Welcome to the last edition of Engineering News for 2022. As the year ends, Engineers Australia would like to thank members for your continued support. This article will look back on the achievements of Queensland members and committee groups in 2022, and their contributions to the engineering profession and community.
This year over 150 events were delivered for Queensland members and the engineering community. The team increased its reach into schools delivering and participating in a range of activities from careers fairs to standalone STEM events. Engineers Australia Queensland also advocated for the profession and industries through participation in various forums and meetings with government officials.
“I was fortunate to engage with members at all of our Regional Forums this year, in Cairns, Rockhampton and on the Gold Coast, along with many other local events,” Queensland President Marie Gales says.
“For the first time in Queensland Committee’s history we also had a higher representation of women on the committee than men. As we head into 2023 the committee will be 50:50. A great outcome.”
This year Engineers Australia Queensland has been able to collaborate and connect in-person again. It has been brilliant to continue those strong relationships with members. Engineers Australia would like to thank you for being a part of the progress we’ve made this year.
Some activities Engineers Australia Queensland is particularly proud of are:
Members supporting students. Across several events the team offered a ‘sponsor a student’ ticket option. This idea came from one of our regional volunteers. Five regional International Women in Engineering events took up this initiative and invited high school students to join their inspirational breakfast events. We also ran this initiative for our flagship Young Engineers Executive Breakfast. Having students and high school teachers at these events was a wonderful experience for all and is something we will look to build on in 2023.
Recognition of our members. Across the year we found many opportunities to celebrate the achievements of members. We celebrated our volunteers, office bearers, chartered members and those who achieved Fellow and EngExec at regional level. We also celebrated our award winners. Several Queensland members received national recognition this year. In case you missed the announcements these included:
- Merryn York – Honorary Fellow
- Mal Shephard – Engineering Associate of the Year
- Amy Phan – Young Electrical Power Engineer of the Year Award 2023
- Daniel Lambert – Professional Environmental Engineer of the Year 2022
The Queensland team held roundtable discussions and participated in various forums on matters related to the Olympics and Paralympics, sustainability, energy, resource recovery and more.
Building on the report, ‘Barriers to employment of Migrant Engineers’ Engineers Australia Queensland collaborated with Consult Australia and the Queensland Government on the development of a guide for employers. In advance of the release of this document we co-hosted ‘Queensland’s Global Engineering Talent’ event, bringing together more than 60 overseas qualified engineers all seeking new or better engineering opportunities with companies that were looking for engineers and were open to employing global talent.
In November the inaugural Ipswich Networking Event took place and Member Engagement Manager, Angel Morrison met with Hervey Bay/Maryborough members with a view that more activities will happen in both these regions in 2023.
On behalf of Engineers Australia, we provided a letter of support to the University of Queensland and Griffith University on their proposed Australian Research Council Training Centre for ‘Enabling a Climate Resilient Future for Water-Intensive Industries’. If successful this will allow Engineers Australia to take a leading and proactive role contributing to training needs of PhD students and professionals of the industry.
In 2023 Engineers Australia Queensland will:
- Continue to focus on providing support to migrant engineers (and work with industry and others on this).
- Work to deeply engage with members on topics of interest.
- Continue engagement with regional members.
- Support members with engineering education school outreach opportunities.
- Work to ensure activities have speaker diversity and gender balance.
Engineers Australia’s holiday shutdown period will run from Wednesday 22 December 2022 to Friday 6 January 2023. During this time our office will be closed and there will not be any events held.
We wish you all the best over the holiday period and into 2023.