Engineers engage parliament to discuss the future of Tasmania Thursday, 16 June 2016

Image: Parliament House, Hobart, Tasmania

Key engineering industry had the opportunity to discuss the future of engineering in Tasmania with 17 state parliamentarians at the recent Engineers Meet Parliament session hosted by Engineers Australia.

Opened by the Hon. Matthew Groom MP, Minister for State Growth, the session focused on the importance of engineering in the economic and social development of Tasmania, and the key findings of the Workforce Development Strategy (WFDS); a project undertaken by Engineers Australia, Tasmania and funded by Skills Tasmania.

Mr Stephen Durkin, Chief Executive Officer, Engineers Australia provided the keynote at the session discussing the future of Australia’s economy and the state of the engineering profession.

“In the future Australian economy, occupations requiring technical expertise will continue to increase”, said Mr Durkin.

Mr Durkin went on to praise the engineering profession in Tasmania, saying; “Tasmania has many examples of high calibre engineers and engineering projects, including Dr Jane Sargison, the 2012 National Professional Engineer of the Year, VEC Civil Construction which is providing services into Queensland, and Revolution Design and Incat which are designing and manufacturing fast-speed wave piercing catamarans internationally.”

He also raised the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education across Australian schools.

“The number of Australian maths students is falling and in 2014, there were two-times more science bachelor degrees completed compared to engineering bachelor degrees, which is the reverse compared to countries such as Germany and Singapore”, said Mr Durkin.

Dr Vicki Gardiner, General Manager Tasmania, Engineers Australia presented the key findings of the WFDS.

“The historical engineering vacancy trends indicate we are in a down-turn, but there is an increased demand for civil engineers”, said Dr Gardiner.

“The preliminary findings of our Workforce Development Strategy have discovered that Tasmanian engineers work in a global environment and are deeply integrated into sophisticated supply chains.

“We have seen the emergence of the para-professional and the vocation-based ‘Associate Engineer’ is in demand by many Tasmanian supply chains.

“There are currently no courses offered for para-professionals in Tasmania.”

Expanding on Mr Durkin’s presentation, Dr Gardiner said the path to becoming an engineer starts at school. “In Tasmania, we are seeing a positive focus on STEM in schools, but poor connection with further and higher education.

“Diversity continues to be a challenge and the pathways into the industry need expanding.”

Upon reflecting on the session, Dr Gardiner said the discussion with the key stakeholders concentrated on the need to combine part-time study and work opportunities for young Tasmanians, including cadetship programs and the current barriers to implementation.

Dr Gardiner said parliamentarians were very engaged about the need to promote STEM subjects at secondary school.

“We need to better articulate to students what a career in engineering could look like and link it back to STEM.

“This also includes a rethink of the language we use when promoting engineering to appeal to students who ‘want to change the world’ as well as those who ‘want to build bridges and roads’.

“We need inspiring teachers who are able to teach STEM subjects to a high standard to allow an easier transition from high school to university maths”, said Dr Gardiner.