2013 Annual ReviewEngineers Australia Sydney Division

Sydney Division

Photo Credits: © Jon Lee, Ian Barnes Photography, Damith Herath

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Full title

Contents

This Annual Review 2013 includes the following:

National President’s Report ...........................................4President’s Report ...............................................................6General Manager’s Report .............................................7Division Committee ...........................................................8Membership Statistics ......................................................9Engineers Australia Medal Winners ........................ 10Division Events .................................................................. 11

Excellence Awards .............................................................. 11Australian Engineering Week ........................................ 12Fellows’ Luncheons ............................................................ 13Discover Engineering Days ............................................ 14CELM CEO’s Breakfast ....................................................... 15Young Engineering Leaders Reception .................... 15Honeywell Engineering Summer School ................ 16Autumn School of Engineering .................................... 16Engineering Careers Expo............................................... 17Education and Assessment Forum ............................. 17

Industry Relations ............................................................ 18Group Reports .................................................................... 19

Regional Groups .................................................................. 19College Branches, Panels and Committees............ 22Special Interest Groups ................................................... 27

Technical Societies ............................................................. 29

Sponsors .............................................................................. 34

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National President’s ReportDr. Marlene Kanga FIEAust CPEng FIPENZ NPER RPEQ FAICDNational President Engineers Australia

As a long standing member of Sydney Division, I have been proud to be National President for 2013. My election as National President was an achievement that broke a drought of 22 years. The last National President from Sydney Division was Prof. Martin Thomas in 1991. My strategy as National President in 2013 was two-fold: firstly to lay the foundations for a contemporary organisation via the first general regulations and secondly to envision a new future while focusing on the core purpose and values of Engineers Australia – to be highly relevant to the engineering profession, both members and non-members, for engineering education and professional development and to make all Australians aware of the importance of engineering to the nation. The achievements of 2013 have been wide-ranging and exceptional and will greatly determine the direction and pace of change so necessary for Engineers Australia and our profession.

An important milestone was the passage of the first general regulations after extensive consultation, laying the foundation of open, equitable and accountable governance for the entire engineering team. We explicitly developed a vision statement, stated our leadership values and expectations for our office bearers and established a recognition program for their contributions. We also commenced a review of our strategic priorities for 2014-17.

Engineers Australia was managed efficiently and effectively with approximately $45 million in revenues and $32 million in reserves. Council monitored performance via the Chief Executive including the progress made with priority organisational programs. A comprehensive Workplace Health and Safety program was implemented throughout the organisation for staff and office bearers, a key priority for me.

This implementation of new technology and management information systems enabled many efficiencies including the launch of electronic newsletters for all divisions and streamlining of communication protocols for events. Technology has also enabled the launch of “eChartered” – the ability of members to become Chartered online, resulting in a large increase in the numbers registered to more than 6000. Communication technology including video conferencing was initiated and is now in widespread use by staff and office bearers, saving valuable time and travel costs.

The national call centre improved services to members with prompt responses to every call and tracking and closure of queries using a case management system. In engineering education, we began a

process of engagement with tertiary institutions at various levels: with faculty, students and graduates. The “Strength” campaign engaged chief executives of major engineering organisations, to speak publicly on the benefits of membership and being Chartered, a triumph which demonstrates our growing relevance to and relationships with engineering corporations.

Our voice on engineering matters, a key member aspiration and part of our core purpose, was heard during the year with increasing numbers of media statements and inquiries. Our leaders were positioned for media access and were featured widely. A number of position statements and submissions were made to the government on issues such as skill shortages and the de-engineering of public works departments.

Our external profile was enhanced by strong growth in conferences and events. Planning is well advanced for a successful national convention in November 2014. I led and won the bid to host the World Engineers Convention in Melbourne in 2019, our centenary year, and are now well-poised for a stellar celebration.

Importantly, we forged alliances with related institutions, including Engineers New Zealand, after a gap of many years, and various science institutions in Australia, enhancing our clout in debates relating to engineering in Australia and internationally.

During the year I continued to advocate for innovation in engineering. I believe that innovation in engineering and manufacturing will be the driver for greater productivity and economic growth for Australia. I was Chair of the Engineers Australia Innovation Task

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National President’s Report

Force in 2012, which produced a report with recommendation for supporting innovation in engineering, and continue to promote these.

I also continue to advocate for an inclusive profession which includes more women, migrant and indigenous engineers. The Career Break Policy which I introduced in 2008 is now part of the regulations and is being adopted by other engineering institutions around the world including in the revised legislation in Queensland. New policies now support women and younger engineers to become Fellows and the number of women who are Honorary Fellows has increased by more than 100 percent. Inclusiveness also extended to our international members who had their

first member day in Singapore, and first meeting of the Asia Chapter Chairs. A young engineers group was established in Hong Kong. Our international members will soon receive the same support as members in Australia.

I also spoke widely on the importance of systematic approaches and governance structures for disaster risk management with the increasing incidence of bush fires, floods and other natural disasters around Australia. I chair an international committee, using my personal resources, for capacity building for disaster risk management, especially for developing countries.

In Sydney Division, I was proud to deliver the Harrick’s Address as part of Australian Engineering Week and attended the education and strategic planning workshops.

2013 has been an important year for Engineers Australia. The organisation has been re-shaped to better serve the members, the profession and the nation. However this is just the beginning and there is much more to be done. I hope that the work will continue in the coming years. This is vital for Engineers Australia, the engineering profession and the nation.

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President’s Report

John Nichols BE(Civil) FIEAust CPEngPresident, Engineers Australia Sydney Division

Welcome to our Annual Report for Engineers Australia Sydney Division for 2013. As a member based professional organisation, representing approximately 22,000 individuals (in Sydney Division), covering forty four areas of special interest, we span a wide ranging portfolio of endeavour. Within this wide range of interest, there are many areas of professional commonality, purpose and achievement that are the focus of our ambitions and efforts. This report is intended as a brief summary of both the people who have contributed and the results they have achieved in the pursuit of the improvement and development of their profession. This year has been both a busy and successful one for Sydney Division in the fields of promotion of the engineering profession, membership growth, provision of Continuing Professional Development, Government Relations and encouragement of an inclusive profession.

Activities to promote the profession to the community at large include, among many initiatives, Australian Engineering Week. Australian Engineering Week is a national program conducted in the first week of August each year to highlight the people, the work and the achievements of the Engineering Profession. In Sydney Division we conducted twenty seven separate events, with the week launched at the annual Harrick’s Address featuring our national president, Marlene Kanga speaking on Engineering Innovation and the week closing with the Women in Engineering Winter Gala Dinner at the Park Hyatt Hotel.

The importance of engineering and its value and contribution to society was illustrated in the Engineering Excellence Awards Sydney program culminating also in a spectacular black tie gala dinner, this time at The Star. The profession recognised its achievers and its achievements and emphasised the continuing vital and indispensable role of engineering in shaping and improving our civilisation.

We continued to promote future membership growth to prospective members at local universities, and possible future members in NSW secondary schools with our Discover Engineering days, the Autumn and Summer Engineering Schools and an appeal to young potential engineering minds with the Great Engineering Challenge.

To increase our membership within the ranks of existing qualified engineers, we launched our membership strategic growth program “Strength” to increase membership penetration among engineers who work in our profession but haven’t yet committed to our mission. The “Strength” program is part of a co-ordinated national membership improvement program utilising our existing valued members.

We continued to deliver value to our members with engaging Continuing Professional Development programs across each of our forty four technical and special interest groups with many events still provided with free attendance to members. We also hosted invited eminent speakers on key note engineering topics as part of a national speaking program and we strove for greater technical delivery through consolidation of our Board of Engineering Practice.

During the year we encouraged an inclusive profession with rewarding activities with Young Engineers, Women in Engineering, migrant engineers, our reconciliation program, and the holding of two successful Fellows Luncheons at the epicentre of local political debate: the NSW State Parliament House.

We continued to develop our contacts and influence within the State government arena in areas of infrastructure, planning, heritage and professional registration. While concerned primarily with our own state, we also ensured a consistent national approach through our participation and co-operation with the other eight Australian geographic divisions through both face to face and electronic conferencing.

In summary, Sydney Division of Engineers Australia has had an engaging and successful year in pursuit of creating a stronger, vibrant and relevant engineering profession. We look forward to the challenges of the future and we relish the prospect of continuing our work of shaping, propelling and improving our people, our nation and our destiny.

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I commented in last year’s report that the future for Engineers Australia looks even more promising. A national focus on improved member services, communication and advocacy has strengthened the value proposition of membership and the “Strength” campaign is starting to deliver the growth we aspire to as the peak engineering professional body. We have achieved some really great outcomes to support this national approach over the past 12 months.

Arguably one of the most important member services offered by Engineers Australia is Continuing Professional Development. Special thanks once again to all the panels, regional groups and technical societies for their tireless efforts in organising and delivering our CPD activities. They have been highly productive throughout the year with over 250 presentations, site visits etc. attracting more than 5,000 members delivering over 10,000 CPD hours. Our new communications platform has had its teething problems especially for Regional Groups and with the member preference options becoming available early in 2014 we should have higher opening rates and higher registrations.

To connect with the pipeline of potential engineers we run a highly successful student outreach program through the Honeywell Engineering Summer School (currently in its 26th year) focusing on regional students and targeting female students. The Autumn School of Engineering is in its third year and targets metropolitan students. Discover Engineering Days have been run for a number of years by the Education and Assessment sub committee for Years 10 and 11 metropolitan high school students. Regional Discover Engineering Days were held in Wagga Wagga and Wollongong. The Annual Education Forum with the University Deans and TAFEs provides a great opportunity for Engineers Australia to collaborate with these educational institutions over the content of

engineering courses.

With excellent support from members we have continued to run a highly successful series of high quality events such as the showcase of engineering excellence in the Engineering Excellence Awards Sydney and the Powerhouse Museum Exhibition. The Careers Expo conducted with Young Engineers Australia Sydney continues to attract high numbers. Australian Engineering Week during the first week of August was full of exciting activities and events. Our National President Marlene Kanga delivered the Harrick’s Address on Innovation. However we still need to look at better ways of engaging with the community in what engineers do for society. Social media is a very effective way to engage. Our Facebook “likes” during Engineering Week were the highest across all Divisions and we also had the highest “hits” on the Make it So website for events during the week.

The CELM CEO Breakfast was held for the second year and the presentation by Prof Ed Blakley on the “Lessons from Katrina” were compelling and inspirational. Women in Engineering and Young Engineers Australia continue to run very exciting events with the trivia night in Australian Engineering Week, the excellent speakers at the Young Engineers Leadership Reception and the WIE Gala Dinner, being just a few examples of these exciting events. The Fellows’ Luncheons continue to provide valuable networking and an opportunity for young engineers to engage with experienced engineers through the CELM Sydney sponsorship program. The November Fellows was a standout with the highest attendance ever and the highest number of new Fellows presented with their certificates.

As I reported last year our revenue income is highly dependent on sponsorship and in the current economic climate sponsor dollars have proven to be very difficult to acquire. This has dramatically impacted on the ability of a Women in Engineering and Young Engineers Australia Sydney to deliver their usual programs. Sponsorship for the Engineering Excellence Awards Sydney reduced severely in 2012. We did

General Manager’s Report

Steve Finlay FIEAust CPEng FIPWEAGeneral Manager: Engineers Australia Sydney Division

not see a change in 2013 and sponsors did not come back to support our activities.

Congratulations once again to National President Marlene Kanga for her leadership in 2013 in achieving her vision for Engineers Australia to be relevant to every engineering professional and to promote engineering in the community. It is significant that the National President for 2014 will also come from Sydney Division and the Division Committee looks forward to working with Alex Baitch to continue strengthening the relevance of Engineers Australia nationally and globally.

Engineers Australia cannot achieve what it does without the volunteers who do so much to promote the profession of engineering and the benefits that engineers deliver to society. Awarding the Engineers Australia Medal to Keith Bashford, John Brett and Jim Vickery in 2013 is recognition of that outstanding service to the profession.

It has been a pleasure to work with all of you during 2013 and especially the Sydney Division Committee under the excellent leadership of President John Nichols. We in the Division Office look forward to continuing to provide excellent member service and assist you with all the things that you do so well.

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2013 Division Committee

The Division Committee determines the strategies of Sydney Division in pursuing Engineers Australia’s objectives, provides leadership and direction to Sydney Division groups, division office bearers and division volunteers, and liaises with the division staff. Sydney Division committee also provides advice to Council on behalf of the members of the Division, and monitoring of the division on behalf of Council. Additionally Sydney Division Committee is responsible of providing a public voice for Engineers Australia within the Sydney Division.

Committee MemberMarcus Moore

MIEAust

Committee MemberJulie Mikhail

MIEAust

Committee MemberBruce Howard FIEAust CPEng

Committee MemberLeila Sadler

MIEAust CPEng

Committee MemberMichael Myers

FIEAust CPEng EngExec

Committee MemberJonathan Barnes

GradIEAust

Past PresidentBrendyn Williams MIEAust FIPWEA

Committee MemberHannah Mahony-Hayes

GradIEAust

Committee MemberChris Skinner

MIEAust CPEng

Committee MemberTed Tooher

FIEAust CPEng EngExec

National Deputy PresidentProf Alex Baitch

HonFIEAust CPEng

Deputy PresidentAlexandra Meldrum

FIEAust CPEng

Committee MemberMichael LucasMIEAust CPEng

Committee MemberNorm Himsley FIEAust CPEng

Vice Deputy PresidentJohn Stornelli

MIEAust CPEng

PresidentJohn Nichols

FIEAust CPEng

Engineers Australia Sydney Division is governed by the Sydney Division Committee

Committee MemberProf Veena Sahajwalla

FIEAust CPEng

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Grade 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012 – 13 %incr last yr

Graduates 3,086 3,000 3,018 2,951 2,759 -6.5%

Members 7,843 8,075 8,185 8,352 8,480 1.5%

Fellows (& others) 1,296 1,309 1,333 1,322 1,324 0.2%

Sub total 12,225 12,384 12,536 12,625 12,563 -0.5%

Students 7,372 7,794 8,351 8,841 9,417 6.5%

Total 19,597 20,178 20,887 21,466 21,980 2.4%

Membership Statistics

Engineers Australia Sydney Division currently serves over 22,000 members, in metropolitan and regional New South Wales

Sydney Division Membership Statistics as at 30 June

17,000

18,000

19,000

20,000

21,000

22,000

Sydney Division Membership

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Engineers Australia Medal Winners

Jim Vickery MIEAust CPEngJim Vickery has been a long standing volunteer with with Sydney Division. Jim has received the Engineers Australia Medal in recognition of his service for the Division through his extensive college work, Engineering Excellence Awards Sydney judging, being the Chair of Mechanical Branch and membership work with the Education and Assessment Sub Committee. Jim has been a strong advocate for the Discover Engineering Days.

John Brett MIEAust CPEng John has been an Engineers Australia Office Bearer, Deputy Chair of the Quality in Engineering Panel and member of Australian Society of Defence Engineering Committee – for ‘quiet achiever’ support and participation for over 4 decades, including as part of the Quality Panel Committee for over 30 years, an unofficial mentor to many more-junior EA Members, and passionate about engineering.

Keith Bashford FIEAust CPEng (Retired) Keith has been a foundational member of the Centre for Engineering Leadership and Management (CELM) since it was created in 2002. Without Keith providing quiet leadership and administrative backbone, CELM would not be where it is today. Keith has also been a judge on the Engineering Excellence Awards Sydney for many years, a volunteer at the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering, and was interviewed as part of the Engineering Heritage project.

Engineers Australia Medal recognises meritorious service at the divisional level by an individual or group to achieve Engineers Australia’s goals in the interests of the profession.

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Engineering Excellence Awards20 September 2013

The winners of the highly coveted 2013 Engineering Excellence Awards Sydney were announced on Friday 20 September highlighting the industry’s capacity for creativity and innovation through the achievement of ground-breaking accomplishments.

The awards celebrated a broad range of projects from medical devices and software, to infrastructure developments and robotic systems.

Hosted by Engineers Australia, Sydney Division, over 450 engineering professionals gathered at The Star Event Centre.

Taking home top honours with the Bradfield Award, recognising highest overall achievement, was the Computer Aided River Management (CARM) Project by the State Water Corporation with joint entrant Water for Rivers.

The judges recognised the sustainable solutions implemented as part of the $65 million upgrade of infrastructure and operational processes throughout the Murrumbidgee River System. In addition CARM won the Excellence Award for Engineering for Regional Communities and received a highly commended in the category of Software and Embedded Systems.

CSIRO with joint entrant Catapult Sports received the prestigious President’s Award, recognised for its revolutionary technology that is able to eliminate current limitations in GPS poor environments in order to track elite athletes; fulfilling a growing need by coaches and broadcast media for accurate results.

Dr Bronwyn Evans was awarded the Professional Engineer of the Year award. As Senior Vice President of Global Quality, Clinical and Regulatory for Cochlear Ltd, Dr Evans has had a critical role as the leader of a team of 90 engineers and scientists in ensuring the safe and reliable application of Cochlear implants around the World.

Matt Barrie, CEO of Freelancer.com, the world’s largest online outsourcing marketplace which connects over 7.3 million professionals globally was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year award. He is also and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney where he teaches Computer Network Security and Technology Venture Creations.

Division Events

Major events organised by Engineers Australia Sydney Division during 2013

Division Events

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Division Events

Australian Engineering Week5-10 August 2013

Australian Engineering Week started on Monday 5 August, with the ANSTO Discovery Site Tour held at Lucas Heights. Attendees were able to take a tour and receive an insight of the role nuclear science, technology and engineering plays in the development of life saving medicine, climate change research, engineering materials and national food security.

The renowned Harrick’s Address took place in the evening of Monday 5 August, at the AGL Theatre, Museum of Sydney, where Dr Marlene Kanga, National President Engineers Australia, lead a discussion on how an innovative culture can be developed and the importance of both engineering and new technology in commercialising innovations for the benefit of Australia and its economy. The Harrick’s Address also included the announcement of the finalists of the National Photographic Competition.

The Great Engineering Challenge took place on Tuesday 6 August, at UNSW. This has been the most successful challenge to date with 47 teams comprising of year 10 and 11 students from across Sydney, with a fantastic improvement of female student participation! The day comprised of three challenges with the winners being Newington College, Moriah College and James Ruse Ag HS, however the grand overall winner was Aquinas Catholic College. Also, The Regional Great Engineering Challenge was held on Thursday August 8, with 50 teams and 200 students. The overall winning team was from Macquarie Anglican Grammar School, Dubbo.

A Migrant Engineers Workshop was held on Tuesday August 6, which aimed to provide ‘Job Seeking Strategies’ for migrant/overseas qualified engineers and improve their chances in securing employment in the Australian Engineering industry.

The Next Step – Careers Presentation sponsored by Hyder Consulting was held later that evening. We had Jenny O’Donovan from Engineers Australia, Paul Stewart from Randstad, Jacob Grech from Hyder Consulting and Sina Tanielu from URS: some of the best in engineering and HR to help answer questions relating to resume building, internships and interview skills.

The Australian Engineering Week Forum ‘All You Wanted To Know About Energy But Never Dared To Ask’ took place on Wednesday 7 August, at the Museum of Sydney. This featured an expert panel of speakers including Mr George Maltabarow, Dr John Sigar, Dr John Harries & Professor Tony Vassallo. The panel took questions from the audience and insightfully debated the topic of ‘Energy’.

The Engineers Breakfast sponsored by EEA was held on Thursday 8 August, at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Keynote speaker was Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla, Director of Sustainable Materials Research & Technology (SMaRT@UNSW) who invented an award-winning process for recycling plastics and rubber tyres in steelmaking. She spoke about the innovative technology now being used around the world.

There were also 7 other site tours held during the week including: Sydney Harbour Pylon, RAAF Base Richmond, Sustainable Buildings Research Centre, St Mary’s Recycling Plant, Olympic Drive Bridge, CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science and CSIRO Australian Astronomical Observatory.

The Young Engineers Australia Sydney (YEAS) Trivia Night was held in the evening of Friday 9 August, at Paddington RSL. This was a great youthful outlet for raising money towards the inspirational cause ‘Engineers Without Borders’ (EWB). The night saw some impressive costumes as teams battled it out to be the ultimate ‘Trivia Champions’ with the theme ‘Geek Chic’.

The week ended with the Sydney Women in Engineering Winter Gala Dinner at The Park Hyatt on Saturday 10 August. The black tie affair was a celebration of women in engineering and was officially the closing event for the 2013 Australia Engineering Week festivities.

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Division Events

Fellows’ Luncheons15 March and 15 November 2013

Engineers Australia Sydney Division organised 2 Fellows’ Luncheons at the Parliament House in 2013.

The March Fellows’ Luncheon was hosted by Mr Craig Baumann MP, with guest speaker Dr Adi Paterson, and special guest Professor Mary O’Kane, NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, and 155 Sydney Division Fellows and their guests attending.

We welcomed 16 new Fellows into Engineers Australia Sydney Division in March. The New Fellows welcomed at the Luncheon were: Matt Barrie, Brian Butturini, Livio Chiarot, Ty Christopher, Peter Gemell, David Hind, Nagendran Loganathan, Peter Longstaff, Wayne Miggins, Damian O’Connor, Adi Paterson, Michael Rigby, Dr Gregory Roger, Samuel Samra, Prof David Taubman and Marek Tomaszewski

The guest speaker, Dr Adi Paterson, Chief Executive Officer – ANSTO, and Professional Engineer of the Year 2012 shared views on how engineering might change over the next 40 years, and drew on examples from the last 40 years to illustrate how rapidly engineering has developed as an engine of innovation. He indicated that in the next 40 years the intersection between living matter and engineering – beyond the traditional approach to bio-medical engineering – will be where some of the most interesting and challenging areas will develop.

The March Luncheon was closed by Alexandra Meldrum, Sydney Division Deputy President, who delivered the Vote of Thanks.

The November Fellows’ Luncheon was hosted by Mr Craig Baumann MP, with guest speaker The Hon Chris Hartcher, and special guests Andrew Humpherson, Chief of Staff to NSW Minister for Resources and Energy, and 225 Sydney Division Fellows and their guests attending. We welcomed 61 new Fellows into Engineers Australia Sydney Division in November 2013.

The New Fellows welcomed at the Luncheon were: Mazin Al-Husari, Dr Timothy Aubrey, Peter Bailey, Michael Berriman, Alan Betts, Alexander Bidanov, Paul Blanchfield, Dr Andrew Botros, Ian Bowie, Antonio Caristo, Adj Prof Paul Carter, Dr Nicholas Cerneaz,

John Douglas, Sam Ebeid, Kamal Fernando, Prof. Stephen Foster, David Gamble, Shane Geha, Katharina Gerstmann, James Graham, Dr Anthony Hasham, Paul Hewitt, Henry Holdsworth, Kevin Hunt, Michael Irrgang, Gregory Ives, Ramswarup Jayant, Gurusamy Jeyaprakash, Dr AHM Kamruzzaman, Andrey Kandic, Grainne Keaney, Dr Azam Khan, Mulavana Lakshmy, Dr Huntley MacGregor, LTCOL Andrew McGeehan, John Merrick, Dr Cynthia Mitchell, Shahrzad Moghadassi, Robert Monaci, Robert Nadj, May Ngui, John Nuttall, Luke Palfreeman, Dr Keyurkumar Patel, Elias Petroulias, Michael Quigley, Satinder Randhawa, Ataur Rahman, David Ronksley, Peter Sackett, Nagarajah Senthilrajan, Peter Spry, Anna Squire, John Stornelli, Kaniyur Sundareswaran, Krste Taseski, Prof. Graham Town, Henk Van Den Heuvel, Robert Vuksic, Graham Wall and Brendyn Williams. The guest speaker, The Hon Chris Hartcher, Minister for Resources and Energy, Spoke about the nation’s influential engineering innovators Sir William Tyree and Sir Edgeworth David. The Minister emphasised how the Engineering sector has always worked hand in hand with other industries, namely the two within his portfolio: Resources and Energy. The Minister also made reference to one of the greatest feats of engineering in the Energy Sector – the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme. The Minister concluded with acknowledging the need for additional innovative engineers to create solutions to the rising technical difficulties within the Energy and Resource Sectors. The November Luncheon was closed by Alexandra Meldrum, Sydney Division Deputy President, who delivered the Vote of Thanks. For some years, CELM Sydney has been ssponsoring a selected number of young and women engineers to be guests at the Fellows’ Luncheon. Of the numerous applications received, selection is based on a demonstrated contribution to the engineering profession and to the community, demonstrated engineering leadership and demonstrated management skills. For the March luncheon, CELM sponsorships were received by Claudia Novati, Almut Pohl and Jonathan Barnes. Maria Pinto and Anna Paradowska were the CELM Sponsorship recipients in November 2013.

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When the students were not captivated by our presentations they were given the opportunity to partake in different activities that helped them learn more about engineering as a future career path. Activities on the day included an Education Hub with ambassadors from University of Sydney, University of New South Wales, University of Technology, Sydney, Macquarie University, University of Wollongong, TAFE NSW, Defence Force Recruitment, BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal and BlueScope Steel.

Students also were given the opportunity to try their hand at some engineering of their own by competing in a ‘Crash Barrier Competition’ and also creating and testing paper towers. The students also experienced the chemical reactions created by BOC and had the opportunity to eat ice cream made from liquid nitrogen. RoboGals provided the students with a challenging activity where they had to create a catapult using only basic materials and showed students how to program robots.

A big thank you to ANSTO, Ashfield Boys High School and Lake Illawarra High School for supporting and allowing us to use their venue. Thank you to all of the Education and Assessment committee members, volunteers and speakers involved who made the day a huge success!

Discover Engineering Days 26 March, 25 June and 24 October 2013

Discover Engineering Days for 2013 have been yet another very successful series of event with our host venues for the year being ANSTO, Ashfield Boys High School and Lake Illawarra High School.

The first Discover Engineering Day was held at ANSTO on 26 March 2013. The day was a huge success with an attendance of over 120 students from surrounding schools including Sutherland Shire Christian School, Jannali High School, Sylvania High School, Cronulla High School, Aquinas Catholic College, Lucas Heights Community School, Port Hacking High School and also students from St Ignatius’ College, Riverview and Knox Grammar School.

Our second Discover Engineering Day was held at Ashfield Boys High School on 25 June 2013. Despite the rain, the day was very successful with over 115 students attending. Attendees were from surrounding schools including Canterbury Boys High School, Crestwood High School, Concord High School, Cranbrook School, Mater Maria Catholic College and St Aloysius College.

Discover Engineering Day finished for the year at Lake Illawarra High School on Thursday 24 October. It was a great day with a beautiful blue sky and no rain in sight, where 88 students from 10 High Schools in the Illawarra/Sutherland Region attended along with their Teachers.

To start the day the students were introduced to the world of engineering with a presentation by our Careers Manager, Jennifer O’Donovan. Throughout the day the students were enlightened by presentations from our student engineers and professional engineers who gave insight and advice to students on the world of Engineering.

Division Events14

Young Engineering Leaders Reception17 October 2013

On Thursday 17th October Young Engineers Sydney (YEAS) and the Centre for Engineering Leadership and Management (CELM) held the 2013 Young Engineering Leaders Reception at the stunning QVB Tea Room. The evening saw three engineering leaders provide their view on ‘Leadership through Challenging Times’.

The event aimed to bridge the gap between Australia’s current and emerging engineering leaders. It provided the opportunity for young engineers in the workforce to gather with their mentors and discuss some of the more challenging aspects of leadership.

The exemplary engineering leaders presenting were Ralph Waters (Chairman of Fletcher Buildings and Chairman of Woolworths), Andrew Wood (Chief Executive Officer of WorleyParsons) and Dr Bronwyn Evans (CEO of Standards Australia). The speeches and Q&A discussion highlighted the importance of recognising and making the most of each opportunity, and the challenges of balancing work and family.

It was also mentioned that from an industry perspective it is becoming more important for leaders to find the right balance between keeping a steady workplace and investing in the next generation of engineers. For those companies and regions that are growing, it is important to ask how to attract young graduates to their companies.

A number of articles on leadership were recommended by Dr Bronwyn Evans including “What Leaders Really Do” by John P. Kotter and “Leadership in Crisis: Ernest Shackleton and the Epic Voyage of the Endurance” by Nancy F. Koehn.

We would like to thank YEAS and CELM for organising the event and event sponsor URS for their support.

CELM CEO’s Breakfast16 April 2013

CELM Sydney, held their annual CEO’s breakfast at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) at Circular Quay, Sydney. With an air of enthusiasm, CEOs and Senior Executives from many of Australia’s leading engineering employers arrived around 7:15 am to network. The hot topic being Infrastructure Sustainability in the face of Climate Change – Lessons from Sandy and Katrina.

Guests were served with a scrumptious variety of breakfasts. Further opportunity was given to talk and network before the commencement of the program. The morning was initiated with a brief opening by the Chair of CELM Sydney, James Phillis who then introduced the first guest speaker Dr Marlene Kanga, National President of Engineers Australia, presenting on the critical role that the engineering profession plays in industry, government and the community.

Our special guest speaker was Professor Ed Blakely, Honorary Professor of Urban Policy at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. As a global leader in urban and regional planning and development, and Executive Director of Recovery Management for New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Prof Blakely’s presentation painted a detailed picture of his extensive involvement in the development of infrastructure sustainability in the face of climate change and the challenges at the forefront of the engineering profession. Prof Blakely’s presentation was inspirational and empowering and motivated the audience to take a more active role at work and in the community by utilising those variety of engineering skills that engineers already possess. He encouraged engineers to be “adaptors”, to remain “resilient” and to “produce smarter infrastructure” in the face of climate change.

The speakers were greeted with a warm round of applause and a token of appreciation from the chair. Plans for the 2014 event are already in progress.

Division Events 15

Honeywell Engineering Summer School2 – 7 December 2012

The December 2012 Honeywell Engineering Summer School brought together 100 Year 11 students from across NSW and ACT. 80% of the students were from regional areas and half of the students were funded or partly funded by Rotary and High Schools.

Throughout the week-long program the attending students met and interacted with professional engineers from a wide range of engineering backgrounds; which additionally provided the students with valuable insight into career opportunities available to women and men in engineering. Their visits to participating engineering companies provided the students with the rare opportunity to gain first-hand experience in regard to the role of professional engineers and provided them with the opportunity to understand the role of engineers in society and the variety of engineering disciplines.

The students attended lectures and hands on demonstrations at the University of Sydney (Host University), UTS, UNSW, UWS and UoW. Site visits included Honeywell; Weir Minerals, RAAF Base, ANSTO, BlueScope Steel and Warragamba Dam.

Another significant program inclusion was the Careers evening that provided the students with the opportunity to meet and talk informally with a broad range of engineers. Guests included: Matthew Tildesley, Defence; Morgan Sheehy and Rob McGowan, Partridge; Matthew Webb, Hyder Consulting; Janice Yousheyah, Coffey Geotechnics; Jackson He, Defence Materiel Organisation; David White and Kevin Van, CH2M HILL.

The Australian National Engineering Taskforce (ANET), of which Engineers Australia is a member, reported that “Australia produces 6000 graduates annually, which is half of our annual workforce needs.” The Summer School is a resource to ensure that young people have engineering in the forefront of their minds when looking at career options.

Autumn School of Engineering15 – 19 April 2013

The Autumn School of Engineering once again was an intensive week full of educational and interesting visits. The program is an Engineers Australia Sydney Division initiative supported by NSW ‘Engineering’ Universities and participating Rotary Districts. The principal aim of the program is to give high school students a better understanding of what engineering is and how it works in everyday life, as well as the ability to visit engineering universities to aid in their selection of university.

The 2013 Autumn School of Engineering brought together 50 Year 11 and 12 high schools students with many of the students being funded or partly funded by Rotary and their high schools. Throughout the week-long program the students met and interacted with professional engineers from a wide range of engineering backgrounds; which provided the students with valuable insight into career opportunities available in engineering.

The students attended lectures and demonstrations at the UNSW, UTS, Macquarie University and UWS. Visits to participating engineering companies provided the students with the rare opportunity to gain first-hand experience in regard to the role of professional engineers and provided them with the opportunity to understand the role of engineers in society and the variety of engineering disciplines. Site visits the students attended included ANSTO, Bluescope Steel, Barangaroo and Garden Island.

The Careers Morning provided the students with the opportunity to meet and talk with a broad range of engineers. Guests included: Trudy Myers and Nishmin Khambatta from Taylor Thompson Whitting; Chris Skinner from SKM; Marko Stankovic from Lindsay and Dynan; Jonathan Barnes from Transport for NSW and Julie Mikhail from DMO.

Division Events16

Engineering Careers Expo6 March 2013

The Engineering Careers Expo took place on Wednesday 6 March at the Sydney Masonic Centre. The event was supported by 23 exhibitors and attracted in excess of 750 students from over 5 universities.

The event was opened by Hannah Mahony-Hayes, Chair of Young Engineers Australia Sydney Division, who was the Master of Ceremonies for the Forum “How Best to Find a Job” which was panelled by 4 industry representatives.

The industry representatives on the forum were: Lauren Dennis from Fulton Hogan; Sina Tanielu from URS; Lieutenant Benjamin Robinson from Defence Force Recruiting; and Jenny O’Donovan from Engineers Australia. The panel addressed questions from the audience in regard to resume writing, interview skills, and how to get job placements in the industry. The exhibition was opened to the students after the forum which provided the students with the opportunity to mingle with the exhibitors and gain valuable information and guidance for future graduates and employment opportunities.

The 2013 Careers expo exhibitors were Abigroup, Arup, Asio, Asis, Aurecon, Cardno, CIBSE Young Engineers Network, Contact Singapore, Daly International, Defence Force Recruiting, Department Of Defence, EA Chartered Membership, Ericsson, Evans & Peck Pty Ltd, Fulton Hogan, Golder Associates, HATCH, ICD (Asia Pacific) P/L, Lindsay & Dynan Consulting Engineers, ResMed, Taylor Thomson Whitting, Transport for New South Wales and URS Australia Pty Ltd,

Many thanks to the speakers, exhibitors, and to all of the volunteers who gave up their time and helped make the evening an overwhelming success.

Education and Assessment Forum26 June 2013

The annual Education and Assessment Forum was held on Wednesday 26th June at the Engineers Australia Harricks Auditorium.

Chaired by Norm Himsley; Chair of the Education and Assessment Sub Committee, the Forum aims to Provide a link within schools, TAFE, Universities, Board of Studies and Engineers Australia to work towards common goals of engineering education. Representatives from the Board of Studies, TAFE NSW, 2Realise University of Sydney, University of Western Sydney, University of New South Wale, University of Wollongong and Macquarie University were present as well as many facets of the organisation.

Dr Marlene Kanga outlined the EA role to advance the science and practice of engineering throughout the profession and the community. From discussion throughout the afternoon it was clear that the common goal was to make both the study and the practice of engineering more prevalent. While Engineers Australia, Sydney Division runs and supports many programs that encourage engineering, there are many great initiatives that we are still unaware of and would benefit from being involved with. There were also several suggestions on ways in which the group could collectively foster the profession.

We look forward to continuing our relationship with all those involved with the Forum and reflecting on our development again next year.

Division Events 17

Industry Relations

Pathways to becoming Chartered

2013 has been a year of consolidation for the Industry Relations/Business Development function, both nationally and at the Sydney Division.

In the first half of the year, there was a focus on assisting our industry partners embrace and embed the important improvements to the Chartered process through the introduction of the revised Stage 2 Competency Standards and eChartered, the online application and assessment tool. This included providing strategies to re-energise the Chartered programs at these companies and for current participants to transfer across from the old system through successful enrolment on eChartered.

In the second half of the year, the focus has shifted to supporting these companies to increase participation towards Chartered membership through the demonstration of competency.

Over the year we welcomed new partners Ancon Building Services, Keller Australia, RK Findlay, Toshiba Power Systems and Services and Schneider Electric, bringing the total Professional Development Program partners for the Sydney Division to 63.

At the time of printing there were 836 Sydney Division members active on a Professional Development Program and an additional 670 members on other pathways to Chartered membership.

In July 2013 the team was renamed as the Business Development team. This title change better reflects the broader focus for the team which includes liaison with industry beyond the Professional Development Program.

An important part of the role of Business Development team is to communicate the value of Engineers Australia to the employers of engineers. This includes providing our partners with:

• credibility by positioning them as market leaders dedicated to upholding high standards in engineering practice;

• providing them access to resources tailored to advance their workforce to meet tomorrow’s engineering and business challenges;

• ability to gain industry intelligence and influence; and

• profiling them by showcasing the capability and success of their engineering teams.

Earlier in the year, the ‘For Employers’ section of the website was launched [http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/partnering-employers]. This online publication outlines the important role Engineers Australia plays for the profession in regards to the establishment and maintenance of professional standards, currency of competency through professional development, and advocacy activities.

Other achievements at the Sydney Division have included the introduction of regular public Chartered pathways presentations and the pilot of a couple new initiatives to examine different service-delivery models to support and encourage the achievement of Chartered membership.

For 2014 there is continued focus on the outreach to new industry partners as well as to explore other ways to formally engage and partner with engineering employers.

18

Regional GroupsDubbo Regional GroupThe Dubbo Group now supports two “challenges” for high school students in each year, the University of Newcastle Science & Engineering Challenge and the Engineers Australia Great Engineering Challenge.

The Chair, Stewart McLeod, chairs the division’s Regional Chairs Committee, and represents the division on the EA National Regional Special Interest Group. At the 2012 Annual Dinner meeting he was presented with the Engineers Australia Medal for services to the Dubbo regional group and the Sydney Division.

The executive sadly farewelled Jillian Kilby during the year who has taken up a scholarship at Stanford University in California and will be out of Australia for at least the next two years.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

5 Feb Site visit to Oasis Valley development in the Dubbo Regional Botanic Garden, East Dubbo.

6&7 Mar University of Newcastle Science & Engineering Challenge, Dubbo. Included a celebrity team from EA.

27 Mar Site visit to the Australian Astronomical Observatory at Siding Spring mountain near Coonabarabran. Inspected the results of the recent Wambelong bush fire which destroyed 100 houses plus toured the main telescope facility.

8 Aug Western Plains Great Engineering Challenge. 200 students from 16 schools from as far afield as Bathurst and West Wyalong competed. The winning team this year was from Macquarie Anglican Grammar School in Dubbo.

10 Aug Dubbo group representatives assisted with the “Science Cafe” science education activity held at Oasis Valley, East Dubbo. This cafe was later judged the best science education activity in NSW for 2013.

26 Nov End of Year Dinner, with a speaker invited to present on the proposed Flagship Solar Energy Generation Projects at Nyngan & Broken Hill.

CommitteeStewart McLeod (Chair), Chris Dalitz (Secretary), Owen Johns, Alexandra Hartwig, Jillian Kilby (Retired During The Year), Chris Bassingthwaight, Matthew Clark

Illawarra/Sutherland Regional Group (ISRG)ISRG Committee experienced further growth in activities and new challenges. The High School Promotions Sub-Committee have again organised the “Outstanding Achievement Awards” to the 37 High Schools in the Illawarra/Sutherland Region. Sponsorship was again provided to the UOW FSAE Racing Car Team.

The annual Discover Engineering Day was held at the Lake Illawarra High School on Thursday 24 October. Women in Engineering Illawarra Group successfully organised 2 events during 2013.

Technical Activities The 2013 program showcased a year of very informative and up-to-date seminars and site visits to our Members and Guests.

Date Activity

13 Mar Site Tour and Presentation on the Western Grandstand at WIN Stadium hosted by Geoff Baker, Project Manager for the Replacement of the Western Grandstand at WIN Stadium.

10 Apr Presentation on Warragamba Dam Water Supply by guest speaker Brian Simmons, Operations Manager Warragamba Dam.

15 May Presentation on University of Wollongong Faculty of Engineering Research Overview by guest speaker Professor Chris Cook.

19 Jun Presentation on What’s Happening at Your Local TAFE Institute in Engineering by guest Speakers: Troy Everett (A/Head Teacher Civil Engineering, Surveying & Mapping) and Brooke Knowles (R/Head Teacher Mechanical Engineering).

6 Aug AEW event

Presentation on Design & Construction of a Diaphragm Wall in Brisbane by guest speaker David Tevanian, National Operations Manager, Avopiling.

7 Aug AEW event

Site Visit & Presentation on Sustainable Buildings Research Centre (SBRC)

21 Aug Presentation by Eminent Speaker Dr Trevor Bird on “From Wireless to Astronomy: Lessons from an Engineering Career”

11 Sep Presentation on Sydney’s Giant Cantilever Crane by guest speaker Dr Iain Stuart, JCIS Consultants. Held in Sutherland at the United Services Club

CommitteeTrevor Wilkinson (Chair), Nick DiBono (Deputy Chair), Veysel Yazici (Junior Deputy Chair), Peter Nasta (Treasurer), Dr Muhammad Hadi, Michael Muston, Pieter Van Breda, Dr Dawit Seyoum, Dr Mark Ho and Dr Michael Yastreboff.

Group Reports

Annual reports by the Regional Groups, College Branches, Panels and Committees, Special Interest Groups and

Technical Societies of Engineers Australia Sydney Division

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Group Reports

Riverina Regional Group (EAR)The Committee of the Engineers Australia Riverina Regional Group (EAR) is pleased  with the attendance of site visits and technical presentations during 2013. A total of 9 Committee Meetings were held during the year. Ian Davies and Steve Warrell participated in the Regional Group Chairs teleconferences and meetings.

EAR continued its very strong relationship with COMPACT, and was involved in a number of programmes designed to attract school students into the engineering profession. Principal among this was the very successful second Discover Engineering Day held at Wagga Wagga High School, with 85 students in attendance. Also another major event was the annual “Build-a-Bridge – and get over it” camp, which was attended by EAR Chair Ian Davies. In addition EAR had a stand at the Questacon Beyond School day held at CSU, where a number of students visited to discuss careers in engineering. Ian Davies was invited to act as judge for the first Robocup Challenge held in Riverina.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

09 Apr Site visit to International Standard Hotel, Wagga Wagga hosted by BJC Project Manager Mark Churcher.

17 & 18 Apr

eChartered Presentations by Richard Hanna, EA Executive Operations Manager.

28 May Site visit to Wagga Wagga Base Hospital Redevelopment.

10 Jul Site visit to Uranquinty Gas Fired Power Station

27 Aug Site visit to International Standard Hotel – Wagga Wagga where construction is now completed

25 Sep Site visit to Oasis Co-generation Plan

24 Oct Presentation on Structural Welding and the requirements of AS 1554.1 hosted by Mark Silk of TAFE NSW Riverina Institute

CommitteeIan Davies (Chair), Scott Farrell (Deputy Chair), Steve Warrell (Secretary), Bryan Short, Ragavan Vythilinkam, Sam Millie, Alex Fenwick and Tom Mackerras (remote member based in Griffith)

Shoalhaven Regional GroupTechnical Activities

Date Activity

4 Apr Attended the University of Wollongong Shoalhaven Campus’ Shoalhaven Marine and Freshwater Centre for an information session by Dr Pia Winberg (the Director of the research facility) on sustainable marine food production systems, including oysters and seaweed.

20 Jun Site visit to HMAS Albatross for a tour of the 808 Squadron and their MRH 90 Multi Role helicopter as well as the Aircraft Maintenance and Flight Trials Unit (AMAFTU).

Date Activity

24 Oct Site visit to the Princes Highway Upgrade (Gerrringong to Toolijooa) for an informative site inspection of this much needed upgrade to the Princes Highway for the South Coast.

28 Nov Christmas function where a presentation will be given by the Committee on Engineers Australia’s current “Strength” campaign.

CommitteeMark Klein (Chair), Greg Westlake (Secretary), Caroline Griffith ( Treasurer), Nick Osterloh, Ross Nimmo and Paul Collins

Southern Highlands & Tablelands Regional Group (SHTRG)This has been another very busy year of activities, firstly with our monthly seminar series from March to October, and secondly our participation in key events aimed at promoting engineering as a challenging career option for young people.

In our seminar series this year on the theme “Engineering Innovations”, we have looked at innovations in a range of engineering fields including urban waterscapes, sustainable low carbon cities, aerospace, the invention of WiFi technology, new vehicle safety standards, global positioning systems, sustainable eco-buildings and advanced electro-active materials.

Once again, SHTRG Committee has worked very hard to pull together this diverse and ambitious seminar program – it takes a lot of team effort. We welcome Leila Sadler and Yashasvi Shah as new members to SHTRG Committee.

We acknowledge and sincerely appreciate the considerable time and effort our expert guest speakers put into preparing their presentations and travelling here to the Southern Highlands. We thank all our guest speakers whom we have been privileged to welcome and learn from over the past year.

We also wish to thank you, our members and patrons, for your support in making our seminar dinners such a success; all our efforts are in vain without your continuing support and encouragement.

SHTRG has again been actively involved in encouraging young people to consider engineering as a challenging career through our involvement in the highly successful fifth Rotary-Engineers Australia Southern Highlands Science & and Engineering Challenge in Mittagong in May which we extended to cover the southern half of our Region by establishing the Southern Tablelands Science and Engineering Challenge conducted in Goulburn in June. We also had a stand at the Southern Highlands Manufacturers Cluster Jobs and Careers Expo in June, and our participation in the Chevalier College Careers Day in August.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

21 Mar Seminar on Urban Waterscapes: Designing for Adaptive Resilience

18 Apr Seminar on Moving Sydney Towards a Sustainable Low Carbon Future

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Group Reports

Date Activity

30 May Seminar on Australia’s Aerospace Opportunities and Barriers

27 Jun Seminar on The CSIRO WiFi Story

25 Jul Seminar on ANCAP’s New Vehicle Safety Innovation Testing

29 Aug Seminar on GPS and Recent Alternatives for Localisation

26 Sep Seminar on Building a Sustainable Future

31 Oct Seminar on Advanced Electro-active Materials Processing

CommitteeProf Tom Romberg (Chair), Cary Stapleton (Secretary), Terry Hams (Secretary from September), Rod Aistrope (Deputy Chairman), Will Eddowes (Treasurer), Claudia Novati, Leila Sadler (from September) and Yashasvi Shah (from September)

Western Sydney Regional Group (WSRG)This has been a busy year for the WSRG. Over the past 12 months we have hosted nearly 60 hours of events for the members of Engineers Australia and our community.

Our program of technical tours has once again been incredibly popular, with the tour of the ANSTO facilities at Lucas Heights having to be repeated due to demand.

Our biggest event of the year was Engineering Frontiers in partnership with the University of Western Sydney. This two day event was aimed at giving two hundred high school students a look into life as an engineer and what studying at university really means.

Our remarkably successful year could not have happened without the amazing dedication of our long standing members, and the energy of our new recruits.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

27-28 Feb Hosted Stall at RTAA Field day event

21 Mar Technical tour of ANSTO Lucas Heights

11 Apr Technical Tour of Rouse Hill Development –Environmental Design and town planning

17 Apr CPEng Workshop

18 Apr Technical presentation on Developing for Health

28 Apr Family Day at Sydney Society of Model Engineers ‘Model Park’, Luddenham.

3 May Technical tour of RailCorp’s Integrated Infrastructure Control Centre

8 May Held a Life After Uni Mentoring Session

18 May Technical tour of Rooty Hill Electric Arc Furnace

27 Jun Live webinar on Fusion Power

7 Aug CPEng Workshop

8 Aug Technical tour of Pre-building the Olympic Drive Bridge

Date Activity

5 Sep Technical tour of ANSTO Lucas Heights

23 Sep Technical presentation on High Voltage Earthing

25 Sep Technical presentation on Hydrological Modelling for Quality and Quantity

18 Nov Annual Election of Office Bearers and open meeting

30 Nov WSRG Christmas Function

9-10 Dec Engineering Frontiers

CommitteeJonathan Barnes (Chair), Olivia Mirza (Deputy Chair), George Grodzicki(Treasurer), Daniel Burton, Jared Briggs, Sanshi Liu, John Stornelli, Con Calfas, Dominic Cancian, Steve Lewis and Steve Middleton

Young Engineers Australia Illawarra (YEA-I)Amongst Young Engineers Australia Illawarra highlights of 2013 were launching our Facebook page, that currently has over 250 followers. The Engineers Networking evening with a record 142 attendees, had amazing speakers, made new connections and had lots of fun. The Engineering Q&A gave us the chance to look towards the future of engineering in Illawarra and identifying issues and challenges that we could address in the coming years. The Communication workshop was held as a follow up action from comments made at the Q&A about lack of communication skills in graduates.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

19 Mar Resume Development/Interview Techniques and Work Experience Preparation Workshop by guest speaker Jonathan Pelman from 360HR.

29 Mar Engineers Networking Evening with guest speakers: James Phillis, Chair CELM and Andrew Pratley, Associate, Expressive Engineering. The event was sponsored by GHD, Hatch, Coffey Geotechnics, BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal, RKF Engineering Services and Baulderstone

8 May Chartered Workshop held by Richard Hanna, Engineers Australia Sydney Division.

8 Aug AEW Event

Engineering Q&A. Panel discussion with Professor Chris Cook, University of Wollongong, Steve Coffee, BHP Billiton Illawarra Coal, David Laing, Cardno and Roddney Fisher, RKF Engineering Services. Facilitator was Dr Andrew Botros, Expressive Engineering.

16 Oct Chartered Workshop held by Richard Hanna, Engineers Australia Sydney Division.

6 Nov Communications Workshop with Andrew Pratley, Associate, Expressive Engineering as facilitator.

CommitteeRuchi Chhikara (Chair),Drew Clements, Emelia Fabris and Richard Peters (resigned due to work relocations), Craig McDermott, Hudson Bouma, Ryan Duff, Piers Hardwich, Pawan Goti, David Gilbert and David Pollum.

21

College Branches, Panels and CommitteesAustralian Engineering Week Committee (AEW)The Australian Engineering Week Committee coordinate the Sydney Division Australian Engineering Week campaign. Australian Engineering Week events are organised by people from all walks of life; teachers, students, universities, industry and many more. Australian Engineering Week aims to educate the community about the work of engineers and their contributions to the community, encourages students to become part of the engineering profession and rewards members for being a part of Engineers Australia and the industry.

CommitteeJohn Nichols (Chair), Andrew Dyer, Jon Lee, Deon Rowley, Derek Cheung, Richard Barnes, Brendyn Williams, Samineh Booyachi, Vera Tchikina, Julie Mikhail, Antony Zaglas & Elaine Bailey.

Board of Engineering Practice (BoEP) The Board of Engineering Practice (BoEP) was established in 2012, and has continued to meet quarterly in 2013. Meetings provide a forum for the key leaders within the division to meet, form networks, and to discuss common problems and issues relating to the Learned Society function of Engineers Australia. Through the Board of Engineering Practice, Chairs of groups can meet with each other and also with the elected Sydney Division representatives to the National College Boards.

There are 44 current members of the Board of Engineering Practice, reflecting the diversity of groups and interests within the Division.

In 2013, Sydney Division and the groups within the division have continued to offer a very diverse and active program of events.

Members of Engineers Australia can participate in a very broad program of activities for their continued professional development and for networking with members of the engineering profession.

Some key topics discussed at The Board of Engineering Practice in 2013 include:

• Communication of events to members and how to engage membership in activities.

• Introduction of payment for non-members to attend our events. (Groups with special requirements can apply to be exempted from this requirement.) Charging for non members has been introduced as part of the initiatives to deliver more value to Engineers Australia (EA) members.

• Membership profiles and the geographical mapping of the profiles of college membership

• New technologies such as webinars and recordings and implementation of a new Google docs calendar tool for groups to use for planning.

• Promotion of the continuing professional development (CPD) requirements and opportunities provided to members

• Multidisciplinary and cross disciplinary topics, and how to

manage the overlaps or gaps, so that services are offered effectively and efficiently

• A concern about not having direct visibility of Learned Society and Engineering Practice issues from the national level, and the need to increase the flow of communication between national and divisional level.

• Succession planning within groups, and methods to engage volunteers to become members of committees and office bearers

Purposes• To provide a forum for Units to interact and discuss

CPD issues• To coordinate a program of technical activities.• To examine and report on matters referred to it by the

Division Committee.• To analyse the appropriate reports on CPD. • To facilitate some alignment of the Sydney Division • Program with college CPD direction

Meetings The BoEP meets quarterly, four times per year. Meetings are usually held at the EA Offices at Chatswood. Reporting Quarterly reports to the Sydney Division committee. The November meeting of BoEP sets the coordinated program for the following year.

CommitteeAlexandra Meldrum(Chair). The Board consists of the Sydney Division based Chairs of Colleges, Technical Societies, Panels, Special interest Groups and Regional Groups, and the Sydney Division representatives to the National College Boards.

Chemical Engineering Branch Technical Activities Following activities were organised by Joint Chemical Engineering Committee (Engineers Australia Sydney Chemical Engineering Branch and IChemE)

Date Activity

19 Mar Seminar on Biochemical Engineering in Real Life

21 May Seminar on Helium: A small and light gas, a very cool liquid; Engineering and operational insights of a liquid helium plant

28 Aug Seminar on The Management of Urban Solid Waste – what it means for Chemical Engineers

30 Aug Postgraduate Symposium (Best Presentation Competition)

CommitteeWayne Davies(Chair)

Group Reports22

Civil and Structural Engineering Panel

The Civil and Structural Panel organized 10 Technical presen-tations during 2013 which were held at the Zenith Theatre in Chatswood. Attendances up to the 250 seat capacity of this venue were realized on several occasions and generally with at-tendances always well above the limited 130 seating capacity of the EA Harrick’s Auditorium.

The panel also made presentations to outstanding students at Sydney, UNSW, UTS, and UWS Universities from the monies acquired by our seminars organized in previous years.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

26 Feb Presentation on Safety in Design

19 Mar Presentation on Anchor Design & Construction For Shoring Systems Fundamentals and AS4678

23 Apr Presentation on Glenfield to Leppington Rail Link

28 May Presentation on Developments in independent verification of reinforcing steels

25 Jun Presentation on Rebuilding Christchurch – New Technologies in Timber Buildings

23 Jul Presentation on Robustness in composite design

27 Aug Presentation on Barangaroo Headland Park: Integration of Civil, Marine and Structural Design

24 Sep Presentation on Innovative Highrise Structural Solutions

22 Oct Presentation on CFD Modelling and Hydraulic Design

26 Nov Presentation on Nth West Rail Link

CommitteeKen O’Neill(Chair), Brendon Hyde (Secretary), Daksh Baweja, John Nichols, Matthew O’Hearn, Richard Hitch, Peter Key, Rick Pilz, Nick Livanes, Phil Blundy, Rocco Bressi, Scott Munter, David Willows, Darren Flynn and Gene Hulowatyi.

Coastal, Ocean and Port Engineering Panel (COPEP)COPEP is an active group that holds monthly panel meetings and technical presentations. These technical presentations by industry professionals are undertaken between February and October, on the third Monday of the Month at the Engineers Australia Harricks Auditorium, Chatswood, following our monthly Panel meetings. Each October the monthly presentation takes the form of a site visit. This year the site visit was held at Barangaroo Headland Park site.

In addition to the monthly presentations, a half day seminar is held every August, in association with PIANC. This year’s topic was “Construction in the Coastal and Marine Environment”.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

18 Feb Presentation on Caspian Sea – Maritime Works for the Kashagan Project

Date Activity

18 Mar Presentation on Durability of Marine Structures

23 Apr Presentation on a Case Study on the Use of Ce-ment Deep Mixing for a Port Reclamation Project by Patrick Wong (Coffey Geotechnics Pty Ltd)

20 May Presentation on Case Studies from Two Decades of Breakwater Appraisal and Modelling Repair Strategies

17 June Presentation on a New Approach to Channel Design

15 July Presentation on Linking Acidity and Tidal Hydrodynamics for Remediation

19 Aug Presentation on Construction in the Coastal and Marine Environment (half day seminar)

16 Oct Presentation on Forecasting for Port Operations

30 Oct Site visit to Barangaroo Headland Park

CommitteeKate Panayotou (Chair), Matt Blacka (Secretary), Alexis Berthot, Alan Betts, Ben Modra, Chris Adamantidis, David Taylor, Davena Gooch, Doug Lord, Goran Dimovski, Indra Jayewardene, James Carley, Jillian Smith, Patrick McCallum, Peter Horton

Construction Engineering Panel Technical Activities Seminars organised by Construction Engineering Panel during 2013 were:

Date Activity

4 March Presentation on RNSH Redevelopment Challenges in the Procurement and Delivery of this Complex PPP

29 May Presentation on CityRail Clearways Project and Kingsgrove to Revesby Quadruplicating Projects

20 Nov Presentation on Hunter Expressway Kurri Kurri to Branxton – Constructability & Project Manage-ment Challenges

CommitteeCarlo Garofali (Chair)

Education and Assessment Sub CommitteeEngineers Australia, as the peak professional body representing the profession of engineering in Australia, must develop and maintain communication channels with the major bodies responsible for the education of the students enrolling in engineering studies and the education of engineers for the future. This is achieved at various levels and forums by Engineers Australia at a national level. There is also a responsibility for Engineers Australia to develop and maintain effective communications with the various trainers and educators impacting on the engineering profession at the local level, in Sydney Division. Consequently, the Sydney Division Education and Assessment Committee has been developed to maintain this communications network.

Group Reports 23

Activities The Education and Assessment Committee of Sydney Division focuses on promoting engineering as a profession to school students through a number of different events, including Discover Engineering Days.

CommitteeNorm Himsley (Chair), Astrid Perdriau, Ian Ackland, Jim Vickery, Jon Lee, John Perdriau, Peter Andrews, Rob Kirk, Roderick Nesbitt and Stan Scahill

Electrical & ITEE BranchAnother successful year is drawing to a close with what will be 22 lectures during the Year 2013, held in the Engineers Australia Harricks Auditorium. The large number of lectures is required to cover the spread of subject matter, from Electrical Power Stations and Electric Trains through to Mobile Phones, IC Chips and Software Engineering. Thanks must go to support from the E & ITE Committee members; liaison through the Joint Institutions Committee (Australia based EA, UK based IET and USA based IEEE) and the EA Sydney Division office support.

Of particular note is the Annual Student Prize Giving and Lecture (28 November 2013), which is used to promote the Continuing Professional development (CPD) lectures to students and heads of schools from Sydney University, UNSW, UTS, Macquarie University, Wollongong University and UWS.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

9 Feb Presentation on System Engineering – RAM

14 Feb Presentation on EMC Issues with VSDs

14 Mar Presentation on Face familiarity and face recognition

28 Mar Presentation on Design of Lightning Protection Systems

11 Apr Presentation on Intellectual Property to Protect Engineering Innovations

9 May Presentation on Quantum Computing with Single Atoms in Silicon

23 May Presentation on Energy Conservation & Management

13 Jun Presentation on HyperMon monitoring Glucose levels

27 Jun Presentation on The Prospects for a Nuclear Fu-sion Powered Future

11 Jul Presentation on Predictive & Preventive Mainte-nance for Asset Value Maximisation

25 Jul Presentation on CSIRO Ngara Access and Back-haul for Next Generation Wireless Broadband in Rural Areas

8 Aug Presentation on Marine Science & Ocean Sys-tems Engineering

12 Sep Presentation on Algorithm and Architecture Co-Design for Fast Motion Estimation Video

26 Sep Presentation on LEDs – latest & greatest lighting technology?

10 Oct Presentation on HVDC Transmission

Date Activity

24 Oct Half day seminar on Cyber Security

14 Nov Presentation on Increasing Network Capability through a Review of Asset Ratings

28 Nov AGM, Eminent Speaker Lecture and Student Prizes

12 Dec Presentation on Concentrated Solar Power

CommitteeAllan Sangster (Chair), Gohulan Markandoo (Deputy Chair), Kim Yan(Secretary), Richard Clarke (Treasurer), Amal Hanna, Mark Edmunds, Peter Henderson, Peter Hitchiner, Mai Yeung, Chris Skinner and Sherry Mogadassi

Engineering Heritage Committee (EHC)

The Heritage Committee has maintained its usual quota of four public lectures per year, with a generally increased attendance from previous years.

We had hoped to have three Engineering Heritage Recognition events this year, however due to resistance from owners only managed one, which was at The Adelong Gold Fields.

A new activity in 2013 is our attendance at the Ministers Heritage Roundtable, this gives Engineers Australia a presence at this ministerial level panel.

We have re-examined our activities and priorities in 2013 and increased our focus on advocacy associated with key heritage issues (e.g. Glebe Island Bridge and the Hammerhead Crane).

Technical Activities

Date Activity

23 Mar Committee site visit to Newnes Shale Oil Works

06 Apr Committee site visit to Goulburn Heritage Rail Centre

22 Apr Seminar – Technology of NSW Shale Oil Fields

24 Jun Seminar – Hammerhead Cranes

12 Aug Seminar – Menangle Rail Bridge

14 Oct Seminar – Kandos Cement Works

Other Activities• Adelong Gold Fields Heritage Marker Ceremony was held in

2013. • EHC representatives attendance at four EA Sydney BOEP

Meetings, one EA Sydney Strategic Planning Meeting and quarterly meetings with Engineering Heritage Australia.

• Following work were carried out external to Engineering Australia: Sydney Water Heritage Committee, Road & Maritime Services Committee, National Trust and Oral History Association

• As part of work with government Agencies EHC had representative on Listing Committee of the Heritage Council and Representative to Ministers Heritage Roundtable.

• Special Topic Advocacy EHC involvement included Hammerhead Crane Conservation and Glebe Island Bridge Conservation, Planning White Paper, Windsor Bridge and Menangle Rail Bridge: Preservation and digitalization of original drawings.

Group Reports24

CommitteeSimon Wiltshier (Chair), Steve Lockhart (Secretary), Michael Clarke, Glenn Rigden, Neil Hogg, Paul Yunnie, John Gibson, John Heathers, Amie Nicholas, Ian Bowie, Scott Renwick, Brad Duncan, Doug Boleyn, Ian Berger, Sam Millie, Jon Breen and Ken Maxwell

Excellence Awards CommitteeThe Engineering Excellence Awards Sydney (EEAS) recognise the expertise of both individuals and engineering organisations in our community. The Awards are the pinnacle of the Divisions professional calendar. The Awards comprise of fourteen categories and four Personal Awards. EEAS provide an opportunity to encourage excellence through the identification and promotion, of both within the profession and the community at large, for outstanding achievements in the advancement of the science and practice of engineering.

CommitteeBruce Howard (Chair), Amal Hanna, Bill Thompson, David Kinniburgh and Norm Himsley

Honours and Awards CommitteeThe role of the Honours and Awards Committee is to identify, recognise and reward: outstanding achievement in engineering, conspicuous service to the engineering profession, eminence in engineering or an applied science, conspicuous service to the Australia people and outstanding achievement. An additional role is to promote engineering and the value added by the engineering profession to the health, wealth and well being of the Australian people.

CommitteePeter Tyree HonFIEAust CPEng (Chair), Ronald David Christie AM HonFIEAust CPEng, David Graeme Croft AM HonFIEAust CPEng, John Gilmour Nutt AM FTSE HonFIEAust, Mike Dureau HonFIEAust CPEng FTSE FAICD JP, Peter Wellings FIEAust, Shane Geha FIEAust and Graham James Davies FIEAust

Mechanical BranchFollowing Techncial events were organised by the Sydney Mechanical Chapter: EA Sydney Mechanical Branch, IMechE, and ASME.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

21 Feb Presentation on One Way to Avoid the Impacts of the Carbon Tax

21 Mar Presentation on Democratising Mechanical Engineering: Personal design & manufacture and the rise of the Maker movement

18 Apr Presentation on Heavy Vehicle Dynamic Air Sus-pensions – An Australian Road Transport Industry Innovation

16 May Presentation on Optimum Use and Innovation of Welding Joining Technologies

Date Activity

20 Jun Presentation on Improvements To Geothermal Electricity Generation

18 Jul Presentation on Asset Management of Large Facilities and Networks

15 Aug Presentation on Overview of Fixed Plant Mining Equipment with Emphasis on Grinding Mills

19 Sep Speak Out For Engineering Competition

17 Oct Presentation on Profiting from Innovation – A New Model for Australian Innovators that puts Engineers at the Epicentre of Innovation Success

21 Oct Presentation on Effective Energy Management Through Optimisation of Computerised HVAC Controls

CommitteeGeoffrey Stone (Chair)

Membership Sub Committee (MSC) The Membership Subcommittee was first convened on 20 March 2013 and was an initiative of the 2013 Sydney Division President, John Nichols, in accordance with the then draft EA General Regulations 2013.

The establishment of the MSC is a key strategic objective at both Division and National levels based on national membership growth targets.

The Subcommittee’s main objectives are to undertake and review efforts to:

• Improve membership retention

• Engage new members

• Improve student membership

• Engage students to upgrade to Graduate membership

To date the MSC has received great input from Young Engineers Australia representatives and invited and linked with EA University Campus coordinators. The Sub-committee has also prepared and distributed Geographical membership maps to the chairs of many EA groups and Colleges, identifying member clusters in order to improve member service delivery.

CommitteeJohn Stornelli (Chair), Richard Hanna (Secretary), Alexandra Meldrum, Julie Mikhail, Leila Sadler, Jonathan Barnes and Hannah Mahoney-Hayes

Group Reports 25

Quality in Engineering PanelThe scope of the Quality in Engineering panel covers all disciplines of engineering, across all phases of the project life cycle, across all industry sectors, and is relevant to all members of the engineering team – including Professional Engineers, Engineering Technicians and Engineering Associates.‘Quality’ is focused on ensuring that systems and solutions provide for the needs of end-users, and hence the activities of the Quality Panel have included aspects of quality management, safety management and environmental management. All engineers need an understanding of quality, and yet some require additional specialist skills.The Quality Panel delivers Seminars, Workshops or Site Visit events (usually six per year in the Sydney metro area, and primarily at Chatswood), and many jointly with other EA Groups with a common interest in the particular topic or case study.A highlight during 2013 was the delivery of an eminent speaker series across Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne in April with a focus on driving quality outcomes through innovation and research into engineering materials. A key outcome of this work is significantly reduced disruption to the public – a direct benefit to the communities that the engineering profession serves.In recent years the Quality Panel has led improvements in event management and delivery at Engineers Australia Harricks Auditorium, was an early adopter of the EventsPro online Registration System, and has been supportive of centralising the management and maintenance of the database of those members and non-members who attend events to maximise data integrity and privacy protection.The Quality Panel is keen to receive expressions of interest from EA members interested in participating on the Committee, and is grateful for the contributions of many individuals who have participated on the Committee over its 25+ year history.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

5 Feb Seminar on “Innovations in High Early Strength Rapid Set Concrete for Pavements” by leading expert Ed Rice from CTS, USA at Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club, West Ryde. A follow-on from the site visit on 6 December 2012

Apr Seminar series on “Engineering Innovation and Research now Transforming the way we use concrete” by eminent speaker Dr Eric Bescher from UCLA: • 15 Apr at Ryde-Eastwood Leagues, Sydney

NSW • 16 Apr at Northgate Airport Hotel, Brisbane

QLD• 18 Apr at Best Western Airport Motel &

Convention Centre, Melbourne VIC

7 Nov Seminar and panel discussion on “Quality in Engineering Practice – Hills M2 Upgrade Project” by Andrew Marsonet and Harald Ullrich from Leighton Contractors, along with other Stakeholder Representatives at Engineers Australia Harricks Auditorium, Chatswood. Supported by the Risk Engineering Society (NSW) and the Construction Engineering Panel (Sydney Chapter)

CommitteeBrendyn Williams (Chair), John Brett (Secretary), Ari Fernando, Michael Berman, Deryck Clarke, Ellen Zhao, Shailesh Tyagi, Jon Lee

Transport Engineering PanelTechnical Activities

Date Activity

23 July Seminar on Getting Bang for your Buck: Designing, funding and maximising the use of footpath, shared path and cycleway infrastructure

CommitteeRonaldo Manahan (Chair)

Water Engineering Panel

The Sydney Water Engineering Panel is a group of like-minded water professionals representing a range of organisations including:

• Water authorities• NSW State government• Education and Research• Consulting

Panel members are actively involved in the current review and update of the well-known Engineers Australia guideline Australian Rainfall and Runoff.

The Panel’s major recent contribution to the profession was holding the Hydrology and Water Resources Symposium in Sydney in November 2012. This successful Symposium was a major drain on volunteer efforts that has had a flow on effect in 2013.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

26 Jun Seminar on Water Issues and Mining – Dr S Perrens, Mr S. Pells

4 Sep Darcy Lecture by Professor David L. Rudolph

27 Nov Half day seminar on What’s happening in Flood-ing in Australia by multiple speakers

CommitteeGrantley Smith (Chair), Monique Retallick (Secretary), Chris Thomas (vice Chair), Peter Brady (publicity), Mark Babister, James Ball, Scott Button, William Glamore, Erwin Jeremiah, Habib Rehman, Ian Rowbottom, Rhys Thomson and Marlene van der Sterren

Group Reports26

Special Interest Groups

Centre for Engineering Leadership and Management (CELM) 2013 has been a continuing year of growth and development for the CELM Board following on from the progress made in 2012. We were fortunate to have Sherry Moghadassi join our small group, and to have ongoing volunteer assistance from Melissa Jovic (Fellows Luncheon sponsorship) and Raji Ambikairajah and Sak Kaewunruen (Mentoring program). We do, however, still need to secure more participants at Board level, and are hopefully of having several more members in place by 2014.

Some Highlights for 2013:• Our Mentoring Program continues to grow strongly. CELM

Sydney continues to set the benchmark for CELM nationally• A very successful second CEO Breakfast was held in April at

the Museum of Contemporary Art, with further improvement to the attendance from 2012

• We are starting as a group to achieve consistency and quality in the development and implementation of our strategic plans

• Ongoing engagement and dialogue with CELM Nationally and all CELM Divisional operations as well as the CELM Sydney Advisory Board

• Ongoing consolidation of the Sydney Fellows Luncheon sponsorship

• Overall, the CELM Sydney Board delivered on all of the 9 key strategic actions planned for 2013 including a seminar series in excess of planned expectations.

Areas for Improvement:• A larger and more expansive seminar program, which will be

assist by having more committee members, although we’re making very good progress

• A broader and more diverse Board • Working with and between various Divisional and Regional

groups. Attempts to engage with Regional groups did not get much traction

• Volunteer engagement For 2014, areas of focus will include working on the noted areas for improvement and co-opting other Board members to improve diversity, numbers and engagement, and more work on volunteer engagement and networking. The new Board will meet in early 2014 to put the key strategic actions in place for 2014.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

3 Jan CELM Sydney Strategic Planning meeting

19 Mar Seminar on “A Lesson in Leadership – the life of Sir John Monash” by Rolfe Hartley

27 Mar CELM Sydney Presentation to Young Engineers Illawarra

16 Apr 2013 CEO’s Breakfast

8 May CELM Sydney participation in YEA Western Sydney Event

18 Jun Panel discussion on “ Ethics for Engineers? Why bother?” by Rolfe Hartley, Stuart Palmer, Brian Moran

27 Jun WIE/CELM Joint Mentoring Training and Networking event

Date Activity6 Aug CELM/Institution of Management Consultants

Joint Event “Managing Your Blind Spot”17 Sept Seminar on “To Managers and Leaders in the

Field of Sustainable Green Materials” by Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla

15 Oct Seminar on “Values Based Leadership” by Simon Mouatt

17 Oct Young Engineers Leadership Reception with guest speakers Ralph Waters, Andrew Wood, Dr Bronwyn Evans

CommitteeJames Phillis (Chair), Ian Ackland (Secretary), Jon Lee, Darko Stevanovic, Sameh Ibrahim and Sherry Moghadassi

Nuclear Engineering Panel (NEP) The panel held 6 committee meetings and arranged 6 technical presentations in 2013. All the technical presentations are available on the NEP website.The NEP chairman attended the Board of Engineering Practice meetings and the Sydney Division Strategy meeting.NEP members accepted invitations to present at several conferences in 2013.In 2013, the NEP was responsible for hosting the annual “4 Societies” meeting (EA-NEP; Australian Nuclear Association; Australian Institute of Energy; Royal Society of New South Wales). Professor Stefaan Simons, Director of the International Energy Policy Institute, University College London (Adelaide) presented “Going low carbon – the approach of the International Energy Policy Institute” to a well-attended meeting at Chatswood.The NEP technical presentations continue to attract members of the general community who would not normally attend Engineers Australia presentations, but want factual information on issues of interest or concern to them. The NEP sees this as an important part of community relations for Engineers Australia.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

27 Feb Presentation on Going low carbon – the approach of the IEPI (Prof Stefaan Simons)

27 Mar Presentation on Liberalised Electricity markets and Nuclear Power – the case of Australia’s National Electricity (Prof Tony Owen)

22 May Presentation on Small Modular Reactors – an option for Australia? (Tony Irwin)

24 Jul Presentation on Zero Carbon Options (Ben Heard)

25 Sep Presentation on Social, legal and Regulatory issues for nuclear power in Australia (Robert Pritchard)

27 Nov Presentation on Are there risks from exposure to low levels of radiation? (Dr Don Higson)

CommitteeTony Irwin (Chair), Don Higson (Secretary), Martin Thomas, Barrie Hill, Bob Fry, Neil McDonald, Peter Airey, John Harries and Elizabeth Si. Roger Alsop resigned from the committee after many years of service and the committee thanked him for his support.

Group Reports 27

Women In Engineering (WIE) Women in Engineering Sydney Division (WIE) is a special interest group within Engineers Australia that promotes the awareness of female engineers, encourages young female students to study engineering in universities and supports the retention of women engineers in the workforce. Each year WIE holds a range of events from a sit down breakfast to cocktail evenings, panel discussions and company site visits; all of which provide an opportunity for networking and promotion.

In 2013 WIE Sydney Division ran its usual program with the addition of our 2 yearly “Career Break” panel discussion, and combined our family day with our site visit at Cockatoo Island. Despite current industry pressures and a struggle for sponsorship, WIE secured the support of Resmed, Evans and Peck and Amida and maintained a good turn out at all events.

The WIE mentoring program was run with great success as we once again refined our processes and introduced a mid program training session in collaboration with CELM. Our other goal was to increase school outreach and we were able to achieve this by working with Engadine high school and their F1 for schools program.

Our event highlights continue to be the Winter Gala dinner and Eminent Speakers Breakfast.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

17 Jan Strategic planning Meeting

17 Mar International Women’s Day Cocktail evening at Shelbourne Hotel on “The Gender Agenda –Gaining Momentum

2 May Mentoring Program launch event at AECOM

7 May Career Break panel discussion at Engineers Australia Harricks Auditorium

9 Jul Panel Discussion at Engineers Australia Harricks Auditorium on “Influencing the Next Generation”

27 Jun WIE/CELM Joint Mentoring Training and Networking event

10 Aug AEW Event

Winter Gala at the Park Hyatt Hotel. Speaker: Verena Preston

10 Oct Eminent Speakers Breakfast on “Women the great Innovators” at Four Seasons Hotel

7 Nov Mentoring Program Concluding event

28 Nov AGM

6 Dec Christmas Cocktails

CommitteeJulie Mikhail (Chair), Melissa Melrose (Secretary), Jade Gan (Vice Chair), Allira Hudson-Gofers (Treasurer), Sherry Moghadassi (National Representative), Yee Yeng Lambropoulos (Website Coordinator), Rezarta Rushitaj (Publications Coordinator) and Almut Pohl (Mentoring Coordinator)

Young Engineers Australia Sydney (YEAS)2013 was another exciting year for the Young Engineers Australia Sydney (YEAS) Committee. We heard from David McCracken, Jol Keeble and Chris Lock at the Barangaroo Development Forum in March where young engineers had the opportunity to discuss Australia’s largest urban development project. At the Young Engineering Leadership Reception in October young engineers learnt about “Leadership through Challenging Times” from leading

engineers Ralph Waters, Andrew Wood and Bronwyn Evans.

On the social side, YEAS partnered with a number of young professional groups like DARCH, YEPP, Chartered Accountants and Young Lawyers. Our inaugural joint networking events included building sand castles at Tamarama Beach and networking games at the Establishment. In February young engineers picked up some networking tips from Sydney Divisions 2012 Young Professional Engineer of the Year Trudy Myers at the YEAS Sundowner.

This year YEAS made the move from a Facebook group to a Facebook page to better advertise our upcoming events and share news with our members. Like us at https://www.facebook.com/EA.YEA.Syd to keep up-to-date with YEAS on Facebook. In 2013 we were also proud to see EngFlick launched by our YEA National Committee Representative Matthew Tildesley. The national film competition aiming to raise awareness of what Engineers do as was a huge success. Visit https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/engflick-2013 to see the winning entries.

In September YEAS held our first Committee Introduction and Networking Evening in the lead up to our Election of Office Bearers. The evening was a great success with many young engineers coming to learn more about what the committee do and how they can get involved.

Thank you to the 2012-2013 committee for your involvement and time over the past year. We would also like to thank our sponsors Coffey, Davies Collison Cave and URS for their support over the past year. It is exciting to see a strong committee for 2013-2014. We look forward to bringing Sydney Division’s young engineers more events and some exciting new initiatives over the next year.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

9 Feb DARCH and YEAS Inaugural Sand Castle Competition

21 Feb Sundowner

03 Mar Careers Expo

21 Mar Barangaroo Development Forum

23 Apr Young Engineers PPIR Seminar

29 Apr Fundamentals of Communication Workshop 1

30 May Young Engineers and Project Professionals Net-working Drinks

06 Jun CPEng Workshop

11 Jul Young Entrepreneurs Workshop

02 Aug AEW Event

EWB/YEAS Trivia Night

30 Aug Fundamentals of Communication Workshop 2

26 Sept YEAS Committee Induction and Networking Evening

17 Oct Young Engineering Leaders Reception

24 Oct Young Professionals Cross Industry Net-working Event

CommitteeHannah Mahony-Hayes (Chair), Derek Cheung (Secretary and UTS Campus Coordinator), Samuel Green (Vice Chair), Patrick James (Past Chair), Marko Stankovic (Treasurer), Nathan Hanley (Sydney Division Committee Representative), Matthew Tildesley (YEA National Committee Representative), Sami Booyachi (AEW Representative), Guy Hollingum (Co-Communications), Ivona Maric (Co-Communications and UNSW Campus Coordinator), Rachel Herman (USyd Campus Coordinator), Daniel Burton (UWS Campus Coordinator), Jonathan Barnes, Rhys Kelly, Jackson He and Dario Menedez

Group Reports28

Technical Societies Australasian Tunnelling Society – Sydney Group (ATS) The Sydney Chapter of the Australasian Tunnelling Society meets on the 3rd Wednesday of every second month at the Chatswood RSL Club Auditorium. We usually gather at 5.30pm for a 6pm technical session/presentation for the benefit of our members and interested parties. Every month the ATS committee meet to plan upcoming events. The Committee has representatives from both private and government organisations, including owners, designers, and constructors. The committee can be contacted via ATS.Sydney@gmail.com

The very successful Inaugural Sydney ATS Charity Golf Day was held at the Ryde Parramatta Golf Club at West Ryde in March 2013. I would like to thank all our supporters, both financial sponsors and participants, who helped make the day such a triumph. Once the books were balanced I was very proud to present to the Garvin Medical Foundation, on behalf of the ATS, a cheque for $6033 which was directed specifically towards their cancer research program. A special thank you must go to Peter Watson and John Brown for their special efforts in bringing this event together. Next year we hope to do even better!

The 15th Australasian Tunnelling Conference will also be held in Sydney in 2014 at the Sydney Hilton Hotel 17-19th September. Ted Nye will be the Conference Chair and is supported by an organising committee from the Sydney ATS chapter. We are working hard on putting together a real showcase for the industry. The call for papers is open with abstracts up to 300 words now due. Technical Activities

Date Activity

20 Feb Presentation on Beauty World MRT Station & Tunnels, Singapore by Paul Thomas

17 Apr Presentation on Legacy Way Road Tunnel, Brisbane by Fernando Vara

19 Jun Presentation on SWRL Hume Highway Underpass by Michael Barnfield, Rob Nievergelt & Joe O’Brien

21 Aug Presentation on Passive Fire Protection in Tunnels by Peter Watson

18 Sep Presentation on Sustainability & Resiliency Implications of Underground Structures by Ray Sterling

16 Oct Presentation on Behaviour-based Safety in Underground Construction by Keith Jonson

20 Nov Presentation on Grouting Foundation Works by David Lees

CommitteeDaryl Gilchrist (Chair), Matthew Frewer/Jessica Qui (Secretary), Alex de Aboitiz, John Brown, Tom Burns, Craig Burrell, Robert Nievergelt, Ted Nye, Paul Roberts and Peter Watson.

Australian Geomechanics Society – Sydney Chapter (AGS)The AGS (Sydney Chapter) has maintained its usual schedule of monthly meetings attracting on average about 60 attendees. We have had one international speaker this year for the 52nd Rankin Lecture which has been sponsored by the AGS National Committee.

The Young Geotechnical Professionals night continues to be successful. This year it attracted 14 abstracts of which 3 were selected for presentation. The AGS provides a cash prize. The winner was Dane Lidgard for his presentation on “Innovative Approaches to Embankment Stabilisation”.

There has been a significant increase in participation of AGS NSW Research Award this year. There were 7 submissions this year, representing 5 Universities in NSW. The finalists this year were Pavlick Harutoonian (University of Western Sydney), Kourosh Kianfar (University of Wollongong) and Xue Zhang (University of Newcastle). The winner for this research award was Xue Zhang with submission titled “Particle Finite Element Limit Analysis for Geotechnical Problems”.

Our main and most successful function was our annual symposium, this year on the topic of Retaining Structures: Recent Advances and Past Experiences. We had 180 attendees and a variety of excellent presentations. The venue was the Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

13 Feb Presentation on Geotechnical Engineering and the Law, by Nicholas Gallina

13 Mar Presentation on Mine Void Treatment on Hunter Expressway Alliance – a Success Story, by Olaf Stahlhut

10 Apr Past Chairman Presentation on Problematic Soils, by David Airey

8 May AGS NSW Research Award, varios topics by Patrick Harutoonian, Xue Zhang and Kourosh Kianfar

12 Jun Presentation on Tree Roots and the Slope Stability of River Banks in Eastern Australia, by Tom Hubble

10 Jul Presentation on The Cone Penetration Test in Unsaturated Soils: Experiments, Theory and Application, by Adrian Russell

14 Aug E.H. Davis Memorial Lecture on Combined Load-ing of Offshore Foundations, by Mark Cassidy

11 Sept Young Geotechnical Professional’s Night, various topics, by Dane Lidgard, Ben Caruana and Andrew McIntyre

9 Oct 52nd Rankine Lecture on Performance-Based Design in Geotechnical Engineering, by Malcolm Bolton

13 Nov AGS Symposium on Retaining Structures: Recent Advances and Past Experiences

CommitteeHossein Taiebat (Chair), Jason Surjadinata (Secretary), David Airey, Henk Buys, Cholachat Rujikiatkamkorn, Hadi Khabbaz, Chun Yean Tey, Andrew Hunter, Hana Liu, Leyton Collings, Sam Mirlatifi, Tim Nash, Adrian Hulskamp, Mark van Uden, Jonathon Sutton, Bosco Poon and Cillian McColgan

Group Reports 29

Australian Society for Defence Engineering (ASDE)The NSW Chapter of ASDE operates within the framework of the national constitution of ASDE and the strategy for the society set by the ASDE National Committee. The Chapter has initiated and/or contributed to the following ASDE National Projects:

• The conduct of a third DMO/EA/ASDE Conference in Melbourne 7/8th August 2012 with a focus on safety. The Conference was over- subscribed and the MC was the Chair of the ASDE NSW Chapter

• The ASDE Sponsored Eminent Speakers program by RADM Moffitt on the New Submarine Project – the presentation was held 2nd October 2012 and was hosted by the ASDE NSW Chapter.

• ASDE NSW Chapter members have supported the planning of the Submarine Technology Conference in to be held in Adelaide in October 2013 2013

• ASDE is organising and hosting a 2 day defence engineering stream at the EA National Conference in Melbourne in November 2014 and a number of the ASDE NSW Committee are on the National ASDE Organising Committee.

• The ASDE NSW Committee initiated the project to commemorate the contribution of engineers to World War 1 for which the concept was subsequently submitted to the EA Council. The project now has the support of EA and is a National ASDE Project – members of the NSW Chapter Committee are on the ASDE National Organising Committee. This project will involve the regional groups.

• Earlier this year the Director of Engineering Practice of Engineers Australia highlighted the need to revitalise the learned society function of EA. In considering its response to this initiative the NSW Chapter of ASDE has undertaken a project to develop a Defence Engineering Body of Knowledge (DEBOK). The DEBOK Project will managed by ASDE in association with Engineers Australia and its wholly owned subsidiary, Engineers Media (EM). In developing the DEBOK the Project Team intends to work collaboratively with all key stakeholder groups, including engineering groups across defence, to ensure DEBOK is useful and thus gain their support and commitment. The intention is to launch the draft DEBOK at the National Convention in Melbourne in November 2014. A NSW ASDE Member is the ASDE Project Manager and initial contact has been made with some of stakeholders.

• NSW ASDE members have contributed to the consultation concerning the role and membership of the technical societies which arose from the revision of the regulations of Engineers Australia, to reflect the changes to the Royal Charter and By-laws approved by members in 2010.

Technical Activities During the period of this report the NSW Chapter held number of presentations all of which contributed to CPD

Date Activity

6 May A presentation by Wing Commander Ross Magno AFIEAust CEngA MBA on Aircraft Maintenance in the Australian Defence Force

1 Jul A workshop to commence the project to Develop Defence Engineering Body of Knowledge (DEBOK)

Date Activity

4 Nov Presentation by Dr K C Wong AssocFAIAA on Technology Changes fro Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s)

Most of our presentations were recorded and available on the EA website as video streams.

CommitteeDoug Roser (Chair), Chris Skinner (Secretary), John Elliott, Tom Fink and John Brett

Electric Energy Society of Australia NSW Chapter (EESA)EESA meetings have been held monthly in the Chatswood offices of Engineers Australia. Total committee membership is now 24, 5 corresponding, with 2 new members following the introduction of Facebook.

• Patrick McMullan has temporarily resumed the role of editor of the bulletin while Tony Patterson is indisposed.

• The committee is progressing with work on webinar, both for Internet based seminars and for video conference calls at our meetings.

• Seminars and visits have been planned and coordinated by Maurice Overy.

• A number of initiatives have been delayed due to the uncertainty in the distribution industry. Neville Cooper in Port Macquarie is considering future face-to-face seminars regionally for local employees and members.

• The society has taken a step into the modern world. The Meetings Manager has opened a Twitter page and this is being operated in conjunction with Facebook by 2 young members from Essential Energy and Endeavour.

• Tim de Grauw continues to grow LinkedIn with new Society members. Total count now at 100.

• Maurice Overy represented the NSW Chapter at the EEA conference in Auckland. Peter Dulhunty, Martyn Pearce (standing in for Robert Barr) and Harry Colebourn also attended.

• Peter Dulhunty has continued as the Australian contact with CIRED. He provided a brief report on the current conference at EECON NSW in June.

• Tim de Grauw represented EESA on the nuclear education committee, assisted by Bob Smith. The committee reviewed existing work within universities.

• The committee was very pleased that its nomination for Robert Barr to receive the award of Electrical Engineer of the year was successful. They are now rejoicing and congratulating Robert for receiving the award of AM which is richly deserved.

• The Chapter remains healthy financially with $35,000 in bank accounts and about $115,000 in term deposits.

• Larry Meng has continued as our valued Treasurer for both this State and for the National organisation. His work is invaluable and very much appreciated.

Group Reports30

Technical Activities

Date Activity

22 May Webinar presentation by David Sweeting, held with 43 delegates, following a test webinar on 23 January

6 Jun A very successful technical tour of Garden Island Dockyard was held. Photos and words were posted on Facebook

25 Jun A visit to the Ausgrid City North Substation followed by a presentation in the Engineers Australia auditorium was fully booked and very successful

26 Jun EECON NSW at the Australian Technology Park, Sydney was very successful. Some new Sponsors and exhibitors were obtained and there were over 150 registrations. The opening plenary was broadcast live by webinar to Essential Energy as a trial.

CommitteeBob Smith (Chair & Secretary), Larry Meng, Robert Barr, Patrick McMullan, Peter Langdon, David Sweeting, Chris Halliday, Peter Dulhunty, Neville Cooper, Tim de Grauw, Maurice Overy, Tony Patterson, Bob Parkinson, Harry Colebourn, Steven Trainer, Terry Lampard, Ian Askell, Simon Lewis, Winodh Jayewardene, Harry Colebourn. Corresponding: David Barr, Chris Dalitz, Paul Russell, Robert Smith and Dennis Stanley

Risk Engineering Society (RES)Technical Activities

Date Activity

30 Jul ISO/IEC 31010 2009 Risk Assessment Techniques is being reviewed. Keep informed!

27 Aug Terror, Security, and Money: The Risks, Costs, and Benefits of Aviation Security

19 Sept RES Special Event – two topics: • Safety in Design and the Role of Engineers• Risk & Remediation Projects

25 Nov Integrated Cost Schedule Risk Analysis (i-C/SRA) Applications in Delivery of Major Projects

CommitteePedram Danesh-Mand (Chair), Peter Flanagan, Ruben Welschen, Ian Ackland and Jean Cross

Royal Aeronautical Society – Sydney Branch (RAeS)The Sydney branch has been very active through 2013. The Branch has just under 300 members and over 600 people on its mailing list.

Our key aims are to:

• Provide lectures that inform,• Form stronger links with our industry partners,• Support activities that bring young people into the industry

• Use the knowledge and experience of our members to provide a forum and advice to advance the debate on key issues. Technical Activities

Date Activity

27 Feb Presentation by John Faulkner on Aviation Safety

5 Mar Presentation by Eminent Speaker Prof Takashi Ishikawa on JAXA Technical Program

1 May Presentation by Darren Cook on Maintenance Safety/Human Factors

22 May Presentation by Dr Susan Pond on Biofuels

26&28 June

RAeS branch representation at the Wings Over Illawarra Air show

10 Jul Presentation by Greg Chamitoff on The experience of space

25 Jul Site Visit to Quickstep

28 Aug Presentation by Capt Dave Evans on Teamwork on the flight deck of QF32

18 Sep Annual Black Tie dinner and Kingsford Smith lecture with guest speaker Ian Thomas presenting on Flash Forward: The New Industrial Revolution and the Future of Aerospace

23 Oct Industry Safety Panel

27 Nov Panel discussion on Sydney’s Second Airport

Dec AGM CommitteeDavid Cox (Chair), John Vincent (Secretary), David Adkins (Vice Chair), Bradley Haywood (Hon Assistant Secretary), Jeff Lock (Hon. Treasurer), Constantine Hela, Michael Lawyer, Ross Barkla, John Burleigh, Peter Lyons, Peter Marosszeky and David Kelly

Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA)RINA had a stand at Pacific 2013 International Maritime and Naval Exposition from which some members were recruited. This stand was in the main attended by our Chief Executive, Trevor Blakeley, from HQ London UK and members for RINA Australia Division.

All technical meetings were held in partnership with the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology.

Our Annual Christmas get together titled “SMIX Bash 2013” was be held on board the sailing ship “James Craig” on the 5th December 2013 and is supported by Marine Industry Sponsors. Technical Activities

Date Activity

6 Feb Seminar on Business Continuity Management by Alan Taylor, Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology

3 Apr Seminar on Revision of the National Standard for Commercial Vessels by Adam Brancher, Australian Maritime Safety Authority

Group Reports 31

Date Activity

01 May Seminar on Development of a Low-cost Vehicle/Passenger Ferry in Response to Increased Competition from Air Travel in South-east Asia by Clive Evans, Lightning Naval Architecture

05 Jun Seminar on Developments in Marine Protective Coatings by Tim Haughton, Jotun Australia

03 Jul Seminar on Conversion of a Chemical Carrier to an FPSO by Matt Duff, ASO Marine Consultants

07 Aug Seminar on Operational Ocean Forecasting: Status and Impacts by Gary Brassington, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research

04 Sept Seminar on Application of the IMO's Energy Efficiency Design Index to Naval Vessels by Elliot Thompson, Department of Defence

02 Oct Seminar on James Cameron's Deepsea Challenger – the Buoyancy that Brought Him Back by Richard Stanning, McConaghy Boats

CommitteeAlan H Taylor (chair), Anne Simpson (Secretary), Phil Helmore, Graham Taylor, Rob Tuk, Nathan Gale, Valerio Comaini, Sue-Ellen Jahshan, Craig Bolton and Adrain Broadbernt

Society of Fire Safety (SFS)The Society of Fire Safety was established to foster excellence in fire safety in Australia. As a learned Society, the aims are to draw together individuals who are actively engaged in fire safety, to provide a national focus and leadership for the development, understanding, practice and application of fire safety engineering to achieve reductions of risk for life, property and environmental damage and the implementation of cost-effective fire safety codes and regulations.

The key SFS achievements in 2013 are:• Continue to provide technical seminars which promote

excellence in the practice of fire safety engineering.

• Attend meetings and maintain effective communication with Fire and Rescue NSW, the Building Professionals Board, and the Department of Planning and Infrastructure.

• Liaise closely with SFS members, initiating comment and promoting debate on selected fire safety engineering issues.

• Provide submissions in relation to proposed fire safety related legislation and practice notes including:-

1. The New Planning System White Paper

2. Fire and Rescue NSW Processes

3. Fire and Rescue NSW Guidance Note 12 – CP1 and CP2 Alt Sols

4. The Australian Building Codes Board’s Draft National Construction Code Fire Safety Verification Methods

• Currently finalising a Practice Note relating to Tenability Criteria.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

20 Feb Seminar on Effective height & impact on fire safety

17 Apr Seminar on Building usage after occupancy

17 Jul Seminar on Evacuation of very tall buildings

21 Aug Seminar on Guidance notes & professional peer practice

16 Oct Seminar on Building defects & retrospective fire safety engineering

11 Dec Seminar on Fire & Rescue practice vs the FBIM

CommitteePeter Gardner (Chair), Sarnia Rusbridge (Secretary), Atul Bhargava, Bruce Bailey, Carlos Quaglia, Daniel Levy, Darin Evans, David Boverman, Derya Horasan, Micael Lundqvist, Mike Donegan, Sandro Razzi, Stephen Grubits and Vivek Apte

Sustainable Engineering Society (SENG) Technical Activities

Date Activity

25 Feb The sustainability challenge of future urban transport

25 Mar Industry Networking Night (AWA, EIANZ, SEng, SuRF ANZ and WMAA)

CommitteeMatthew Guy (Chair), Tom Fink, Aravind Srinivasan, Pedro Arrondo, David Gamble and Tristan Ferris

Group Reports32

Systems Engineering Society of Australia (SESA) – Transportation Working Group (NSW) As the NSW outreach of an international working group, our purpose is to promote, facilitate the sharing of knowledge, and advance the tailored application of Systems Engineering practices in transportation to support of the technical operations of the International Council on Systems Engineering, of which SESA is the Australian Chapter.

Having established a NSW committee in July 2012 as part of the Transportation Working Group’s outreach activities in Australia, 2013 has been the first full year of local events organised by or supported by the committee.

Our achievements in 2013 included hosting industry seminars addressing a spectrum of System Engineering topics, regularly attracting upwards of 50 attendees. A clear highlight for this year was the presentation from the University of NSW Solar Car 2013 Challenge team, who attributed their spectacular success with the new SunSwift eVe car this year to the Systems Engineering approach adopted for the first time in the university’s long association with the race.

Technical Activities

Date Activity

Jan INCOSE International Workshop 2013, FL USA – Participation in TWG special session

Feb Seminar – Specialist Systems Engineering Practices (Human Factors, Assurance, Complexity)

Apr Seminar – What Can go Wrong in a Transportation Project (Presentations, Q&A Panel)

May SETE Conference, Canberra – Participation in Transportation stream

June Seminar – Design Management (TfNSW Requirements for Authorised Engineering Organisations, Large infrastructure projects)

Aug Seminar – University Special (UNSW Sunswift eVe Solar Power Car using Systems Engineering)

Nov Seminar – Verification & Validation (Definitions, Defence sector perspectives and lessons learnt relevant in transportation)

Other highlights included local participation (via remote hook up) in the inaugural Australia specific session at the INCOSE International Workshop (Florida, USA) in January, as well as the Systems Engineering & Testing and Evaluation Conference (Canberra) in May this year.

We look forward to NSW transportation sector participation in our forum again in 2014, and expect to communicate our local calendar of events for 2014 in February. CommitteeMartin Brown (Chair), Danielle Friscan, Lorna Small, Chris Jarrett and Andre Hefer

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Sponsors

Engineers Australia Sydney Division gratefully acknowledges the support of our sponsors:

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2013 Annual ReviewLevel 3, 8 Thomas StreetChatswood NSW 2067

Ph: 02 9410 5600 sydney@engineersaustralia.org.au

www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sydney

Sydney Division