Image supplied by: Dr Cris Birzer MIEAust
This will be my last President’s message for a while as I head to Nepal for two months. I’ll be going there working for RedR and with the World Food Programme (WFP). In my time away Niki Robinson will take on all my responsibilities as Division President.
As many of you know, on April 25th this year, a 7.8 Mw earthquake hit Nepal. The next day there was an aftershock measuring 6.7 Mw. On the 12th of May a 7.3 Mw earthquake, followed minutes later with a 6.3 Mw earthquake hit. The death toll for all these quakes is almost 10,000; with injuries of almost 30,000. The infrastructure damage is similarly horrific, although you can rebuild infrastructure.
On Friday the 24th of July, RedR Australia emailed its members about a Field Team Leader position in Nepal. I applied and was contacted on Wednesday the 29th of July to say I had the job. I’m writing this message on the 3rd of August and will be flying out tomorrow on the 4th of August. (I have previously deployed with the Australian Defence Force to East Timor and the Solomon Islands. In both cases, there was months of time to get everything organized. The ADF are pretty good at their job, so I congratulate RedR in their management and organisation of logistics.)
I admit that I’m excited to be going. I get to use my skills and help those who are very much in need of support. I will be posting and tweeting what and when I can, so what I’ll write here is about other opportunities we have as engineers to volunteer.
I am an engineer because someone inspired me a long time ago about engineering. I am not an astronaut and nor do I want to be, but that was the initial “spark”. Rather, during my studies and career I found other aspects, ideas and concepts about engineering that kept me engaged. Different people, different stories and different perspectives of engineering have helped me. I assume many of you were inspired to do engineering as well. Unfortunately, the number of students taking up engineering does not reflect how amazing and inspirational the profession can be. We need more engineers promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics to the wider community. We need you to help.
Three of the SA Division Committee members; Andy Milazzo, John Olson and John Beynon, with the assistance of General Manager Renae Leverenz and her staff, have been working diligently on improving the way Engineers Australia engages with school students. Subsequently, we are encouraging members to volunteer with Scientists and Mathematicians in Schools. This Program (run by CSIRO) is an opportunity to assist school teachers in long-term, one-on-one scenarios. We also encourage members to get involved in EngQuest – Engineers Australia’s very own school engagement program, which also needs engineers to assist in guiding students in the ways of engineering! The Division is also in discussions with the Speakers in Schools program has been re-launched recently. You should hear more about that soon, but they will need industry representatives to provide inspiration to school students.
Alternatively, we also have Canstruction in September. Basically, in a team, you design and construct something out of unmodified food cans. The food cans are collected by schools and your team. The designs are displayed at Wayville Showgrounds during the Royal Show. Initially, I questioned the purpose of this event. Sure, it promotes engineering as a very popular event. Sure, it displays the creativity of engineering. It even engages with the students who collect the cans, but I still didn’t get it until I was told that the cans go to Foodbank to help feed the homeless. Therefore, it is an event that helps feed Adelaide’s hungry, but also promotes engineering, engages with schools and the general public, highlights engineering creativity as well as provides a great team-building activity.
It is difficult to comprehend that 90% of a city can be destroyed by an earthquake (although I will see that when I start working in Chautara). It is sad to think that there are people in Adelaide going hungry for a lack of food or money. It is baffling that more students don’t want to be engineers, since it can be such an inspiring profession. However, we know these facts to be truths, and we know that as a community and profession, we can actually help fix these problems. Obviously we can’t do everything, but we can do something.
Dr Cris Birzer MIEAust
Division President