James Graham, 57
Managing Director of Gresham Partners, Sydney

James Graham has been managing director of the Gresham Partners Group since its establishment in 1985. Gresham is an Australian owned investment bank focusing on corporate and financial advice to major Australian organisations, private equity investment and property funding. The bank operates across most industry sectors and the total committed funds under its management are more than $750 million.
A chemical engineer from the University of Sydney, Graham started his career with Dow Chemicals. Following a master of business administration from the University of NSW he went into merchant banking.
Graham believes that “the insights of technical, market and operational risks learnt from chemical engineering have been a material contributor to my approach in business generally, together with an appreciation for the human dynamics, so well experienced on chemical plant operations.”
Outside Gresham, he has been chairman of the Advisory Council of the Institute for Neuromuscular Research since 2000.
In his spare time he enjoys golf and veteran cars.

Michael Dureau, 64
Chairman of RedR International and RedR Australia, Sydney

Prof Michael Dureau, a chemical engineer from Sydney University, took over the chairmanship of RedR International, based in Brussels, last December for a term of two years. He also continues to lead RedR Australia. RedR stands for Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief.
In recent months the organisation has been working hard to help meet the sudden massive demands for assistance following the tsunami last Boxing Day. The first relief workers deployed by RedR Australia were on the ground in Aceh within days of the disaster, and a total of 40 have since been on assignment in the region.
An adjunct professor at Sydney University’s Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering, Dureau is also its executive director.
He retired as managing director from Alstom Power in 2003. His experience and interest in power engineering led him to instigate the establishment of the Australian Power Institute following an Engineers Australia report on the shortage of power engineers.
In his leisure time he follows rugby union, reads and walks. Lately he has been enjoying his new grand-daughter.

De-Anne Kelly, 51
Federal Minister for Veterans’Affairs, Canberra

De-Anne Kelly’s career has been unusual in several respects. She is not only one of the still small number of female engineers in this country, but also a federal minister which is even rarer for female engineers.
Born in Rockhampton, Kelly studied electrical engineering at the University of Queensland. After graduation she worked as a sales engineer for four years, but then moved into agriculture as a cattle producer and cane farmer.
She was first elected to the House of Representatives for Dawson, Queensland, in 1996. She said her engineering qualification was useful in her preselection as people saw it as evidence of her commitment to study.
She has been reelected in each subsequent federal election and was appointed minister for veterans’ affairs last November, after serving as parliamentary secretary to the minister for transport and regional services and the minister for trade.
She believes engineers have a role to play outside their profession. “There is a need for engineers to enter public debate and take a leadership role on issues like development and sustainability.”
Kelly sees as her greatest achievement her 17-year-old son. She also feels “privileged to be part of the Howard-Anderson government”.

Campbell Newman, 41
Lord Mayor of Brisbane

Campbell Newman was elected lord mayor of Brisbane in March 2004. Brisbane City Council is the largest local council in Australia and at the centre of the fastest growing region in Australia.
A civil engineer from the University of New South Wales – part of a course undertaken at the Royal Military College in Canberra – and an MBA from the University of Queensland, Newman spent 13 years in the Australian Army and retired with the rank of major.
He then joined Grainco Australia and ran his own consulting firm specialising in bulk commodity logistics.
Newman said his previous career and experience were, in hindsight, excellent preparation for his current position. “The army taught me about leadership and people skills, as well as large public sector organisations and dealing with bureaucracy.” In business he gained financial management skills, and as a civil engineer he understands the technical basis of many of the issues and challenges facing Brisbane.
His major concern as lord mayor has been to deal with Brisbane’s traffic and transport issues.
The little spare time he has he spends with his family. His favourite weekend activity is “getting on a train with the family and heading to Brisbane’s bayside suburbs for fresh seafood and a picnic”.

Bill Crews, 60
President of the Returned & Services League of Australia, Canberra

Bill Crews is now in his second year as the national president of the RSL, which represents a membership of about 200,000. A major thrust of his work during the past 12 months has been in the area of veterans’ health. He is chairman of the National Veterans Mental Health Forum which was set up last year and has met twice so far. It examines current provisions and makes recommendations to government.
A civil engineer from Sydney University, Crews had a distinguished career in the Australian Defence Force from which he retired as major general in 2000. Between 2000 and 2003 he was Engineers Australia’s assistant chief executive.
For relaxation Crews likes reading and walking.

Frank Sartor, 54
NSW Minister for Energy and Utilities, Minister for Science and Medical Research, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health (Cancer), and Minister Assisting the Premier on the Arts, Sydney

A chemical engineer from the University of Sydney, Frank Sartor reconnected with his engineering roots only last year
at the annual dinner of the university’s Chemical Engineering Foundation. As the NSW minister for energy and utilities he has since spoken at a number of engineering functions and used his engineering background in discussions about the pressing issues of water and electricity supply in the state.
He also holds an honours degree in commerce.
Sartor was elected to the NSW Parliament in 2003, following more than 10 years as Sydney’s lord mayor including his key role in hosting the 2000 Olympics.

Peter Miller, 82
Columnist for Engineers Australia magazine on professional liability, Sydney

Dr Peter Miller is probably the most widely known commentator on professional liability in engineering in Australia. His first column on the issue was published in the 26 June 1987 issue of Engineers Australia, and he has written his column for every issue of the magazine ever since, no matter whether he was at home or travelling overseas.
A civil engineer from Sydney University, Miller was a cofounder of consulting firm Miller Milston & Ferris and was a principal of the firm from 1957 to 1987.
He was president of several associations, including the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia and culminating in the presidency of the International Federation of Consulting Engineering Associations (FIDIC) from 1983 to 1985.
He said liability had become a serious issue in common law countries during his FIDIC presidency, and he became chair of Engineers Australia’s Standing Committee on Legal Liability and Professional Indemnity in 1986.
“We succeeded in escalating the issues to the Australian Council of Professions in the mid 1990s and the collective effort has led to the formation of Professional Standards Councils in most states.
Apart from his continuing involvement in the liability debate, Miller likes reading, writing, woodworking, french polishing and home maintenance.

Elizabeth Taylor, 50
Chair of the Board of Professional Engineers in Queensland, Dean of the James Goldston Faculty of Engineering & Physical Systems at Central Queensland University, Rockhampton

Professor Elizabeth Taylor has been chairing the Queensland Board of Professional Engineers for more than a year. She is the first woman to hold that position.
The seven-member board, which meets once a month, registers all practising professional engineers in the state. It also assesses complaints against engineers and has the power to initiate investigations and prosecute through the Commercial and Consumer Tribunal and the court system. If a complaint is upheld, it can order sanctions including deregistration and recovery of costs.
“We have the necessary legislative backing to monitor the professional behaviour of the state’s registered engineers. I see Queensland possibly as a forerunner of similar national legislation which would have the potential to give schemes such as the National Professional Engineers Register disciplinary powers they currently don’t have,” Taylor said.
A civil engineer from the University of New South Wales, Taylor also has a degree in law.
She is dean of the James Goldston Faculty of Engineering and Physical Systems at Central Queensland University of Rockhampton.
Apart from her job and her parenting role she likes playing cards with friends and tennis.

John Sanderson, 64
Governor of Western Australia, Perth

Lieutenant General John Sanderson has served as the 29th Governor of Western Australia since 2000. A civil engineer from the Royal Military College Duntroon and RMIT, Sanderson retired from the Australian Defence Force as Chief of the Australian Army in 1998.
His distinguished military career, which started with construction and training appointments, included his secondment to the secretary general of the United Nations in 1991 to complete planning for the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia, and then his leadership of 16,000 troops from 34 countries securing Cambodia in 1992-93. For his service in Cambodia he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia.
Sanderson has maintained his connection with engineering. He is an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia and has been guest of honour at several engineering functions organised by the Western Australia Division of Engineers Australia
He enjoys music, theatre and the visual arts, as well as reading, cycling and golf.

John Schubert, 62
Chairman of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Sydney

Dr John Schubert is the latest in a line of engineers who have been chairmen of major Australian banks over the years. A member of the Commonwealth Bank board since 1991, he took over its chairmanship last November. He is also a member of the Boards of BHP Billiton and Qantas.
Schubert is a chemical engineer from Melbourne University. As an engineer he brings “a systematic and logical approach to problem solving” to his current position.
His career has spanned the petroleum, mining and building materials industries.
He said one of the most significant achievements in his career was the reduction of lost-time injuries to zero at Esso Australia during his time as managing director of the company.
Among his other activities is his chairmanship of the Great Barrier Reef Research Foundation.
In his spare time he enjoys his family, reading, surfing, swimming and travelling.

David Hawker, 56
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Federal Parliament, Canberra

David Hawker is one of the very few Australian federal politicians with an engineering degree. He graduated from Melbourne University in mechanical engineering. The member for the Victorian electorate of Wannon, he was elected speaker of the House of Representatives in the federal Parliament in Canberra last November.
While he only made use of his engineering qualifications for a short time at the Altona Refinery, he never lost sight of his passion for the profession during his time on the land (he was a farmer and grazier before entering federal politics) or in the political arena. He is particularly sympathetic to engineering issues including infrastructure and sustainability and served as the shadow minister for land and transport from 1990 to 1993.
In an interview with Engineers Australia magazine in 1999, he already supported the Institution’s call for a National Infrastructure Advisory Council and challenged the engineering profession to take a leadership role in sustainability issues.

Neville Sawyer, 67
President of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Newcastle

Neville Sawyer was reelected as president of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry earlier this year. In the next 12 months the ACCI will be focusing particularly on workplace relations reform and skills development and training. “The thrill of being ACCI president is that we can achieve things nationally, rather than at a state level, as most of Australia’s workplace legislation comes out of Canberra,” he said.
Sawyer is a director of Australian Made Campaign Limited and a member of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council.
He is a cofounder and nonexecutive director of Newcastle-based electrical and electronics products manufacturer Ampcontrol.
Sawyer has an electrical engineering certificate (honours grade) from Newcastle Technical College, but he soon focused on management and leadership issues.
He collects art – sculpture, pottery, glassware – and likes to travel. He has just returned from a tour along the Silk Road.

John Mulcahy, 55
Chief Executive Officer, Suncorp Group, Brisbane

Dr John Mulcahy joined Suncorp as chief executive officer and managing director in January 2003.
He is seen as one of the most widely experienced management executives in financial services in Australia.
Queensland’s biggest company and one of the nation’s 20 largest listed corporations, Suncorp offers banking, insurance and investment services to its 3.8 million customers.
Mulcahy joined Suncorp from the Commonwealth Bank and, prior to that, Lend Lease.
Originally from Sydney, Mulcahy graduated in civil engineering at the University of Sydney in 1974 and obtained a PhD in 1981.
He said moving from engineering into financial services was “a logical progression” in his career. “It wasn’t necessarily a desire to get out of engineering that motivated me, but rather the chance to become a leader.”
He said one of his main achievements as Suncorp CEO has been the $1.4 billion acquisition and integration of GIO.
What does he do to relax? “I have a young family, and enjoy playing golf, running and cycling in my spare time.”

Paul Tyrrell, 60
Chief Executive of the Department of the Chief Minister and Secretary to Cabinet in the Northern Territory, Darwin

Paul Tyrrell has been the chief executive of the Department of the Chief Minister and secretary to Cabinet in the Northern Territory since June 1999. His position entails a combination of the most senior public servant in the Territory, the senior public service adviser to the chief minister, and provision of strategic leadership in major project development in the territory.
Tyrrell said his engineering career had been in infrastructure and transport projects and his appointment to his current position was because of this background, as the then chief minister wanted to take a more strategic approach to the Territory’s development including getting the Alice-Darwin railway finally built.
Tyrrell recently led the negotiations with a private sector consortium for the Darwin City Waterfront Redevelopment, including a Convention and Exhibition Centre. Following financial close of the $1.1 billion project, construction work started last month.
Tyrrell enjoys playing golf, jogging and fishing, but doesn’t spend as much time as he’d like on his power boat.

Engineers Australia Magazine, Volume 77 No 6, June 2005.

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