Robin Batterham, 66
President of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Melbourne
Chemical engineer, University of Melbourne

Dr Robin Batterham’s role as president at the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) is a part-time position. It involves setting strategic directions and providing advice to the government and the wider community based on input from the fellows. The organisation is currently focusing on climate change, energy, water and education and has interacted significantly with Engineers Australia.
As president, he chairs ATSE’s Clunies Ross Foundation and the Crawford Fund, and is a member of the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council. He is a professorial fellow at the University of Melbourne.
He is the global practice leader of innovation at Rio Tinto, based in Melbourne, which focuses on delivering technologies through research and development, proof of concept and implementation.
Of his achievements in the past year, Batterham is proud of the independent review he chaired of the CSIRO Flagship Program.
In the past, Batterham was chief scientist of Australia and president of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. As a chemical engineer, he worked on projects involving process innovation in the minerals industry and metal production.
“In all this, my engineering training has given me a sound base in the fundamentals that has allowed me to make judgment calls in all sorts of applications across many disciplines. Engineering allows one to analyse down to the basics and then synthesise back up to a whole systems approach – that is its strength,” he said.
Batterham is an organist at the Scots Church in Melbourne and counts Bach and Dupre as being among his favourite composers. He also enjoys skiing and cycling.

Dennis Sheehan, 57
National President of the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia, Queensland
Civil engineer, University of Queensland

Dennis Sheehan is the national president of Association of Consulting Engineers Australia (ACEA), an organisation with 250 corporate members employing 29,000 staff.
He is the managing director of Qantec McWilliam, a consulting engineering firm based in Queensland with offices in the Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Sheehan describes his satisfaction with ACEA as being in a position to coordinate the combined resources of its members to influence the direction of Australian consulting engineering. At the moment, he is working on persuading federal and state governments to ensure the education system increases maths and sciences teaching and encourages students to enter the engineering profession.
The organisation is also working with legislators and client groups to establish a fair and equitable risk system where consulting engineers share the risks of any project at a level that is appropriate for their role in the project. This includes working with the insurance industry to establish appropriate policy wordings and then providing training opportunities for members so they can keep abreast of latest trends in risk management.

Chris Champion, 54
President of the International Federation of Municipal Engineering, Sydney
Civil engineer, University of Technology Sydney

Chris Champion is president of the International Federation of Municipal Engineering (IFME) until 2009 and works fulltime as national chief executive officer of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA).
IFME is a federation of municipal engineering associations. Its members come from countries including the UK, The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Belgium, Italy, San Marino, Israel, South Africa, Canada and Australia.
Champion’s role is to foster international exchange of technical information, skills and experience between municipal and public works engineers.He said a recent highlight in IPWEA was receiving an invitation to Washington from the US Federal Highways Administration and US Environmental Protection Authority to advise on setting up a national approach to infrastructure asset management based on work completed in Australia.
To relax, he enjoys a good glass of red wine after work and watching his kids play soccer on the weekend.

Chris Smallbone, 60
President of the International Institute of Welding and Executive Director of the Welding Technology Institute of Australia, Sydney
Mechanical engineer, North Staffordshire Polytechnic, UK

Chris Smallbone is president of the International Institute of Welding (IIW) which represents 48 member countries from Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa. He is also executive director of the Welding Technology Institute of Australia (WTIA)
One of Smallbone’s highlights in the past year was successfully getting all 48 IIW member countries and 26 IIW administrative and technical working units to collaborate in creating a new business plan. The collaboration also produced a white paper – “Improving quality of life through optimum use and innovation of welding and joining technologies”.
He describes the outcome of last year’s National Diffusion Networks Project as highly successful. The project aimed to assist industry in sourcing welding technologies for global competitiveness.
Smallbone would like to see one WTIA welding technologist in each regional centre in Australia to improve the industry’s access to innovative welding technologies, management and education.
Smallbone spent his last holiday in the US, visiting 23 national parks in eight states over a period of 30 days by car.
Born in Liverpool in the UK, Smallbone enjoys soccer and supports the English Premier League team Everton.

Bill Crews, 62
National President of RSL Australia, Canberra
Civil engineer, Sydney University

Major General Bill Crews was elected to the position of national president of the Returned & Services League of Australia in 2003. He previously served as chair of the national membership committee. The RSL is Australia’s largest veterans’ welfare and ex-service organisation with around 195,000 members nationwide.
Crews’ current role includes the leadership of the league, relationships with government and external stakeholders, and public representation. In the past year, he worked closely with the federal government to provide an extra $1.1 billion to health care and compensation support to veterans.
Crews’ military career began at the Royal Military College Duntroon. He then attended Sydney University where he completed an honours degree in civil engineering.
He retired in 1999 as a major-general after serving as director of the Defence Intelligence Organisation.
He was deputy chief executive of Engineers Australia and is an honorary fellow of the Institution. In addition to his engineering degree, Crews has an economics degree from Queensland University.
His interests, in addition to his voluntary work, include cycling, walking, social golf, wine and cooking.

Peter Taylor, 63
Chief Executive of Engineers Australia, Canberra
Civil engineer, University of Queensland

Peter Taylor is the chief executive of Engineers Australia, which represents the interests of more than 83,000 professional engineers, associates and students.
One of Taylor’s highlights in the past year has been the Institution’s success in improving the planning and funding of infrastructure by the federal and state governments.
According to Taylor, tackling the skills shortage continues to be a major challenge. Engineers Australia has had a considerable input into the Australian government’s decision to increase the numbers of places for engineering students at Australian universities. “However, there is still a long way to go to overcome shortcomings in the education system that fails to motivate children to pursue technology-based careers.”
To relax outside work, Taylor divides his time between family visits and photography. He last visited Malua Bay on the NSW south coast for a holiday.

Robert Dahan, 45
National President of the Civil Contractors Federation, Sydney
Civil engineer, University of NSW

Robert Dahan is the national president of the Civil Contractors Federation, a national organisation representing the interests of civil contractors and suppliers in Australia. As an organisation, its main goals are to allow members an opportunity to deliver a product at best-practice levels for a fair price.
It has over 2000 corporate members and associates, employing over 40,000 people in the industry with turnover in excess of $10 billion per annum.
The organisation has admitted over 100 new members and associates in the past year and seeks to continue growth.
Following on from constitutional changes, the organisation is increasing its contact with local government.
Dahan is working on forging alliances with other groups of the industry such as the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia and the Demolition Contractors Association.
Dahan is the managing director of civil contractor Mainland Civil in Sydney. For his last holidays he went skiing in Colorado.

Dario Tomat, 55
National President of the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia, Hobart
Mechanical engineer, University of Tasmania

Dario Tomat is the national president of the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA), after having served as senior vice-president during 2004-06. He also served as national treasurer for three years.
The association has 42,000 national members including students and associates.
At the moment, Tomat is working on developing the association through the Building APESMA Future program. He is also managing the transition of executive staff following chief executive John Vines’ retirement next year.
Tomat is a director of Whetstone, a management consultancy firm based in Tasmania. He enjoys the overall perspective this provides on the front lines of projects. It also allows him to mentor engineers into thinking about the solutions they propose. “Ensuring the engineering team is constantly looking for opportunities to innovate and save costs provides me with real satisfaction,” he said.
When relaxing away from work, Tomat enjoys reading and walking his dog.

Rolfe Hartley, 55
National President of Engineers Australia, Canberra
Civil engineer, University of NSW

As only the third president based in Canberra in the history of Engineers Australia, Rolfe Hartley looks after the interests of its 83,000 members nationwide.
Before retiring in March, Hartley was the facilities services manager with KBR, based in Canberra.
One of the challenges facing engineering, according to Hartley, is remaining relevant to members in a changing, multidisciplinary, global profession. In response to this, he has set up a Task Force for the Future.
The Task Force will provide the Council of Engineers Australia with advice on strategies critical to the future of the Institution. It has subgroups examining issues such as engineering practice of the future and future requirements for continuing professional development, strategic communications with stakeholders and defining the value of membership. It will report back to the Council at the end of this year with strategies for implementation.
Hartley spent his last holiday in France where he has a property. He is a keen golfer and counts two holes-in-one as among his most memorable experiences in the sport.

John Vines, 57
Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA), Melbourne
Civil engineer, Swinburne University

John Vines is the CEO of APESMA which represents the interests of 42,000 engineers and other professionals in Australia. The association recently celebrated its 60th anniversary.
Vines is currently seeking ways to leverage the strong demand for engineering talent into improved remuneration in the private and public sectors. He is also highlighting the emerging skills shortage and pressing for reduced HECS fees to attract more school leavers to consider engineering as a career.
He has served on government and industry committees which have provided insights for his work with APESMA.
A major challenge for the association in the past year has been ensuring the salaries and conditions of employment of its members are not undermined by the federal Workchoices legislation. The association is encouraging greater federal support for investment in infrastructure such as broadband to underpin economic competitiveness and urging increased support for research and development activity.
He enjoys fishing and recently visited Coral Bay in Western Australia “to experience the natural beauty of Australia”.

Engineers Australia Magazine, Volume 79 No 6, June 2007.

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