News
| 02 February 2023

Newcastle student gains engineering work experience through Engineers Australia network

Growing and strengthening the pipeline of future engineers is one of Engineers Australia’s key priorities and will be a critical consideration for the Australian engineering skills shortage.

Our strengthening the engineering workforce report highlights that the development of an engineer begins early. As early as primary school we need to build awareness of engineering in students and get them excited about the profession.

One of the actions for industry identified in the report is to help strengthen school students' engagement with the profession by providing work experience opportunities to school students interested in engineering.

Last year Engineers Australia Newcastle were approached by Gary Sewell of Regional Industry Education Partnerships (Training Services NSW) on behalf of Callaghan College, to help place a year 12 student, Nadar Alkaysi, for work experience in civil engineering.

Reaching out to our industry contacts in Newcastle, Engineers Australia was able to help facilitate a one week work experience program for Nadar at two engineering companies, Wilmot Pipelining and CoEng.

Nadar spent time at both Wilmot’s and Co Eng’s Cardiff offices, getting exposure to practical engineering problem solving as well as using computer modelling software.

Nadar’s time in work experience reinforced the importance of his continued skill development in mathematics, which is his favourite subject.

Engineers Australia Newcastle’s General Manager Helen Link said Nadar seemed convinced he wanted to pursue civil engineering as a career, so the organisation is looking forward to following his journey.

“Using our network at Engineers Australia is a real strength. Placing high school students like Nadar into work experience enables them to get immersed in the profession and fosters excitement about a career in engineering.”

“We are grateful to Wilmot Pipelining and CoEng for giving back to the next generation of the engineering profession and would encourage more engineers and companies across Newcastle to do the same,” Link said.

Engineers Australia are often approached to place high school and university level students for engineering work experience opportunities. If you or your business would be interested to provide these kinds of opportunities for students in Newcastle please contact [email protected] and the team will keep you in mind for future opportunities.