Since our last edition of Global rEAch in May, we've seen some significant highlights and progress on key initiatives in Engineers Australia. I’d like to take this opportunity to provide updates on four major areas:
1. Engineers Australia and Government:
Our Victoria Division was honoured to host Australia’s Prime Minister, the Hon. Malcolm Turnbull MP, at the Engineers Australia Melbourne premises on Monday 6th June, as part of an event to celebrate young innovators and encourage the promotion of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). This was a significant opportunity for Engineers Australia to lend our platform to the promotion of STEM and an innovation-focused Australia – issues which are important to the future of engineering in our country and which will add considerable value to our relationships with other countries, especially in Asia Pacific.
With the upcoming Federal Election taking place this weekend (2nd July 2016), Engineers Australia has put together an overview of the federal parliamentary parties’ views on the five key issues that affect our engineering profession (education and skills development, skilled migration, infrastructure, defence and industry policy, and energy). The overview can be found here. For our Australian members, we hope this document will assist you in making an informed decision as you contribute to our country’s next step into its promising future.
2. Engineers Australia and Industry:
As many international members are aware, Engineers Australia is hosting our inaugural Australian Engineering Conference 2016 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from 23rd - 25th November.
Since the last edition of Global rEAch, we have confirmed a strong program with a fantastic line up of speakers, covering topics from four big industry sectors: Defence, Infrastructure, Transport, and Energy, underpinned by the themes of Leadership and Innovation in Engineering.
We are also especially pleased to be profiling an international case study on Qatar and the role of engineering and infrastructure planning in driving the modernisation and internationalisation of an entire city, as well as a case study on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is a strategic, political and economic initiative to create a new model of growth from Asia to the Middle East and Europe.
We encourage you to visit the conference website and consider coming to Australia for the conference. Please contact our International Manager, Phoebe Tan [[email protected]] for details on a special international member rate.
3. Engineers Australia and our Neighbouring Countries:
In May, Engineers Australia welcomed an announcement by the Australian and Singaporean Governments on a new Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) between the two countries. The CSP includes commitments on mutual recognition qualifications of professional engineers, which will greatly enhance mobility for our Australian and Singaporean members. We believe the support from both governments will bring greater value to the Mutual Recognition Agreement that we signed with the Institution of Engineers Singapore in July last year.
In June, we hosted a delegation of ten young engineers from the Hong Kong Institute of Engineers. Our relationships with sister institutions from around the world form a significant part of our international activities, and it was a delight to meet the young engineers and also HKIE President, Mr CC Chan, again following an initial meeting in Hong Kong in March.
4. Engineers Australia and our International Membership:
Engineers Australia team members Ben Leaver and David Pointing visited our Asian chapters in May to spend time with our chapter committees, visit campuses of Australian universities (including the faculty and student groups) and to meet with various industry partners. It was a fruitful trip and resulted in a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Engineers Australia and Curtin University Sarawak, which will see our Malaysia Chapter support the university’s strong engineering cohort with student membership and professional development opportunities.
I am delighted to report that our international membership numbers have increased by around 10% in the past twelve months. This is testament to the great work of our overseas chapters’ committees, working closely with staff, engaging with international student graduates and Australian engineers around the world, and positioning us for strong international growth into the near future.
As we work towards the realisation of our vision to be a "global home" we will continue to strengthen our relationships with government, industry and our neighbouring countries, and to develop initiatives for our international members that will add value to each of your engineering journeys. I welcome your feedback, suggestions and comments via our International Manager, Phoebe Tan [[email protected]].
Kind regards,
Stephen Durkin FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER IntPE(Aus) APEC Engineer