Engineers Australia's National President, Mr John McIntosh, and CEO, Mr Peter McIntyre, share feedback on their visit to the Asian Chapters in September 2017.
During a recent trip to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong we met with local engineering institutions, industry and academic representatives to explore opportunities for further collaboration between Australian and Asian engineering professionals. This included meetings with the Malaysia and Singapore High Commissions and the Hong Kong Consul-General to maintain the strong relationships between us as collaborative partners, and in particular to discuss how the Free Trade Agreements can facilitate the mobility of engineers working in Asia and Australia.
It was also a pleasure to meet with many EA members and Chapter Committees - we now have around 6,000 members overseas, many of whom are in Asia. We heard from our overseas members how it can be difficult to access the full breadth of EA’s resources. This is something we also hear from our members in the more remote parts of Australia - it is not practical to regularly attend EA events when you live away from the major cities. This feedback reinforces EA’s determination to become a more customer-focused and modern organization with a comprehensive digital offering to enable all members, wherever they are based, to access our extensive resources.
We met with local and international engineering institutions such as the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM), who EA supported to be accredited in the Dublin and Sydney Accords. Other institutions where EA has strong partnerships include the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM), Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES), Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers (HKIE).
We are also very pleased to continue to have a good relationship with Australian government bodies represented in Asia such as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Austrade. Both are very engaged with EA and are keen to continue to grow this strategic collaboration through activities such as knowledge sharing and contributing to position papers.
Another highlight was seeing how active and enthusiastic our Asian Student Chapters are, as they represent the future of the engineering profession. Our international team in Australia and Malaysia are continually supporting their growth and ensuring the quality of graduates is maintained in campuses both in Australia and their campuses overseas. The team also provides guidance to the students and faculty members on their professional journey, from student membership to becoming a Chartered Professional Engineer.
Overall, the visit to Asia proved to be very fruitful and engaging. We will continue to strive to increase our presence in the region through the invaluable work of our overseas chapter committees and our strategic partnerships with various industry, tertiary and government bodies.
Peter McIntyre John McIntosh
Chief Executive Officer National President
Engineers Australia Engineers Australia
To view photos from the visit, please visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/engineersaustralia/sets/72157687373677180
Main photo courtesy of Institute of Engineers, Malaysia.