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Graduates in perfect position  Well, hasn’t the year flown! Engineering students, and particularly those who are about to graduate, are in an enviable position. There are plenty of opportunities for engineers all over Australia including:
We know engineers will be needed in all these areas. With a minority government, new worthwhile and innovative projects (or promises for projects) are likely to emerge. This puts graduate engineers in the perfect position to launch their careers. No matter whether you are interested in tendering, design, construction, project management, quality assurance or any other area of engineering, there will be many prospects in the future. It will just be up to you to decide where you want to take your career. Good luck to those of you completing exams, and to those of you who have finished your final engineering year all the best with your future endeavours! Don’t forget to upgrade your membership to be a graduate member and remember to stay an active member within your young engineers division because you never know what opportunity may present itself. Carla Cher is chair of the Young Engineers Australia National Committee. |
YOUNG ENGINEERS ONLINE COMMUNITY Young Engineers Australia: Website | Blog |
| Rod McGee Medal Final year Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) student Jake Whitehead has been awarded the 2010 Rod McGee Medal at Engineers Australia’s Civil College awards in Canberra on 28 October. The Rod McGee Medal was established by Engineers Australia to commemorate the contribution of Dr McGee to Australian public works engineering. It encourages final year engineering students to engage in career opportunities in public works engineering. Whitehead has a particular interest in the strategic planning of metropolitan transport networks to maximise traffic efficiency and urban aesthetics and minimise environmental impact. During 2009 he undertook two semesters studying at the KTH – Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, which led to his 2010 final year project around the results of congestion charging schemes in Stockholm, as well as in London and Singapore. From his research he aimed to determine the suitability of establishing similar schemes in an Australian city and promote public debate on congestion charging schemes in Australia. “Congestion charging schemes provide an opportunity not only to combat congestion, but to encourage the use of public transport and provide an alternative public revenue source for raising the capital to construct major pieces of toll-free infrastructure,” he said. He said that McGee’s life story was a great example of the important and valuable work that can be done in public works engineering, and that the medal has provided encouragement for him to push forward with his work on his PhD studies next year. The award was jointly sponsored by the Tasmanian Department of Infrastructure Energy & Resources and Johnstone McGee & Gandy. The prize includes an engraved medallion and a $2000 prize. |
| Northern Division joins Facebook Young Engineers Australia’s Northern Division has joined Facebook, providing a central online meeting point for YEA events and discussions. Northern Division includes the whole of the Northern Territory as well as Indonesia and East Timor. Visit their Facebook page to join the conversation and view its recent updates. |
| End of year function Young Engineers Tasmania is hosting their end of year function, celebrating engineering achievements and leadership. It will be held on the evening of 1 December at Salamanca Square, Hobart. Attendance will cost $10 for members and $20 for non-members. See the event website for more information or contact Catherine Reading on 03 6234 2228. |
| Investigating postgraduate studies Swinburne University has offered a new postgraduate course to equip students with the technical and legal knowledge to identify inappropriate online conduct and cybercrime and present data as evidence in legal proceedings. The course provides students with the knowledge and skills to identify the occurrence of a cybercrime with reference to the current Australian Legal Framework and to undertake the necessary action to handle evidence through the sequence of acquisition, analysis, preservation, presentation and documentation suitable to an Australian court of law. The Graduate Certificate in eForensics also extends the professional knowledge of those who already have some background in the broad domain of IT or networks and security but without specialised knowledge of eForensics. More information on the course, set to launch in 2011, is available online. |
| Life after graduation simulated Student group Liquid Engineering has taken the top prize in an engineering challenge designed to simulate elements of the working environments they will encounter after graduation. The challenge was to transport as much water as possible over 8m, while using the most economical methods they could devise. Over 50 student groups partook in the challenge, hosted by GHD Consulting Engineers. Students were required to write an initial written report; provide an oral presentation on their design; submit cost assessments, with supporting receipts; and a final 15-20 page report describing their group’s entry, including engineering drawings, planning, testing, and project management approach. Participants had 60 seconds to set up and operate their systems, taking turns to build 8m long open channels made of PVC pipes, metal or even cardboard. Each team had its own strategy employing pipes of varying diameter, different starting height and bucketing methods. Liquid Engineering – made up of three civil and three chemical engineering students – took out the top prize of $1000. Team spokesperson Andrew Busch said the six students took about 50 hours to develop the winning system. “We went for the cheapest material like PVC pipes and pine wood tripods”, he added. “As a team we learnt how important attention to detail is and how to come up with a smart design and how to build it smart too.” However, even the winners suffered some setbacks as the prototype went wrong. “The water just wouldn't go in the barrel but using diagonal braces quickly solved this. We all liked this challenge because engineering is fun!” Second and third places went to student groups H2O and Aqua Jest who were awarded cash prizes of $600 and $300 respectively. |
| Australian team wins international IT competition A team of UTS master's students have taken out the Asia Pacific championship of Cisco Systems' NetRiders 2010 competition. The annual competition organised by Cisco Networking Academy matches 16 teams from across the Asia Pacific region and tests students' networking and IT skills through a series of online exams and simulation activities using Cisco Packet Tracer that cover material required to obtain industry CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) certification. UTS's Stefanus Irawan, Joshua Stennett and Thomas Ujszaszi represented Australia after defeating 12 teams in the Australia-New Zealand leg of the competition in September. The UTS team competed in a virtual meeting room where they were challenged with a theoretical exam followed by a broken network topology scenario to test their practical skills. As part of the grand prize, the team will receive an all expenses paid trip to the USA in January to meet Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers. |
| End the year – become an expert Young Engineers WA is celebrating the end of the year with a sundowner including a presentation by leadership capability consultant Gregory Bayne. Bayne will share his presentation “Journey to becoming an expert”, exploring what an expert means and how to become one in the workplace. The event will be held at The Esplanade, Perth on the evening of 8 December. It will cost $25 for members and $35 for non-members. Registration can be made online. For further information, see the events website. |
| Young humanitarian goes to Oxford Queensland University of Technology (QUT) engineering honours graduate James Tilbury has won the 2011 Queensland Rhodes Scholar and will take up study at Oxford University in October next year. Nine Rhodes Scholarships are awarded in Australia each year - one for each state and three for Australia at large. The scholarship paid by the Rhodes Trust covers return flights to the UK, tuition fees for a postgraduate degree or second undergraduate degree and a living allowance for two years. 22 year old Tilbury is ecstatic about the opportunity to study for a Masters of Environmental Change and Management at Oxford. He is the fourth QUT student to have received the award. He says it will enable him to follow his dream of working in the least developed countries and helping lift people out of poverty. “Poverty alleviation and sustainable development are my main interests,” said Tilbury, who secured a grade point average of 6.8, out of a maximum of 7, during his four-year QUT civil engineering degree. Tilbury attended the United Nations' climate change conference in Copenhagen last year as part of a delegation of young Australians and Pacific Islanders working for the survival of the Pacific Island nations. Next month he leaves for Cambodia for a 10-month stint as a volunteer in a capacity-building role. “Working in Cambodia will give me an understanding of the issues that people in the least developed countries face, which will help guide my study at Oxford.“I see climate change as an integral part of sustainable development. I want to help the poorest countries to deal with the impact of climate change and still develop without reliance on fossil fuels. “The Oxford masters degree will give me an insight into what the impacts of climate change are on international development and the best ways to manage them.” Tilbury was also awarded QUT's Kindler Medal for engineering leadership this year. |