Engineers contributing to our every-day lives have been recognised in the announcement of the 2015 Western Australia Individual Awards.
Dr Walter Green FIEAust CPEng was announced as the WA 2015 Professional Engineer of the Year. In announcing the award, the judging panel acknowledged Walter's significant contribution to industry and community, not only in WA but across the globe. Walter continues to be a pioneer in the field of communication networks, developing new methods and innovative design solutions to problems.
Current job title and function?
Director, Communications Experts Group Pty Ltd
Why are you an engineer?
I enjoyed building things with my meccano set and then became interested in finding out how things worked. This led to other interests including aircraft and jet engine design, and the design and construction of electronic circuits and devices. Engineering was a natural choice and my degrees in Telecom and computer engineering have been a very useful combination in today's world.
What are you working on now?
Creating and implementing the best practices for the design and construction of fibre networks to satisfy community needs as well as emerging telecom regulatory challenges. This includes making the best use of new technologies in the design, management and operation of networks.
Many of the mistakes made in fibre networks 20 years ago are still being made today and there is need for a number of improvements in order to cut costs and improve the flexibility of services.
Most challenging or interesting project you’ve ever worked on?
The most interesting series of projects was developing computer software to replace manual or paper based engineering design methodologies. Creating a "Certification" procedure was essential to convincing sceptical engineers (of all disciplines) that computer software was better and as safe as existing manual methods.
The most challenging project was developing design procedures for telecom and building management systems for high rise buildings, when the need to integrate the two technologies was poorly understood.
What do you see as one of the biggest issues facing the engineering profession?
Creating university engineering curricula that provide a broad based practical engineering foundation and the specialist knowledge areas to cope with today's engineering challenges.
Changing the recognition and registration of engineers to cater for the multi-disciplinary engineering needs, and especially the expertise in the development and certification of software.
What inspires you?
The creative and entrepreneurial spirit in people and the way they use engineering to build their dreams.
If you could have worked on any engineering project throughout history, what would you have chosen?
To have been a member of Sir Frank Whittle's Jet Engine development team. The creation of the mathematical formulae, engineering knowledge and material compounds were a phenomenal challenge.