including in radioactive waste management.

Jo is a TEDxSydney speaker and has a mission to increase public understanding of the potential of peaceful nuclear technologies in Australia. She is the past President of the Australian Nuclear Association Inc. Jo holds degrees in environmental and geotechnical engineering.

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Laurent Lambert
Head of Blockchain, IBM

Laurent is a sales professional with more than seven years’ experience in cryptocurrency and blockchain. Having been one of the early adopters of Bitcoin and numerous other cryptocurrencies, it has enabled him to develop an in-depth understanding about blockchain and how it operates as an immutable, distributed, open ledger for data transaction. He is passionate about the concept blockchain and its possibilities, and strongly believes that this will allow for a complete reorganisation of how business is being conducted.

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Rhonda Lenardon MIEAust CPEng NER
KPMG

Rhonda has more than 20 years’ experience in the environmental field in both consulting and in-house management roles. Rhonda has worked in most sectors, including government, real estate, defence, manufacturing and mining across Australia and New Zealand. This experience has included in-house environmental manager roles in national facility management, mining, investment management and development organisations and has included work in environment, sustainability and WHS.

Rhonda joined KPMG in 2022 and focuses on embedding ESG into KPMG and client processes.

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Nicole Liang
Senior Pavements Engineer, Arcadis

Nicole has worked as a civil engineer in Australia for public and private clients focusing on pavements for roads, intermodals and ports. She has been involved in the design stage as an engineering consultant and in the maintenance stage as a technical advisor. She has a Bachelors in Engineering (Civil with Architecture) and a Masters in Data Analytics.

Nicole is interested in making design decisions that are informed by whole of life assessments, and has been investigating the incorporation of sustainable materials and practices into the pavement design process, and how it can extend to other assets.

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Richard Lovett MIEAust CPEng
Senior Process Engineer, Arup

Richard brings 15 years of experience in municipal wastewater treatment planning with a focus on solids treatment and reuse, biogas handling and renewable energy generation, and water recycling.

His experience covers project phases from strategic options assessment / planning, design (concept to detailed), tender assessment, construction and commissioning. He was also a key contributor to Melbourne Water’s 2021 Pricing Submission.

Richard is excited by the potential in the water industry for resource recovery and energy generation in support of decarbonisation and the circular economy.

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Ken Lunty
Technical Director and National Lead – Sustainability, Arcadis

Ken has almost 20 years of sustainability experience advising the private and public sector. His career started with Hyder Consulting focusing on carbon management and climate change adaptation strategy. In 2013, Ken joined a small consultancy specialising in sustainability strategy, life cycle thinking and value creation across the built environment, manufacturing, food and FMCG sectors. As part of the leadership team, the business grew to one of Australia’s largest dedicated sustainability consultancies.

At Arcadis, his focus is moving from the “what” to the “how” for a sustainable future. He is devoted to weaving sustainability into design and engineering processes. Ken’s motivation is to work alongside engineers and designers to realise positive sustainability impact through clear visualisation and storytelling.

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Anna Luong
Civil Engineer, AECOM

Anna Luong is a Civil Engineer at AECOM in Sydney with experience in delivering civil infrastructure projects across both the public and private sectors. She has assisted in the design of local infrastructure, public domain, precinct development, road, rail drainage and light rail projects.

Anna balanced her university studies with her municipal council role of being the project lead for multiple programs of civil infrastructure projects, providing support for other major projects, becoming a finalist in an international design competition, and completing an additional Diploma of Financial Planning. She continues this passion for learning and solving problems by contributing to the design of multi-disciplinary infrastructure projects, proactively looking for ways to embed sustainability not only into the project design, but also into delivery, ongoing operation and maintenance.

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Rigo Manahan
Process Engineer, Arup

Rigo Manahan is a Process Engineer at Arup with a passion for water and wastewater treatment planning, design and sustainability. Over his four years of professional experience, he has been fortunate to play key roles in projects shaping Australia’s future resilience and sustainability in water.

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Dr Nasir Mahmood
RMIT University

Nasir Mahmood is a Vice-Chancellor Senior Research Fellow at RMIT University. He obtained his PhD from Peking University in 2015. His research interest involves the development of advanced materials for a sustainable society. He is one of the highly cited researchers by Clarivate and among the list of Best Materials Scientists and Chemists by Research.com. He has an excellent track record in publishing high-quality publications, more than 145 with citations, more than 12,000 and an H-index of 55. He also holds six patents/applications and is the author of 10 books/book chapters, commercialisation, attracting research funding and media attention, managing editorial responsibilities and organising conferences.

His research has been highlighted in more than 1000 media blogs, magazines, television, and radio in many different languages across the world, reaching over 400 million people. He has been awarded several prestigious awards including the Beijing Science and Technology Award 2018 by the Municipal Government of Beijing, China, RMIT Vice-Chancellor Postdoctoral Fellowship (2019-2022) and RMIT Vice-Chancellor Senior Research Fellowship (2022-2026).

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Thomas Manley FIEAust CPEng
Federal Government Lead / Systems Engineering Advisor, Decision Analysis Services (DAS) / Systems Engineering Society Australia (SESA)

Thomas is Technical Director of System Engineering Society Australia's (SESA), a technical society of Engineers Australia and the local chapter of International Council On Systems Engineering (INCOSE). He has more than 20 years of experience in the Federal Government market, predominantly providing value for Defence, ATO and Home Affairs. This includes time working for Boeing Australia, Thales, Optus and Downer, including five years as Optus' Chief Architect for the Managed Network Services contract at ATO.

Thomas was a founding member of the SESA Telecommunications Working Group, and is now a Co-Chair of the INCOSE ICT (previously Telecommunications) Working Group. Before stepping into the role of Technical Director, he was SESA's Telecommunications and Cyber Security Domain Lead. He authored "Reconciling Enterprise Architecture and Systems Engineering", published in Professional Projects International's (PPI) Systems Engineering Newsjournal (SyEN) in May 2021, and was Lead Author of "Defining Critical Communications Networks: Modelling Networks as Systems", published in INCOSE's INSIGHT Magazine in June 2020. He contributed to Engineers Australia's submission in response to the government's National EV Strategy consultation paper.

Thomas is a Chartered Professional Engineering (CPEng) and is a Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP). He is also Decision Analysis Services' (DAS) Federal Government Lead.

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Dr Robyn Mansfield
Associate Director, McGregor Coxall

Robyn holds a PhD in Sustainable Development from Monash University. She is committed to amplifying marginalised voices in urban planning, especially in communities facing hardships. With degrees in International and Community Development, Disaster Design and Development, and Landscape Architecture, she brings a diverse background in local and state government, consultancy, academia, and private practice.

Robyn's expertise lies in urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, community participation, livelihoods, informal settlement revitalisation, and post-disaster reconstruction. Having worked extensively worldwide, she focuses on children's participation, believing it to be crucial for achieving a sustainable and just planet through radical and innovative action.

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Maree Marshall
Director Waste Management and Circular Economy, WSP

Maree is a Director with WSP showcasing 25 years’ experience and leadership in waste management engineering and circular economy.  She leads a team of engineers, architects, industrial designers and scientists who are experienced in embedding circular economy principles across a range of large and complex developments. These strategies are focussed on resource and waste management and have successfully delivered innovative solutions with measurable outcomes.

Maree's background in consulting, local and state government, means she is well known for her depth of knowledge in resource management and waste systems, including policy and strategy direction. She is also known for her innovative zero waste strategies and for implementable action plans that maximise the use of precious resources. Recent projects of note include Queen Victoria Market, Arden Precinct and Bendigo Circular Economy Hubs. 

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Dr Peter McArdle
Chief Engineer, Engineers Without Borders Australia

Peter has a deep understanding of international humanitarian action with experience across the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific His experience includes climate and environment policy, public health, emergency operations, and the protection of infrastructure in armed conflict with the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, NGOs and social enterprise. For his work preparing for and responding to global crises, Peter was Awarded the International Service Medal for ‘exemplary service’ by Australian Red Cross.

Constantly curious and intrigued by balancing diverse perspectives and knowledge, complexity and creative problem solving, Peter holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil), a Master of Peace and Conflict Studies and a PhD in Sociology exploring the social impacts of community conflict and resilience in the face of water scarcity.

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Kieran McGrane
Market Development Director, Leadsun Australia

A civil engineer specialising in highway and traffic engineering, materials testing and pavement design. His career includes many years in senior commercial roles in research, civil engineering and manufacturing industries, along with nine years in local government. 

After joining Leadsun Australia during the lockdowns in August 2020, he has worked with many local authorities and commercial enterprises along with researchers at Victoria Walks.

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Dr Anumitra Mirti
Senior Associate – Sustainability, Beca

Dr Anumitra Mirti has more than 20 years of experience in sustainability, climate resilience, project management, research and strategic environment and land use planning spanning academia, private industry and government agencies.

At Beca, Anu is driving sustainability and climate resilience across the organisation’s project work both nationally in Australia and internationally. Anu is also a sustainable leaders' mentor for the Cambridge University’s Institute of Sustainable Leadership Program.

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Adrian Moscoso
Principal Critical Risk and Safety Engineer, Pilbara Minerals

Adrian Moscoso is a safety and risk engineer with more than 15 years of experience leading health and safety initiatives across diverse industries, including consulting, construction, open-cut and underground mining, processing, and oil and gas. With a Master's in Fire Safety Engineering and a Master of Science in Occupational Hygiene Practice, Adrian excels at designing and implementing safety management systems and risk management strategies. He has a proven track record of leading cross-functional teams and delivering successful safety outcomes.

Adrian's expertise in occupational hygiene and fire safety engineering gives him a unique perspective on promoting workplace health and safety.

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Tim Mumford FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
General Manager Digital and Innovation, Beca

Tim maintains Chartered and EngExec status, underpinned by 20 years’ experience in digital and sustainability across capital intensive industries, such as transport and infrastructure. Tim’s focus in on the value of digitisation: stemming from a rich experience in digital engineering, government policy and digital assets management.

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Jawahar Kumar Murugiah MIEAust CPEng NER
Lead Engineer - Instrumentation, Control Automation, Petroleum Development Oman

Jawahar Kumar is a Lead Instrumentation control and automation engineer in petroleum development Oman, with 20 years of experience in capital green field and challenging brown field critical infrastructure projects. He is Chartered Professional Engineer, certified in Functional Safety, PMI PMP and ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Expert. He is ISA 84 and 99 - Cybersecurity standards working committee member and panellist in technical conferences.

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Ali Nami
Principal, TBH

Ali is a construction project planner with 18 years of varied experience in planning projects in Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and South East Asia in a variety of industries, including energy transmission and generation, transport, water, resource and major engineering and infrastructure projects as well as ICT projects and commercial and residential developments.

Ali brings a range of experience in all facets of project planning, forensic planning and dispute resolution. These days Ali brings his experience in managing risks and resolving disputes with respect to time and cost and applies it at the front end helping his clients deliver complex major infrastructure and energy projects.

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Prof Guillermo Narsilio
Deputy Head of Department (Infrastructure Engineering), University of Melbourne

Prof Guillermo Narsilio is Deputy Head of the Department of Infrastructure Engineering at the University of Melbourne (2020–today) and Chair of the ISSMGE Technical Committee 308 on Energy Geotechnics. He is a former member of the ARC College of Experts (2018–2021). Dr Narsilio is also a past Chair of the Australian Geomechanics Society (Victoria Chapter, 2019–2020) and a former Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow.

Dr Narsilio received his PhD in Geotechnical Engineering (2006) and his Masters in Mathematics (2006) and in Geotechnical Engineering (2003) from Georgia Institute of Technology (US). He obtained his Civil Engineering degree from the National University of Cordoba (Argentina) in 2001. He undertook his postdoctoral experience at the University of Melbourne where he is now a Professor. His research interests include numerical modelling, multi-scale porous material characterisation and performance and the (sustainable) energy industry; with emphasis on basic and applied shallow and deep geothermal energy systems and the use of AI. ​

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Andrew Newman
CEO, Detricycle

Andrew Newman is Co-Founder and CEO of Detricycle, an Australian based business that has been established to facilitate the delivery of modular resource recovery solutions in Australia. Detricycle is targeting customers generating at least 5000 tpa of plastics and organics wastes that would other be destined for landfill and / or generating methane as it decomposes.

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Quang Ngyuen MIEAust NER
Digital Environment P/L

Quang is a Certified Practicing Engineer who has a varied background across power generation, manufacturing and building construction. He has more than 20 years’ experience in leading specialised teams, strong understanding, and applied knowledge of commercial engineering projects.

Quang has a passion for smart technology and mentoring engineers. He has a Master of Engineering Science and a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical).

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Arne Nilsen FIEAust CPEng
Aurecon

Arne Nilsen is a leader of Aurecon’s ports, coastal and industrial systems engineering practices, with responsibility for technical leadership in these fields across the group. His specialisations include marine and industrial structures, moving structures and large machines, structural dynamics and fatigue, marine facilities for bulk liquids and gas projects, public ferry infrastructure and coastal engineering.

Arne has recently been responsible for leading multi-disciplinary study and design teams for developments and assessments in the majority of Australasia’s major industrial and commercial ports. A focus on resilience and adaptability of existing and new maritime infrastructure in the face of extreme environmental events such as flooding, storm surge and cyclonic waves; and climate change induced sea level rise has been a feature of his recent work.

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Hadi Nourizadeh
Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland

Hadi Nourizadeh is an esteemed scholar and Research Fellow at the Centre for Future Materials (CFM) at the University of Southern Queensland. He has a wide range of expertise in geotechnical, mining, and construction engineering-related projects, with specific proficiency in ground control systems and related engineered materials. Hadi's research interests are aligned with designing reinforcing elements for different geotechnical and thermal conditions, as well as the development of engineered bonding materials such as cementitious grouts and polyester resins.

He has a strong passion for the application of waste materials to produce sustainable products for the construction and mining industries and has been actively involved in several research projects focused on this area. In addition to his research work, Hadi is an enthusiastic advocate for science and technology and is committed to inspiring the next generation of researchers and innovators. He has a proven track record of excellence in teaching and mentoring undergraduate and postgraduate students.

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Dr Saad Odeh
Senior Program Convenor, Sydney Institute of Business and Technology and Western Sydney University

Dr Saad Odeh is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). He works as a Senior Program Convenor for Engineering and IT programs at the Sydney Institute of Business and Technology, as well as a Senior Lecturer in Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer at Western Sydney University's Sydney city campus. He holds a PhD in Solar Thermal Engineering from the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Dr Saad is a member of Engineers Australia , the Australian Building Sustainability Association (ABSA), and a Reviewer Board Member of Energies and Sustainability Journals. He has previously worked as an Associate Professor at various national and international universities and has published numerous papers in the field of renewable energy and energy sustainability, as well as holding two patents.

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Dr Keelan O'Neill
Research Fellow, UWA

Keelan is a Research Fellow in the UWA Fluid Science and Resources Research Group. Keelan’s research focusses on analysing sustainable hydrogen supply chains. This includes developing a web-based tool for modelling the costs and emissions of hydrogen pathways.

Keelan also works on detailed techno-economic studies of hydrogen production scenarios. He previously worked on the development of geophysical sensors (primarily using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)) for downhole logging applications (at both UWA and NMR Services Australia). He completed his PhD in chemical engineering at UWA.

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Nee Nee Ong FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
Senior Electrical Engineer, GHD

Nee Nee Ong is a graduate of UWA with Masters in Business Administration and Bachelor of Engineering. With more than 25 years’ experience, she currently works as a project manager and lead electrical engineer managing interdisciplinary teams for the delivery of projects and providing electrical design work.

Nee Nee currently holds positions with Engineers Australia; as Congress member, Co-Chair of the Electrical College Board, Chair of WA Division College of Leadership and Management and member of the Accreditation Board.

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Rhys Owen-Roberts
Senior Manager Sustainable Infrastructure, Major Road Projects Victoria

Rhys has more than 20 years’ experience in the construction, environmental and sustainability sectors. He has worked for research organisations, consultancies, tier 1 contractors and government. Rhys has particular interests in climate change, decarbonisation and circular economy outcomes.

He has played a key role in the development of MRPV’s sustainable infrastructure strategy. Rhys chairs the MTIA low carbon concrete technical working group and his team works to support the integration of decarbonisation of infrastructure into decision making, identifying solutions and supporting sustainable outcomes in project delivery.

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Dr Graham Palmer
Post-doc researcher, Monash University

Graham Palmer is a researcher with an industry background as an engineer and researcher in manufacturing, HVAC and electronics. He has published in the area of biophysical economics, renewable energy, life-cycle analysis, and energy-economic modelling.

Graham obtained his PhD in energy-return-on-investment (EROI) of electricity supply. His current research is life cycle assessment of green hydrogen and ammonia.

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Lara Parsons MIEAust
Senior Associate Infrastructure Delivery and Strategic Advisory, Jacobs

Lara is a senior engineering and sustainability advisor with extensive experience planning, developing, and delivering remote and urban infrastructure across Australia’s resources and transportation sectors. As an advisor, her focus is on facilitating knowledge sharing and co-design amongst all project stakeholders to help inform resilient, sustainable, and fit-for-purpose solutions.

Lara is skilled at coordinating and communicating multi-disciplinary intent to technical and non-technical stakeholders to ensure successful engineering outcomes are conveyed and accessible to all.

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Maria Pedicini
Environmental Planning Lead – SA, Arup

Maria Pedicini is a South Australia's Environmental Planning Lead at Arup, a global engineering and design consultancy, where she oversees environmental planning aspects for projects. She has 25-plus years' experience across public and private sectors in environmental impact and risk assessments, environmental planning and approvals, environmental management, and environmental and integrated management systems. Maria is a Certified Environmental Practitioner and a Fellow of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EANZ). 

She has an honors degree in science, majoring in environmental studies and chemistry, and post-graduate qualifications in environmental compliance law and business management. Maria is not an engineer, however, works with engineers as part of multi-disciplinary teams delivering consultancy services for feasibility studies, concept and design, project development, and operational improvement, compliance and risk management scopes of work. 

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Alex Petty MIEAust CPEng NER
Geotechnical Services Lead – WA/NT, Stantec

Alex Petty has more than 17 years of professional experience working as a geotechnical engineer across the UK, Australia South America and New Zealand and is a Chartered engineer with Engineers Australia. Alex has worked across a wide variety of sectors primarily in the civil space and more recently across the mining industry.

Alex has a significant level of experience in a wide range of geotechnical applications including geological mapping, geotechnical investigations soil and rock stability assessments and pavement design. Alex takes a keen interest in progressing the geotechnical field with innovation and increased sustainability.

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Adrian Piani FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
ACT Chief Engineer, ACT Government

Adrian Piani is an Environmental Engineer with more than 20 years’ experience, predominately in the water resources, environmental and infrastructure sectors.

In 2019 he joined the ACT Government as the inaugural ACT Chief Engineer where he provides strategic advice to government on infrastructure projects and supports the engineering cohort through the ACT Government Engineering Workforce Plan. He is a Chartered Fellow and Engineer Executive of Engineers Australia.

Adrian is a proud Canberran and is passionate about the role that infrastructure plays in supporting our wellbeing and quality of life.

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Aravind Raju
Graduate Consultant, enX

Aravind is a young and passionate renewable energy engineer with a key focus on energy policymaking. He graduated with a degree in renewable energy engineering from the UNSW Sydney. In his honours year, he investigated the current output of perovskite-betavoltaic devices and their applications in low-power sensors.

As an engineer at YOYO Energy and Clipsal Solar, Aravind helped design and organise the installation of AS/NZS compliant residential solar systems. Currently at enX, he helps consult on distributed energy resource (DER) opportunities in Australia. These include behind-the meter interoperability, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and home energy efficiency.

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Jothe Ramesh
Level Crossing Removal Project Technical Advisory Services, AECOM GHD TA

Jothe Ramesh is an AECOM project manager and specialises in delivering complex multi-million-dollar projects and managing large, multi-disciplinary teams across environment and infrastructure. Jothe is currently the Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) Technical Advisory Services Team Interface Manager and the Engagement Lead for the Materials Knowledge Exchange (MAKE). 

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Sergio Saludes Requena MIEAust CPEng
Associate Director – Structures, AECOM

Sergio is a Chartered Structural Engineer and Design Team Leader at AECOM with more than 15 years of global professional experience designing and constructing major civil infrastructure and development projects within the construction industry. As a Design Team Leader, his project experience covers tunnels, buildings, metro rail systems, bridges and highways.

Sergio’s key strengths are problem-solving, interdisciplinary coordination and collaboration skills to produce efficient and integrated designs during the project lifecycle. Sergio has been involved in North East Link, Rail Network Alliance, Western Harbour Tunnel, West Gate Tunnel, MetroNet and Barangaroo Crown Sydney Hotel Resort.

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Dr Hossein Rizeei
Geospatial Lead in BioUrbanism, McGregorCoxall

Dr Hossein is a highly qualified senior geospatial scientist with more than 16 years of relevant experience in three countries. Hossein was nominated as one of Australia’s top five best-performance early career researchers in management and named as one of 40 rising research stars in The Australian’s Research 2021 Special Report.

He has designed, developed and tested several geospatial-based methodologies to assess urban planning, natural hazards prediction and design metrics using GIS technologies, advanced remote sensing image processing and AI. His interests in developing interactive dashboards, spatial digital twins, 3D geospatial modelling, web-GIS and feature detection/extraction, in various applications.

Throughout his career, Hossein has acquired various leadership skills including team management and planning, GIS advisory and review, and business planning and development. In addition to lecturing at universities, he has also published numerous ISI papers, book chapters and conference papers in these fields.

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Bill Robinson
Digital Water Lead – Australasia, Arup

Bill Robinson is a Senior Civil Engineer who is experienced in strategic planning, water resources infrastructure design, resilience and digital transformation. He is the Australasian Digital Water Lead for Arup and has helped the firm to deliver digital water projects for the City of Melbourne, DEECA, DPE and DFAT.

Bill believes that emerging technology has a central role to play in tackling complex global issues brought on by climate change. Working smarter with the goals of spending less, using more with what we have and utilising data for decision making are critical to the future of water scarcity in Australia. Bill’s passion for digital innovation, has seen him work with IBM to develop a discussion paper over the course of several years on the role that Blockchain technology could play in water trading markets. He is committed to shaping a better world by investing his time and efforts into projects and organisations committed to sustainable development and social equity.

He is the current President of Yarra Pools, an organisation setup to improve the Yarra’s (Birrarung) health with the long term vision to make it swimmable. Bill brings first-hand experience in project management, product development, digital transformation, innovation consulting, design and project engineering, facilitating workshops and sustainable development.

 

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Katie Said
Leadsun Australia

Graduating from university with a degree in marketing and design, Katie began her marcomms career with Leadsun Australia early 2022. What intrigues Katie the most about Leadsun, and what she is proud to be a part of, is its attitude and commitment in making positive changes towards a sustainable, safe and smart future, both internally and externally.

Katie's knowledge of how design can influence behaviours, emotions, and attitudes, coupled with my passion for gender equity, lends itself to this topic of public lighting for safe, inclusive and accessible active recreation.

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Aya Salih
Senior Environmental Consultant, Bajwa EnviroConsult

Aya is a Senior Environmental Consultant working in the environmental/waste management industry. As an experienced environmental engineer and scientist, Aya has overseen and been involved in projects covering aspects from design, project management, auditing, construction, operation, environmental assessments/monitoring and aftercare management. Aya has also undertaken extensive research in biogas production from organic waste prior to consulting and is currently completing a Master’s Degree in Environmental Law.

Joining Bajwa EnviroConsult at its inception in early 2022, Aya has led and delivered many projects including providing operational support and advisory services for one of Victoria's largest landfills and involving a large infrastructure major roads project.

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Kavya Santhosh
ENcome Energy performance

Qualified electronics and energy engineer with experience in renewables industry, Kavya has a Masters in Electronics and Energy Engineering and describes as an innovative and out of box thinker.

Kavya believes in the quote "Your attitude, not your aptitude determines your altitude". Having the right attitude towards work does leaps and bound for one's professional career.

Kavya is qualified as Professional Engineer through Engineers Australia.

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Dr Patricia Sauri Lavieri
Senior Lecturer in Transport Engineering, University of Melbourne

Dr Patricia Sauri Lavieri is a Senior Lecturer in Transport Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and IT and a research fellow at the Melbourne Energy Institute, both at The University of Melbourne. She is an early career academic with an impactful track record on behavioural modelling of user adoption of emerging transport technologies. She has been leading empirical research on consumer preferences and behaviours associated with electric vehicle charging since 2020, delivering projects to major industry stakeholders (e.g. DEECA, Energy Networks Australia and C4NET) and publishing at high-quality scientific outlets.

Headshor of Kala Senathirajah MIEAust CPEng
Kala Senathirajah MIEAust CPEng
Deputy Chair Environmental Engineering College, Engineers Australia and Customer Lead – Relationship Manager, Bureau of Meteorology

Kala Senathirajah is a water industry engineer with more than20 years’ experience throughout the water supply cycle, spanning all stages of the asset life cycle. Experienced in strategy development, risk management, environmental management, water quality, water resources management and hydrology, she has a proven track record in collaborating, leading and managing multi-disciplinary teams of diverse backgrounds in variety of environmental settings.

Kala is also an esteemed researcher whose work has made significant contributions to the field of water management and environmental conservation environmental. Through her studies on (micro)plastic pollution and its impacts, she has shed light on the pervasive presence of microplastics and the urgent need for effective solutions.

Kala is actively involved with the development of the UN global instrument to end plastic pollution.

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Dr Tristan Shelly
Senior Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland

Dr Shelley is a specialist in advanced composites manufacturing technologies and targeted sustainable manufacturing methodologies. He also assists in the strategic direction of industry focused R&D programs including bid development and project management, with $58 million in grants awarded within the last 18 months.

Dr Shelley has extensive experience leading industrial collaborative grant funded programs to deliver industrially relevant technological solutions. Dr Shelley specialisation focuses on advanced manufacturing of composite materials, and his focus has recently also been directed toward design of products using problematic ‘waste’ materials.

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Alex Shin MIEAust CPEng NER
Principal Engineer, MathWorks

Alex Shin is the Principal Application Engineer at MathWorks, a company specialised in providing support to simulation, verification, and deployment projects, especially for commercial purposes. With his extensive experience, he has been actively involved in defining the process for simulation and testing, and implementing Model-Based Design tools in large organisations. Alex holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of New South Wales.

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Dr Sundar Shrestha
Electrical Engineer - Traction Power, Arup

Dr Sundar Shrestha is an accomplished electrical engineer specialised in railway traction power system. With an extensive working experience in various Australian rail projects, from concept to construction, he brings a diverse background encompassing both industry experience and academic research.

With a passion for sustainable transportation solutions, Sundar is dedicated to making design decision that improve the efficiency, safety, and reliability of railway systems. He also manages research and foresight works that leads toward innovative solution in rail industry. He extends his expertise to design and deliver renewable energy projects beyond the rail sector.

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Dr Lucas Skoufa FIEAust CPEng
Research Manager (P/T), Royal Australian Navy

Lucas Skoufa is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and Chartered Engineer who has an interesting background covering military (naval), energy / power generation and university roles. He has worked at several locations in Australia and previously served as a full-time Marine Engineering Officer (sea and shore postings) in the Royal Australian Navy. Currently he is working as a Reservist Officer with the Royal Australian Navy and posted to a Research Manager role.

Since 2005 Lucas’s interests have been in decarbonising power generation, hard-to-abate sectors (e.g. using hydrogen and other low/zero-carbon fuels) and decentralised/community-based power systems. He sees that the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions is achievable and requires a suite of low/zero-carbon energy technologies, a focus on energy efficiency and consumer education / knowledge on how they are part of the current energy and emissions transition.

Lucas completed his PhD on the strategic behaviours of electricity generation firms, has a Master of Business Administration, a Bachelor of Business (Economics) and a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical).

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Mayuran Sivapalan
Managing Director, Adaptus

Mayuran Sivapalan is the Managing Director of Adaptus, a boutique management consulting firm that works with leaders in business and society to solve complex sustainability challenges, improve ESG performance, and respond to the risks and opportunities of climate change. With degrees in environmental engineering and investment finance, he has spent the past 18 years using approaches from the risk and decision sciences to help multinational organisations and government agencies identify and deliver win-win projects that optimise financial return with environmental and social outcomes.

Mayuran currently leads the Modelling and Decision Support function for the Australian Government on the world’s largest climate adaptation R&D program, helping advance technologies to save Australia’s Great Barrier Reef from the impacts of climate change. He has previously held senior leadership, advisory and project management roles with global engineering and advisory firms in the resources, energy and infrastructure sectors across Australia, the US and Middle East.

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Evan Smith CPEng
National Sustainability Manager for Sustainable Construction, Holcim

Evan Smith has more 20 years’ of environmental and sustainability experience within the rail, road, infrastructure, construction and mining sectors. He holds a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering and is also a Chartered Engineer. Evan was pivotal in the delivery of Australia’s first Australia's first Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for Ready-mix Concrete and Australia’s first carbon neutral ready-mix concrete.

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Jeremy Smith FIEAust CPEng
Senior Lecturer, ANU

Jeremy Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Engineering at the School of Engineering at the Australian National University (ANU). Jeremy is the current Chair of the Organising Committee of the Engineers Australia Humanitarian Engineering Community of Practice. He has a long association with humanitarian engineering in Australia including volunteer and staff roles at Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB-A) and leading education and research initiatives at the ANU in partnership with a range of for-purpose organisations.

At the ANU he conveners the Humanitarian Engineering program and teaches into the Systems Engineering and Environmental Engineering programs.

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Dr Shan E Hyder Soomro
Postdoctoral Fellow, China Three Gorges University

Dr Soomro was born in small town Daulatpur Saffan, District: Shaheed Banazirabad, Sindh Pakistan. He received his Masters in (MS-Hydraulics and Irrigation Engineering) from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro and Doctoral degree in (Hydrology and Water Resources) from Zhengzhou University China. From July 2022 to up till now, he has been a Postdoctoral Research fellow. His main research direction is climate change, flood forecasting, rivers and lakes, hydrological modelling, urban flood, and climate change effect on fish ecology.

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Bandula Subasinghe MIEAust CPEng NER
Senior Electrical Engineer/Project Manager, Arup

Bandula Subasinghe is a Chartered Professional Engineer with more than 17 years’ experience in electrical design, design management and project management on educational, art and culture, healthcare, pharmaceutical and commercial building projects in Australia, the US and Sri Lanka. She is currently working at Arup Sydney as a Lead Electrical Engineer and Project Manager.

Bandula is passionate about delivering emerging sustainability strategies for buildings and focusing on sustainable outcomes, decarbonisation and electrification. Her extensive technical skills include electrification of buildings, whole of life carbon approaches, climate resilience, energy and sustainability masterplans and building services electrical design.

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Dr Scott Taylor
Director Engineering and Innovation, Major Road Projects Victoria

Dr Scott Taylor is recognised and progressive leader with extensive experience in engineering across the government and private sectors. He currently leads the Engineering Team at Major Road Projects Victoria (MRPV), as Director Engineering and Innovation with his role overseeing all engineering and technical aspects of the projects within the MRPV portfolio, as well as supporting and facilitating an innovative culture both within MRPV and across industry.

Scott is also a member of Engineers Australia's Professional Standards Committee, which establishes competency requirements and Chartership standards, and has been a past Committee Member of the Victorian Division of Engineering Australia. Scott also has a strong research background, having obtained a PhD in 2004 in the area of structural dynamics and computational methodologies.

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Eyoel Tegegn
Senior Consultant – Digitalisation, Siemens Australia

Eyoel is a Senior Consultant at Siemens with a strong background in process engineering and extensive experience in process control system design and implementation. 

Eyoel’s professional passion lies in the realms of digitalisation and industry 4.0. He is deeply interested in exploring how these transformative technologies can reshape industries and drive sustainable growth. Eyoel works closely with organisations to accelerate their digital transformation journey, offering insights and solutions that optimise processes, enhance operational efficiency and align with their sustainability objectives.  

Eyoel holds a Master of Chemical Engineering from the University of Melbourne.

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Matthew Tendam
Aurecon

Matthew (Matt) is an Associate Environmental Engineer and a Certified Environmental Practitioner – Site Contamination Specialist with more than 22 years of professional experience. Matt has delivered on environmental assessment and remediation projects in the US, Australia, Vietnam, New Zealand and Indonesia. This depth and breadth of experience has allowed him to provide a practical approach tailored to each project to maximise the value of land and water assets and to facilitate asset transformation. 

Matt has extensive experience in integrating environmental assessment and remediation considerations into multi-disciplinary engineering projects across industries. His recent interests have focussed on developing policy and alternate economic frameworks to promote environmentally sustainable considerations into every engineering and construction project. 

Matt is currently an Office Bearer in the College of Environmental Engineers with Engineers Australia and the incoming 2024–2025 Deputy Chair. 

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Dharmit Thakore
Moonish Ent Pty Ltd

Dharmit has more than 21 years' experience in management and design in engineering fields. He prides himself on always looking for best in others and challenges himself to achieve more from life. He has published two books, Finite Element Analysis using Open Source Software and Intermediate Finite Element Analysis using Open Source Software.

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Harry Thawley
Australian National University

Harry Thawley is a final year undergraduate student at the Australian National University, currently completing a Bachelor of Engineering (Research and Development) (Honours) with a major in Renewable Energy Systems.

His research interests are in resilience of systems, grid-integration of renewable energy, solar cells, and optoelectronics. In these fields, he has completed projects in tailoring optoelectronic properties of perovskite by surface-modification for solar cell applications, and characterising resilience in renewable energy grids. Harry continues to build on this research, working alongside Australian National University’s 100% Renewable Energy Group in his honours research – optimising renewable energy grids for resilience.

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Cyril Thomas GradIEAust
Graduate Electrical Engineer, University of Queensland

Cyril is a graduate of the University of Queensland with a Bachelor (Honours) and a Masters in Electrical Engineering. Over the span of his career he has collaborated across various roles, both in academia and industry. He is excited about the energy transition and is passionate about using innovative practices to achieve sustainability within the energy sector.

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John Thomason
Mechanical Engineer

John is a retired mechanical engineer with 35 years of experience in mining and metals. In the last 15 years, he focused on study management specialising in the definition and estimating of remote resource projects for major mining clients. 

John led studies involving electrifying and automating mining sites which inspired his interest in accelerating the transition to renewable energy through electrification in urban settings. John is researching community group structures and objectives that deliver community energy projects where the focus is on education, energy efficiency and self-sufficiency in urban settings.  

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Andrew Thompson
Associate Director and Sustainability Team Lead, AECOM

Andrew is an Associate Director and Sustainability Team Lead for AECOM’s Buildings and Places division in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. 

He has built a career in sustainable buildings working in Melbourne, London and Perth, and in 20 years in the industry, participated in committees and working groups for industry bodies such as the Green Building Council of Australia, the Property Council of Australia and the Urban Development Institute of Australia.

He has had the privilege of leading sustainability teams on iconic projects, such as the world’s most sustainable retail centre, the Burwood Brickworks by Frasers and the redevelopment of the Queen Victoria Market with the City of Melbourne. He is now working on city-shaping projects with AECOM, such as the 600 Collins St office tower by Hines and Victoria’s first all-electric Hospital at Melton.

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Prof Wendy Timms
Professor of Environmental Engineering, Deakin University

Professor Timms is a Chartered Engineer (Civil, Environmental) and hydrogeologist with more than 30 years of professional experience in government, consulting engineering and research. She is Professor of Environmental Engineering at Deakin University, teaching and leading research in carbon storage in porous earth, water-energy nexus, groundwater hydrology and environmental tracers. Her research is funded by the Australian Research Council, the CO2CRC and the Victorian government.

Prior to this, Wendy was at UNSW School of Mineral Resources and Energy, affiliated with the Connected Waters Initiative and Australian Centre for Sustainable Mining Practices. She was a founding Chief Investigator in the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training. She has published more than 60 journal papers,100 technical reports and contributes regularly to independent expert reviews. She is a former Vice President of International Association of Hydrogeologists (Australasia-Pacific).

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Gavin Treseder
Associate Director, Engineering, Assets and Project Delivery, KPMG

Gavin Treseder has a strong background in reliability engineering and asset resilience. Normally you'll find him developing bespoke, predictive models and implementing asset management strategies for ageing equipment fleets across asset intensive industries. More recently, he's been embedded with power clients helping them prepare for the energy transition with robust, defensible investments for an uncertain future.

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Johannes Lodewikus van Heerden CPEng NER
Fulton Hogan Ltd Infrastructure Services - Western Australia

Johannes L van Heerden is a Charted Professional Engineer with more than 28 years’ experience in the analysis, design, specification and contract administration of complex engineering projects within the built environment. 

Johannes is currently employed by Fulton Hogan Ltd Infrastructure Services in Western Australia as the State Technical Manager. Previous to Fulton Hogan, Johannes was employed by Royal HasKoningDHV, South Africa as the National Service Line Leader for Asset Management and Pavement Engineering.

His experience covers the full range of roads project, ranging from gravel rural roads to multi-lane freeways where he has undertaken the roles of Project Leader, Principal Design Specialist (Pavements and Materials Design) and Contract Engineer.

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Marco van Winden CPEng
AECOM

Marco is a talented Technical Director in the Water Infrastructure team at AECOM and has an extensive background leading critical planning studies, significant engineering projects and multi-disciplinary project teams. Marco leads planning and engineering design teams for public infrastructure projects, including water pipelines, treatment systems and transportation projects.

His 30 years' of professional experience has predominantly been in Australia and New Zealand, with projects in the Pacific Islands, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and China. Marco is also a Dad and a believer in the anthropogenic change this planet has experienced since the advent of the industrial age.

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Grant Viljoen
Practice Lead (VSA) – Sustainability and Resilience, AECOM

Grant is a Practice Lead in AECOM's Sustainability and Resilience team with 14 years’ experience providing advice on sustainability, resilience, and climate change in both the private and public sectors. With a deep understanding of environmental and sustainability policy, strategy and implementation, Grant is well-equipped to navigate the complex interplay between environmental, social, and economic challenges.

Grant is actively supporting major infrastructure projects in Victoria with a primary goal of creating sustainable and resilient urban environments by integrating these principles into design and engineering processes. He has been involved in North East Link, Melbourne Airport Rail and Metro Tunnel Project.

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Nalaka Vitharana MIEAust
Executive Manager Infrastructure, GWMWater

Nalaka has 30 years’ experience in the water industry across three states in policy development, regulation, strategic and infrastructure planning. He has held pivotal roles in infrastructure, institutional and community change projects in large metropolitan and regional environments and has an extensive history of creating successful, enabling environments and delivering practical, sustainable outcomes.

Nalaka’s motivation to pursue a career in the water sector was developed through his appreciation of the difference access to water makes, not just to people’s health but also the social change it drives and the opportunities it creates.

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Dr Changlong Wang
Research Fellow, Monash University

Dr Changlong Wang is a research fellow at Monash University, specialising in energy system modelling. His contributions to the development of the Hydrogen Economic Fairways Tool have played a crucial role in supporting the Australian Government Hydrogen Hub establishment and facilitating major investments. Dr Wang actively participates in international collaborations, such as the IEA's Hydrogen Implement Agreement Task 41.

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Dr Andrew Whyte FIEAust CPEng NER
Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Curtin University

Having worked in industrial and academic environments in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, Dr Andrew Whyte BSc PhD FICE FIEAust CPEng NER, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Curtin University Australia and Professor (visiting) of the University of Aberdeen, has gained a wide-ranging knowledge of construction management, design team integration, whole-life assessment of structures and asset development using local technologies, sustainable methods and low-cost means.

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Rachel Williams
Coordinator Sustainability Development, City of Canning

Rachel Williams is Coordinator Sustainability Development at the City of Canning. Rachel has 22 years of experience working in the environmental management and sustainability fields. Rachel's team work to inspire a culture of sustainability across the City of Canning and its community, which includes working towards climate resilience.

Rachel has qualifications in civil and environmental engineering.

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David Wilson
Founder and CTO, Green Frog Systems

David Wilson is the founder and CTO of Green Frog Systems– one of Australia's first solar lighting companies, clean energy advocate and entrepreneur known for his sustainable technology innovation. David has been instrumental in driving the adoption of solar powered infrastructure through engineering driven solutions tailored to address complex challenges.

With a focus on high reliability solar lighting, David's company revolutionised the industry, offering sustainable alternatives to mains power. His visionary approach has established him as a thought leader in the clean energy sector partnering with industry colleagues, policymakers, and academics, to boost renewable technology research and mentor upcoming innovators in the field.

Headshot of Ellen Worthington MIEAust
Ellen Worthington MIEAust
Manager, Integrated Sustainability, Aurecon

Ellen is an award-winning sustainability leader whose expertise lies in the road and rail industries. She is passionate about driving industry-wide sustainable change and helping clients achieve better project and organisational outcomes from a sustainability and resilience perspective.

Ellen values the delivery of verifiable sustainability and resilience outcomes in planning, design and delivery. She leads teams of sustainability professionals and technical specialists and is responsible for ensuring effective integration of sustainability and climate resilience risks, opportunities and requirements into projects.

Headshot of Iain Wylie MIEAust
Iain Wylie MIEAust
Product Manager, Oceaneering

Iain Wylie has more than 13 years of multi-faceted subsea experience including roles as a ROV pilot, tooling technician, design engineer, project engineer and project manager.

A Bachelor’s in Science in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology provided a foundation in mission design, systems engineering, inter-disciplinary collaboration and technical rigor. He specialises in rapid product development as a part of the Engineering Solutions service. As a Product Manager in Oceaneering’s Offshore Project Group, he’s focused on new product development and technology innovation enabling the energy transition.

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Jiayu Yao
University of Melbourne

Ms Jiayu Yao is a PhD candidate at the Department of Infrastructure Engineering, the University of Melbourne. She completed her master’s degree majoring in environmental engineering at the University of Melbourne in 2021, and then she joined the water group at the University of Melbourne as a graduate research student.

Her major research interests include resilient water distribution system design under future changes considering the water-energy nexus and greenhouse emission (GHG) reduction. She is currently working on the design of water distribution systems under long-term uncertainty, considering behind-the-meter solar as an alternative energy supply for pump operation.

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Soobok Yoon
PhD Student, Monash University
  • BS, Semiconductor Physics, Korea Universit
  • MS, Applied Physics, Korea University
  • KAT-CERN Researcher, Republic of Korea and Switzerland: Future Circular Collider (FCC) Project
  • Master of Sustainable Energy, University of Queensland, Australia
  • PhD, Monash University, Australia: Smart Charging Algorithm
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Celeste Young
Collaborative Research Fellow and Convener Risk, Disaster and Resilience Network, Victoria University

Celeste specialises in collaborative, end user focused research to produce useful and useable outputs for research users. Her research across 20 years has focused on systemic issues such as climate change, natural hazards, diversity and inclusion, the future workforce, and the decision making and systems that support effective actions. Celeste has worked extensively with public and private organisations, communities and advised into government on climate change communication, practice and end user led research. Her work is used by researchers, policy makers and practitioners. 

Program

Over two days, CSE23 will bring you the latest in world-leading views and engaging debate on solutions to address climate change, responding to extreme events, biodiversity loss, boosting the circular economy and upholding the principles of sustainable practices in engineering. 

View the latest program (PDF)

 

Wednesday 29 November

  8.30–8.50 am
Opening and Welcome to Country
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Arron Wood AM
Sustainable business expert and former Deputy Lord Mayor, City of Melbourne

Arron Wood is a sustainable business expert and former Deputy Lord Mayor for the City of Melbourne, and is a News Ltd Telstra Micro Business Award winner.

At the pulse of what makes Melbourne an incredible city, Arron is Chair of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute and currently serves on the South East Water Board, and previously Chaired the Melbourne Ecocity World Summit Advisory Board and was a member of the Fisherman’s Bend Ministerial Advisory Committee.

In 2020 Arron was made a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to local government, to the environment and to the community of Melbourne.

  8.50–9.20 am
The time to lead with courage is now

There is no singular pathway or roadmap to creating a more sustainable world. Forging new ground and finding smarter solutions requires courage and taking smart risks, not just safe ones. Courage to lead the change ahead of policy makers. Courage to set a bold vision with a big why and take action amid the unknowns. And courage to accelerate learning so we can adapt and iterate and move forward faster, together.

This session will help you identify where your fear of getting it wrong is keeping you from making it right. Margie will help you reset your mindset so you can step up and lead the change that the world needs.

Dr Margie Warrell
Dr Margie Warrell
Best-selling author of Stop Playing Safe

Dr Margie Warrell is a bestselling author, leadership advisor and global authority on courageous leadership. Margie has walked the path of ‘courage over comfort’ many times since her childhood growing up in rural Victoria. A Senior Partner in the leadership advisory practice at Korn Ferry, Margie has lived and worked around the world and draws on her diverse background in business, psychology and coaching to help leaders navigate the complex challenges and risks in todays increasingly uncertain and volatile world. The titles of Margie’s Live Brave podcast and bestselling books – such as Stop Playing Safe, Find Your Courage and You’ve Got This! – speak to her passion for people to think bigger and lead braver lives.

A Women’s Economic Forum honouree, Margie sits on the board of Forbes School of Business and Technology. Her doctoral dissertation in women’s leadership informs her work advancing women to leadership roles. Currently living in Washington D.C., Margie is married to an engineer who also hails from Victoria.

  9.20–9.50 am
Navigating transition and transformation in all parts of our economies

The next few decades are likely to be dominated by transitions. Across our energy, food, transport and industrial systems, the business models, technologies and approaches which support us today will have to transform purposefully to keep us safe from climate change, and to minimise it. The change in finance across the past decade is an example of this transformation in action, with the sector going from a barrier to a facilitator of transition. This session will propose that we need to drive similar transformations in other parts of our economies to reach our transition goals and will outline major priorities for change. 

Headshot of Zoe Whitton
Zoe Whitton
Managing Director and Head of Impact, Pollination

Zoe Whitton is Head of Impact at Pollination Group, a specialist climate change investment and advisory firm. Zoe assists companies and investors to navigate the impacts of climate change and to build new businesses and products which are transition aligned.

She previously led the award-winning APAC ESG Research team at Citi, advising institutional investors globally on climate change and sustainable development. Earlier in her career Zoe covered ESG and climate change at Credit Suisse and at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and served as a youth delegate to the UNFCCC. She serves on the boards of the Investor Group on Climate Change and the Centre for Policy Development, and on the Steering Committee of the Australian Climate Governance Initiative. She is also member of the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute’s Technical Advisory Group, and the Sydney Environment Institute’s Advisory Group.

Zoe has won numerous awards for her research and work on climate finance and risk, and regularly contributes to the wider conversation on sustainable finance by commentating in the Australian and international press along with various publications.

  9.50–10.20 am
The crucial role of technology and innovation on the path to net zero

Join Larry Marshall in conversation with Romilly Madew as they explore the challenges facing engineers in realising real world solutions for mitigating climate change and achieving net zero.  

Larry founded Australia’s first renewable energy venture capital fund in 2012, and more recently took a large national enterprise with close to 10,000 people and 55 sites across Australia, 83 per cent of the way to net zero, at the same time as achieving the first growth in 30 years.

Based on this real-world experience, he will reflect on what engineers, business leaders and government should be considering when it comes to technology and climate change, the barriers that are holding innovation back, and draw on examples where this is happening well. 

Headshot of Dr Larry Marshall
Dr Larry Marshall
Former CEO of CSIRO

Dr Larry Marshall is Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AMCHAM) Board, sits on the Australian Government’s Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group and is a member of the Council of the Australia National University. He was Chief Executive of CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, from January 2015 to June 2023. CSIRO solves the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology, playing a pivotal role in Australia’s response to challenges including catastrophic flooding and bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Larry is a scientist, technology innovator, published author and business leader with a wealth of experience in creating new value and impact with science. He has a PhD in Physics and has been honoured as a Federation Fellow, an AIP (Australian Institute of Physics) Fellow, and an ATSE (Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering) Fellow and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD).

He has led six companies in biotechnology, telecommunications, semiconductors and venture capital. He has 100 publications and conference papers, holds 20 patents and has served on 20 boards of high-tech companies operating in the US, Australia and China.

He is the author of the 2023 book, Invention to Innovation: How Scientists Can Drive Our Economy, which charts a course for Australia to gain more economic benefit from its world-class research. He is a passionate supporter of Australian innovation, and the power of science and technology to drive Australia’s economic recovery and resilience to future challenges.

Headshot of Romilly Madew
Romilly Madew AO FTSE HonFIEAust EngExec
Chief Executive Officer, Engineers Australia

Prior to joining Engineers Australia, Romilly was CEO of Infrastructure Australia overseeing the organisation's critical role in helping governments prioritise projects and reforms that best serve our communities. She served as CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia for 13 years. In acknowledgment of her contribution to Australia’s sustainable building movement, Romily was awarded an Order of Australia in 2019. 

She is currently a Member of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering Infrastructure Forum, Member of Placemaking NSW Advisory Committee, Director of Sydney Olympic Park Authority, Independent Chair of the Currawong State Park Advisory Board (NSW), Federal Government appointee on the Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group and G20 EMPOWER – Empowerment and Progression of Women's Economic Representation, Member of the National Women in Transport CEO Advisory Group, Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers Enabling Better Infrastructure Steering Group (UK) and Director of Minerva Network (supporting Australia’s elite sportswomen). 

  10.20–10.30 am
Sustainability, diversity and equity: the EWB way

At EWB, we strongly believe that every engineer can be a change agent for a socially just and sustainable world; this belief has driven us to lead a movement of passionate, diverse, emerging and practising engineers for more than 20 years. Join EWB CEO Eleanor Loudon as she shares about our journey since we were founded in 2003, where we are at now and where we are going as we strive to reach 1 million people by 2030.

Headshot of Eleanor Loudon
Eleanor Loudon
CEO, Engineers Without Borders Australia

Eleanor Loudon is the CEO of Engineers Without Borders Australia, a for-purpose organisation on a mission to redefine the purpose and impact of engineering practice as a critical enabler of sustainable development. Eleanor has more than 25 years’ experience in community development in Australia and overseas with organisations such as Australian Volunteers International, EarthWatch Institute, United Way Australia and ChildFund International.
 

  10.30–11.00 am
Morning tea
  11.00–11.10 am
Beyond 1%: how can digitalisation help Australia punch above its weight in the global net zero race?

 The rapid deployment of digitalisation technologies and skills into our industrial, energy and infrastructure sectors is critical to support climate goals and to make businesses more competitive. It is also essential to allow Australia to take a leading role in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions: beyond the 1 per cent of emissions we are responsible for today.

Headshot of Peter Halliday
Peter Halliday
CEO, Siemens Australia and New Zealand

Peter Halliday is the CEO of Siemens Australia and New Zealand. In a career spanning 25 years at Siemens, Peter has held senior roles in Australia, Asia, and Europe. Prior to relocating back to his home country of Australia, Peter was the global head of Siemens’ Building Performance and Sustainability and involved in some of the world’s most important building infrastructure projects.

Peter joined Siemens Australia as CEO in 2022, a milestone 150th anniversary year for Siemens in the region and he is passionate about the role that technology with purpose and sustainability will play in Australia’s next 150 years. 

  11.10–11.40 am
The circular economy as an accelerator

Lisa will explore how Australia is driving the evolution to a circular economy and outline the advantages for businesses who embed circularity as a core principle, referencing engineering case studies. 

Headshot of Lisa McLean
Lisa McLean
Chief Executive Officer, Circular Australia

Lisa is a circular economy and zero-carbon business transformation leader. She has been successfully advising industry and governments in developing new policy frameworks and regulations that bring about market change to enable the circular zero-carbon economy over the past 14 years.

This work has covered the energy, water, waste and mobility sectors in the UK and Australia. Lisa established and led the Open Cities Alliance, a peak industry association with unique membership from government to private sector and research organisations. Open Cities advocates for the circular economy, prosumer rights and new local utility and mobility precinct approaches.

In Australia, Lisa initiated and established the Australian Solar Thermal Association (AUSTELA), advised electric mobility providers, and worked with Flow Systems from a start-up sustainable water utility to its major role in shaping a new sustainable water and now multi-utility market.

Starting her career as a political journalist working in the national press gallery, Lisa moved to advising ministers and premiers on education and climate policy, before heading to the UK to help establish the Clinton Climate Initiative.

Circular economy and the lack of regulation

Recent surveying by Engineers Australia revealed that the main concern was a lack of regulation in terms of circular economy. What further regulation is needed to increase the uptake of circular economy principles in key sectors such as infrastructure and building? John will draw on his experiences as board member of the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) and as Chair of the Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group on how the how this could impact or amend the National Construction Code.

Headshot of Professor John Thwaites AM
Professor John Thwaites AM
Chair, Monash Sustainable Development Institute and Chair, Climateworks Centre

John Thwaites is a Professorial Fellow, Monash University, Chair of the Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Chair of the Climateworks Centre and Chair of The McKinnon Institute for Political Leadership.

John is Chair of the Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group to the Australian Minister for Environment, the Hon. Tanya Plibersek MP. He is a Co-Chair of the Leadership Council of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) launched by the Secretary General of the United Nations to provide expert advice and support to the development and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. He is also the Chair of the SDSN Association, which operates the SDSN network around the world.

John was appointed Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the environment and to the people and Parliament of Victoria in the 2021 Australia Day Honours.

John was Deputy Premier of Victoria from 1999 until his retirement in 2007. During this period, he held various Ministerial portfolios including Minister of Health, Minister of Environment and was Victoria’s first Minister for Climate Change. In these portfolios he was responsible for major reforms in social policy, health, environment and water. Prior to being elected to Parliament, he was a barrister and Mayor of South Melbourne.

He has degrees in Law (Honours) and Science from Monash University. He is a Fellow Australian Institute of Company Directors.

  11.40 am – 12.30 pm
How can organisations overcome the engineering skills shortage that might inhibit progress? 
Panel discussion

Australia is facing its third engineering skills shortage in the last twenty years, exacerbated by the demands of the infrastructure pipeline, recent border closures, and the new national priorities of the clean energy transition and net zero objectives. Without action, the shortage is likely to continue; governments, industry, engineering education institutions, schools and professional bodies need to work together as a priority and with urgency to ensure we have sufficient engineers. 

Join this panel of experts and stakeholders for an in-depth discussion on the ways forward for addressing the current, emerging and future engineering skill gaps, with a focus on education, recruitment and retention, skilled migrant participation and demand forecasting.

Headshot of Kane Thornton in blue suit
Kane Thornton
Chief Executive, Clean Energy Council

Kane Thornton is Chief Executive of the Clean Energy Council, the peak body for the renewable energy and energy storage industry in Australia.

Kane has almost 20 years experience in energy policy and leadership in the development of the renewable energy industry. He has been at the forefront of the development of the clean energy sector into a global clean energy superpower, influencing and driving the politics, policies and initiatives that have been critical to the industry's growth.

Kane has broad management and leadership experience having previously worked for IBM, Hydro Tasmania and DFAT based in Japan. He has held a range of advisory and board roles with government and non-government organisations in the climate change and energy sector including as the Chair of leading national community organisation Renew and the Deputy Chair of Sustainability Victoria.

Kane is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, has a Masters in Social Science and Bachelor of Information Technology. He grew up in regional Victoria, is an enthusiastic road cyclist and father of two teenagers.

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Dr Damian Oliver
Assistant Secretary, Workforce Futures Branch, Jobs and Skills Australia, Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

Damian Oliver is Assistant Secretary (Workforce Futures) at Jobs and Skills Australia. His team examines the current and future supply and demand for labour and skills across Australia to identify options for resolving workforce challenges, through innovative data techniques and extensive collaboration with stakeholders. Most recently he has led the JSA Clean Energy Workforce Capacity Study. He has worked on skills and labour market issues in research and policy roles for twenty years.

Headshot of Amy Lezala Zahr FIEAust EngExec
Amy Lezala Zahr FIEAust EngExec
Chief Engineer – Rail, Department of Transport and Planning

Amy has spent her career in rail and has worked in maintenance, design and delivery. She started out in materials and fire engineering, then worked in RAMS and through life engineering. Amy has been in engineering governance for more than five years, bringing together her learned experiences.

Across her career, Amy has focussed on a ‘whole of life, whole of system’ view. She has a passion for sustainability and finding the balance for people, planet and profit.

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Paul Williams
Managing Director of Mining and Energy, WSP 

Paul Williams leads the Mining and Energy business for WSP. As a business, WSP sees the importance of collaboration across mining and energy sectors to drive innovation and shared learnings on the path to decarbonisation. 

Paul has more than 25 years’ experience working across Australia, Asia, America and Europe in business design, change management, large project implementation and review and asset acquisition.

Paul has worked with clients, stakeholders and communities to enhance the world’s infrastructure across developing and growing cities, improving the resiliency of our communities and decarbonising the economy.

Paul champions WSP’s Inclusion and Diversity committee and is passionate about bringing change to gender gaps in the workplace and supporting more women into leadership roles. 
 

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Jane MacMaster FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
Chief Engineer, Engineers Australia

Jane MacMaster has worked as an aerospace, mechanical and systems engineer in Australia and internationally, focusing primarily on supersonic flight vehicle design, operations research and rapid prototyping in the defence sector. She has qualifications in Engineering (Mechanical) and postgraduate qualifications in International Relations.  

Jane has previously worked as a senior advisor within the strategy unit of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and as a management consultant in the financial services sector. Most recently she was Founder and Director of Ponder Enterprises, where she used her engineering skillset to address complex societal challenges. Jane also developed a conceptual model and practical techniques for complex problem solving which she taught at universities and to staff from Commonwealth and state and territory government departments.  

  12.30–1.30 pm
Lunch
  10.40-10.50 am
The opportunity for professional bodies in learning from climate disaster

While the practice of lessons learned from disaster is well established at the response and jurisdictional level through AIIMS (Australasian Interservice Incident Management System), the capturing and actioning of lessons at the profession level is less mature. 

We've kicked off a project to consider how Engineers Australia might adopt systematic and repeatable practice of learning lessons from disaster, to support the engineering profession to rapidly and rigorously respond, adapt and evolve their practice in the face of increasingly frequent and severe climate disaster events. Learn about the origins of the project, early themes and how you can contribute your observations and knowledge to this work.

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Astrid Kauffman FIEAust CPEng NER
Immediate Past President - Victoria, Engineers Australia

Astrid is a public sector engineer, mentor and risk and strategy professional who is excited by the potential to solve complex public policy challenges using systems thinking. She has practiced across defence, infrastructure, maritime and emergency management, and is currently practicing regulatory strategy in circular economy. 

Astrid is the Immediate Past President of Engineers Australia’s Victoria Division and a member of National Congress. She chaired Engineers Australia’s Roundtable on Sustainability and Resilience of Infrastructure.  

Originally trained in mechatronics engineering, Astrid holds an MBA from Melbourne Business School and attended decision analysis courses at Stanford. She is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and Chartered Professional Engineer. 

  12.40-12.50 pm
Bridging the gap: setting a carbon footprint benchmark for sustainable bridge designs

In pursuit of our 2030 goal to halve the embodied carbon in our designs, WSP Australia has initiated a comprehensive effort. This includes establishing a 2020 baseline and creating a database that tracks the carbon footprint of our bridge designs, enabling us to pave the way for low-carbon bridge engineering solutions.

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Neil Ganju
National Digital Engineering Director – Bridges, Maritime, Structures, WSP

As the National Digital Engineering Director – Bridges, Maritime, Structures for WSP in Australia, they bring a wealth of experience in BIM and digital engineering management to transport infrastructure projects. Demonstrating success in managing digital engineering for high-profile projects in Sydney and Melbourne, their focus is on utilising digital engineering to enhance design and construction site management. Prior to the current role, they served as a Delivery Manager at Digital Twin start-up, Willow, overseeing digital engineering for clients and contractors on commercial and transport infrastructure projects. With a diverse background in quantity surveying across commercial, residential and aviation projects, they hold a Master's degree in BIM Management from the University of Western Australia and a Master's in Construction Engineering from the University of Cambridge. Their thesis focused on the measurement of embodied carbon in construction projects using BIM/digital engineering techniques.

  12.50-1.00 pm
Addressing climate change: emerging engineering career opportunities

Australia Wide Engineering Recruitment is a 44 year old, privately owned company that specialises in permanent and contract recruitment for engineering, technology, design, manufacturing, trades and a variety of operational roles all across Australia.  

Our point of difference is that we are engineers engaging with engineering clients while identifying engineering candidates in order to subsequently fill a range of engineering vacancies right across Australia. 

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David Armstrong
Director, Australia Wide Engineering Recruitment

David is a mechanical engineer who has more than three decades of senior leadership experience in managing international companies' divisions both in Australia and in Asia. David possesses an ability to build and develop cohesive teams, increase sales, manage corporate P&Ls and negotiate profitable and collaborative, strategic client partnerships. 

  1.00-1.10 pm
Engineers Australia climate change tools

An Engineer’s Australia working group is developing a set of guidelines and tools for engineers. These tools and guidelines will be used to enable design and risk assessment of facilities that will be in place for the next 60 or 70 years.

It is anticipated that the toolkit will consist of an engineer’s relevant description of the world climate scenarios and recommended design conditions. These will be supplemented by available downscaled data to enable design conditions to be selected for local regions in Australia. Guidance will also be provided on risk management, scenario planning and other guidelines for design in advance of codes and standards fully incorporating climate change.

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Brian Haggerty
Western Australia Division Committee, Engineers Australia

Brian has a 40-year career in energy industries in Australia and overseas including as part of the executive leadership at Woodside Energy in technology, commercial and business development - gas, LNG and new energy solutions (including hydrogen). He has ten years of international experience with Shell PLC on LNG and gas to liquids developments and was based in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. He played a leading role in designing and constructing gas and hydrogen facilities, including the Pearl GTL project in Qatar. 

Brian has held leadership roles in the university sector for industry engagement and is actively engaged in the university sector to ensure students develop the skills required to lead Australia’s future.

Brian is Co-Founder and past Chair of the Hydrogen Society of Australia, Co-Founder and past Director of the Western Australia Technology Cluster for Hydrogen, Director of Australian Gas Industry Trust, member of the Programme Committee for LNG 2026, Doha, Qatar and Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia.

  1.10-1.20 pm
How to become a Chartered engineer
Jerry Andrews
Jerry Andrews AffillEAust
Senior Client Manager - Victoria, Engineers Australia

With more than 20 years of working in client management across multiple continents, Jerry has gained invaluable experience in new acquisition strategy, sales process mapping, customer service, and building long term strategic relationships. Jerry considers himself to be a citizen of the world, having lived and worked in India, Europe and the UAE and now in Australia for the last 19 years.

Jerry enjoys partnering up with business clients, undertaking a comprehensive assessment of their current situation and listening to get a true feel for what they need.

  12.45–1.30 pm
Networking masterclass for young professionals

Learning how to present yourself to professional contacts can be daunting and challenging. So is attending a conference for the first time. This masterclass will equip you with strategies, ideas and plans to build relationships, forge connections and get the most out of the fantastic networking and career building opportunities CSE23 has to offer.

Following the masterclass, put your newly acquired skills to test at the CSE23 networking reception. You'll have access to industry professionals, thought leaders and decisions makers who will be expanding their networks, discussing the day’s events and industry trends.

This masterclass has been specifically designed for students and early career engineers.

  1.30-1.45 pm
How decarbonisation of the Pilbara could see Western Australia replicate the National Electricity Market by 2050

The decarbonisation of power generation in the mining industry in Western Australia plays a key role in achieving Australia’s net zero ambitions. This presentation focuses on identifying the level of renewable generation required to achieve these targets, the pitfalls in building this desired scale of renewable generation and the need of interconnection to minimise isolated and stranded assets. 

Headshot of Parth Dave MIEAust CPEng NER
Parth Dave MIEAust CPEng NER
Associate Director – Power Solutions, Engineering and Asset Management, KPMG

Parth is an Associate Director in the engineering team at KPMG. He is a Chartered engineer (Mechanical and Electrical) that has broad experience within the power and energy sector. His diverse experience spans from project development of utility scale renewables, network studies and the design of overhead transmission lines.

He has worked on projects across Australia from commissioning power stations in the Pilbara, developing utility scale BESS projects to designing transmission lines to connect large scale renewables across Australia in the National Electricity Market (NEM), South West Interconnected System (SWIS) and North West Interconnected System (NWIS).

  1.45-2.00 pm
Promoting climate smart engineering in oil and gas
Headshot of Iain Wylie MIEAust
Iain Wylie MIEAust
Product Manager, Oceaneering

Iain Wylie has more than 13 years of multi-faceted subsea experience including roles as a ROV pilot, tooling technician, design engineer, project engineer and project manager.

A Bachelor’s in Science in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology provided a foundation in mission design, systems engineering, inter-disciplinary collaboration and technical rigor. He specialises in rapid product development as a part of the Engineering Solutions service. As a Product Manager in Oceaneering’s Offshore Project Group, he’s focused on new product development and technology innovation enabling the energy transition.

  2.00-2.15 pm
The challenges of a reducing carbon footprint on the resource sector

The current challenges faced by the resource sector are enormous, with the investment required and changes needed to take place in a relatively short time staggering. This sector is crucial to Australia’s standard of living. The options available for GHG reduction in the mining and metal industry include using renewable energy such as wind or solar, hydrogen, ammonia, reforestation, CO2 capture and storage, biological solutions and initiatives towards energy reduction, waste heat recovery and reducing energy use. 

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Damian Connelly
METS Engineering Group

Damian is a consulting engineer with extensive experience in the gold, copper, lead, zinc, uranium and iron ore industries with particular emphasis on gold. Experience has been gained in plant operations feasibility studies, detailed design, construction and commissioning, and all unit operations. He is an internationally recognised specialist in mineral processing having worked in North and South America, South East Asia, Africa and Europe.

Damian has spent the last 30-plus years working as a consultant metallurgist for mining, banking and engineering companies has provided a broad range of experience. Damian is a Registered Expert Witness and has been engaged on many cases.

  2.15-2.30 pm
Energy storage: Australia's key to a net zero future

Energy storage is essential for Australia to achieve its net zero emissions target. As renewable energy capacity (pre-dominantly wind and solar) increases so too must energy storage to balance the grid. Australia has the opportunity for various storage options in many different cases, but the economics, opportunities, and challenges must be considered in any specific case.   

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Harry Jupp
Senior Associate Engineer, WSP

Harry currently works in the role of Senior Associate Engineer at WSP, in its Melbourne office, working in its Earth and Environment division. In this role, Harry provides lead designer and project manager services for a range of projects in the renewables, mining, water, and geo-environmental industries.

Harry is furthering his studies by completing a MSc in Renewable Energy Development and is passionate about the role pumped hydro energy storage has to play in Australia's energy transition and how we can make use of available space to integrate this technology.

  2.30-2.45 pm
Optimal energy storage configuration for Indonesia
Headshot of Ahmad Amiruddin
Ahmad Amiruddin
PhD Candidate, Monash University

Ahmad is a PhD student in Resources Engineering at Monash University. He has a Master of Science in Sustainable Energy Systems from the University of Edinburgh, UK and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Hasanuddin University, Indonesia.

Ahmad has been working in the Directorate General of Electricity, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Indonesia since 2009-now. He has worked for several companies including Siemens (2007-2009), Schneider Electric (2007) and LG Philips Indonesia (2004-2007).

His PhD study is funded by Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP). His research interest is energy storage and the integration of renewable energy in Indonesia.

  2.45-3.00 pm
Leading the gas transition: the skills required to meet the engineering challenges of electrification

The world is rapidly moving towards a fossil fuel free future, and this transition will require a skilled engineering workforce with the necessary skills to tackle the engineering challenges that come with it. The ACT Chief Engineer, Adrian Piani, will explore the journey the ACT has undertaken transitioning from gas and provide insights into the future opportunities and challenges.

Headshot of Adrian Piani
Adrian Piani FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
ACT Chief Engineer, ACT Government

Adrian Piani is an Environmental Engineer with more than 20 years’ experience, predominately in the water resources, environmental and infrastructure sectors.

In 2019 he joined the ACT Government as the inaugural ACT Chief Engineer where he provides strategic advice to government on infrastructure projects and supports the engineering cohort through the ACT Government Engineering Workforce Plan. He is a Chartered Fellow and Engineer Executive of Engineers Australia.

Adrian is a proud Canberran and is passionate about the role that infrastructure plays in supporting our wellbeing and quality of life.

  3.00-3.15 pm
What to leverage to reach net zero

Technology, innovation and system engineering are the foundation of the world’s energy transition to renewables, but its progress is limited. Governments need to leverage on policies and businesses need to read market signals to win the race to net zero. Industry, regulators and government are interlinked and need to determine how to achieve energy transition, by prioritising actions and policies.

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Nee Nee Ong FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
Senior Electrical Engineer, GHD

Nee Nee Ong is a graduate of UWA with Masters in Business Administration and Bachelor of Engineering. With more than 25 years’ experience, she currently works as a project manager and lead electrical engineer managing interdisciplinary teams for the delivery of projects and providing electrical design work.

Nee Nee currently holds positions with Engineers Australia; as Congress member, Co-Chair of the Electrical College Board, Chair of WA Division College of Leadership and Management and member of the Accreditation Board.

  3.15-3.30 pm
What will Australia’s electricity grid look like, post 2050?
Headshot of Wayne Fitzsimmons OAM FIEAust
Wayne Fitzsimmons OAM FIEAust
Chairman, Pearcey Foundation

Wayne Fitzsimmons OAM FIEAust FACS is Chairman of the Pearcey Foundation, which promotes the ICT sector in Australia to Australia – the Australia 4.0 initiative is conducted under the auspices of the Pearcey Foundation.

Wayne is an experienced executive and entrepreneur who has worked extensively in the US, UK, as well as Australia and is a director of several small privately owned early stage hi-tech companies in Australia including iPro, Cohda Wireless and Mooroolbark Group. Wayne holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications Engineering from the University of Queensland.

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Jennifer George
CEO, Strategic Commercialisation Australia

Jennifer George is the CEO of Strategic Commercialisation Australia, a business development and consulting firm which evaluates and finds partners for deep tech companies – primarily in the renewables, medical device and smart city space. She is also the founder and convener of Nakoudu a digital networking Group designed to bring together interested partners, city councils and smart city entrepreneurs to enhance the growth and interoperability of cities. 

Jennifer is a Director in Net Zero Stack a circular economy project company, the Chair IT268- Smart Cities and Communities for Standards Australia, and is on the board of the Churchill Club and a member of the Pearcey Foundation team. 

  3.30-4.00 pm
Afternoon tea
  4.00-4.15 pm
Regenerative approach to decarbonising infrastructure projects

ACCIONA’s Sustainability Master Plan 2025 underpins all aspects of decision making and facilitates our Regenerative Vision. Sustainability underpins the ideas, decisions and processes our people implement in delivering regenerative infrastructure. We will share examples of our people centric approach – how we are developing, structuring and engaging cross-functional teams to increase curiosity and develop entrepreneurial mindsets to enable innovation.

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Lyndal Isakhan
Sustainability and Environment Manager, ACCIONA Construction

Lyndal has a 20-year career in sustainability and environmental management, in the design and construction of major infrastructure. She is the Regional Sustainability Lead at ACCIONA Construction focused on embedding the aspirations of the business’ Sustainability Master Plan 2025 into project start-up and delivery.

Lyndal is a contributor to the national ISC Circular Economy Working group and on the Steering Committee for the Not-for-Profit Wellness in Infrastructure Committee.

“Throughout my career, I’ve been passionate about educating teams to look beyond traditional ways of working, embedding sustainability into all facets of decision making across infrastructure development and more recently focussed on ACCIONA’s regenerative journey towards decarbonisation and going beyond Net Zero”.

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Maria Koutsimpiris
Project Controls Manager, Level Crossing Removal Project - Southern Program Alliance

Maria is a commercially focused senior leader with more than 20 years’ experience in complex, capital intensive multinationals, leading large cross-functional teams on multi-year, billion-dollar projects. She transitioned to infrastructure construction in July 2021, where she commenced as Regional Project Controls Manager for ACCIONA and is now the Project Controls Manager for Level Crossing Removal Project – Southern Program Alliance.

Maria is the Chair of the National Committee for Women in Engineering and Non-Executive Director with ANCAP Safety and the Highett Community Bank. She has an MBA from Melbourne Business School and BEng/BSc from The University of Melbourne.

  4.15-4.30 pm
Creating climate resilient urban parks with sustainable wetland systems

Blue-green infrastructure, a blend of engineering and innovative public realm design, holds the potential to create climate-resilient cities. Case studies from Australia and abroad, emphasising wetlands, illustrate practical implementations. 

The Drying Green in Green Square, Sydney exemplifies this concept, converting an industrial site into an urban wetland park with sustainable features. A Singaporean case study at Jurong Lake Gardens further explores water-sensitive urban design in blue-green infrastructure, showcasing how wetland systems can rejuvenate urban parks while mitigating urbanisation and climate change impacts.

Headshot of Phi Bang Do CPEng NER
Phi Bang Do CPEng NER
Associate Director, McGregor Coxall

Specialising in climate adaptation and nature-based solutions, Phi Bang Do is a Chartered Civil Engineer and International Professional Engineer (APEC IntPE) with more than ten years’ experience in managing multi-disciplinary projects of different scales from master planning to detail design. His technical expertise varies from urban drainage planning and designing with Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) principles to flood risk assessment with hydraulic modelling analysis demonstrating leadership in project management to deliver high quality projects on-time and on-budget.

Over the past decade, Mr Do has overseen and delivered the sustainable engineering scopes on several international award-winning projects across the globe, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

  4.30-4.45 pm
Suntory Oceania’s bottling facility: cost-effective sustainable outcomes

Are you curious about how to achieve cost-effective sustainable outcomes, through the real-world case study of a new state-of-the-art manufacturing and distribution facility? Hear first-hand the lessons learned and the methodology used to design Suntory’s Oceania's net zero facility in Queensland. Energy Transition leader Graeme Harding will unpack how you can achieve capital and operational savings, all while maximising energy efficiency and implementing ‘green’ energy supply solutions.

Headshot of Graeme Harding MIEAust CPEng
Graeme Harding MIEAust CPEng
Technical Director - Process Engineering, Beca

Graeme has more than 20 years of international process experience, including design and implementation of large-scale heavy industrial projects and turnkey energy saving projects. Graeme has worked on projects with a large variety of processes, from gas turbines and reactors through to wash press filters, refrigeration and refining systems. He has established a track record of award-winning energy saving projects within the pulp and paper and food industries.

Graeme leads Beca’s Industrial Decarbonisation team, guiding some of the industry's largest food and beverage manufacturers to transition.

  4.45-5.00 pm
Optimising diesel efficiency and reducing emissions in an island resort

Island resorts produce its own electricity using diesel generators. The process loses 64 per cent of combustion energy as heat and sound. The study seeks to utilise this wasted heat with the aim of maximising circular economy. In a unique situation with the limitations in an island resort, the study seeks to work towards carbon neutrality.

Headshot of Kavinga Karunasekara TMIEAust
Kavinga Karunasekara TMIEAust
Sustainability Projects Officer, Wellington Shire Council

A chemical and process engineer from University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka and MBA holder from University of Colombo, Kavinga has 13 years' of expertise in the field of sustainability in Australia, Germany, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

With considerable background in environmental management systems, life cycle assessments, project management, waste management in various sectors including conglomerates, hospitality, apparel, agriculture, consulting, chemical sales industries and now in local government.

  1.30-1.45 pm
Building climate smart resilience for a changing world through city-level technologies

The aim of this presentation is to demonstrate impactful resilience action planning through ten interconnected biological and urban systems that comprise the Biourbanism model. The analysis of integrated urban and bio systems toolsets such as mobile data mapping, urban heat, embodied energy, circular economy, hazard assessment, socio-economic vulnerability and more, can simplify multi-disciplinary approaches for engineering and design practitioners. 
 

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Dr Robyn Mansfield
Associate Director, McGregor Coxall

Robyn holds a PhD in Sustainable Development from Monash University. She is committed to amplifying marginalised voices in urban planning, especially in communities facing hardships. With degrees in International and Community Development, Disaster Design and Development, and Landscape Architecture, she brings a diverse background in local and state government, consultancy, academia, and private practice.

Robyn's expertise lies in urban resilience, disaster risk reduction, community participation, livelihoods, informal settlement revitalisation, and post-disaster reconstruction. Having worked extensively worldwide, she focuses on children's participation, believing it to be crucial for achieving a sustainable and just planet through radical and innovative action.

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Dr Hossein Rizeei
Geospatial Lead in BioUrbanism, McGregorCoxall

Dr Hossein is a highly qualified senior geospatial scientist with more than 16 years of relevant experience in three countries. Hossein was nominated as one of Australia’s top five best-performance early career researchers in management and named as one of 40 rising research stars in The Australian’s Research 2021 Special Report.

He has designed, developed and tested several geospatial-based methodologies to assess urban planning, natural hazards prediction and design metrics using GIS technologies, advanced remote sensing image processing and AI. His interests in developing interactive dashboards, spatial digital twins, 3D geospatial modelling, web-GIS and feature detection/extraction, in various applications.

Throughout his career, Hossein has acquired various leadership skills including team management and planning, GIS advisory and review, and business planning and development. In addition to lecturing at universities, he has also published numerous ISI papers, book chapters and conference papers in these fields.

  1.45-2.00 pm
Implementing climate smart delivery through digital engineering capabilities
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Maisara Al Rais
Digital Engineering Lead, WSP

Maisara is a Digital Engineering Lead with extensive hands-on experience in digital engineering and construction management for multi-discipline projects from pre-investment to handover and O&M stages. Maisara successfully delivered several 4D,5D/ and 7D BIM projects with clients and contractors, supporting the digital transformation in many organisations and projects, with practical knowledge of the related standards – ISO 19650, ISO 19115 and ISO 16739. Maisara has a long experience using data analytics to support data-driven decisions in project management and connecting the asset data with the designed models.

Maisara is completing a Master of Data Science at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), and has a Master of Construction Management from the UNSW, Postgraduate Diploma in Construction Project Management from the UNSW, Bachelor of Architecture from the Alexandria University, Graduate Diploma of Project Management from the American University in Cairo, and is a member of the Australian Institute of Project Management. 

  2.00-2.15 pm
Measuring, tracking and reducing embodied carbon in structures

Overview of Robert Bird Group’s design approach to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Covering optimised structural engineering principles at project inception. Followed by extracting data from 3D models using in-house software ‘Magpie’ to measure and track embodied carbon reductions. A case study will explore how integrating efficient structural design principles together with measuring and tracking carbon leads to climate positive outcomes.

Headshot of Edward Bond MIEAust NER
Edward Bond MIEAust NER
Principal, Robert Bird Group

Ed is a structural engineer working out of the Melbourne office who brings a holistic design philosophy to his projects. Following successful delivery across global centres such as Melbourne, London and Dubai he has developed a well-rounded approach to engineering. His career spanning 20 years has given Ed the confidence to tackle projects covering a diverse sector spectrum. This experience varies in scale from intricate heritage refurbishments up to multi-billion mixed-use precincts.

As an advocate of sustainable design, his wide knowledge base allows Ed to identify where the most appropriate low carbon intervention can be made. Ed’s a supporter of introducing material optimisation principles from a project’s inception and sees value in tracking embodied carbon throughout the design journey.

  2.15-2.30 pm
Building the future: T3 Collingwood and the innovative approach to sustainable hybrid timber buildings

T3 Collingwood by Hines, Melbourne’s tallest hybrid timber office building, embraces timber, transit and technology to reduce carbon emissions. Aiming for 6 Star Green Star and 5.5 Star NABERS Energy rating, it showcases the opportunities associated with timber construction in Australia's carbon reduction efforts. AECOM will present the carbon case for timber and hybrid solutions for a lower carbon future. 

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Andrew Thompson
Associate Director and Sustainability Team Lead, AECOM

Andrew is an Associate Director and Sustainability Team Lead for AECOM’s Buildings and Places division in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. 

He has built a career in sustainable buildings working in Melbourne, London and Perth, and in 20 years in the industry, participated in committees and working groups for industry bodies such as the Green Building Council of Australia, the Property Council of Australia and the Urban Development Institute of Australia.

He has had the privilege of leading sustainability teams on iconic projects, such as the world’s most sustainable retail centre, the Burwood Brickworks by Frasers and the redevelopment of the Queen Victoria Market with the City of Melbourne. He is now working on city-shaping projects with AECOM, such as the 600 Collins St office tower by Hines and Victoria’s first all-electric Hospital at Melton.

  2.30-2.45 pm
A smart building semantic platform to enable data re-use in energy analytics applications: the data clearing house

The Data Clearing House (DCH) is a smart buildings platform that uses semantic models to connect analytics applications with live sensor data. To illustrate the platform’s features and potential to meet energy reduction use cases, we describe an application implementing the 'whole facility' method of the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol (IPMVP) for evaluating electrical metering data. 

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Daniel Hugo MIEAust
Senior Engineer, CSIRO

Daniel Hugo has 16 years' experience as an electronics engineer, currently with CSIRO's Data61 business unit. He has collaborated with colleagues to develop novel sensors, telemetry systems and online analytics platforms to enable CSIRO's research projects in the in agriculture, aquaculture, coastal science and built environment domains.

  2.45-3.00 pm
Decarbonisation of buildings to meet net zero carbon emission targets

Humans are responsible for the emission of most greenhouse gases and the adverse effect on the planet. Therefore, we should strive to reduce our carbon footprint and preserve the environment. Electrification of buildings and minimising energy demand growth via improvements in energy efficiency and human behavioral changes will help the journey to meet net zero emission targets in 2050.  

Headshot of Bandula Subasinghe MIEAust CPEng NER
Bandula Subasinghe MIEAust CPEng NER
Senior Electrical Engineer/Project Manager, Arup

Bandula Subasinghe is a Chartered Professional Engineer with more than 17 years’ experience in electrical design, design management and project management on educational, art and culture, healthcare, pharmaceutical and commercial building projects in Australia, the US and Sri Lanka. She is currently working at Arup Sydney as a Lead Electrical Engineer and Project Manager.

Bandula is passionate about delivering emerging sustainability strategies for buildings and focusing on sustainable outcomes, decarbonisation and electrification. Her extensive technical skills include electrification of buildings, whole of life carbon approaches, climate resilience, energy and sustainability masterplans and building services electrical design.

  3.00-3.15 pm
Leveraging AI and LiDAR technology for climate smart engineering: maximising solar energy potential
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Dr Hossein Rizeei
Geospatial Lead in BioUrbanism, McGregorCoxall

Dr Hossein is a highly qualified senior geospatial scientist with more than 16 years of relevant experience in three countries. Hossein was nominated as one of Australia’s top five best-performance early career researchers in management and named as one of 40 rising research stars in The Australian’s Research 2021 Special Report.

He has designed, developed and tested several geospatial-based methodologies to assess urban planning, natural hazards prediction and design metrics using GIS technologies, advanced remote sensing image processing and AI. His interests in developing interactive dashboards, spatial digital twins, 3D geospatial modelling, web-GIS and feature detection/extraction, in various applications.

Throughout his career, Hossein has acquired various leadership skills including team management and planning, GIS advisory and review, and business planning and development. In addition to lecturing at universities, he has also published numerous ISI papers, book chapters and conference papers in these fields.

  3.30-4.00 pm
Afternoon tea
  4.00-4.15 pm
PV/thermal hybrid system for residential hot water system

This research focuses on modelling a new design for a PV/Thermal (PVT) hybrid panel that utilises heat pipe technology. The model is verified with experimental data for the PVT panel operated in Sydney. The findings reveal that the PVT model could be used to estimate the number of PVT and PV panels required to cover residential hot water and electricity demand.

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Dr Saad Odeh
Senior Program Convenor, Sydney Institute of Business and Technology and Western Sydney University

Dr Saad Odeh is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). He works as a Senior Program Convenor for Engineering and IT programs at the Sydney Institute of Business and Technology, as well as a Senior Lecturer in Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer at Western Sydney University's Sydney city campus. He holds a PhD in Solar Thermal Engineering from the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Dr Saad is a member of Engineers Australia , the Australian Building Sustainability Association (ABSA), and a Reviewer Board Member of Energies and Sustainability Journals. He has previously worked as an Associate Professor at various national and international universities and has published numerous papers in the field of renewable energy and energy sustainability, as well as holding two patents.

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Ilyas Aden
Western Sydney University

Ilyas is a diligent mechanical engineering student at Western Sydney University. He has submitted recently his graduation research project on Solar PV/ Thermal systems to the School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment – Sydney City Campus.

Ilyas is currently working as a Technical Support Engineer (AlphaESS) and has a background in the renewable energy sector specialising in solar, battery and virtual power plant (VPP) solutions.

  4.15-4.30 pm
Subambient passive radiative cooling effects of barium sulfate and calcium carbonate paints under Malaysia’s tropical climate
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Dr Ianatul Khoiroh
Associate Professor, University of Nottingham Malaysia

Dr Ianatul Khoiroh is currently an Associate Professor at Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia. She is a fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and a member of various engineering associations. She registered as Associate Member with the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), Fellow of The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining IIOM3), Graduate Engineer with the Board of Engineer Malaysia (BEM), and Professional Engineer registered with the Institution of Engineers Indonesia (PII). 

Ianatul's research focus is on the advancement of environmentally friendly processes, such as the utilisation of bio-based ionic liquids for separation processes, supercritical extraction techniques, and the development of lithium-ion batteries. She actively engages in the study of complex fluids and advanced materials by utilising molecular dynamics simulations to analyse their structure-property relationships. Her research interests also extend to the field of carbon dioxide capture and sequestration.

  4.30-4.45 pm
de-HIVE: network of sustainable workspaces and professional services

The world of work is undergoing a profound transformation, with remote and flexible work arrangements becoming increasingly common. Allowing employees to work at an office near their home can be a significant step towards a more sustainable and environmental arrangement. A shorter commute means reduced traffic congestion and lower carbon emissions. This can contribute to a cleaner environment and help combat climate change. Embracing the concept of local offices can be a sustainable solution to reducing the carbon footprint of the workforce.

Headshot of Quang Ngyuen MIEAust NER
Quang Ngyuen MIEAust NER
Digital Environment P/L

Quang is a Certified Practicing Engineer who has a varied background across power generation, manufacturing and building construction. He has more than 20 years’ experience in leading specialised teams, strong understanding, and applied knowledge of commercial engineering projects.

Quang has a passion for smart technology and mentoring engineers. He has a Master of Engineering Science and a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical).

  4.45-5.00 pm
Community-centred outcomes for the Sunbury Gap Road Bridge

The Gap Road Level Crossing Removal provided an opportunity to build more than a physical structure. The Rail Network Alliance’s community-centred design response enhances social, cultural and community connections and reduces our impact on the natural environment. These outcomes were achieved through collaboration, fully understanding and appreciating the contextual environment of the project and embodying this within the design.

Headshot of Sergio Saludes Requena MIEAust CPEng
Sergio Saludes Requena MIEAust CPEng
Associate Director – Structures, AECOM

Sergio is a Chartered Structural Engineer and Design Team Leader at AECOM with more than 15 years of global professional experience designing and constructing major civil infrastructure and development projects within the construction industry. As a Design Team Leader, his project experience covers tunnels, buildings, metro rail systems, bridges and highways.

Sergio’s key strengths are problem-solving, interdisciplinary coordination and collaboration skills to produce efficient and integrated designs during the project lifecycle. Sergio has been involved in North East Link, Rail Network Alliance, Western Harbour Tunnel, West Gate Tunnel, MetroNet and Barangaroo Crown Sydney Hotel Resort.

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Grant Viljoen
Practice Lead (VSA) – Sustainability and Resilience, AECOM

Grant is a Practice Lead in AECOM's Sustainability and Resilience team with 14 years’ experience providing advice on sustainability, resilience, and climate change in both the private and public sectors. With a deep understanding of environmental and sustainability policy, strategy and implementation, Grant is well-equipped to navigate the complex interplay between environmental, social, and economic challenges.

Grant is actively supporting major infrastructure projects in Victoria with a primary goal of creating sustainable and resilient urban environments by integrating these principles into design and engineering processes. He has been involved in North East Link, Melbourne Airport Rail and Metro Tunnel Project.

  1.30-1.45 pm
Improving flood resilience in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley: working on TfNSW's Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley flood evacuation road resilience program

There is a high risk of flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley but currently not enough road capacity to safely evacuate the population on time. Multiple communities rely on common, constrained, and congested road links. The Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley Flood Evacuation Road Resilience Program uniquely focuses on improving the performance and resilience of the flood evacuation network, over the general road network, aiming to maximise evacuation time and lower flood risk to life.

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Jared Crossley MIEAust CPEng NER
Principal Civil Engineer, AECOM

Jared Crossley is a Civil Engineer at AECOM in Sydney with a strong background in urban road design and multi-disciplinary projects in and around the road environment. Jared grew up, studied and began his career with AECOM in Durban, South Africa, before spending time abroad in the United Kingdom and now in Australia.

Jared is AECOM’s Design Manager on the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley Flood Evacuation Road Resilience Program and is inspired by the unique sustainability focus of the Program, which is on improving the running of the road network in an evacuation event as opposed to day-to-day.

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Anna Luong
Civil Engineer, AECOM

Anna Luong is a Civil Engineer at AECOM in Sydney with experience in delivering civil infrastructure projects across both the public and private sectors. She has assisted in the design of local infrastructure, public domain, precinct development, road, rail drainage and light rail projects.

Anna balanced her university studies with her municipal council role of being the project lead for multiple programs of civil infrastructure projects, providing support for other major projects, becoming a finalist in an international design competition, and completing an additional Diploma of Financial Planning. She continues this passion for learning and solving problems by contributing to the design of multi-disciplinary infrastructure projects, proactively looking for ways to embed sustainability not only into the project design, but also into delivery, ongoing operation and maintenance.

  1.45-2.00 pm
Creating water-sensitive cities in disadvantaged communities: Australia-India water security initiative
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Shaw Abrey
Senior Civil/Environmental Engineer and Ecologist, McGregor Coxall

Shaw is a Senior Water Engineer and Ecologist with a strong passion for Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), sustainable water management, waterway health, and urban channel naturalisation. Driven by the premise that the natural world is our greatest asset, Shaw uses his skillsets to combat pressing issues around water management and biodiversity, championing research-led and alternative solutions that push the boundaries of traditional engineering.

Shaw has a comprehensive understanding of urban hydrology, which formed the basis of his university thesis study comparing urban peak flows from the Rational Method with a linear reservoir model (ARR19). He is currently leading the Australia-India Water Security Initiative (AIWASI), a project with the core objective of transitioning disadvantaged communities toward water-sensitive states.

  2.00-2.15 pm
How nature-based solutions to a wastewater problem improves climate resilience

Unitywater is striving to achieve net zero carbon emissions and net zero nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) discharges to waterways by 2040. This presentation focuses on nature-based nutrient management projects designed to mitigate nutrient loads to waterways, and enhance the region’s climate adaptation and resilience from the threat of rising sea levels, biodiversity loss, more intense rainfall and prolonged droughts.

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Liam Owen MIEAust CPEng NER
Senior Environmental Sustainability Advisor, Unitywater

Liam Owen is the Senior Environmental Sustainability Advisor at Unitywater, providing leadership, strategy and technical guidance on the water and wastewater utility's environmental sustainability commitments. This includes driving the company's goals to achieving net zero carbon emissions and net zero nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) discharges to waterways by 2040. 

Liam has more 10 years' experience as a civil and environmental engineer. He has worked in flood reconstruction efforts, asset management and detailed planning of infrastructure projects, including the proposed solar photovoltaic systems at multiple sewage treatment plants. He is passionate about implementing cost-effective solutions that benefit society and the environment.

  2.15-2.30 pm
Behind-the-meter solar integration: a potential way to improve water distribution systems resilience for changing future

Pressurised water distribution systems (WDSs) are important water infrastructure. The installation of behind-the-meter solar photovoltaic systems (BTM solar PV) is considered a cost-effective option for WDSs to reduce energy consumption. This study aims to develop a multi-objective optimisation framework to assist the design of WDSs with BTM solar considering long-term uncertainty in water demand and solar PV technology development.

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Jiayu Yao
University of Melbourne

Ms Jiayu Yao is a PhD candidate at the Department of Infrastructure Engineering, the University of Melbourne. She completed her master’s degree majoring in environmental engineering at the University of Melbourne in 2021, and then she joined the water group at the University of Melbourne as a graduate research student.

Her major research interests include resilient water distribution system design under future changes considering the water-energy nexus and greenhouse emission (GHG) reduction. She is currently working on the design of water distribution systems under long-term uncertainty, considering behind-the-meter solar as an alternative energy supply for pump operation.

  2.30-2.45 pm
Managing the effects of climate variability: cleaner water for Northern Mallee communities

GWMWater’s Clean Water presentation will provide an overview of how the project aligns with both the organisation’s Strategic Directions and Climate Adaptation framework. It will also provide specific detail on the improvements to water quality achieved for both its urban and rural customers, including the operational benefits that underpin better reliability.

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Jonathon Horsfall MIEAust
Project Engineer, GWMWater

Jonathon has more than 7 years’ experience at GWMWater. He has planned, managed and delivered a number of larger key projects across the GWMWater region. Recent key projects he has been involved in consist of work with water and wastewater treatment plants, rural pump stations, bridges and trunk main duplications, demonstrating an extensive portfolio of engineering experience.

Jonathon’s motivation to pursue a career within the water sector was realised well before he attended university; with a country upbringing he wanted to remain local and provide services back to the communities that he grew up in.

  2.45-3.00 pm
Future water supplies: considering reliability and resilience together

Water professionals from across the region are well-aware of the emerging water security crisis and common narrative.  But adapting to climate change risks also sees the need for increasing our water supply system resilience. How do we consider both these drivers together as we plan for the next decade of critical infrastructure projects?

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Wayne Middleton
Arup

Based in Brisbane, Wayne supports Arup's clients in Australasia to adopt innovative approaches to address business challenges, develop long-term water security plans and develop strategic direction across the supply chain. 

Wayne has more than 30 years’ experience working in the water industry in Australia and the UK, spanning engineering, construction, project management and small business. He has experience in all aspects of the project lifecycle from strategy development, strategic planning, to operations and asset management. 

Leading with care and courage, Wayne considers his team’s health and wellbeing as important as their project performance and professional growth. He works collaboratively with stakeholders, partners and clients to ensure projects outcomes that deliver mutual success for people, places and the planet.

  3.00-3.15 pm
The future of water infrastructure services in an impacted world

An extrapolation of climate forecasts and socio-economic macro-trends are used to paint a vision of the Australian water industry in 2040, including consideration of future pathways for our current economic paradigm. The paper then forecasts the exiting and purposeful water engineering that today’s graduates should expect to be doing later in their careers.

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Marco van Winden CPEng
AECOM

Marco is a talented Technical Director in the Water Infrastructure team at AECOM and has an extensive background leading critical planning studies, significant engineering projects and multi-disciplinary project teams. Marco leads planning and engineering design teams for public infrastructure projects, including water pipelines, treatment systems and transportation projects.

His 30 years' of professional experience has predominantly been in Australia and New Zealand, with projects in the Pacific Islands, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and China. Marco is also a Dad and a believer in the anthropogenic change this planet has experienced since the advent of the industrial age.

  3.15-3.30 pm
Wharf Street Next Generation Community Park: unlocking the potential of a fenced off stormwater basin

Drainage assets are typically hidden behind fences, and ‘new’ public open space in urban areas is increasingly rare. This is the case for Canning City Centre, a Strategic Metropolitan Centre which can accommodate up to 25,000 residents over the next 30 years. The Wharf Street Basin Next Generation Community Park redefines the future of inaccessible stormwater infrastructure in Western Australia.

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Rachel Williams
Coordinator Sustainability Development, City of Canning

Rachel Williams is Coordinator Sustainability Development at the City of Canning. Rachel has 22 years of experience working in the environmental management and sustainability fields. Rachel's team work to inspire a culture of sustainability across the City of Canning and its community, which includes working towards climate resilience.

Rachel has qualifications in civil and environmental engineering.

  3.30-4.00 pm
Afternoon tea
  4.00-4.15 pm
Smart solar lighting for social, economic and environmental benefits

This presentation examines evidence supporting the critical need for good public lighting in areas for informal use that are not covered by streetlights and how best to navigate the nuances of public lighting to achieve optimum safety without compromising the environment. The insights are drawn from an extensive literature review performed by Victoria Walks and Webb on behalf of Leadsun.

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Katie Said
Leadsun Australia

Graduating from university with a degree in marketing and design, Katie began her marcomms career with Leadsun Australia early 2022. What intrigues Katie the most about Leadsun, and what she is proud to be a part of, is its attitude and commitment in making positive changes towards a sustainable, safe and smart future, both internally and externally.

Katie's knowledge of how design can influence behaviours, emotions, and attitudes, coupled with my passion for gender equity, lends itself to this topic of public lighting for safe, inclusive and accessible active recreation.

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Kieran McGrane
Market Development Director, Leadsun Australia

A civil engineer specialising in highway and traffic engineering, materials testing and pavement design. His career includes many years in senior commercial roles in research, civil engineering and manufacturing industries, along with nine years in local government. 

After joining Leadsun Australia during the lockdowns in August 2020, he has worked with many local authorities and commercial enterprises along with researchers at Victoria Walks.

  4.15-4.30 pm
Real estate and the S in ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance)
Headshot of Rhonda Lenardon MIEAust CPEng NER
Rhonda Lenardon MIEAust CPEng NER
KPMG

Rhonda has more than 20 years’ experience in the environmental field in both consulting and in-house management roles. Rhonda has worked in most sectors, including government, real estate, defence, manufacturing and mining across Australia and New Zealand. This experience has included in-house environmental manager roles in national facility management, mining, investment management and development organisations and has included work in environment, sustainability and WHS.

Rhonda joined KPMG in 2022 and focuses on embedding ESG into KPMG and client processes.

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Andrew Iles
Partner, KPMG Australia

Andy is a Partner in the Commercial Advisory and Transactions team within KPMG Australia’s Infrastructure, Assets and Places division based in Melbourne. 

Andy brings a wealth of property development and finance experience in a professional career spanning more than 20 years, having held roles in both the private and public sectors delivering and advising in relation to some of Australia’s most complex urban renewal projects.

Andy’s particular strengths lay in his ability to create informative bespoke dynamic models for mixed urban renewal projects, and his ability to flow chart the complex interconnected elements of the development strategy and planning approval processes.

Throughout his career in both the private and public sectors, Andy has been responsible for the establishment and management of numerous projects and processes aimed at optimising the required value outcomes.  While the particular outcomes may be different in each case, the guiding principles that go to establishing the clarity, ESG transparency, stakeholder engagement, competitive tension and success of the projects and processes run are the same. These skills have been fundamental in Andy advising clients.

  4.30-4.45 pm
Parking sustainably

Parking provision and the management of parking can play a key role in achieving more sustainable outcomes within our cities.   Avoiding an over-provision of car parking, encouraging turnover, prioritising the use of other transport modes, and improving the efficiency of the parking asset through the provision of information, enforcement and technology represent some of the important topics that will be explored to achieve more sustainable outcomes.

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Chris Coath MIEAust CPEng NER
Senior Principal Transport Planner | Practice Leader - Parking Strategy and Implementation, Stantec Australia

Chris is the Practice Leader - Parking Strategy and Implementation, Australia at Stantec. He works daily in developing best practice car parking strategies for cities and activity centres across Australia. His work ensures competing activity centre demands of all modes are balanced to achieve resource efficiency, urban design, place making and economic prosperity objectives. More broadly, his skills encompass all major transport planning and traffic engineering areas. He is a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Engineers Australia.

  4.45-5.00 pm
Everyone cares about the environment...until it's time to pay for it

Spearheaded by Clair Cameron Patterson in the 1960s, the battle to remove lead from petrol spanned six decades. Drawing on parallels from this epic battle, this presentation will provide practical and aspirational frameworks for engineers to place environmental and sustainable considerations at the heart of every engineering design. Transforming the role of the engineer and new economic models are central to these efforts.

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Matthew Tendam
Aurecon

Matthew (Matt) is an Associate Environmental Engineer and a Certified Environmental Practitioner – Site Contamination Specialist with more than 22 years of professional experience. Matt has delivered on environmental assessment and remediation projects in the US, Australia, Vietnam, New Zealand and Indonesia. This depth and breadth of experience has allowed him to provide a practical approach tailored to each project to maximise the value of land and water assets and to facilitate asset transformation. 

Matt has extensive experience in integrating environmental assessment and remediation considerations into multi-disciplinary engineering projects across industries. His recent interests have focussed on developing policy and alternate economic frameworks to promote environmentally sustainable considerations into every engineering and construction project. 

Matt is currently an Office Bearer in the College of Environmental Engineers with Engineers Australia and the incoming 2024–2025 Deputy Chair. 

  1.30-1.45 pm
Pioneering the path to net zero emissions with engineering innovations in solar lighting and clean energy solutions

Engineers are at the heart of the green revolution. Dive into this recent project in the NT, where 133 solar street lights slashed 28.8 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year and conserved 12,279 litres of diesel. In a nation where street lighting swallows up $400 million annually and causes 60 per cent of local government emissions, the shift to solar isn't just smart—it's essential. Experience the transformative power of engineering in the battle against climate change.

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David Wilson
Founder and CTO, Green Frog Systems

David Wilson is the founder and CTO of Green Frog Systems– one of Australia's first solar lighting companies, clean energy advocate and entrepreneur known for his sustainable technology innovation. David has been instrumental in driving the adoption of solar powered infrastructure through engineering driven solutions tailored to address complex challenges.

With a focus on high reliability solar lighting, David's company revolutionised the industry, offering sustainable alternatives to mains power. His visionary approach has established him as a thought leader in the clean energy sector partnering with industry colleagues, policymakers, and academics, to boost renewable technology research and mentor upcoming innovators in the field.

  1.45-2.00 pm
Government investment in solar in large scale projects vs distributed installation
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Dharmit Thakore
Moonish Ent Pty Ltd

Dharmit has more than 21 years' experience in management and design in engineering fields. He prides himself on always looking for best in others and challenges himself to achieve more from life. He has published two books, Finite Element Analysis using Open Source Software and Intermediate Finite Element Analysis using Open Source Software.

  2.00-2.15 pm
Shallow geothermal energy: using the ground and geostructures to efficiently heat and cool buildings
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Prof Guillermo Narsilio
Deputy Head of Department (Infrastructure Engineering), University of Melbourne

Prof Guillermo Narsilio is Deputy Head of the Department of Infrastructure Engineering at the University of Melbourne (2020–today) and Chair of the ISSMGE Technical Committee 308 on Energy Geotechnics. He is a former member of the ARC College of Experts (2018–2021). Dr Narsilio is also a past Chair of the Australian Geomechanics Society (Victoria Chapter, 2019–2020) and a former Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow.

Dr Narsilio received his PhD in Geotechnical Engineering (2006) and his Masters in Mathematics (2006) and in Geotechnical Engineering (2003) from Georgia Institute of Technology (US). He obtained his Civil Engineering degree from the National University of Cordoba (Argentina) in 2001. He undertook his postdoctoral experience at the University of Melbourne where he is now a Professor. His research interests include numerical modelling, multi-scale porous material characterisation and performance and the (sustainable) energy industry; with emphasis on basic and applied shallow and deep geothermal energy systems and the use of AI. ​

  2.15-2.30 pm
Spatial optimality and temporal variability in Australia's wind resource

We show a method for selecting locations for a collection of wind farms so that their aggregate power is maximised, and the variability is minimised. Using climate reanalysis data, the method reveals inefficiencies in Australia’s current operational wind farm collection. We study how natural wind climate variability impacts aggregate wind farm power.

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Dr Andrew Gunn
Lecturer, Monash University

Andrew Gunn is a Lecturer in Physical Geography in the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment at Monash University. His research is focused on the physical processes that create planetary surfaces, specialising in deserts and Mars. He also conducts research on climate and weather as a renewable energy resource.

Andrew was trained at the University of Melbourne (BS in Applied Mathematics), the University of Tasmania (Honours in Physical Oceanography), the University of Pennsylvania (PhD in Earth Science) and Stanford University (Postdoc in Geological Sciences).

  2.30-2.45 pm
How to connect offshore wind generation in Australia: overcoming barriers to success

The energy transition in Australia has introduced significant challenges to the transmission sector, which will increase if only a fraction of the offshore wind farm projects announced in Australia are implemented. This submission provides an insight into the characteristics of Australian transmission networks, and examines various models deployed in established international offshore wind markets, highlighting key challenges and learnings for Australia.

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Charlotte Guthleben
Senior Consultant, Sustainability and Climate Change, Aurecon

Charlotte is a senior consultant in Aurecon’s Sustainability and Climate Change team with a focus on decarbonisation strategy and renewable energy. Combining her technical engineering background and analytical mindset, Charlotte helps to make the complex simple and produce projects with impact.

Charlotte has an in-depth understanding of energy markets and renewable energy applications. She has been heavily involved in work across the energy sector, including strategic advice for the development of renewable energy zones, economic assessment of multi-billion-dollar transmission networks, and decarbonisation strategy both for clients and to meet Aurecon's own net zero.

  2.45-3.00 pm
Integrating energy supply and demand to enhance the business case for high efficiency heat pumps
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Yale Carden
Founder and Managing Director, GeoExchange Australia

Yale is the Founder and Managing Director of GeoExchange Australia and an Honorary Fellow with the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC), University of Wollongong. He has more than 25 years of experience in the sustainability sector, the majority of which have been specifically in renewable thermal energy and heat pump systems. His commercial and academic work has him advising the public and private sector across the Asia Pacific.

  3.00-3.15 pm
Empowering the future generation of engineers: fostering student engagement and institutional collaboration in engineering education for a sustainable future

This paper highlights the crucial role of environmental engineering education, student engagement and cross-institutional collaboration in preparing future engineers for sustainability challenges and a net zero future. It showcases innovative educational techniques and approaches within a non-university higher education institution, focusing on hands-on experiences, student-led projects, research opportunities, poster presentations and collaborative initiatives to foster sustainability-minded engineers.

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Dr Indunil Jayatilake MIEAust
Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering, TAFE Queensland

Indunil has been working in the higher educational sector for the past 25 years, with eight years of experience with TAFE Queensland in the associate degree in civil engineering course, as a lecturer, senior lecturer and course coordinator. She has completed her Bachelors, Masters and PhD in civil, environmental and structural engineering. She has more than 35 years’ experience in industry, teaching and research. She has published her research in refereed journals and presented her work at international conferences.

Indunil is currently working as a senior lecturer in civil engineering at TAFE Queensland. She is also collaborating with industry and researchers at Queensland University of Technology in the environmental engineering space.

  3.15-3.30 pm
The Materials Knowledge Exchange (MAKE): a collaborative tool to foster innovative material adoption on major infrastructure projects

The Level Crossing Removal Project’s (LXRP) Materials Knowledge Exchange (MAKE) is a collaborative database of material and product information. Hosted on LXRP’s program-wide knowledge sharing platform, MAKE supports adoption, improved and sustainable project outcomes, and systematic use of innovative and alternative materials and products by providing access to data on application, benefits, design, sustainability, stakeholder, supply chain and cost considerations.

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Jothe Ramesh
Level Crossing Removal Project Technical Advisory Services, AECOM GHD TA

Jothe Ramesh is an AECOM project manager and specialises in delivering complex multi-million-dollar projects and managing large, multi-disciplinary teams across environment and infrastructure. Jothe is currently the Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) Technical Advisory Services Team Interface Manager and the Engagement Lead for the Materials Knowledge Exchange (MAKE). 

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Anna-Kristina Collett
Extranet Manager, Level Crossing Removal Project

Anna-Kristina Collett is the Extranet Manager, Program Improvement at Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP). Anna is a project and product manager with a background in content, publishing, communications and stakeholder engagement. She manages LXRP’s knowledge sharing and collaboration platform, which supports continuous improvement and innovation

  3.30-4.00 pm
Afternoon tea
  4.00-4.15 pm
Simplifying complexity in uncharted territory: combining multidisciplinary expert knowledge with geospatial data for natural asset discovery
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Manasi Sabnis
Geospatial Analyst, McGregor Coxall

Trained as an urban planner and architect, Manasi holds a Master's degree in Urbanism from the University of Sydney and a Bachelor's in Architecture from the University of Mumbai.

Manasi works at the nexus of data science and urban design, with experience working in cross-disciplinary teams where she has supported urban planning research, evaluating and maintaining spatial datasets and application of geospatial technologies. A licensed architect in India, Manasi has assisted on large-scale mass housing and master planning projects throughout her career.

Her commitment to ecological and equitable city planning stems from her experiences growing up in a city facing extreme adversities of unplanned urban sprawl. She is passionate about using her knowledge in geospatial systems in improving planning and design outcomes.

  4.15-4.30 pm
Planetary boundaries and wiseGRIDs
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Maria Pedicini
Environmental Planning Lead – SA, Arup

Maria Pedicini is a South Australia's Environmental Planning Lead at Arup, a global engineering and design consultancy, where she oversees environmental planning aspects for projects. She has 25-plus years' experience across public and private sectors in environmental impact and risk assessments, environmental planning and approvals, environmental management, and environmental and integrated management systems. Maria is a Certified Environmental Practitioner and a Fellow of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EANZ). 

She has an honors degree in science, majoring in environmental studies and chemistry, and post-graduate qualifications in environmental compliance law and business management. Maria is not an engineer, however, works with engineers as part of multi-disciplinary teams delivering consultancy services for feasibility studies, concept and design, project development, and operational improvement, compliance and risk management scopes of work. 

  4.30-4.45 pm
Human factors in new energy: a systems thinking approach

New energy projects are moving fast. With incomplete technology comes gaps and uncertainty in the systems that need to be addressed by people. Understanding how people interact with these systems through a systems thinking approach early in the design phase supports the reduction of potential human error and the potential for significant incidents, for an overall safer and productive process. 

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Joanne Knight-Smith
Principal Human Factors Specialist, HF Integration Pty Ltd

Joanne is a Principal Human Factors Consultant with more than 10 years' experience in providing human factors support to high-risk industries. Her experience expands across oil and gas, new energy, rail, mining and construction industries focusing on practical application of human factors in both project phases and operations.

Joanne's recent experience includes early integration of human factors in hydrogen, battery and carbon capture projects that has identified new challenges for human reliability in fast paced new energy projects.

  4.45-5.00 pm
An investigation into overnight energy consumption at the University of Wollongong

By establishing a basis of understanding into overnight loads, the design, management and operation of future and existing UOW buildings and their respective integrated services can be influenced appropriately to optimise energy performance. This thesis determined that of the studied years, 14 of the 25 analysed buildings recorded an average outside occupied hours usage ratio greater than 40 per cent. 
 

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Henry Andresen
Sustainability Engineer, Stantec

Henry is a Sustainability Engineer/Consultant who is driven to provide effective and realistic climate focused solutions across all aspects of a project. Henry advises on environmentally sustainable design (ESD) decisions for a wide array of building projects and has experience in delivering on building compliance with NCC Section J, Green Star Buildings, Communities, Design and As-Built and Interiors ratings, Life Cycle Assessments and Climate Change Risk Assessments and Adaptation Plans. Henry has ESD consultancy experience across multiple sectors of the industry, including residential, commercial office, hospitals, student accommodation and education facilities.

Henry joined the Sydney Sustainability Team at Stantec in 2021 and has completed his Bachelor of Environmental Engineering with honours in 2022.

  1.30-1.45 pm
Pathways to achieving a lower carbon and more sustainable asphalt
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Trevor Distin
Group Technical and Marketing Manager, COLAS

Joined the COLAS Australia Group in 2016 as the Group Technical and Marketing Manager having held a similar role with COLAS in Southern Africa. Prior to that he held positions as National Technology Manager for Boral Asphalt, Executive Director of Southern African Bitumen Association and Bitumen Technical Services Manager for Mobil Oil South Africa. He has more than 35 years’ experience in the development, manufacture and construction of bituminous materials.

Currently serves on the Austroads Asphalt, Binders and Bitumen Surfacing’s working groups and AfPA’s National Technology Leadership Committee and Asphalt, Binders, Surfacings and Sustainability sub committees. Holds a Masters Diploma in Civil Engineering and Bachelors of Commerce.

  1.45-2.00 pm
Crumb rubber modified bitumen (CRMB) for use in asphalt applications in Australia
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Johannes Lodewikus van Heerden CPEng NER
Fulton Hogan Ltd Infrastructure Services - Western Australia

Johannes L van Heerden is a Charted Professional Engineer with more than 28 years’ experience in the analysis, design, specification and contract administration of complex engineering projects within the built environment. 

Johannes is currently employed by Fulton Hogan Ltd Infrastructure Services in Western Australia as the State Technical Manager. Previous to Fulton Hogan, Johannes was employed by Royal HasKoningDHV, South Africa as the National Service Line Leader for Asset Management and Pavement Engineering.

His experience covers the full range of roads project, ranging from gravel rural roads to multi-lane freeways where he has undertaken the roles of Project Leader, Principal Design Specialist (Pavements and Materials Design) and Contract Engineer.

  2.00-2.15 pm
Paving the way: carbon reduction and sustainable practices on North Queensland’s largest road project
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Andrew Kindness
Sustainability and Environmental Advisor, Cairns Southern Access Corridor Stage 3: Edmonton to Gordonvale Project

Andrew Kindness is a dedicated Sustainability and Environmental Advisor with a strong background in Environmental Sustainability and experience in infrastructure construction, including projects such as the Sydney Metro TSE Mega Project and Blue Mountains Heritage Station Upgrades.

Currently leading sustainability efforts for the E2G project in Cairns, Andrew excels in environmental compliance and infrastructure sustainability, fostering positive outcomes through stakeholder relationships, proactive environmental management and driving innovation.

  2.15-2.30 pm
Decarbonisation pathways for concrete: major projects concrete technical program

A Major Projects Concrete Technical Program (MPCTP) has been proposed, aiming to catalyse and transform the concrete industry, in response to Victoria’s Climate Change Strategy and the Recycled First Policy. The recycling industry and researchers have shown ingenuity in developing products from the ‘worst’ of our waste products, and MPCTP will make this potential ‘zero waste’ construction industry a reality.

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Dr Fangjie (Sam) Chen
Materials Regional Research Leader, Arup

Dr Fangjie Chen has extensive expertise in concrete sustainability and durability. He has developed innovative and sustainable solutions to decarbonise concrete for major infrastructure projects across Australasia region.

His hands-on experience in material design, testing, characterisation and production also allows him to utilise innovative recycled and waste materials to improve concrete structure performance in service, which provides valuable new and unique sustainability outcomes for major engineering programs.

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Rhys Owen-Roberts
Senior Manager Sustainable Infrastructure, Major Road Projects Victoria

Rhys has more than 20 years’ experience in the construction, environmental and sustainability sectors. He has worked for research organisations, consultancies, tier 1 contractors and government. Rhys has particular interests in climate change, decarbonisation and circular economy outcomes.

He has played a key role in the development of MRPV’s sustainable infrastructure strategy. Rhys chairs the MTIA low carbon concrete technical working group and his team works to support the integration of decarbonisation of infrastructure into decision making, identifying solutions and supporting sustainable outcomes in project delivery.

  2.30-2.45 pm
Development of new eco-friendly grout products using waste materials for sustainable mining and construction
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Hadi Nourizadeh
Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland

Hadi Nourizadeh is an esteemed scholar and Research Fellow at the Centre for Future Materials (CFM) at the University of Southern Queensland. He has a wide range of expertise in geotechnical, mining, and construction engineering-related projects, with specific proficiency in ground control systems and related engineered materials. Hadi's research interests are aligned with designing reinforcing elements for different geotechnical and thermal conditions, as well as the development of engineered bonding materials such as cementitious grouts and polyester resins.

He has a strong passion for the application of waste materials to produce sustainable products for the construction and mining industries and has been actively involved in several research projects focused on this area. In addition to his research work, Hadi is an enthusiastic advocate for science and technology and is committed to inspiring the next generation of researchers and innovators. He has a proven track record of excellence in teaching and mentoring undergraduate and postgraduate students.

  2.45-3.00 pm
Circular economy in solar PV industry
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Kavya Santhosh
ENcome Energy performance

Qualified electronics and energy engineer with experience in renewables industry, Kavya has a Masters in Electronics and Energy Engineering and describes as an innovative and out of box thinker.

Kavya believes in the quote "Your attitude, not your aptitude determines your altitude". Having the right attitude towards work does leaps and bound for one's professional career.

Kavya is qualified as Professional Engineer through Engineers Australia.

  3.00-3.15 pm
Engineering sustainability for circular and green economy

This paper presents the results of demand driven industry projects on ‘Life cycle thinking’ and ‘Industrial symbiosis’ conducted at the Sustainable Engineering Group, Curtin University to achieve closed loop material flow, decarbonise economy, decouple emissions and resource use from economic growth, enhance energy and material efficiency and waste management and finally to support the principles of circular and green economy.  
 

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Associate Professor Wahidul Biswas
Deputy Director of the Sustainable Engineering Group, Curtin University

Associate Professor Wahidul Biswas is the Deputy Director of Sustainable Engineering Group, Curtin University and a Co-Leader of Research Program 3 of HILT CRC (Heavy Industries Low Emission Technologies, Cooperative Research Centres, Australia). Wahidul was trained as a mechanical engineer, researching the performance of diesel engine using biogas fuel. He has gradually diversified his research to engineering for sustainable development, an interdisciplinary field. He has a Masters in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London and a PhD in Sustainable Futures from the University of Technology, Sydney.

Wahidul teaches and coordinates a core undergraduate Engineering unit, Engineering for Sustainable Development at Curtin University. He has so far carried out extensive life cycle assessment, climate change and sustainability related research on Australian agricultural, alternative fuels, building and construction, manufacturing, mining and water sectors for the Department of Climate Change, the Grains Research and Development Commission and Department of Agriculture and Food, Wester Australia, University of Western Australia, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria, Meat and Livestock Australia, Worley Parsons and Water Corporation, Enterprise Connect and Recom Engineering, Cedar Woods, Earth Care, and Department of State Development, Cockburn Cement Ltd, Waste Authority WA and Woodside Energy Group Ltd.

  3.15-3.30 pm
Leading net zero transition in infrastructure delivery in Australia
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Dr Anumitra Mirti
Senior Associate – Sustainability, Beca

Dr Anumitra Mirti has more than 20 years of experience in sustainability, climate resilience, project management, research and strategic environment and land use planning spanning academia, private industry and government agencies.

At Beca, Anu is driving sustainability and climate resilience across the organisation’s project work both nationally in Australia and internationally. Anu is also a sustainable leaders' mentor for the Cambridge University’s Institute of Sustainable Leadership Program.

  3.30-4.00 pm
Afternoon tea
  1.30-1.45 pm
Climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategy for our plastic and microplastics pollution disaster
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Kala Senathirajah MIEAust CPEng
Deputy Chair Environmental Engineering College, Engineers Australia and Customer Lead – Relationship Manager, Bureau of Meteorology

Kala Senathirajah is a water industry engineer with more than20 years’ experience throughout the water supply cycle, spanning all stages of the asset life cycle. Experienced in strategy development, risk management, environmental management, water quality, water resources management and hydrology, she has a proven track record in collaborating, leading and managing multi-disciplinary teams of diverse backgrounds in variety of environmental settings.

Kala is also an esteemed researcher whose work has made significant contributions to the field of water management and environmental conservation environmental. Through her studies on (micro)plastic pollution and its impacts, she has shed light on the pervasive presence of microplastics and the urgent need for effective solutions.

Kala is actively involved with the development of the UN global instrument to end plastic pollution.

  1.45-2.00 pm
Sustainable durability engineering and its application on major project design and construction in Victoria
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Miles Dacre CPEng
Advanced Materials Segment Leader, AECOM

Miles has more than 35 years of experience in the concrete deterioration, durability design and asset management and remediation industry. His expertise also includes specialising in concrete repair techniques and site implementation practices.

He has been assisting clients with the assessment, analysis and development maintenance programs across a large portfolio of assets. He has been involved in the field of asset deterioration since 1986, particularly the assessment of structures, how they deteriorate, their future performance and assisting asset owners to define repair and rehabilitation strategies and manage the risks to their operations.

  2.00-2.15 pm
Renovation pathways show how existing homes can reach zero carbon cost-effectively
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Dr Glen Currie FIEAust
Program Impact Manager – Energy Systems, Climateworks

Fellow of Engineers Australia and the Australian Institute of Energy. Active in the energy industry from electricity generation to retail, including commercialisation of new technologies.

More than 20 years of experience strategically planning and transforming processes. At CSIRO Energy Glen became passionate about the energy transition. Next, he started up solar and energy technology businesses and was recently awarded a PhD for his work on Consumer Roles in the Future Electricity System.

Glen leads complex problem-solving, quickly marshalling teams to respond to changing circumstances. His mandates in previous roles included helping to “fix” the commercial process and associated systems.

  2.15-2.30 pm
Cross-sector synergies towards decarbonisation for commercial landmark in Hong Kong

This presentation examines cross-sector synergies driving decarbonisation in Hong Kong commercial landmark, AIRSIDE. The development convenes stakeholders to decarbonise: promote green mobility to visitors, offer tenant-focused strategies with Net Positive Lease incentive scheme, partner with green practitioners to foster upcycled fabric fit-out materials. AIRSIDE pioneers with a test bed of innovations for carbon reduction throughout the building whole life cycle.

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Hayton Chan
Climate and Sustainability Group, Arup

Hayton Chan is interested in decarbonisation, sustainable building system design, building energy simulation and green building certification. She has participated in a variety of commercial projects in Hong Kong. Her experiences cover decarbonisation, building physics analysis, high performance building system design and green building assessment.

Hayton is also responsible for sustainable design and building assessments and involved in promoting sustainability and energy efficiency through integrated design methods and analysis.

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Christy Chow
Senior Consultant, Arup

Christy Chow is the sustainability specialist of outstanding commercial projects in Hong Kong. With her lead in sustainability goals and strategies, projects such as One Taikoo Place, The Airside are known as one of the best-in-class sustainable project in town, accredited the Hong Kong Green Building Awards and recognised by World Sustainability Built-Environment Conference. She drives the projects awarded the first-ever project in Hong Kong achieving five Platinum ratings in BEAM Plus New Building, CGBL, LEED and WELL and BEAM Plus Neighborhood.

Christy participates in design of optimised energy performed systems and pioneers in integrated innovative solutions for promoting green transport, smart waste management and decarbonization implementation. She is endeavor in analytic built environment study and sustainability neighborhood design for healthy and wellness community, as well as formulating carbon neutrality roadmap for public transit and real estate portfolio in Hong Kong and Mainland China to envision a carbon-free city.

  2.30-2.45 pm
Reducing carbon emissions from concrete through the use of ultra high performance fibre reinforced concrete

Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) is a class of concrete that achieves a high compressive strength when compared to conventional concrete. In addition, use of UHPC can result in a reduction in carbon emissions including through reduced section sizes, reduced reinforcement, reduced use of aggregate and increased durability.

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Dr Scott Taylor
Director Engineering and Innovation, Major Road Projects Victoria

Dr Scott Taylor is recognised and progressive leader with extensive experience in engineering across the government and private sectors. He currently leads the Engineering Team at Major Road Projects Victoria (MRPV), as Director Engineering and Innovation with his role overseeing all engineering and technical aspects of the projects within the MRPV portfolio, as well as supporting and facilitating an innovative culture both within MRPV and across industry.

Scott is also a member of Engineers Australia's Professional Standards Committee, which establishes competency requirements and Chartership standards, and has been a past Committee Member of the Victorian Division of Engineering Australia. Scott also has a strong research background, having obtained a PhD in 2004 in the area of structural dynamics and computational methodologies.

  2.45-3.00 pm
Nanocatalyst development and improvement for CO2 conversion

Our research has determined that a ruthenium/carbon-nitrogen nanocatalyst is very effective at capturing and converting carbon dioxide with hydrogen to more valuable carbon monoxide and methane products towards combatting the current climate and energy shortage crises. Our laboratory, simulation and economic analyses have indeed shown that such a material has very strong commercial and green environmental applications.

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Pradeep Murthy
PhD candidate, University of Sydney

Pradeep is a highly driven chemical engineering and physics PhD candidate researching nano-scale catalyst materials to accelerate CO2 conversion towards generating clean and renewable fuels and chemicals as a viable counter to climate change.

Pradeep is excited to work as a researcher/process engineer in the future to utilise their technical skills to directly solve the greatest issues facing our planet, especially in the fields of catalysis, renewable energy and fuels, nanotechnology, carbon-zero and sustainability.

  3.00-3.15 pm
Concept design of a centralised organic waste processing facility in Funafuti, Tuvalu
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Dr Dusan Ilic FIEAust CPEng
University of Newcastle

Dr Ilic is a Fellow, Chartered engineer and research academic at the University of Newcastle, located at the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources, with almost 20 years’ experience of consultancy and applied research.

Over the last five years, using a foundation of bulk solids handling and particle science, Dr Ilic has established and grown multi-disciplinary research programmes including characterising agroforestry residues, environmental and workplace health exposures, integrating low cost sensors and LiDAR into dust emissions management, engineering design, modelling and simulation of granular materials in minerals processing and materials handling systems.

  3.15-3.30 pm
Challenges in the supply chain for Australia’s transition to a renewable powerhouse

Australia faces a series of challenges in transitioning to renewable energy, including technical, environmental, regulatory, financial, safety and community challenges. Also, the construction supply chain has been affected by factors like conflicts and economic instability. Successful management of these challenges is crucial for the industry's success in delivering renewable energy projects and achieving Australia's goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

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Ali Nami
Principal, TBH

Ali is a construction project planner with 18 years of varied experience in planning projects in Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and South East Asia in a variety of industries, including energy transmission and generation, transport, water, resource and major engineering and infrastructure projects as well as ICT projects and commercial and residential developments.

Ali brings a range of experience in all facets of project planning, forensic planning and dispute resolution. These days Ali brings his experience in managing risks and resolving disputes with respect to time and cost and applies it at the front end helping his clients deliver complex major infrastructure and energy projects.

  3.30-4.00 pm
Afternoon tea
  4.00-5.00 pm
Demonstrating engineering leadership in mitigating and adapting to climate change
Workshop

Are you a leader who aspires to a sustainable, resilient and prosperous future?

By attending this workshop, you will learn about and contribute to developing ways in which engineers can demonstrate impactful leadership – to achieve outcomes in mitigating and adapting to climate change. 

Everyone is on a leadership journey and our collective professional leadership will be advantaged by reaching across the spectrum from young professionals to executives.

We will be explicitly seeking the views of three groups – young engineers, mid-career engineers and engineering executives.  Examining the generational aspirations, the workshop will provide an opportunity to discuss:

  • The leadership required to address the systemic challenge of climate change-resilience and communicating these concepts.
  • The requirement for new leaders who are networked and collaborative rather than hierarchical with a command-and-control style.
  • The challenge that if the profession doesn’t align with the expectations and values of students and new graduates who have protested in the climate school strikes then engineering will not be an attractive career option.
  • The leadership opportunity for Engineers Australia to drive professional standards and competency requirements. Addressing climate change and resilience requires new knowledge and skills and the continual improvement of graduate competencies.
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Dr Anne Hellstedt FIEAust CPEng EngExec
Technical Excellence Leader, Mott MacDonald

Dr Anne Hellstedt is the Technical Excellence Leader for Mott MacDonald. She has a diverse background across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors with demonstrated leadership in sustainable development. Her experience spans roles as a sustainability consultant with LendLease and AECOM, and client-side roles with the University of Melbourne and ANSTO driving precinct development with a focus on exemplary sustainability outcomes.

She is the Chair of the National College of Leadership and Management Board, having been a volunteer with Engineers Australia since being elected to the Victorian Division Committee in 2013. 

She is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and a Chartered Engineering Executive, a graduate member of Australian Institute of Company Directors and a board member of Beyond Zero Emissions, a not-for-profit climate change solutions think-tank whose mission is to show a zero emissions Australia is achievable and affordable now.

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Dr David Cruickshanks-Boyd HonFIEAust
National Director - Sustainability, WSP Australia

David is the National Director, Sustainability for WSP I Parsons Brinckerhoff, in a part-time 50 per cent capacity. He was the 2015 National President of Engineers Australia and Chair of the Engineers Australia Board. 

His other Engineers Australia experience includes the Accreditation Board, National CLM Board, National Honours and Awards Committee, Code of Ethics Committee, Reconciliation Plan Steering Committee, Audit and Risk Committee, Sustainability Committee and 2023 Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group.

David chaired the 2014 Engineers Australia committee which developed the first Engineers Australia Climate Change Policy, and revised the Engineers Australia Sustainability Policy

In his 31 years with WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff David has led their national environmental business, had overall responsibility for their South Australian operations, and overseen significant transformation in their business both in South Australia and nationally. Under David’s leadership, WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff in South Australia has twice been awarded the company’s Global Project of the Year Award. 

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Neil Greet
Director, Collaborative Outcomes

Neil is a Director of the Institute of Integrated Economics Research, and the consultancy Collaborative Outcomes. He is an Engineering Executive and Deputy Chair of the Engineers Australia College of Leadership and Management. Through Engineers Australia, Australian Security Policy Institute and other NGOs Neil has led policy development on energy security, humanitarian engineering, resilience and the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engineering. He is a Board Member of REDR (Australia). 

Neil served in the Australia Defence Force for 30 years with operational service in Iraq and Timor Leste. He also supported the ADF response to Black Saturday Fires in 2009 and worked on engineering projects in the southwest pacific and remote Indigenous communities during his military service.

  5.00-6.00 pm
Networking reception
CSE23 exhibition space

Meet and connect with fellow conference attendees during the CSE23 networking reception.

  6.30-11.30 pm
Engineers Australia Excellence Awards gala dinner
Palladium at Crown, Level 1 Crown Towers, Crown Melbourne, 8 Whiteman Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3006

Celebrating the achievements of the engineering professionals and cutting-edge engineering projects driving Australia forward.

 

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Romilly Madew AO FTSE HonFIEAust EngExec
Chief Executive Officer, Engineers Australia

Prior to joining Engineers Australia, Romilly was CEO of Infrastructure Australia overseeing the organisation's critical role in helping governments prioritise projects and reforms that best serve our communities. She served as CEO of the Green Building Council of Australia for 13 years. In acknowledgment of her contribution to Australia’s sustainable building movement, Romily was awarded an Order of Australia in 2019. 

She is currently a Member of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering Infrastructure Forum, Member of Placemaking NSW Advisory Committee, Director of Sydney Olympic Park Authority, Independent Chair of the Currawong State Park Advisory Board (NSW), Federal Government appointee on the Circular Economy Ministerial Advisory Group and G20 EMPOWER – Empowerment and Progression of Women's Economic Representation, Member of the National Women in Transport CEO Advisory Group, Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers Enabling Better Infrastructure Steering Group (UK) and Director of Minerva Network (supporting Australia’s elite sportswomen). 

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Dr Nick Fleming FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
National President and Board Chair, Engineers Australia

Nick is an experienced non-executive director. In addition to Engineers Australia, he is member of the board of South Gippsland Water and an advisory board member with Infrastructure CoLab. He is managing director of advisory firm, Innergise Pty Ltd, and a faculty member with the Australia and New Zealand School of Government. He is an active thought leader, speaker and author, recognised for his expertise in strategy, innovation and complex problem solving. 

His 30-year professional career spans the infrastructure, natural resources, water, mining, energy, defence, social welfare and education sectors in Australia, NZ, the Americas, Asia and the UK. Prior to establishing his own advisory firm, Nick was the Director of Business Innovation at Jacobs Group (Australia). He previously held global roles at SKM including Chief Sustainability Officer and Technology and Innovation Manager, also sitting on Board committees leading strategy and corporate social responsibility.

Thursday 30 November

  8.30–8.45 am
Welcome
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Damian Ogden
Group Executive Policy and Public Affairs, Engineers Australia

Damian is an advocacy and public policy professional with more than 20 years’ experience, contributing to a number of the most influential advocacy campaigns in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Damian has worked on US Presidential campaigns and has advised many senior leaders, including a Prime Minister in best practice communication and advocacy strategy. Damian is passionate about data-driven, evidence-based policy and advocacy and has a deep understanding of the media and communications landscape and its imperatives.

Damian holds a BA (Government and International Relations) from Sydney University and is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School Leadership Program.  

  8.45–9.15 am
The next generation’s hopes for the future

Draw inspiration from a panel of Gen Z graduate, student and young engineers sharing their vision for a climate-resilient future and how best to achieve net zero. With the climate challenge set to dominate their professional careers, hear how this generation is harnessing their skills, ingenuity and voice to shape a greener, more sustainable tomorrow.  

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Simone Costello
Graduate Process Engineer (Water), Arup

Simone joined Arup in February 2022 as a Graduate Process Engineer in the water team after graduating from the University of Melbourne with a Master of Chemical Engineering.

Her interests in water and sustainability led her to an industry project at Melbourne Water, and then onto Arup where she has since been involved in various projects in water and wastewater treatment, and increasing investigating water for hydrogen production. She brings curiosity and a drive to solve engineering challenges, especially through collaboration.

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Sarbjeet Singh
Stormwater Engineer, City of Greater Geelong

Sarbjeet ‘Sunny’ Singh is a dedicated student currently pursuing his Bachelor of Civil Engineering at Deakin University. Throughout his academic journey, he seizsd an invaluable internship opportunity with the City of Greater Geelong, which eventually paved the way to his current role as a Stormwater Engineer.

In his capacity as a Stormwater Engineer at the City of Greater Geelong, Sunny discovered his deep-seated passion for combating climate change and fostering the development of climate-resilient cities. This passion has driven him to contribute significantly to the field of water management, where he is making a substantial impact.

Sunny's enthusiasm for the environment and water management is evident through his recent research project in Water Sensitive Urban Designing. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, along with an unwavering commitment to building a better, more sustainable future.

 

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Eve Smolinska
Project Engineer, Symal Infrastructure

Eve Smolinska is a Project Engineer working in the construction sector at Symal Infrastructure. In the past year she has been working on Fishermans Bend Innovation Precinct Project in the civil and remediation space. Eve completed her Bachelor of Engineering (Civil and Infrastructure) degree at RMIT University and graduated in 2020 with First Class Honours. Her interests lie in the sustainability space, particularly due to a number of exciting initiatives happening across the construction industry aiming at waste minimisation and reuse.

Eve had been actively volunteering as a Student Ambassador while at RMIT and is continuing her engagement with Engineers Australia post-graduation as the Chair of the Victorian Civil College, further advocating for industry change and delivering a lifelong community for engineers.  

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Mohamed Ishraf Mohamed Ismath
Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) student, Swinburne University of Technology

Mohamed Ishraf Mohamed Ismath, a dedicated fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Swinburne University, brings a global perspective from an overseas internship at Apus Zero in Germany. His fervour for energy, particularly in renewable energy, energy transition, smart and nano grids, solar energy and AI, underscores his commitment to a sustainable future. Eager to delve deeper, Mohamed envisions pursuing a PhD research degree in 2024. 

Beyond academia, he actively contributes as a volunteer at the university, serves as a student ambassador for Engineers Australia and Swinburne University, and holds key roles in multiple student societies, including the Swinburne Chess Club, Aviation Society and History Society

  9.15–9.50 am
Calling for engineers to work on the largest economic transition since the dawn of agriculture

The battle for climate science to be understood and accepted has been won.  However, the battle to eliminate the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change has a long way to go.  The strategy is clear: use zero-emissions electricity, hydrogen and synthesised hydrogen compounds to replace the fossil fuels that are responsible for nearly three quarters of global emissions.  Engineers will design the technological solutions and their deployment.  Engineering education and practices must reflect this responsibility to minimise adverse impacts without shifting them elsewhere.   

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Dr Alan Finkel AC
Former Chief Scientist of Australia, Chair of Stile Education, Adviser to government and companies on clean energy technologies

Dr Alan Finkel AC is a neuroscientist, engineer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. Career highlights include 23 years running US company Axon Instruments and eight years as Chancellor of Monash University. Alan was Australia’s Chief Scientist from 2016 to 2020, during which time he led the National Electricity Market Review, the development of the National Hydrogen Strategy and the panel that advised the Australian Government on the Low Emissions Technology Roadmap.

As Special Adviser to the Australian Government on Low Emissions Technologies in 2021 and 2022, he brokered bilateral low emissions technology partnerships between Australia and each of seven key countries and chaired the Australian Government-hosted Sydney Energy Forum.

He is currently Chair of Stile Education and a corporate adviser on climate change technologies. His book, Powering up: unleashing the clean energy supply chain, was published in June.

  9.50–10.20 am
A just transition - embracing Indigenous approaches in the energy transition

The clean energy transition offers the world an opportunity to reinvent energy systems and rebuild them around the concepts of environment, sustainability and equity. The decentralisation of energy generation gives us the ability to redistribute power, in all senses of the word. However, this is not guaranteed by renewable energy technologies. The underlying paradigms must also shift. Therefore, we ask not just for an energy transition, but for an energy transformation that embraces new approaches to all aspects of the energy delivery system. Indigenous values and knowledges have much to offer as we reimagine and create the energy system of the future.  

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Ruby Heard CPEng
Director, Alinga Energy Consulting

Ruby Heard is a versatile and ambitious entrepreneur and electrical engineer with global experience and an affinity for sustainability. She began her career with Arup designing electrical and lighting systems for iconic buildings in Melbourne. In 2015 she transferred to San Francisco to follow her passion into the renewable energy sector, designing complex solar arrays and microgrids for Google campuses.

In 2018 Ruby volunteered with Engineers Without Borders on a six-month expedition to support the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees energy team in Ethiopia. On her return to Australia Ruby founded Alinga Energy Consulting. Alinga is a socially conscious engineering consultancy that provides specialist energy services to the commercial, government and NGO sectors within Australia and internationally. Her company has a particular focus on areas where energy accessibility and affordability issues prevent or limit the availability of reliable power.

With indigenous heritage originating from the Jaru people of the Kimberley, Ruby is especially driven to find solutions for Indigenous communities. In 2019 Ruby was recognised by Engineers Australia in their 100 Engineers Making a Difference list and was awarded Young Professional Engineer of the Year in Victoria.

  10.20–10.30 am
The importance of coherence and collaboration in the energy transition

The challenge is to enact change, and the mechanism to achieve that is largely through innovation, new technology and commercial incentives. The risk is that the energy landscape quickly becomes fragmented. The result is confusion, with those seeking to make a change unable to access impartial advice. Given the scale of the opportunity there is plenty of scope for collaboration and cooperation to cut through this confusion, if the regulatory and policy backdrop is right.

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Prof George Tuckwell
Director, RSK

George Tuckwell is the Director responsible for the Geoscience and Engineering Division of companies within the RSK Group and is a Director of RSK Australia. RSK’s businesses have supported clients in the delivery of GW scale renewable, through MW scale industrial decarbonisation projects, to domestic installation of solar PV, batteries and heat pumps. RSK provides clients with full life cycle support for energy transition projects. They also provide strategic and practical support for the measurement and reporting of sustainability and net zero KPIs. George leads RSK’s innovation agenda and strategic relationships with higher education.

  10.30–11.00 am
Morning tea
  11.00–11.10 am
Energy systems in mission critical environments

In mission critical situations the provision of safe, reliable, managed and “easy” power is vital to ensure successful and safe operations. This session will explore the importance of each of these factors and provide real examples where quality power systems are a differentiator. 

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Denis Colbourne
General Manager, genZ

Denis Colbourne has had an extensive national and international career in the technology and communications sectors. Starting in an IT related career as a computer systems engineer he transitioned into the communications field, which then led Denis to genZ. He has been instrumental in establishing genZ as a trusted provider of reliable energy solutions for organisations operating in often harsh environments where reliable communications is critical for safety and productivity. 

Testament to his vision, drive and innovative approach, Denis is now the General Manager of genZ – a leading Australian energy company.

  11.10–11.40 am
The engineering mindset – making change happen

Join Eytan as he explores the challenges organisations face in decarbonising, and how, as engineers, we can be central to creating change-making organisations and deploying a systems approach to problems, especially at a time when it feels like ‘everyone is an engineer’. The session will look at what needs to be done, what levers can be pulled to make change happen and how to bring people on the journey.  

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Eytan Lenko
Chief Executive Officer, Boundless Earth

Eytan Lenko is the CEO of Boundless Earth (Boundless), a non-profit backed by Mike Cannon-Brookes, with the mission of ensuring that Australia is on-track to becoming a renewable energy superpower by 2030. Boundless levers philanthropy, investment and advocacy to accelerate progress on a strategic topic at a time. Boundless has already pushed forward on electric vehicles, home electrification and climate jobs.

Eytan has an entrepreneurial tech and software engineering background. Eytan co-founded Outware Mobile and grew it to become the recognised Australian leader in mobile software development when it was acquired in 2017.

Eytan is currently Deputy-Chair of the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network and former Chair of the internationally-recognised climate solutions think-tank Beyond Zero Emissions. Eytan is also a direct investor and advisor to a number of ambitious cleantech companies.

  11.40 am – 12.30 pm
Communicating the value of engineering for greater influence and impact

Communicating the value of engineering in economic terms and in terms of outcomes for society is a critical enabler for having the engineering perspective heard in a range of strategic, policy and operational decisions related to many matters related to mitigation of, and resilience and adaptation to climate change. In recent history, policy and decision makers have typically not understood the value of engineering well and engineers have typically not communicated the value of engineering well. 

This interactive plenary discussion will explore several experts’ views on how engineers can do this better for greater impact. The session will act as the precursor to the development of a generalised guide that Engineers Australia will make available to engineers to assist them with the conversations they have with policy and decision makers for greater influence and impact.

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Jane MacMaster FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
Chief Engineer, Engineers Australia

Jane MacMaster has worked as an aerospace, mechanical and systems engineer in Australia and internationally, focusing primarily on supersonic flight vehicle design, operations research and rapid prototyping in the defence sector. She has qualifications in Engineering (Mechanical) and postgraduate qualifications in International Relations.  

Jane has previously worked as a senior advisor within the strategy unit of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and as a management consultant in the financial services sector. Most recently she was Founder and Director of Ponder Enterprises, where she used her engineering skillset to address complex societal challenges. Jane also developed a conceptual model and practical techniques for complex problem solving which she taught at universities and to staff from Commonwealth and state and territory government departments.  

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Dr Nick Fleming FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
National President and Board Chair, Engineers Australia

Nick is an experienced non-executive director. In addition to Engineers Australia, he is member of the board of South Gippsland Water and an advisory board member with Infrastructure CoLab. He is managing director of advisory firm, Innergise Pty Ltd, and a faculty member with the Australia and New Zealand School of Government. He is an active thought leader, speaker and author, recognised for his expertise in strategy, innovation and complex problem solving. 

His 30-year professional career spans the infrastructure, natural resources, water, mining, energy, defence, social welfare and education sectors in Australia, NZ, the Americas, Asia and the UK. Prior to establishing his own advisory firm, Nick was the Director of Business Innovation at Jacobs Group (Australia). He previously held global roles at SKM including Chief Sustainability Officer and Technology and Innovation Manager, also sitting on Board committees leading strategy and corporate social responsibility.

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Amy Lezala Zahr FIEAust EngExec
Chief Engineer – Rail, Department of Transport and Planning

Amy has spent her career in rail and has worked in maintenance, design and delivery. She started out in materials and fire engineering, then worked in RAMS and through life engineering. Amy has been in engineering governance for more than five years, bringing together her learned experiences.

Across her career, Amy has focussed on a ‘whole of life, whole of system’ view. She has a passion for sustainability and finding the balance for people, planet and profit.

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Adrian Piani FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
ACT Chief Engineer, ACT Government

Adrian Piani is an Environmental Engineer with more than 20 years’ experience, predominately in the water resources, environmental and infrastructure sectors.

In 2019 he joined the ACT Government as the inaugural ACT Chief Engineer where he provides strategic advice to government on infrastructure projects and supports the engineering cohort through the ACT Government Engineering Workforce Plan. He is a Chartered Fellow and Engineer Executive of Engineers Australia.

Adrian is a proud Canberran and is passionate about the role that infrastructure plays in supporting our wellbeing and quality of life.

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Emeritus Professor James Trevelyan FIEAust CPEng

Emeritus Professor James Trevelyan is an engineer, educator, researcher and recently a start-up entrepreneur. He invented Coolzy, a new energy saving, low emissions air conditioning technology for a global market. 

His research on engineering practice helped define the Engineers Australia professional competencies for chartered engineers. His books The Making of an Expert Engineer and Learning Engineering Practice are influencing the future of engineering education in universities and workplaces. 

He is best known internationally for pioneering research on sheep shearing robots from 1975 till 1993 and for the first industrial robot that could be remotely operated via the internet in 1994, one of the earliest demonstrations of the ‘internet of things’.  

He served on the National Committee for Applied Mechanics from around 1990 till 2000, including a term as chair. He was the founding chair for the National Committee for Mechatronics which he and others set up in 2006, and he served with the committee until 2020. He has also served on the WA Division Engineering Education Committee and is currently secretary of the Engineering Heritage committee in Western Australia.

 

  12.30–1.30 pm
Lunch
  10.30 –10.40 am
EEA: Supporting your professional development throughout your career

Engineering is a profession that requires lifelong learning, especially in light of rapid developments in technology and the challenges presented by climate change. In this brief presentation, find out how Engineers Australia’s training arm – Engineering Education Australia, can help develop and grow your career. 

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Jason Fletcher
Education Manager, Engineering Education Australia

Jason Fletcher leads the Education team at Engineering Education Australia. He has more than three decades of Australian and international experience in education and training across a diverse range of industries and sectors.

  12.40-12.50 pm
The changing face of research: a collaborative impact model

Traditionally research has been seen as something that is undertaken separately and is delivered for particular areas of interest or clients. But the world has changed; there’s now an urgent need for a more collaborative approach to research, one that engages direct with industry throughout the stages. 

Victoria University has a proud tradition of delivering this type of research. The presentation will show how our types of models work, how they enhance research outputs that have tangible impacts, while providing opportunities for industry.

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Celeste Young
Collaborative Research Fellow and Convener Risk, Disaster and Resilience Network, Victoria University

Celeste specialises in collaborative, end user focused research to produce useful and useable outputs for research users. Her research across 20 years has focused on systemic issues such as climate change, natural hazards, diversity and inclusion, the future workforce, and the decision making and systems that support effective actions. Celeste has worked extensively with public and private organisations, communities and advised into government on climate change communication, practice and end user led research. Her work is used by researchers, policy makers and practitioners. 

  12.50-1.00 pm
Why wait for green energy?

Companies should start now with temporary green energy systems while permanent infrastructures are being built.

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Greig Hutton
Business Development Defence, Radlink Communications

Greig Hutton has been involved in the defence communications industry for more than 25 years. Starting as a radio technician to completing a BEng Electrical and Electronic, Greig has had a long history in understanding and designing power requirements for harsh environments. He has joined Radlink to leverage his extensive experience and focus on providing reliable “green energy systems” to businesses and government organisations.

  1.00-1.15 pm
Low carbon fundamentals for engineers

Engineers Australia has formed a working group to report on the fundamental principles behind embodied carbon measurement with good examples drawn from current standards and guidelines. This guideline will be used to inform Engineers Australia and train engineers on the technical calculation and current limitations of carbon measurement embedded in project Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs).

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Nolan Bear CPEng
Director, Costpro Pty Ltd and Lecturer, Swinburne University

Nolan has 35 years' experience leading cost control of billion-dollar complex construction projects including power, minerals and defense.

His roles include 15 years Lecturer in Cost Engineering and Industry Fellow at Swinburne University of Technology, Technical Society Representative to Engineers Australia Congress from 2017-2023, past Chair of the Australian Cost Engineering Society and past President of AACE Australia section.

Nolan is a Chartered Professional Engineer in Civil, Cost Engineering and Leadership and Management.

  1.15-1.30 pm
How to become Chartered
Jerry Andrews
Jerry Andrews AffillEAust
Senior Client Manager - Victoria, Engineers Australia

With more than 20 years of working in client management across multiple continents, Jerry has gained invaluable experience in new acquisition strategy, sales process mapping, customer service, and building long term strategic relationships. Jerry considers himself to be a citizen of the world, having lived and worked in India, Europe and the UAE and now in Australia for the last 19 years.

Jerry enjoys partnering up with business clients, undertaking a comprehensive assessment of their current situation and listening to get a true feel for what they need.

  1.30-1.45 pm
A systems perspective of the transition to EVs in Australia

Taking a systems approach to the electrification of vehicles, this presentation will provide a state of the system view of the EV market in Australia, in the context of the global transformation of the automobile industry – it is disruptive, it is occurring faster than people realise, and the car is no longer the system!

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Thomas Manley FIEAust CPEng
Federal Government Lead / Systems Engineering Advisor, Decision Analysis Services (DAS) / Systems Engineering Society Australia (SESA)

Thomas is Technical Director of System Engineering Society Australia's (SESA), a technical society of Engineers Australia and the local chapter of International Council On Systems Engineering (INCOSE). He has more than 20 years of experience in the Federal Government market, predominantly providing value for Defence, ATO and Home Affairs. This includes time working for Boeing Australia, Thales, Optus and Downer, including five years as Optus' Chief Architect for the Managed Network Services contract at ATO.

Thomas was a founding member of the SESA Telecommunications Working Group, and is now a Co-Chair of the INCOSE ICT (previously Telecommunications) Working Group. Before stepping into the role of Technical Director, he was SESA's Telecommunications and Cyber Security Domain Lead. He authored "Reconciling Enterprise Architecture and Systems Engineering", published in Professional Projects International's (PPI) Systems Engineering Newsjournal (SyEN) in May 2021, and was Lead Author of "Defining Critical Communications Networks: Modelling Networks as Systems", published in INCOSE's INSIGHT Magazine in June 2020. He contributed to Engineers Australia's submission in response to the government's National EV Strategy consultation paper.

Thomas is a Chartered Professional Engineering (CPEng) and is a Certified Systems Engineering Professional (CSEP). He is also Decision Analysis Services' (DAS) Federal Government Lead.

  1.45-2.00 pm
Techno-economic optimisation and evaluation of EV charging profiles for grid-scale network studies

EV integration will strain the grid and demands strategies to meet system-level technoeconomic objectives. An optimisation framework is proposed to reduce grid-peak load by utilising EVs as dispatchable assets and to minimise electricity cost by taking advantage of energy demand and price forecasts. Optimisation strategy reduces risk and increases profitability with early-stage technoeconomic assessments, bringing together operations, pricing and forecasting.

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Dr Muhammad Ali
Application Engineer, MathWorks

Dr Muhammad Ali is an Application Engineer at MathWorks and works closely with Simulink and Simscape customers to understand their business objectives and ensure that they are getting the most value out of our products or services.

Ali has a background in battery management systems, aircraft electrification and microgrids. He did his PhD at UNSW Australia, where he got the opportunity to work on dispatchable inverter control techniques for microgrids, and testing off-the-shelf PV inverters while working on an ARENA funded project.

  2.00-2.15 pm
Car charging demand management for apartment blocks

AIEglobal developed a car charging management system for the upgrading of multi-tenanted buildings. The paper looks at typical vehicle use and thus energy supply needed, the standards used to develop the charging management system, the features created using the current standards and  how the addition of a car charging system affects the maximum demand.

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Charles Esson FIEAust CPEng
AIEglobal

Charles Esson is an engineer with an active 43 year career, using his real time programming experience to develop fresh fruit sorting equipment that dominated the Australian market for 25 years, with many systems exported overseas. Charles is now primarily involved in low and medium voltage power engineering. His academic qualifications include professional engineering, an honours degree in computer science and a graduate certificates in power engineering. He is currently undertaking a Masters in power engineering at UOW.

Charles is currently employed by AIEglobal as principle power engineer. AIEglobal also offer real time programming services for Beckoff Automation products. Recent work in developing distribution designs for high rise buildings has led Charles to the realisation that with the introduction of large volumes of electric cars, the distribution system is facing a serious issue. This has led to the development of the AIEglobal Charger Management Systems and consideration of the impact this load will have on the National Grid.

  2.15-2.30 pm
Developing a spatial index of electric vehicle solar charging potential
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Dr Patricia Sauri Lavieri
Senior Lecturer in Transport Engineering, University of Melbourne

Dr Patricia Sauri Lavieri is a Senior Lecturer in Transport Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and IT and a research fellow at the Melbourne Energy Institute, both at The University of Melbourne. She is an early career academic with an impactful track record on behavioural modelling of user adoption of emerging transport technologies. She has been leading empirical research on consumer preferences and behaviours associated with electric vehicle charging since 2020, delivering projects to major industry stakeholders (e.g. DEECA, Energy Networks Australia and C4NET) and publishing at high-quality scientific outlets.

  2.30-2.45 pm
A hybrid diesel-electric power and propulsion system for commercial vessels

Presenting an innovative plug-in hybrid diesel-electric power system targeting commercial marine applications. The hybrid power system maintains traditional diesel vessel performance characteristics, whilst substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions, noise, vibration and OPEX. The high-performance design was validated in a 43ft commercial vessel used for defence, marine rescue, police, fisheries and other demanding applications.

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Dr Steve Mitchell
Engineering Manager, Ampcontrol CSM

Dr Steve Mitchell is the Engineering Manager of Ampcontrol CSM. He also maintains a position as an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Newcastle. Dr Mitchell has both a Bachelor and a PhD in Electrical Engineering and has co-authored more than 30 international research publications. His career has been built on more than 30 years’ of experience designing innovative electrical and electronic hardware for use in power, mining, marine, rail and research applications. He is passionate about developing technologies for our new energy future.

  2.45-3.00 pm
Decarbonising traction energy in freight trains through battery-electric and partial electrification

The study investigates partial electrification's effect on reducing carbon emissions in freight train operations. The study models emissions of an Australian freight train on a specific route. It then simulates the same route with partial electrification. The results show a 20 per cent electrification decreased onboard energy needs from 10.053 MWh to 4.798 MWh, leading to a notable reduction in battery size and operational carbon emissions.

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Dr Sundar Shrestha
Electrical Engineer - Traction Power, Arup

Dr Sundar Shrestha is an accomplished electrical engineer specialised in railway traction power system. With an extensive working experience in various Australian rail projects, from concept to construction, he brings a diverse background encompassing both industry experience and academic research.

With a passion for sustainable transportation solutions, Sundar is dedicated to making design decision that improve the efficiency, safety, and reliability of railway systems. He also manages research and foresight works that leads toward innovative solution in rail industry. He extends his expertise to design and deliver renewable energy projects beyond the rail sector.

  3.00-3.15 pm
Grid-to-Vehicle (G2V) algorithm with voltage control: a case study based on Monash microgrid
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Soobok Yoon
PhD Student, Monash University
  • BS, Semiconductor Physics, Korea Universit
  • MS, Applied Physics, Korea University
  • KAT-CERN Researcher, Republic of Korea and Switzerland: Future Circular Collider (FCC) Project
  • Master of Sustainable Energy, University of Queensland, Australia
  • PhD, Monash University, Australia: Smart Charging Algorithm
  3.15-3.30 pm
An application of a Victorian transport emissions model

Changes to project evaluation require dedicated tools and techniques to evaluate the environmental impacts of infrastructure. This paper and presentation provide an overview of a transport emissions model developed in Victoria, with an overview of the methodology and example application.

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Finn Gurry
Senior Transport Modeller, AECOM

Finn Gurry is Senior Transport modeller in AECOM’s Infrastructure Advisory group, joining AECOM in November 2019. In his career he has been involved in multiple types of projects, from cost-benefit analyses, to model development, forecasting, and assisting in the integration of a Land Use Transport Interaction (LUTI) model. Finn is interested in solving problems through software, and through project work, past experience and his studies, Finn has experience with Cube, R, SQL, SPSS, QGIS, ArcGIS, Python, VBA, Java and C++.

  3.30-4.00 pm
Afternoon tea
  4.00-4.15 pm
Technical requirements for the safety of hydrogen transportation and storage
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Jason Amiri MIEAust CPEng
Senior Engineering Manager, Nacap

Jason Amiri has around 25 years of experience working for renowned global companies as a mechanical, pipeline and facilities engineering and construction projects specialist. He has extensive expertise in renewable energy and the application of green hydrogen, having developed and implemented sustainable energy solutions over the years.

With a thorough understanding of the latest technology and trends in this rapidly evolving industry and strong leadership skills, Jason is well-positioned to provide valuable advice in the green hydrogen sector. His guidance will contribute to the advancement of a more sustainable energy future.

  4.15-4.30 pm
Water for hydrogen: will there be enough to support the energy transition?

Water plays a crucial role in achieving a green hydrogen economy in Australia. Within the hydrogen production process, water is used as electrolyser feed water and, in more significant amounts, for cooling purposes. Investigating the feasibility of hydrogen production sites requires an understanding of water usage and demand within such facilities, and a holistic assessment of the water sources available. 

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Simone Costello
Graduate Process Engineer (Water), Arup

Simone joined Arup in February 2022 as a Graduate Process Engineer in the water team after graduating from the University of Melbourne with a Master of Chemical Engineering.

Her interests in water and sustainability led her to an industry project at Melbourne Water, and then onto Arup where she has since been involved in various projects in water and wastewater treatment, and increasing investigating water for hydrogen production. She brings curiosity and a drive to solve engineering challenges, especially through collaboration.

  4.30-4.45 pm
H2Pathways: techno-economic analysis of sustainable hydrogen supply chain paths
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Dr Keelan O'Neill
Research Fellow, UWA

Keelan is a Research Fellow in the UWA Fluid Science and Resources Research Group. Keelan’s research focusses on analysing sustainable hydrogen supply chains. This includes developing a web-based tool for modelling the costs and emissions of hydrogen pathways.

Keelan also works on detailed techno-economic studies of hydrogen production scenarios. He previously worked on the development of geophysical sensors (primarily using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)) for downhole logging applications (at both UWA and NMR Services Australia). He completed his PhD in chemical engineering at UWA.

  4.45-5.00 pm
Least-cost system design and operation: a comparative study of PEM, alkaline and solid oxide electrolysers
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Dr Changlong Wang
Research Fellow, Monash University

Dr Changlong Wang is a research fellow at Monash University, specialising in energy system modelling. His contributions to the development of the Hydrogen Economic Fairways Tool have played a crucial role in supporting the Australian Government Hydrogen Hub establishment and facilitating major investments. Dr Wang actively participates in international collaborations, such as the IEA's Hydrogen Implement Agreement Task 41.

  5.00-5.15 pm
Life cycle assessment of conventional and green ammonia production via grid power
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Dr Graham Palmer
Post-doc researcher, Monash University

Graham Palmer is a researcher with an industry background as an engineer and researcher in manufacturing, HVAC and electronics. He has published in the area of biophysical economics, renewable energy, life-cycle analysis, and energy-economic modelling.

Graham obtained his PhD in energy-return-on-investment (EROI) of electricity supply. His current research is life cycle assessment of green hydrogen and ammonia.

  5.15-5.30 pm
Digitalisation driving decarbonisation: digital twins to accelerate hydrogen applications

The hydrogen economy is driving new process development. However, getting new or modified processes to the market rapidly and reliably poses many challenges – particularly if they need to be designed for variable feed rates. Digitalisation, and more specifically, digital twins help to reduce time-to-market for hydrogen applications by enabling rapid and informed decision making.

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Eyoel Tegegn
Senior Consultant – Digitalisation, Siemens Australia

Eyoel is a Senior Consultant at Siemens with a strong background in process engineering and extensive experience in process control system design and implementation. 

Eyoel’s professional passion lies in the realms of digitalisation and industry 4.0. He is deeply interested in exploring how these transformative technologies can reshape industries and drive sustainable growth. Eyoel works closely with organisations to accelerate their digital transformation journey, offering insights and solutions that optimise processes, enhance operational efficiency and align with their sustainability objectives.  

Eyoel holds a Master of Chemical Engineering from the University of Melbourne.

  1.30-1.45 pm
‘Pilbara proof’ waterways: a socio-economic approach to defining design outcomes

A case study from the Manuwarra Red Dog Highway Stage 4 project demonstrating an alternative approach to developing waterways design criteria that considers both site, local and regional context. These criteria resulted in significant construction cost reduction, assisted in stakeholder consultation and endorsement, and ensured a road design that is resilient to current and future regional climatic conditions.

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Lara Parsons MIEAust
Senior Associate Infrastructure Delivery and Strategic Advisory, Jacobs

Lara is a senior engineering and sustainability advisor with extensive experience planning, developing, and delivering remote and urban infrastructure across Australia’s resources and transportation sectors. As an advisor, her focus is on facilitating knowledge sharing and co-design amongst all project stakeholders to help inform resilient, sustainable, and fit-for-purpose solutions.

Lara is skilled at coordinating and communicating multi-disciplinary intent to technical and non-technical stakeholders to ensure successful engineering outcomes are conveyed and accessible to all.

  1.45-2.00 pm
Quantifying the flood and erosion susceptibility Kunhar River basin based on morphometric dynamics integrated with PCA approach

Understanding the morphometric parameters is crucial to investigate the hydrological properties of a river basin. The river basin morphometric analysis is an important technique to prioritise the watersheds for the implementation of soil and water management strategies. In this study, the morphometric characteristics of the Kunhar River have been determined using geospatial techniques. The Kunhar River basin in the northern areas was chosen for the study area because a high-level flood occurred in July 2022. 

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Dr Shan E Hyder Soomro
Postdoctoral Fellow, China Three Gorges University

Dr Soomro was born in small town Daulatpur Saffan, District: Shaheed Banazirabad, Sindh Pakistan. He received his Masters in (MS-Hydraulics and Irrigation Engineering) from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro and Doctoral degree in (Hydrology and Water Resources) from Zhengzhou University China. From July 2022 to up till now, he has been a Postdoctoral Research fellow. His main research direction is climate change, flood forecasting, rivers and lakes, hydrological modelling, urban flood, and climate change effect on fish ecology.

  2.00-2.15 pm
Biochar to store carbon and water: engineering biochar designed for climate resilience in agriculture and mine site regeneration
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Prof Wendy Timms
Professor of Environmental Engineering, Deakin University

Professor Timms is a Chartered Engineer (Civil, Environmental) and hydrogeologist with more than 30 years of professional experience in government, consulting engineering and research. She is Professor of Environmental Engineering at Deakin University, teaching and leading research in carbon storage in porous earth, water-energy nexus, groundwater hydrology and environmental tracers. Her research is funded by the Australian Research Council, the CO2CRC and the Victorian government.

Prior to this, Wendy was at UNSW School of Mineral Resources and Energy, affiliated with the Connected Waters Initiative and Australian Centre for Sustainable Mining Practices. She was a founding Chief Investigator in the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training. She has published more than 60 journal papers,100 technical reports and contributes regularly to independent expert reviews. She is a former Vice President of International Association of Hydrogeologists (Australasia-Pacific).

  2.15-2.30 pm
Coping with climate change in the water industry
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Chris Irvine-Brown
Operations Manager, Binnies Australia

As an experienced process engineer and project manager, Chris has dedicated his 18-year career to the water industry and the delivery and operation of essential infrastructure to municipal and industrial clients. Chris has recently moved into the Binnies Australia Operations Manager role, with the aim of growing the business and delivering sustainable and innovative solutions to the Australasian water market. 

Binnies (part of RSK group) is engaged in every aspect of the water industry and helping clients to efficiently and effectively collect, store, move and treat water and wastewater.

  2.30-2.45 pm
The implementation of subterranean barriers with mine pre-drainage to reduce coal mine methane emissions from open-cut and underground metallurgical-coal mines

An opportunity exists to reduce methane emissions from Australian high-value export, metallurgical coal (MC) mining operations. MC is essential to produce steel, necessary to achieve international urbanisation and energy system transformation goals. We propose strategically planned, subterranean barriers in conjunction with mine pre-drainage to improve mine pre-drainage and safety as well as reduce methane emissions from open-cut and underground mining.

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Prof Raymond L Johnson Jr FIEAust
Professor of Well Engineering and Production Technology, University of Queensland

Prof Raymond L Johnson Jr is currently Professor of Well Engineering and Production Technology at the University of Queensland, Centre for Natural Gas and General Manager of Technical Services for Novus Fuels. He has a PhD in mining engineering, a MSc in petroleum engineering, a Graduate Diploma in Information Technology and a BA in Chemistry.

Prof Johnson is a Life Member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), technical co-chair of the upcoming 2023 SPE Unconventional Reservoir Symposium in Brisbane, past Queensland SPE Section chair, twice co-Chair of the SPE Unconventional Reservoir Conference Asia Pacific, 2019 co-Chair and 2021 Advisor of the URTeC Asia Pacific Conference, and twice SPE Regional Technical Award Recipient (Production Operations and Management and Information).

Prof Johnson has served in numerous technical and management positions in service, operating and consulting companies in the United States and Australia. Prof Johnson is a Fellow of Engineers Australia.

  2.45-3.00 pm
Australian agriculture and mining: a winning combination for carbon sequestration
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Harold Burnett
Managing Director, AgSeq

Harold has spent more than a decade leading project and ops teams at a large mining organisation with experience in driving operational excellence and implementation of transformational technology.

He is a Co-Founder of Foxglove Capital and MD of AgSeq where he is focused on aligning the mining and agricultural sectors to achieve net zero.

  3.00-3.15 pm
International trends in aviation to reach the net zero target

This presentation explores international trends in Aviation and what Australia can do (and what opportunities exist) to achieve net zero. In 2022, member states of ICAO (including Australia) agreed to a long-term aspirational goal of net zero carbon dioxide CO2 emissions from aviation by 2050. This will require numerous groups to converge on their various roles and responsibilities.

Headshot of Jonathan Couldrick FIEAust CPEng NER
Jonathan Couldrick FIEAust CPEng NER
Associate Professor, Australian National University

Honorary Associate Professor within the College of Engineering, Computing and Cybernietics looking at common areas of needs to align defence, industry and academia to solve Australia’s future needs. Jonathan sits on the Joint Board for Aerospace Engineering that manages the collaborative strategy between Engineers Australia and the Royal Aeronautical Society (Australian Division).

His day job is as AIR MSP Portfolio Manager for Nova Systems Australia leading a high performance team of 150 members working primarily in defence. As the Project Director, Jonathan is responsible for developing and executing the program strategy for effective opportunity generation, project management and delivery of services and products. The program is a portfolio of projects that covers numerous platforms across Australian Defence in the fixed wing domain. The projects combine technical skills with an in-depth understanding of what is required to deliver and sustain capability.

  3.30-4.00 pm
Afternoon tea
  4.00-4.15 pm
Developing accessible, greenhouse gas emission estimation tools to inform New Zealand's horizontal infrastructure

User-friendly methods and tools for estimating emissions associated with horizontal infrastructure are required to create change. AECOM has led the development of tools in close collaboration with our clients, driven by a deep understanding for the need of consistency across the industry. We have fostered cross-industry partnerships, conducted research and driven innovation to enable easy implementation and ultimately emission reductions. 

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Luke Elsen
Sustainability and Resilience Consultant, AECOM

Luke is a civil engineer working as a sustainability and resilience consultant to embed sustainability in projects using his knowledge of environmental science and engineering design principles. Luke’s interdisciplinary approach, combining engineering principles with environmental sciences, enables him to address complex challenges related to infrastructure and sustainability. He has worked closely with clients to challenge and improve carbon accounting practices across the industry to ease implementation and deliver emission reductions.

His holistic worldview and understanding of the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of technical challenges guides his advocacy for engineering approaches that contribute to mitigating climate change impacts and promoting a more sustainable future.

  4.15-4.30 pm
Smart integrated water management to response the climate change: a case study
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Craig Hood
Group Leader – Property and Civil, Stantec

Craig is a well-established civil engineer and project manager. Craig has more than 18 years’ experience as a civil engineer in the development industry, currently working as the Group Leader for the Urban/Civil Community Development Business Centre for Stantec (South Coast). Craig has a proven ability in urban design and project management to deliver feasible design solutions and outcomes, working in a collaborative way with stakeholders throughout the design and management process. 

Craig is tertiary qualified in Engineering (Civil), a member of Engineers Australia, a Chartered Professional Engineer (Civil) on the National Engineering Register, has a Diploma of Project Management and committed to further learning and career development. Areas of proficiency include project management, engineering urban subdivision design, business development, resource management, planning legislation and team leadership.

  4.30-4.45 pm
Augmenting Australia’s carbon inventory management in wastewater treatment for better planning
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Rigo Manahan
Process Engineer, Arup

Rigo Manahan is a Process Engineer at Arup with a passion for water and wastewater treatment planning, design and sustainability. Over his four years of professional experience, he has been fortunate to play key roles in projects shaping Australia’s future resilience and sustainability in water.

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Steve Adamthwaite
NSW/ACT Water Business Leader, Arup

Steve Adamthwaite is a Water Business Leader at Arup, a global engineering and design consultancy, where he oversees the water strategy and operations for NSW and ACT regions. He has many years of experience in the water sector, spanning utilities, consulting, and nonprofit organisations.

Steve is passionate about delivering innovative and sustainable solutions for complex water challenges, involving multiple stakeholders, uncertainties and priorities. He has led and contributed to several strategic projects, such as wastewater treatment planning, water security assessment and water infrastructure design. He is also a vocal advocate for mental health and indigenous engagement, participation and inclusion in the water industry. 

Steve holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering from the University of Newcastle and is currently pursuing a Master of Business Administration with a focus on leadership from CQUniversity. He is also a volunteer leader and board member for several water-related associations and charities including WaterAid, Australian Water Association and Engineers Australia.

  4.45-5.00 pm
A confluence of sustainability, circularity, and digital today, for tomorrow
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Tim Mumford FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
General Manager Digital and Innovation, Beca

Tim maintains Chartered and EngExec status, underpinned by 20 years’ experience in digital and sustainability across capital intensive industries, such as transport and infrastructure. Tim’s focus in on the value of digitisation: stemming from a rich experience in digital engineering, government policy and digital assets management.

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Luke Carvell
Manager T&I Digital Australia, Beca
  5.00-5.15 pm
How can adequate geotechnical input improve environmental outcomes through the lifecycle of a project?

Construction projects sometimes fail to identify that significant improvements on their sustainability and environmental outcomes can be realised with good, ongoing geotechnical input. This presentation provides an overview of some case studies where the geotechnical investigation together with geotechnical design, monitoring or more innovative solutions have been used to reduce the overall environmental impact of a project.

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Alex Petty MIEAust CPEng NER
Geotechnical Services Lead – WA/NT, Stantec

Alex Petty has more than 17 years of professional experience working as a geotechnical engineer across the UK, Australia South America and New Zealand and is a Chartered engineer with Engineers Australia. Alex has worked across a wide variety of sectors primarily in the civil space and more recently across the mining industry.

Alex has a significant level of experience in a wide range of geotechnical applications including geological mapping, geotechnical investigations soil and rock stability assessments and pavement design. Alex takes a keen interest in progressing the geotechnical field with innovation and increased sustainability.

  5.15-5.30 pm
Storing atmospheric CO2 in roads by means of biogenic binder technology

This paper presents the development of a new generation of bituminous road binders incorporating a proportion of biogenic (plant grown) material. Plants absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide and store the carbon. If this carbon bearing plant material is processed into a biogenic bitumen component and blended with conventional bitumen this can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of the overall binder. 

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Dr Erik Denneman CPEng
Global Technical Manager, Puma Energy

Dr Erik Denneman is the Global Technical Manager for Puma Bitumen. He leads Puma Bitumen’s R&D program focused on developing ever more sustainable bituminous binders. His team is further responsible for rigorous quality control across Puma’s global supply network. Prior to joining Puma Erik was Director of Technology and Leadership at the Australian Flexible Pavement Association. Erik is a Chartered Professional Engineer based in Melbourne and has previously worked in the Netherlands, the US and South Africa.

  1.30-1.45 pm
A resilient future through intelligent infrastructure

It’s critical for the resilience of communities and economies for infrastructure to get back online quickly, following extreme weather events. This presentation demonstrates cutting-edge climate-smart engineering to deliver intelligent infrastructure, which responds to and leverages nature itself. The response of the award-winning Brisbane ferry terminals to recent extreme flooding demonstrates the success of these concepts for next-generation, accessible infrastructure.

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Arne Nilsen FIEAust CPEng
Aurecon

Arne Nilsen is a leader of Aurecon’s ports, coastal and industrial systems engineering practices, with responsibility for technical leadership in these fields across the group. His specialisations include marine and industrial structures, moving structures and large machines, structural dynamics and fatigue, marine facilities for bulk liquids and gas projects, public ferry infrastructure and coastal engineering.

Arne has recently been responsible for leading multi-disciplinary study and design teams for developments and assessments in the majority of Australasia’s major industrial and commercial ports. A focus on resilience and adaptability of existing and new maritime infrastructure in the face of extreme environmental events such as flooding, storm surge and cyclonic waves; and climate change induced sea level rise has been a feature of his recent work.

  1.45-2.00 pm
Role of nature-based solutions in achieving asset resilience

Nature-based solutions play a fundamental role in increasing the climate change resilience of cities, communities and infrastructure services. Through a series of global case studies, we will illustrate examples of how best-practice nature-based solutions have been applied to deliver enhanced outcomes for asset resilience in our communities.

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Adam Davis
ANZ Technical Practice Lead - Sustainability and Resilience, AECOM

Adam has more than 26 years’ industry experience in sustainability and resilience, using his skills and strengths to help asset and critical infrastructure owners and operators cope, recover and prosper from major shocks and stresses, in particular changing climate conditions. He has completed climate adaptation and resilience projects at local, regional, state, national and international scales, looking at hazards, risk, vulnerability and resilience.

Adam is AECOM’s project director on the Resilient Reefs initiative which has been developed to build the resilience of UNESCO World Heritage listed coral reefs to the globally significant threat of climate change, while also building the reef communities’ ability to adapt to a future of uncertainty.

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Cathy Crawley
Technical Director and Nature Based Solutions Lead, AECOM

Cathy is a Technical Director and is AECOM’s nature-based solutions lead. She draws on her experience in the delivery of corporate sustainability outcomes both as a consultant and executive responsible for implementing strategy within an organisation. From this she has developed a range of skills in leadership, strategy development and project delivery and has deep technical knowledge of the inter-relationships between the natural environment, business needs, and the multiple benefits gained from valuing the environment more holistically.

  2.00-2.15 pm
Sustaining super structures: using climate smart engineering for asset regeneration

Aging infrastructure are being increasingly threatened by extreme weather events. Innovative engineering solutions are allowing businesses to reuse and extend the life of existing structures while enhancing their resilience. This presentation will outline a major port project delivering design life extensions to withstand extreme weather events – a 50-year-old export wharf in Queensland – Australia’s only offshore caisson wharf.

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Scott Collins CPEng
Technical Director, Aurecon

Scott is a Technical Director and the Ports, Marine and Coastal Practice Lead for the Queensland team. Scott is a highly experienced project manager with a track record as a trusted advisor to key clients and leading high performing teams to deliver and solve complex problems and projects for clients. Scott’s technical background is as a coastal, port and maritime engineer who has worked on diverse port and resources projects over the last 16 years at Aurecon.

Scott has experience in the study, design and modelling of coastal, marine and hydraulic processes and structures. Scott has worked on a variety of projects ranging from port expansion feasibility studies, infrastructure immunity assessments, dredging studies, wave load assessments, physical modelling, port layout design, met-ocean studies, breakwater design and coastal process studies. Scott has a proven history of tackling coastal climate resilience projects, complex port and resources challenges and creating innovative and value adding solutions for clients.

  2.15-2.30 pm
Future proofing existing infrastructure
Headshot of Anne Gibbs FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
Anne Gibbs FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
CEO, Asset Management Council

Anne is a Technical Advisor to Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and has developed global disaster resilient infrastructure programs across various infrastructure sectors. Anne has experience in providing engineering disaster aid in the Pacific region and Africa and has worked in South America and Eastern Europe undertaking financial and operational performance improvements for governments and is currently CEO of the Asset Management Council in Australia.

Anne holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering, Graduate Diploma in Municipal Engineering and Management, Masters in Business Administration and Doctorate in Business Management and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

  2.30-2.45 pm
Economic assessment of climate change adaptation for roads
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Amelia Tomkins
Climate and Sustainability Consultant, Arup

Amelia is a Climate and Sustainability Consultant in Arup’s Melbourne office with experience in climate and natural hazard risk and resilience, strategic foresight, decarbonisation and sustainability strategy across the built environment and communities in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific region. Amelia brings a strong commitment to finding holistic, evidence-based solutions that are grounded in stakeholder engagement, to respond to the urgent climate and biodiversity emergencies we are facing.

With a background in sustainability, climate and economics, Amelia is passionate about finding innovative solutions for complex multi-disciplinary challenges to improve both the resilience of the built environment and its contribution to regenerative and thriving communities.

  2.45-3.00 pm
Building resilience through engineering: mitigating climate change impacts on infrastructure
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Mayuran Sivapalan
Managing Director, Adaptus

Mayuran Sivapalan is the Managing Director of Adaptus, a boutique management consulting firm that works with leaders in business and society to solve complex sustainability challenges, improve ESG performance, and respond to the risks and opportunities of climate change. With degrees in environmental engineering and investment finance, he has spent the past 18 years using approaches from the risk and decision sciences to help multinational organisations and government agencies identify and deliver win-win projects that optimise financial return with environmental and social outcomes.

Mayuran currently leads the Modelling and Decision Support function for the Australian Government on the world’s largest climate adaptation R&D program, helping advance technologies to save Australia’s Great Barrier Reef from the impacts of climate change. He has previously held senior leadership, advisory and project management roles with global engineering and advisory firms in the resources, energy and infrastructure sectors across Australia, the US and Middle East.

Headshot of Stuart Cassie FIEAust CPEng EngExec
Stuart Cassie FIEAust CPEng EngExec
Director, Tracey, Brunstrom & Hammond

Stuart has more than 20 years' leadership experience in complex infrastructure assets, holding senior global operational roles in Tier 1 engineering and professional services organisations and a government utility. He has acted as a consultant providing delivery and advisory services to assist large, complex infrastructure owners and developers evaluate, manage and deliver major capital projects and portfolios of sustaining capital projects for ongoing operations.

Stuart has been an advisor to executives across sectors and jurisdictions including government infrastructure, energy and resources, oil and gas, and utilities in Australia, Europe, Africa, Middle East and North America.

  3.00-3.15 pm
A complex systems approach to design for resilience

In an increasingly uncertain future, extreme and black swan events are becoming more common. This can lead to unforeseen, compounding disruptions that affect systems of physical infrastructure, organisations and communities. To design for resilience, a systematic approach should be taken early in the project life cycle to understand interdependencies and the operating context. This can provide insight into the effects of disruptions before they occur, helping to manage risks.

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Thomas Jacquier
Systems Engineer, Shoal Group

Thomas Jacquier is a Systems Engineer at Shoal with experience in requirements and interface management, asset management, and modelling and simulation. He is a first-class honours Graduate in Mechatronics Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Adelaide.

While at Shoal, Thomas has managed interfaces across design stakeholders and geographical locations on a complex rail engineering project, led requirements elicitation workshops with senior project stakeholders, managed requirements through design review gates ensuring traceability and the provision of verification activities, and supported the development of a model-based framework for asset management. He also has experience using MATLAB to conduct data analysis and develop models of aerospace flight vehicle and radar systems.

Thomas is an INCOSE Associate Systems Engineering Professional.

  3.15-3.30 pm
Progressive sediment management using natural infrastructure interventions in Andean coastal environments

Peru, a geographically diverse country, faces the dual challenge of natural disasters and community needs. While extended El Niño events bring urban catastrophe, they offer rural miracles in Andean communities. These events deposit nutrient-rich sediment, enhancing soil and agriculture. This paper explores how historical sediment patterns can optimise agricultural practices, boost resilience and support vulnerable communities. By forecasting future events, Peru can harness these natural phenomena to transform its agricultural landscape and inspire global change.
 

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James Ghent MIEAust CPEng
Sustainability Engineer, Arup

A sustainability engineer and climate change professional who focuses on the use of nature-based solutions to deliver more value to the most vulnerable communities. Currently the natural infrastructure specialist in Peru, James is delivering and supporting the Peruvian government on their journey to a more resilient and sustainable future.

Using the gifts provided by our planet natural infrastructure can teach us a lot about how we can ensure future generations can enjoy the one planet we have been provided.

  3.30-4.00 pm
Afternoon tea
  4.00-4.15 pm
Industrial internet of things for energy assets
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Cyril Thomas GradIEAust
Graduate Electrical Engineer, University of Queensland

Cyril is a graduate of the University of Queensland with a Bachelor (Honours) and a Masters in Electrical Engineering. Over the span of his career he has collaborated across various roles, both in academia and industry. He is excited about the energy transition and is passionate about using innovative practices to achieve sustainability within the energy sector.

  4.15-4.30 pm
Harnessing SCADA and IIoT data for sustainable engineering and business decision-making

The abstract explores the use of SCADA and IIoT data in enhancing sustainable engineering and business decisions. It emphasises the underutilisation of this data in businesses and industry, which limits sustainable choices. Through methods like analysing resource usage and waste, it proves that using SCADA and IIoT effectively can improve sustainability in operations, reduce waste, and foster innovative cross-industry collaboration.

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Ahmed Al Kindi
Control Systems Engineer, GPA Engineering

Ahmed Al Kindi is a driven and enthusiastic professional with a contagious passion for industrial automation and control engineering. He obtained a Mechatronics Engineering degree from the University of Adelaide and has since built a solid foundation in PLC, HMI and SCADA design.

Always seeking to expand his knowledge and skill set, Ahmed proactively integrates control systems with IIOT and IT technologies to remain at the forefront of the industry. Currently serving as a Control Systems Engineer at GPA Engineering, a top-tier consultancy based in South Australia, Ahmed is committed to delivering exceptional results and driving innovation in his field.

  4.30-4.45 pm
Explainability of artificial intelligence models in project waste management
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Mehrdad Arashpour FIEAust
Associate Professor, Monash University

Associate Professor Mehrdad Arashpour is an internationally recognised researcher and educator in the field of construction and civil infrastructure with a focus on automation and information technologies. His research explores generation of building and infrastructure digital twins; infrastructure computer vision and pattern recognition; intelligent automation of design and construction tasks; and integration of project information into visualisation and mixed reality models. He is one of 13 worldwide members of the Working Commission on Off-site Construction (W121) and Infrastructure Task Group (TG91), established by the International Council for Building (CIB).

  4.45-5.00 pm
A feasibility study of monitoring earthfill dam behaviour using remote sensing

This study investigates the use of satellite technologies to monitor earth dam behavior. Through remote sensing analysis employing satellite images and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), the research examines dam settlement patterns over the past six years. The results suggest that seasonal settlement of the dam is negligible in comparison to the total settlement, likely due to the consolidation of the clay core.

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Farid Fazel Mojtahedi
Phd Researcher, University of Melbourne

Farid Mojtahedi is a PhD candidate in the infrastructure engineering department at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on leveraging deep learning (DL) and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to develop an advanced early warning system for geohazards.

With a decade of work experience in various roles, Farid brings a diverse skill set to his academic pursuits. Notably, he successfully established a startup approximately six years ago, showcasing his entrepreneurial drive and innovation. Through his academic and professional endeavors, Farid is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of geohazard detection and mitigation for the betterment of society.

  5.00-5.15 pm
Gmetrik: a digital platform for environmental and costing metrics

Gmetrik is an intuitive technology platform which increases productivity by connecting and integrating suppliers and contractors directly to a ‘live’ collaborative design team. 

During the design process, Gmetrik provides environmental metrics and 'real time' project costings, creating sustainable and efficient designs and removes the ‘re-work’ that occurs when projects are designed.

Headshot of Peter Geoghegan MIEAust CPEng NER
Peter Geoghegan MIEAust CPEng NER
Director and Founder, Geotron Engineering Consultants

Peter Geoghegan is the Director and Founder of Geotron, an engineering consultancy that specialises in designing building structures  and infrastructure by delivering practical yet innovative design solutions to create a better built environment, coupled with personal service and exceptional ethics. As a professional structural engineer, Peter has more than 30 years’ experience within the construction industry including 24 years as a consulting engineer working with both small and large multi-national businesses.

Prior to founding Geotron in 2015, Peter previously held senior management roles ranging from Associate Director to Global Engineering Manager responsible for Australia, China, Asia and the Middle East within a group listed top ASX 200 engineering company. Peter’s diverse experience varies from both large and small-scale developments on award winning projects both nationally and internationally. His expertise includes working with local and large multi-national companies for public health buildings, sport facilities, commercial, low and high rise residential, community and infrastructure, and industrial facilities.

Geotron was announced in March 2023 at the national Consult Australia awards as winner of the 2022 "Small Firm of the Year" and winner of "Small Business Excellence" and a Highly Commended for "Technological Innovation" where Geotron has been developing an intuitive digital application for the Built Environment.

  5.15-5.30 pm
A blockchain enabled water platform to improve the accountability and transparency of the Australian water markets

The Australian water market, hindered by outdated digital systems, lacks full transparency, leading to inefficiencies. A blockchain-enabled platform offers secure, real-time water trade tracking and transaction immutability. Integrated with smart algorithms and IoT data, this platform could position Australia as a global leader in transparent water management, aligning usage with natural availability.

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Bill Robinson
Digital Water Lead – Australasia, Arup

Bill Robinson is a Senior Civil Engineer who is experienced in strategic planning, water resources infrastructure design, resilience and digital transformation. He is the Australasian Digital Water Lead for Arup and has helped the firm to deliver digital water projects for the City of Melbourne, DEECA, DPE and DFAT.

Bill believes that emerging technology has a central role to play in tackling complex global issues brought on by climate change. Working smarter with the goals of spending less, using more with what we have and utilising data for decision making are critical to the future of water scarcity in Australia. Bill’s passion for digital innovation, has seen him work with IBM to develop a discussion paper over the course of several years on the role that Blockchain technology could play in water trading markets. He is committed to shaping a better world by investing his time and efforts into projects and organisations committed to sustainable development and social equity.

He is the current President of Yarra Pools, an organisation setup to improve the Yarra’s (Birrarung) health with the long term vision to make it swimmable. Bill brings first-hand experience in project management, product development, digital transformation, innovation consulting, design and project engineering, facilitating workshops and sustainable development.

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Laurent Lambert
Head of Blockchain, IBM

Laurent is a sales professional with more than seven years’ experience in cryptocurrency and blockchain. Having been one of the early adopters of Bitcoin and numerous other cryptocurrencies, it has enabled him to develop an in-depth understanding about blockchain and how it operates as an immutable, distributed, open ledger for data transaction. He is passionate about the concept blockchain and its possibilities, and strongly believes that this will allow for a complete reorganisation of how business is being conducted.

  1.30-1.45 pm
Climate mitigation integrated in design: creating positive impact through carbon accountability
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Ken Lunty
Technical Director and National Lead – Sustainability, Arcadis

Ken has almost 20 years of sustainability experience advising the private and public sector. His career started with Hyder Consulting focusing on carbon management and climate change adaptation strategy. In 2013, Ken joined a small consultancy specialising in sustainability strategy, life cycle thinking and value creation across the built environment, manufacturing, food and FMCG sectors. As part of the leadership team, the business grew to one of Australia’s largest dedicated sustainability consultancies.

At Arcadis, his focus is moving from the “what” to the “how” for a sustainable future. He is devoted to weaving sustainability into design and engineering processes. Ken’s motivation is to work alongside engineers and designers to realise positive sustainability impact through clear visualisation and storytelling.

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Nicole Liang
Senior Pavements Engineer, Arcadis

Nicole has worked as a civil engineer in Australia for public and private clients focusing on pavements for roads, intermodals and ports. She has been involved in the design stage as an engineering consultant and in the maintenance stage as a technical advisor. She has a Bachelors in Engineering (Civil with Architecture) and a Masters in Data Analytics.

Nicole is interested in making design decisions that are informed by whole of life assessments, and has been investigating the incorporation of sustainable materials and practices into the pavement design process, and how it can extend to other assets.

  1.45-2.00 pm
Realising meaningful sustainability outcomes during design of infrastructure

The purpose of this presentation is to explore the levers we can pull in design of infrastructure projects and identify the effective methodologies used to achieve sustainable outcomes. How can we enable each person, in whatever role they play in design, to consider and design for more sustainable outcomes, and how can we ensure pull-through into delivery and operation?

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Ellen Worthington MIEAust
Manager, Integrated Sustainability, Aurecon

Ellen is an award-winning sustainability leader whose expertise lies in the road and rail industries. She is passionate about driving industry-wide sustainable change and helping clients achieve better project and organisational outcomes from a sustainability and resilience perspective.

Ellen values the delivery of verifiable sustainability and resilience outcomes in planning, design and delivery. She leads teams of sustainability professionals and technical specialists and is responsible for ensuring effective integration of sustainability and climate resilience risks, opportunities and requirements into projects.

  2.00-2.15 pm
Partnering for multiple benefits: Horsham SmartWater Agriculture and Integrated Water Management Project

GWMWater, Agriculture Victoria and Horsham Rural City Council were all facing issues that could be solved by an improved supply of recycled water. The opportunity to address the interlinked issues being faced by each organisation resulted in the Horsham SmartWater Agriculture and Integrated Water Management Project, which would treat and distribute recycled water to multiple locations in and around Horsham.

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Graeme Dick
Manager Strategic Infrastructure Projects, GWMWater

Graeme is a civil and environmental engineer with more than 20 years of experience in consulting, local government and water utility businesses. Working in regional Victoria for the past 17 years, Graeme has delivered several significant rural water supply projects and is now involved in renewable energy and carbon emission reduction projects.

Graeme is passionate about finding sustainable, practical ways to enhance quality of life in rural areas.

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Nathan Harders
Senior Project Engineer, Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water

Nathan currently works as a Senior Project Engineer at Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water. In the Project Delivery Team, Nathan leads the delivery of a range of multi-disciplinary water and sewer projects. With a background in civil and environmental engineering and a Master of Project Management, he is skilled in the coordination of complex engineering across the life cycle of a project. Working in Horsham, Nathan is excited about delivering infrastructure that supports regional communities.

  2.15-2.30 pm
How digital engineering technologies are driving sustainable innovation for emissions reductions

Reducing emissions is a key objective for many industries. System engineering can play a significant role by incorporating sustainability considerations to meet regulatory requirements, reduce costs and improve their environmental performance. This presentation will explore the important steps required to successfully establish digital engineering, including the development of a clear workflow, the selection of appropriate technologies.

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Alex Shin MIEAust CPEng NER
Principal Engineer, MathWorks

Alex Shin is the Principal Application Engineer at MathWorks, a company specialised in providing support to simulation, verification, and deployment projects, especially for commercial purposes. With his extensive experience, he has been actively involved in defining the process for simulation and testing, and implementing Model-Based Design tools in large organisations. Alex holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of New South Wales.

  2.30-2.45 pm
Eliminating the dark side of safety barriers in GHGE reduction vision and mission
Headshot of Jawahar Kumar Murugiah MIEAust CPEng NER
Jawahar Kumar Murugiah MIEAust CPEng NER
Lead Engineer - Instrumentation, Control Automation, Petroleum Development Oman

Jawahar Kumar is a Lead Instrumentation control and automation engineer in petroleum development Oman, with 20 years of experience in capital green field and challenging brown field critical infrastructure projects. He is Chartered Professional Engineer, certified in Functional Safety, PMI PMP and ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Expert. He is ISA 84 and 99 - Cybersecurity standards working committee member and panellist in technical conferences.

  2.45-3.00 pm
Integrating occupational hygiene into smoke control measures to reduce smoke inhalation exposure risks during bushfires
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Adrian Moscoso
Principal Critical Risk and Safety Engineer, Pilbara Minerals

Adrian Moscoso is a safety and risk engineer with more than 15 years of experience leading health and safety initiatives across diverse industries, including consulting, construction, open-cut and underground mining, processing, and oil and gas. With a Master's in Fire Safety Engineering and a Master of Science in Occupational Hygiene Practice, Adrian excels at designing and implementing safety management systems and risk management strategies. He has a proven track record of leading cross-functional teams and delivering successful safety outcomes.

Adrian's expertise in occupational hygiene and fire safety engineering gives him a unique perspective on promoting workplace health and safety.

  3.30-4.00 pm
Afternoon tea
  4.00-4.15 pm
Building resilient communities with socio-technical engineering: case studies from Engineers Without Borders Australia in the Asia-Pacific region

Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Australia works with communities, governments and industry to strengthen social and physical resilience to climate change. Sharing case studies from Timor-Leste, Cambodia, and Vanuatu, EWB will unpack learnings from climate-resilient water projects and latrine design for increasingly flood-prone areas. Their community-centred approach ensures cost-effective, socially impactful solutions, emphasising the importance of engineering for a changing climate.

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Dr Peter McArdle
Chief Engineer, Engineers Without Borders Australia

Peter has a deep understanding of international humanitarian action with experience across the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific His experience includes climate and environment policy, public health, emergency operations, and the protection of infrastructure in armed conflict with the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, NGOs and social enterprise. For his work preparing for and responding to global crises, Peter was Awarded the International Service Medal for ‘exemplary service’ by Australian Red Cross.

Constantly curious and intrigued by balancing diverse perspectives and knowledge, complexity and creative problem solving, Peter holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil), a Master of Peace and Conflict Studies and a PhD in Sociology exploring the social impacts of community conflict and resilience in the face of water scarcity.

  4.15-4.30 pm
Allowing communities to co-engineer network responses to a changing climate
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Sally Busch
Climate Resilience Engineer, Ausgrid

Sally is Ausgrid’s Climate Resilience Engineer and is leading Ausgrid’s Climate Resilience Network and Non-Network Solution development program. They have a background in Asset Management and have extensive experience in developing new engineering processes and asset modelling methodologies for complex assets.

  4.30-4.45 pm
Local community: the missing piece in Australia’s energy transition jigsaw

The current energy transition provides communities (urban and regional) with opportunities to generate their own renewable electricity and participate in demand-side merit order supply. This can support federal and state government emission reduction targets; ultimately net zero emissions by 2050. Community-based systems will generate electricity very close to the point of consumption, reducing the need for investments in large-scale electrical infrastructure.

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John Thomason
Mechanical Engineer

John is a retired mechanical engineer with 35 years of experience in mining and metals. In the last 15 years, he focused on study management specialising in the definition and estimating of remote resource projects for major mining clients. 

John led studies involving electrifying and automating mining sites which inspired his interest in accelerating the transition to renewable energy through electrification in urban settings. John is researching community group structures and objectives that deliver community energy projects where the focus is on education, energy efficiency and self-sufficiency in urban settings.  


 

  4.45-5.00 pm
Building Australia’s humanitarian engineering capability for resilience and social impact

Humanitarian engineering in Australia encompasses engineers practicing effectively across disaster and community development contexts, domestically and internationally, to improve resilience and human wellbeing for all. This presentation will outline the aims, activities and potential of the Engineers Australia Humanitarian Engineering Community of Practice to help develop the capacity of engineers to create local resilience and positive social impact through engineering practice.
 

Headshot of Jeremy Smith FIEAust CPEng
Jeremy Smith FIEAust CPEng
Senior Lecturer, ANU

Jeremy Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Engineering at the School of Engineering at the Australian National University (ANU). Jeremy is the current Chair of the Organising Committee of the Engineers Australia Humanitarian Engineering Community of Practice. He has a long association with humanitarian engineering in Australia including volunteer and staff roles at Engineers Without Borders Australia (EWB-A) and leading education and research initiatives at the ANU in partnership with a range of for-purpose organisations.

At the ANU he conveners the Humanitarian Engineering program and teaches into the Systems Engineering and Environmental Engineering programs.

  5.00-5.15 pm
Future ready infrastructure: learnings from recent extreme events

We examine and present the impacts of extreme events on infrastructure and explore the upstream influences that lead to the and destruction of “grey” infrastructure seen. Drawing on disaster recovery work sector across Aotearoa New Zealand and Western Australia, we posit that investing in nature-based services when planning, constructing and managing infrastructure, could reduce the impact of future events.

Headshot of Rob Kilgour FIEAust CPEng
Rob Kilgour FIEAust CPEng
Technical Executive - Materials Performance, WSP

A strategy-driven business leader and advisor, Rob has more than 20 years’ experience delivering results using technical and commercial knowledge in materials performance, energy management, buildings, and infrastructure development to contribute to climate change adaptation and the energy transition across Australasia, the Middle East and UK.

Rob has an established track record for providing clear, pragmatic advice, insights and solutions to complex problems founded upon a diverse array of experience covering the entire built environment asset life cycle. He is a curious and future focussed thought leader with a commitment to lifelong learning, professional development and continuous improvement.

  1.30-1.45 pm
Australia’s first environmental product declaration process certification

Concrete contributes to 8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2019, Holcim was the first company in Australia to publish an Environmental Product Declaration for its ready-mix concrete range of products, and then went on to be the first to provide carbon neutral ready-mix concrete. This presentation will share my key insights and learnings from the last five years.
 

Headshot of Evan Smith CPEng
Evan Smith CPEng
National Sustainability Manager for Sustainable Construction, Holcim

Evan Smith has more 20 years’ of environmental and sustainability experience within the rail, road, infrastructure, construction and mining sectors. He holds a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering and is also a Chartered Engineer. Evan was pivotal in the delivery of Australia’s first Australia's first Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for Ready-mix Concrete and Australia’s first carbon neutral ready-mix concrete.

  1.45-2.00 pm
How mandating the use of sustainability and safety in design procedures can fast-track the implementation of sustainability in engineering projects

We all understand that our infrastructure needs to be more sustainable, but can we do this on a project? By implementing our “sustainability and safety in design (SSiD) procedure”, we are seeing and sharing many more examples of how our engineers and designers can make our infrastructure safer and more sustainable during the construction, operation and maintenance and decommissioning phase.

Headshot of Melanie Collett FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
Melanie Collett FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER
Director of Technical Excellence, Australia and New Zealand, AECOM

Melanie is the Director of Technical Excellence for the Australia and New Zealand region of AECOM. In this role, she is responsible for the implementation of Technical Excellence across all business lines in the region. By focusing on the teams delivering technical solutions, Melanie provides the leadership required to make technical excellence a priority. Her leadership is instrumental in developing a culture of continuous learning and technical excellence at AECOM.

  2.00-2.15 pm
The journey to net zero: taking advantage of easy wins

Applying circular economy principles to achieve net zero can be overwhelming. In a world with growing green washing, taking steps that stack up and support sustainable momentum is challenging. The journey to net zero: taking advantage of easy wins will build courage to commence emissions reduction, by providing a methodology for identifying, rolling out of easy wins, and setting a roadmap.

Headshot of Renny Chivunga
Renny Chivunga
Senior Engineer - Water, Aurecon

Renny Chivunga is an engineer, pilot, model, sailor and board member. Her experience includes research, planning, treatment, operations and circular economy. She sits on the Advisory board for the University of Newcastle Chemical Engineering Department.

Renny was a finalist for the Women in Industry Mentor of the Year Award and is Australian Water Association NSW Mentor of The Year. She appears on a few achievers making a difference list. She can be spotted in “The Great Gatsby” and both the ABC and City of Newcastle have told her story. She also tutors engineering complexity to students in Newcastle and Singapore.

  2.15-2.30 pm
PAS2080: managing carbon emissions and reducing the environmental impact of infrastructure projects

Since the first PAS 2080 was published in 2016, progress in decarbonising the built environment has been positive, but slow. And the carbon crisis is only becoming more urgent. The 2023 version of PAS 2080 aims for a step change in thinking: no longer a gradual evolution, but an accelerated change of direction, where no build may be the default position. It is intended to drive collaborative working and systems thinking, because we now know that the siloed approach of the past will not deliver the carbon reductions we need in the time available.

Headshot of Matt Colton
Matt Colton FIEAust
Trustee, Institution of Civil Engineers and Director, MCE

Matt is a Chartered Civil Engineer, Fellow of Engineers Australia and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). He is a Trustee of ICE and a member of ICE’s Council representing Asia Pacific members. 

Matt is a Director of Management • Commercial • Engineering (MCE), a leading Australian linear infrastructure advisory business based in NSW, VIC and QLD.  MCE’s team comprise of industry leading delivery directors, program managers, engineering and design managers, systems and safety assurance, schedulers and planners, safety professionals and risk specialists promoting delivering sustainable linear infrastructure for transportation, water, utilities, and energy industries across Australia. 

Matt is presenting the recently updated PAS2080 highlights on behalf of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

  2.30-2.45 pm
Greenwashing: make sure you’re not part of the problem
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Gavin Treseder
Associate Director, Engineering, Assets and Project Delivery, KPMG

Gavin Treseder has a strong background in reliability engineering and asset resilience. Normally you'll find him developing bespoke, predictive models and implementing asset management strategies for ageing equipment fleets across asset intensive industries. More recently, he's been embedded with power clients helping them prepare for the energy transition with robust, defensible investments for an uncertain future.

  2.45-3.00 pm
Engineering boards and committees for successful climate leadership and regenerative outcomes
Headshot of Stacey Daniel FIEAust CPEng NER
Stacey Daniel FIEAust CPEng NER
Director, Board Presence

Stacey is an experienced Non-Executive Director, Board Consultant and Chartered Professional Engineer. She is the founder of Board Presence, author of Fly to the Boardroom: Your Essential Guide to Getting on a Board and was recognised as one of the Australia’s Innovative Engineers in 2020.

Stacey is as an entrepreneur, educator and engineer who develops, reviews and advises on sustainable solutions and strategies for public, private and not-for-profit organisations. She also facilitates and delivers programs to build professional capability, improve performance and support those; aspiring to, sitting on and working with, boards and committees.

Stacey is passionate about professional practice, effective decision making and positive outcomes for regeneration.

  3.30-4.00 pm
Afternoon tea
  4.00-4.15 pm
Sustainable solutions for energy infrastructure

To limit global warming to 1.5°C, and reach net zero by 2050, nations have boosted investment in renewable energy and new transmission. Sustainability must be incorporated in energy projects, to minimise embodied and operating emissions. There are many innovative solutions that can reduce emissions. An increased awareness of these solutions is needed to decarbonise the electricity system.

Headshot of Lara Kruk
Lara Kruk
APAC Substations Technical Director, Jacobs

Lara has 20 years’ experience in transmission/utilities having worked on projects across Australia, NZ, the UK, Iraq and Libya and has undertaken a diverse range of technical and management roles. Lara is the Jacobs APAC Substations Technical Director, working as a Principal Protection Engineer on substation projects, she ensures technical development and knowledge sharing as part of her role as the Community of Practice (CoP) Lead for Electrical Switchyards and Substations and the Global Practice Lead for Protection and Control.

Lara has extensive experience in electrical design as both designer and owner’s engineer on various multi-disciplinary projects including brownfield substation extension and equipment replacements, large transmission network augmentations, greenfield terminal stations for renewable energy connections such as wind, solar and battery energy storage systems and HVDC interconnectors. Lara has a keen interest in innovative solutions and has led the implementation of a client’s first digitised substation using IEC 61850 and has developed a toolbox for sustainable solutions for substations and renewables.

  4.15-4.30 pm
With distributed power comes interoperability
Headshot of Aravind Raju
Aravind Raju
Graduate Consultant, enX

Aravind is a young and passionate renewable energy engineer with a key focus on energy policymaking. He graduated with a degree in renewable energy engineering from the UNSW Sydney. In his honours year, he investigated the current output of perovskite-betavoltaic devices and their applications in low-power sensors.

As an engineer at YOYO Energy and Clipsal Solar, Aravind helped design and organise the installation of AS/NZS compliant residential solar systems. Currently at enX, he helps consult on distributed energy resource (DER) opportunities in Australia. These include behind-the meter interoperability, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and home energy efficiency.

  4.30-4.45 pm
Security-constrained integrated system planning with multi speed allocation offrequency response services
Navy headshot
Saeede Nazari Goldar
PhD student, Monash University

Saeede is an engineer and a second year PhD student at Monash university. Their research explores the techno-economic aspects of the integrated generation, storage and transmission expansion planning of power systems. Saeede is particularly focused on modelling the system security dynamics into the long-term integrated system planning problem as well as studying the adequacy and economic feasibility of the resulting system.

Prior to arriving at Monash, Saeede completed a Masters of Control System Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran and worked for various industries within Australia and overseas. In 2022 they were the recipient of the Zema Energy Studies Scholarship.

  4.45-5.00 pm
Resilience optimisation of a 100 per cent renewable Australian energy grid

Optimisation of energy systems generally ignores high-impact low-probability (HILP) events. A generic approach for modelling energy system resilience to HILP events is proposed. The approach is demonstrated by optimising the configuration of an Australian 100 per cent renewable energy grid to withstand the impact of a 1-in-25-year storm on wind power generation. Targeted, minor adjustments at low costs substantially improve resilience.

Headshot of Harry Thawley
Harry Thawley
Australian National University

Harry Thawley is a final year undergraduate student at the Australian National University, currently completing a Bachelor of Engineering (Research and Development) (Honours) with a major in Renewable Energy Systems.

His research interests are in resilience of systems, grid-integration of renewable energy, solar cells, and optoelectronics. In these fields, he has completed projects in tailoring optoelectronic properties of perovskite by surface-modification for solar cell applications, and characterising resilience in renewable energy grids. Harry continues to build on this research, working alongside Australian National University’s 100% Renewable Energy Group in his honours research – optimising renewable energy grids for resilience.

  1.30-1.45 pm
The role of engineered landfills in transitioning towards a climate smart future
Headshot of Aya Salih
Aya Salih
Senior Environmental Consultant, Bajwa EnviroConsult

Aya is a Senior Environmental Consultant working in the environmental/waste management industry. As an experienced environmental engineer and scientist, Aya has overseen and been involved in projects covering aspects from design, project management, auditing, construction, operation, environmental assessments/monitoring and aftercare management. Aya has also undertaken extensive research in biogas production from organic waste prior to consulting and is currently completing a Master’s Degree in Environmental Law.

Joining Bajwa EnviroConsult at its inception in early 2022, Aya has led and delivered many projects including providing operational support and advisory services for one of Victoria's largest landfills and involving a large infrastructure major roads project.

  1.45-2.00 pm
Renewable biogas via anaerobic digestion: avoiding the pitfalls

Arup has worked on six waste to energy anaerobic digestion facilities in the last five years as technical advisor, owner’s engineer and strategic planner. This presentation outlines common pitfalls in planning, co-digestion, design and operation, and how they can be mitigated to realise the full potential of anaerobic digestion to generate renewable energy and contribute to the circular economy. 

Headshot of Richard Lovett MIEAust CPEng
Richard Lovett MIEAust CPEng
Senior Process Engineer, Arup

Richard brings 15 years of experience in municipal wastewater treatment planning with a focus on solids treatment and reuse, biogas handling and renewable energy generation, and water recycling.

His experience covers project phases from strategic options assessment / planning, design (concept to detailed), tender assessment, construction and commissioning. He was also a key contributor to Melbourne Water’s 2021 Pricing Submission.

Richard is excited by the potential in the water industry for resource recovery and energy generation in support of decarbonisation and the circular economy.

  2.00-2.15 pm
Bamboo and palm oil waste applications within partition-walling: assessing whole-cost elemental alternatives for high-rise developments in Singapore and Malaysia
Headshot of Andrew Whyte
Dr Andrew Whyte FIEAust CPEng NER
Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, Curtin University

Having worked in industrial and academic environments in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, Dr Andrew Whyte BSc PhD FICE FIEAust CPEng NER, Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Curtin University Australia and Professor (visiting) of the University of Aberdeen, has gained a wide-ranging knowledge of construction management, design team integration, whole-life assessment of structures and asset development using local technologies, sustainable methods and low-cost means.

  2.15-2.30 pm
The role of waste to energy in the circular economy

Waste to energy (WtE) fulfills two key aspects. Firstly, it upholds the waste hierarchy by providing a resource recovery solution which is preferable to landfill disposal. Secondly, it treats the inevitable leakage of non-recyclable materials from the circular economy, to facilitate the recovery of energy and other useful resources. This presentation considers the evolving role of WtE in the circular economy.
 

Headshot of Anthony Douglas
Anthony Douglas
Senior Consultant, Ramboll Australia

Anthony is a chemical engineer currently working in the role of Senior Consultant for Ramboll Australia’s Energy division. Anthony has more than 20 years’ experience in various process engineering, project engineering and project management roles.

Anthony was recently a Senior Process Engineer with HRL Technology Group and previously, Phoenix Energy’s Project Engineer during the development of the 460,000 tonne per year Kwinana Waste to Energy Project, now known as Avertas Energy.

  2.30-2.45 pm
A circular economy systems approach to the problem of ‘waste’ for regional communities and beyond

Implementation of a circular economy framework differs substantially depending upon the local area characteristics of where it is applied. Practices successfully employed in a metropolitan area, will not necessarily be economically viable in regional settings. Ensuring that each step in the circular economy framework is developed and new manufacturing supply chains can be truly feasible and sustainable.

Headshot of Dr Tristan Shelly
Dr Tristan Shelly
Senior Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland

Dr Shelley is a specialist in advanced composites manufacturing technologies and targeted sustainable manufacturing methodologies. He also assists in the strategic direction of industry focused R&D programs including bid development and project management, with $58 million in grants awarded within the last 18 months.

Dr Shelley has extensive experience leading industrial collaborative grant funded programs to deliver industrially relevant technological solutions. Dr Shelley specialisation focuses on advanced manufacturing of composite materials, and his focus has recently also been directed toward design of products using problematic ‘waste’ materials.

  2.45-3.00 pm
Carbon negative production of biochar from organic waste using pyrolysis

The circular economy has the potential to playing a critical role in mitigating the impact of climate change. The circular economy is based on the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle, and creates a system where waste is seen as a resource rather than a problem. We will explore how innovative pyrolysis technology enables production of marketable products including biochar and energy that enable waste to become a resource.

Headshot of Andrew Newman
Andrew Newman
CEO, Detricycle

Andrew Newman is Co-Founder and CEO of Detricycle, an Australian based business that has been established to facilitate the delivery of modular resource recovery solutions in Australia. Detricycle is targeting customers generating at least 5000 tpa of plastics and organics wastes that would other be destined for landfill and / or generating methane as it decomposes.

  3.30-4.00 pm
Afternoon tea
  4.00-4.15 pm
Processing end-of-life coated paper products for use as structural materials

Coated paper products such as coffee cups are unable to be recycled through conventional means, due to the waterproof coatings. To divert these waste materials from landfill, they can instead be transformed into polymer-cellulose composites. This research explores the effect of processing parameters on material properties, to aid development of new structural materials. 

Headshot of Dr Matt Flynn
Dr Matt Flynn
Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland

Matt Flynn completed his PhD at Monash University, investigating the structure-reactivity relationship of main-group organometallic compounds. Since then, he has transitioned into researching sustainability in polymers, having worked as a research fellow at LIKAT in Germany working on biobased polymers, and now at the University of Southern Queensland as part of the NO WASTE pilot precinct. Here he is working on developing new methods of utilising plastic waste, with a specific focus on operationally simple processes, particularly for use in regional community.

  4.15-4.30 pm
Timber: from nature to nurture and back again

To support sustainable high density living requires questioning our building materials. Timber can provide one such answer. When timber is harvested from sustainably managed forests, it can play an important role in the transition to a low carbon circular economy. 

Headshot of Quentin Jackson
Quentin Jackson
Aurecon

Quentin is Aurecon’s Australian leader for sustainability providing leadership and management to the sustainability team, as well as technical expertise and advice on sustainability projects. He has a passion for working with diverse teams to deliver projects that achieve practical sustainable outcomes without costing the earth (both environmentally and financially).

He is involved in shaping the built and infrastructure environment from strategy to construction, to post-occupancy evaluation and asset optimisation. He is frequently involved in constructing sustainability rating tools such as Green Star, ISC and has helped develop standards to create a positive change for our environment

  4.30-4.45 pm
Creating business opportunities using data: an analysis of Queensland’s glass waste

Our systematic review highlighted that a barrier to circular economy is business risk aversion due to factors such as inconsistent material quality and lack of available data. To combat this, we have measured the flows of waste glass in Queensland and analysed the viability and longevity of pathways such as recycling into packaging, and sand and cement replacement. 

Headshot of Dr Jessica Feldman
Dr Jessica Feldman
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland

Dr Jessica Feldman is an early career researcher, who is working as part of the UniSQ NO WASTE Pilot Precinct. She is helping to establish sustainable local economies to convert waste streams not currently recovered into value-added products. To do this, Jessica is developing a circular economy model that can be used for a variety of materials including glass, plastics and paperboard to determine optimal pathways for waste and instruct redesign of supply ecosystems.

She is a specialist in use of food bioactives for nutraceutical applications and is a member of the UniSQ Food and Packaging Valorisation research team.

  4.45-5.00 pm
A circular economy for radioactive waste

Internationally, nuclear energy is returning to feature strongly in the clean energy transition. This raises the question – what are the solutions for radioactive waste? This talk will delve into the properties of used nuclear fuel (high level waste), the options for its management, and the technological solutions that can in future deliver a true circular economy.

Headshot of Jo Lackenby MIEAust CPEng NER
Dr Joanne Lackenby MIEAust CPEng NER
Consultant, Frazer-Nash Consultancy

Dr Joanne Lackenby (Jo) has 15 years’ experience in the Australian nuclear sector, the majority at the OPAL research reactor at ANSTO. Here she specialised in nuclear safety, licensing and regulation, and was also involved in the repatriation of radioactive waste from reprocessing. She recently joined Frazer-Nash Consultancy where she continues to provide nuclear expertise, including in radioactive waste management.

Jo is a TEDxSydney speaker and has a mission to increase public understanding of the potential of peaceful nuclear technologies in Australia. She is the past President of the Australian Nuclear Association Inc. Jo holds degrees in environmental and geotechnical engineering.

  5.00-5.15 pm
The circular economy and use of recycled materials for infrastructure assets

The Institute of Public Works Engineering has released its latest best practice guideline, Practice Note 13: The Circular Economy and use of recycled materials for infrastructure assets. It provides the very latest guidance for managers, policy makers, asset managers, engineers, procurement officers and educators on how to implement circular economy principles and increase the use of recycled materials in infrastructure assets. 

PN13 contains industry-led, innovative, best practice information, technical details, materials specifications, environmental and other benefits, circular economy policies and procurement guidelines from around the world. It is supported by a simple three step process to overcome common barriers, as well as user developed tools, look-up tables, case studies and extensive links to further information, industry associations and suppliers. 

PN13 was developed as part of a South Australian industry led project in collaboration with Waste Recycling Industry SA and the Local Government Association of SA. The project was funded by a Green Industries SA fund and contributions from project partners. 

Headshot of Dr Jacqueline Balston
Dr Jacqueline Balston
Director of Sustainability, IPWEA

Dr Jacqueline Balston has been an applied climatologist for the past 25 years during which time she has researched the impacts of climate variability and climate change on agriculture, natural resources, ecosystems, emergency management and the built environment across Australia. She currently works as Director of Sustainability for IPWEA and as a private climate consultant to local, state and federal governments and other organisations nationally.

  5.15-5.30 pm
The role of adaptive reuse in achieving circular economy

Adaptive reuse is one of the key strategies for achieving circular economy in the built environment. Maree will discuss how retaining assets in the current form and uplifting them can reduce emissions from demolition and construction waste and reduce waste. 

Headshot of Maree Marshall
Maree Marshall
Director Waste Management and Circular Economy, WSP

Maree is a Director with WSP showcasing 25 years’ experience and leadership in waste management engineering and circular economy.  She leads a team of engineers, architects, industrial designers and scientists who are experienced in embedding circular economy principles across a range of large and complex developments. These strategies are focussed on resource and waste management and have successfully delivered innovative solutions with measurable outcomes.

Maree's background in consulting, local and state government, means she is well known for her depth of knowledge in resource management and waste systems, including policy and strategy direction. She is also known for her innovative zero waste strategies and for implementable action plans that maximise the use of precious resources. Recent projects of note include Queen Victoria Market, Arden Precinct and Bendigo Circular Economy Hubs. 

Social

Enhance your CSE23 experience. Explore our social program. 

Tours 

Elevate your CSE23 experience with a site tour.

We’ve secured tours of two exciting sustainability initiatives: the Toyota Hydrogen Centre and ReWaste, Yarra Valley Water.

Expand your knowledge and engage with industry leaders, experts and professionals in unique and interactive settings.

Limited spaces available. Secure yours today.

 

  Tuesday 28 November
Toyota Hydrogen Centre
Gate 7 – 494 Grieve Parade, Altona North, VIC

Discover Victoria’s first integrated hydrogen site, featuring an electrolyser, commercial-grade Hydrogen refuelling station and an education centre with live demonstrations.

During this visit, you’ll learn about the potential of hydrogen as a clean energy source and its role in powering vehicles like the Toyota Mirai Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle. This tour will showcase hydrogen as a viable fuel source for transport and energy storage.

Secure your place today and witness the future of sustainable mobility, as Toyota takes a leading role in the transition to a decarbonised future.

Pricing

$55 inc. GST

Requirements
  • Closed-toe comfortable shoes

Your contact details, and car registration number for self-drive attendees, will be provided to Toyota as part of their site access requirements. 

Bus tours depart from the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre at the stated start time. Self-drive attendees must be at the venue by the stated start time. 

Tour 1

Bus: 9.00–11.45am
Self-drive: 9.50–11.00 am

Tour 2

Bus: 11.45 am – 2.30 pm
Self-drive: 12.30–1.45 pm

Book now

  Tuesday 28 November
ReWaste, Yarra Valley Water
525 Craigieburn Road E, Wollert, VIC

Witness the future of sustainable energy at Yarra Valley Water’s cutting-edge ReWaste plant. Operational since 2017, the facility is a pioneer in the Australian water industry.

This tour will provide a first-hand experience on how commercial food water is harnessed into renewal energy to power essential sanitation services.

Situated beside Yarra Valley Water’s Aurora Sewage treatment plant, this facility not only meets its own energy needs but also exports excess energy to the grid.

Secure your place and discover how this waste-to-energy initiative benefits Victoria by reducing landfill and greenhouse gas emissions and why it is a win for business, communities and our planet.

Pricing

$55 inc. GST

Requirements
  • Closed-toe shoes
  • High-vis vest (not supplied, please bring your own)

Bus tours depart from the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre at the stated start time. Self-drive attendees must be at the venue by the stated start time. 

Tour 1

Bus: 9.15 am – 12.45 pm
Self-drive: 9.50–11.00 am

Tour 2

Bus: 12.30–4.00 pm
Self-drive: 1.45–3.00 pm

Book now

5.00–6.00 pm, Wednesday 29 November, Exhibition Hall
Networking

Exchange ideas and build lasting connections at a networking reception designed to facilitate meaningful conversations and provide a platform for you to expand your professional network.

Whether you're looking to collaborate on future projects, seek career advice or simply share your experiences, this is the place to connect with like-minded professionals from a variety of industries.

6.30–11.30 pm, Wednesday 29 November, Palladium at Crown
Engineers Australia Excellence Awards gala dinner

Join us as we celebrate the achievements of the engineering professionals and cutting-edge engineering projects driving Australia forward.

At this prestigious gala dinner, we’ll be announcing the national winners of the Excellence Awards 2023

You can purchase a ticket when registering for CSE23. 

8.30 am – 5.00 pm, 29–30 November, Room 206
Chartered Lounge

We understand the time and effort you put into achieving Chartered, which is why we have an exclusive offer for you.

The Chartered Lounge at CSE23 is a dedicated space for you to relax and connect with fellow Chartered engineers over tea, coffee and light refreshments. While there, you’ll also have the opportunity to meet and network with the Engineers Australia executive team and board who will be regular visitors to the lounge.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Chartered Lounge. Come along to Room 206 opposite the registration desk, and simply let us know your full name to gain access.

Location

The Climate Smart Engineering Conference (CSE23) will be held in Melbourne, Australia at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC).

Find us
 

Our chosen venue is a leading sustainable event destination with environmental sustainability at its heart. MCEC is a signatory to the Net Zero Carbon Events Pledge, as announced at the Global Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland 2021. The pledge commits the industry to achieve net zero by 2050, in line with the targets laid on in the Paris Climate Acord. However, at MCEC, they are going one better, with a commitment to achieve net zero by 2030. Discover more about MCEC's sustainability targets, strategy and key achievements.

Discounted dining

Get 10 per cent off your bill when you dine at participating South Wharf bars and restaurants just by showing your CSE23 ticket!

Transport

When attending CSE23 please consider sustainable transport options such as walking or utilising convenient public transport options available on the doorstep of the venue rather than driving. Visit Public Transport Victoria to find out about Melbourne's public transport options.

Accommodation

We’ve secured preferential pricing for you at a selection of nearby hotels.

Access preferential pricing

These hotels have been carefully selected for convenience and sustainability credentials. 

Book your hotel

 

7 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf VIC 3006 (0.49 km from MCEC)
Novotel Melbourne South Wharf
test hotel 3
  • Direct access into MCEC
  • Complimentary wifi
  • 24-hour access to onsite fitness centre
  • Pillow menu

Sustainability practices

  • No single use plastic amenities
  • Eco-friendly amenities, cleaning products and paper
  • Paper, glass, carboard and plastic recycling
  • Energy efficient lighting
  • Hot water, heating and air conditioning networks insulated against heat loss
  • Sustainably and responsibly sourced produce
  • Cooking oil collected and recycled

 

2 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf VIC 3006 (0.38 km from MCEC)
Pan Pacific Melbourne Hotel
test hotel 2
  • Direct access into MCEC
  • Complimentary wifi
  • Complimentary newspapers
  • 24-hour access to onsite fitness centre

Sustainability practices

  • No plastic bottles – filtered hot, cold and sparkling water available in lobby
  • Energy efficient lighting – LED and sensor lights
  • Recycling – 70 per cent of hotel waste recycled including all fluorescent tubes, light bulbs, batteries and electronic devices
  • Soap Aid – participation in the environmental impact reduction program, with 1664 kg of soap bars collected from guest rooms
  • Sustainable sourcing – local products used whenever possible

 

550 Flinders Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 (0.46 km from MCEC)
Brady Apartment Hotel Melbourne
test hotel 4
  • Complimentary wifi
  • Work desk
  • Full equipped kitchenette or kitchen

Sustainability practices

  • Water wise – water saving shower heads and taps, instant hot water systems, rainwater filled industrial fire water tanks
  • Energy wise – sensor lights, energy saving light bulbs, card-controlled room electricity, Otis ReGen elevators
  • Recycling – glass, hard plastics and paper
  • Urban Skincare co. amenities – post-consumer recycled plastic, EcoPure in all tubes to assist with biological breakdown of plastic

 

509 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000 (0.58 km from MCEC)
Quincy Hotel Melbourne
Quincy Hotel Melbourne
  • Complimentary wifi
  • Rooftop swimming pool

Sustainability practices

  • No single use plastics
  • Green hotel cleans
  • Soap-Aid partnership – eliminating single-use amenities
  • Recycling at property level and through strategic partnerships
  • Commitment to driving efficiencies and lowering footprint
1 Queen Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 (0.87 km from MCEC)
Vibe Hotel Melbourne
Vibe Hotel Melbourne
  • Complimentary wifi
  • Work desk
  • Gym and swimming pool

Sustainability practices

  • No single use plastics
  • Green hotel cleans
  • Soap-Aid partnership – eliminating single-use amenities
  • Recycling at property level and through strategic partnerships
  • Commitment to driving efficiencies and lowering footprint
About Melbourne and Victoria

Set on the shores of picturesque Port Phillip Bay is Melbourne; the city where creativity and innovation come together to deliver great events, exciting places to explore and cutting-edge advancements that are globally acclaimed.

Melbourne is easy to navigate and perfect to explore on foot or via our extensive transport network. It invites you to discover its creative culture, expressed in its food, fashion, events, arts and music scene.

For those wanting to explore further afield, the unique natural beauty of regional Victoria is just a short trip away. Inspiring day trips are waiting to be enjoyed just over an hour from the city centre. Discover some of Victoria’s rugged and dramatic coastlines, unique wildlife and spectacular nature parks, incredible food and boutique wineries, wellbeing experiences and charming regional villages that will really make for a memorable visit.

Melbourne is a convention city. Find out what you can do and experience in Melbourne pre- and post- CSE23 at Melbourne Convention Bureau.

 

Discover the secrets of Melbourne

While you're in Melbourne for CSE23, why not take the opportunity to fully explore one of the world's most liveable cities?

Enjoy Australia's shopping capital, sample our world-class cuisine or take a day trip or two.

 

Explore the beauty of Victoria

Sponsorship

Sponsor Climate Smart Engineering (CSE23) and take advantage of the unique opportunities to explore new markets and strengthen your brand presence at this national event.

All sponsorship packages are designed especially for CSE23. Choose one that best matches the marketing strategy of your company.

Exhibition booths are also available to showcase your products and business to CSE23 delegates during the conference. 

For information on sponsorship and exhibition opportunities or tailored packages, please contact:

Amanda Rodgers
National Manager, Corporate Engagement
03 9321 1716
[email protected]

Meg Purdy
Manager, Corporate Engagement
07 3226 3008
[email protected]

 

Our partners
Supporting partners
Charity partners
CSE23 app
CSE23 mobile app

Make the most of your CSE23 experience by downloading the conference app.

Follow the instructions below to download, and be sure to check out the commonly asked questions to get familiar with the app ahead of the day.  

  1. Download The Event App by EventsAIR for iOS or Android  
     
  2. Enter the event app code CSE23   
     
  3. Click the sign in button and log in with your email address and password.   
    If you’ve registered to attend CSE23, your login details will be sent to you on Wednesday 22 November by [email protected] 

 

Common questions

Before the conference

Search for The Event App by EventsAIR on the App Store or Google Play, or follow the relevant link to download for iOS or Android.

You’ll receive an email from [email protected] containing your personal login details. This will be sent on Wednesday 23 November.  

Often confirmation emails can be sent to your junk mail. Please search your junk folder for an email from Engineers Australia.   
  
If your ticket was purchased on your behalf, it’s possible the email may have been sent to the person who purchased the ticket.  

If you still can’t find your login details, contact [email protected] to have your details sent again, follow the app instructions printed on your ticket, or visit the registration desk at the conference. 

Once you have successfully logged into the CSE23 app, click on ‘Privacy and settings’ and select the information you wish to exchange with other conference delegates.  

To make the most of the networking opportunities available, we suggesting sharing your: 

  • name 
  • title 
  • company 
  • email address 
  • phone number 
  • profile picture – need to upload a photo? Click on the ‘My photo’ icon on the app home screen 
  • social media profiles.

If you’ve opted-in to share this information, only your full name, title and company will be made publicly available in the attendees section.  

Information such as your phone number and email will only be shared with attendees whose connection requests you have accepted.   

Yes. You have the option to create a tailored conference program.  

You can add sessions you would like to attend by selecting ‘Add to favorites’ when viewing sessions and functions in the ‘Program’ section of the app. These sessions will then automatically appear in ‘My program’.   

If you have pre-registered for any functions at CSE23, they will automatically appear in ‘My program’.  

During the conference

You can connect with attendees by sending connection requests through the ‘Meeting hub’.  

  1. Click  ‘Meeting hub’, scroll through the attendee list and select the person you want to connect with. 
  2. Click the green invite icon to request connection.  

The selected attendee will receive a notification to accept this request. If accepted, you’ll be able to access their contact details, use the chat function and arrange meeting invites. 

Alternatively, you can scan the Digital Business Card printed on the back of your ticket or located in the app by using the in-app camera.  

  1. Go to ’Meeting hub’, click on 'scan'. 
  2. Select 'Scan and connect' to open the camera and scan the attendee’s QR code.     

At the end of the conference, click on ‘Export’ within the Event connections function to send a list of all your new connection’s contact details straight to your inbox. 

After the conference

At the end of CSE23, click on ‘Export’ within the ‘Meeting hub’. Enter your email address to export a list of your new connection’s contact details straight to your inbox.