Engineers Australia Western Australia wrapped up another successful year of celebrating Australian Engineering Week (AEW), full of interesting events!
Each year, this event is held to celebrate the engineering profession and its significant and valued contributions to our daily lives. We had events to suit engineers at all stages of their careers; from students choosing what to study, to professional engineers wanting to further their knowledge.
The official launch of AEW 2015 took place at the Art Gallery of Western Australia on Monday 3, with Young West Australian of the Year 2014, Dr John van Bockxmeer. John is an Emergency Department doctor dedicated to improving the health of all Australians and is heavily involved in his charity Fair Game, which helps mentor and foster positive change in remote Indigenous communities through the donation of recycled sports equipment.John inspired the audience by sharing some of his own stories, in the hope that they might cause the audience to reflect on their own actions. The main themes of John’s speech were; purpose, innovation and rusty tin cans.
On Tuesday 4, Engineers Australia and the Society of Petroleum Engineers co-hosted a half day seminar, “Looking through new windows; a discussion of the shifting landscape in the WA oil and gas sector.” With a room full of enthusiastic oil and gas professionals and university students, a panel of guest speakers spoke about their fields of work and the advancements in the oil and gas sector. The panellists included Professor David White from the University of Western Australia, Liz Lindahl of Wood Group Kenny, Lawrence Fletcher of Chevron, and Shaun Gregory of Woodside.
On the evening of Tuesday 4, over 200 students and their parents enthusiastically gathered together to attend the ‘Student Night’ hosted at Scitech. Leon Smith, Scitech’s star presenter guided budding future engineers through the solar system and recordable known universe in the Planetarium with his presentation ‘Spaced-out Engineering.’ Engineers, ranging from an aeronautical engineer in the air force to petroleum engineers, gave interesting accounts on their day-to-day jobs and their journeys to date. University representatives were also on hand to tackle questions about what the faculties have to offer prospective students.
Mid-career engineers attended a fully-booked sundowner panel discussion on Wednesday 5, hosted by the College of Leadership and Management. A panel of engineers with 8 - 15 years’ experience discuss their approaches to deepening and broadening their technical expertise or accepting roles which demand that they develop more managerial and leadership capabilities. Daniel Meunier of Jacobs, Ellen Coates of BHP Billiton Iron Ore and Chris Tyler of Pritchard Francis hared their reflections on what was beneficial and what was not, their successes and regrets and what they might recommend to others as they reflect on their own journeys.
Before we knew it, it was the end of the week; the Cocktail Party was in full swing on the evening of Friday 7, in the foyer of QV1 amongst the sculptural hub that was Canstruction®. Guests were entertained by a string quartet from the Perth Symphony Orchestra, as they eagerly awaited the announcement of the Canstruction® champions for 2015. Fluor took out the awards for ‘People’s Choice’ and ‘Structural Ingenuity,’ for ‘Fluor’s Legendairy Milky Way’. Water Corporation received the award for ‘Judge’s Favourite’ and ‘Best Use of Labels,’ with ‘Stella, The Hunger Busting Rosella’, and Hatch was recognised for ‘Best Meal’ with their entry, ‘The Diver.’
The WA Division would like to thank its Principal Partner Worley Parsons, as well as all the Division Partners and Supporters who help make this week possible. We’d also like to thank everyone who participated in AEW 2015, and we hope it was an enjoyable week for all.
Engineers Australia WA Division