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Life after university – what comes next?  Congratulations on completing another year of study, and to those who are graduating at the end of this year – welcome to the engineering profession! Your engineering degree provides the technical foundation for your career, but most of you will not apply much of what you have studied at uni once you graduate. However, your degree teaches you how to communicate effectively, how to analyse information and make sound judgements. For example, you will rarely go back to first principles to analyse a complicated structure. However, you need the technical foundation to know if the software program is producing feasible outputs. Most importantly, your degree teaches you how to think like an engineer. The next stage of competency after attaining your degree is chartered status. Engineers Australia is currently reviewing the competency standards and the process of attaining chartered status to ensure that it is relevant and as a result of member concerns regarding complexity of the current system. More details are available at www.engineersaustralia.org.au and members are able to provide feedback during the consultation process through the website. 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. Dr Jessica Andrewartha is chair of the Young Engineers Australia National Committee. |
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YOUNG ENGINEERS ONLINE COMMUNITY Young Engineers Australia: Website | Blog |
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UWA biomedical engineer dances his way to Belgium University of Western Australia biomedical engineering student Joel Miller has showcased his keen intellect, academic prowess and wicked dance moves by winning the top prize in the 4th annual “Dance Your PhD” contest. Miller won the international competition with a video rendition of his thesis topic entitled Microstructure-Property relationships in Ti2448 components produced by Selective Laser Melting: A Love Story. The contest, which is open to all PhD students in a science-related field around the world, called for applicants to turn their PhD thesis into a dance. Dance categories were restricted to physics, chemistry, biology and social science. Miller’s dance depicts his work with lasers to create titanium alloys strong and flexible enough for long-lasting hip replacements. As he didn’t have a video camera, Miller and his friends shot a series of 2200 still photographs of the dance in action and converted the images into stop-motion animation. The PhD research of the other category winners made for equally – though very differently – compelling dances. Oxford University’s Cedric Tan depicted the mating ritual of the fruit fly. Cornell University’s FoSheng Hsu portrayed the complex process of protein X-ray crystallography. And Emma Ware from Queen's University, Canada, performed the same series of experiments on human dancers as she does with courting pigeons. Miller’s dance was the winning entry for both the physics category and the overall contest. He has won a prize of $1000 and a free trip to Belgium to be crowned the winner at TEDxBrussels on 22 November. Both Miller’s winning video and submissions from all 55 competitors can be viewed online. |
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Job growth for engineering graduates A new forecast released by employment service MyCareer has revealed that engineering graduates are on par with dentistry and optometry graduates as Australia’s top starting salary earners. Despite a slowed growth in the sector over the past year, the number of engineering positions is currently growing by 7.7%, with the civil, mining and electrical sectors exhibiting the most growth over the past year. At the state level, Victoria is experiencing the largest growth within the engineering sector at over 15%, while Queensland has reached 11.7% as a result of the reconstruction efforts after the January floods, in addition to an expanding mining sector. Economic and marketing development advisers’ models released by MyCareer predict that the number of engineering positions will be growing at 3.2% pa by May 2012. MyCareer employment forecast head researcher Michael Emerson said graduate opportunities are starting to materialise after suffering during the GFC. “Generation Y was the first sector to suffer during this period,” he said. “This cohort is now playing catch-up and is reaping the good financial rewards.” |
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Port engineering course at Swinburne Swinburne University of Technology has introduced a formal qualification in port and harbour engineering. Developed in conjunction with Ports Australia, the Graduate Certificate in Engineering (Ports and Harbour) is designed for engineers who work, or aspire to work, in the maritime industry. According to course convener Professor Alex Babanin, port engineering requires a specific skill set which is not fully offered by conventional engineering courses. “Port engineering applications are very different to mainstream civil, coastal and mechanical engineering disciplines,” he said. “This is why it is essential that our port engineers have access to specialised education that will ensure they are globally competitive.” During the four-unit program students will cover a variety of port and harbour engineering applications, including dredging, port access and navigation, and port structural design. The program will also aim to have a strong industry focus, with input from representatives of the field. “One of the program’s greatest strengths will be its engagement with industry,” Babanin said. “Specialists from more than 10 Australian companies will lecture into the program, with the dredging engineering subject taught and sponsored by dredging company Boskalis. Students will also have access to industry software and highly relevant case studies,” he said. Each subject will be delivered in intensive mode over one week, followed by assessment via distance education. This structure will allow engineers from all over Australia to take part in the program. There are 68 commercial ports in Australia that employ an estimated 2700 staff and move over 940Mt of cargo each year. |
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Artwork depicts weather with sound An engineering student from the University of Sydney has cocreated an audio installation that portrays weather patterns with sound for this year’s Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Bondi. PhD student Aengus Martin combined speakers positioned along the contours of a Tamarama rock face, a weather station and an archive of sounds to create Windtraces with collaborator Dr Kirsty Beilharz from the University of Technology, Sydney. Windtraces matches weather conditions with clips from a sound bank, using algorithms created by Martin, to play unique audio capturing the weather of the moment. “The algorithmic processes reflect the weather patterns of the moment to decide when a new sound will appear and how it will move across the rocks,” said Martin. “Someone standing in front of Windtraces will get a sense of movement, reflected by the instantaneous weather conditions. Each visit to the site will be unique.” Some of the sounds, chosen by Beilharz, evoke the sound of weather but others are artificial and draw on the likes of electronic music and keyboards. “Kirsty designed the sound palette and I determined how and when the sounds play,” said Martin. Windtraces came about at the request of Sculpture by the Sea organisers wanting to make use of a rock face they knew they couldn’t put a sculpture on. “There is no object to see aside from 14 loudspeakers,” says Martin, who is studying at the Computing and Audio Research Laboratory (CARLab) in the School of Electrical and Information Engineering. Martin’s research centres on creating computer algorithms that learn how to play music that reacts to external influences. He expects his PhD to culminate in a new piece of software allowing musicians to develop interactive systems for their artworks. Sculpture by the Sea runs until 20 November in Sydney. |
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Student works on early detection of malnutrition University of Sydney undergraduate student Shu Ning Bian is working on an engineering project which aims to help reduce infant malnutrition in the developing world. The project, led by Dr Alistair McEwan from the university’s School of Electrical and Information Engineering, involves the development of a non-invasive, solar-powered device to measure body fat in newborns. The device uses infrared technology and other off-the-shelf components, with the intention being to build a model which will cost less than $5 per unit. Shu Ning's involvement with the project evolved from his search for an undergraduate honours thesis project – a requirement of his electrical engineering degree. "This spoke to me because it makes the world a better place and involves hands-on work," he said. The project has already received a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation valued at nearly $100,000, for which Shu Ning helped write an application. He has also worked with Dr McEwan and Professor Heather Jeffery from the School of Public Health to build a device prototype, and developed an embedded computer which runs a small algorithm to measure body fat. "[The device] won't fix malnutrition by itself," said Shu Ning, "but it will allow more people to detect malnutrition early." The currently unnamed device is being tested for accuracy at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. |
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Creative student designs on show in Melbourne Final year engineering students from the University of Melbourne had the opportunity to display their projects at the 2011 Endeavour Design Expo. The annual event was attended by industry representatives, school students and the general public, and showcased the work of students from mechanical; electrical and electronic; infrastructure and computer science; and software engineering streams. Of the more than 100 projects on display, designs ranged from a smart thermal jacket which maintained a comfortable temperature for the wearer, to a remote-controlled brake for a child’s bike and a sanitation unit for communities in developing countries. One such project had required a group of students to devote the past year to research, design and testing. The result is a load-carrying human exoskeleton named Skello, which could potentially be worn by people working in the military or industry that are required to carry heavy loads. Team member Sithumini Jayasundera said they had spent nine months working on their project, but Skello still needed some further development before he could effectively carry heavy loads. “In most industries when you carry heavy loads, you need two people, or you need machines and they generally tend to be bulky. The exoskeleton is very ergonomic,” she said. Another group of students devised a toolkit allowing apps to be developed for old-generation mobile phones in developing countries, which could then be used by doctors for diagnostic purposes. Team member Tim Cook said that the application toolkit would allow doctors to perform diagnostic tasks such as monitoring a patient’s heart rate by plugging a pulse oximeter into the mobile via USB. “We’ve been working with Associate Professor Jim Black at the Nossal institute,” Cook said. “He recently went to Mozambique and he assures us that this sort of thing will be really helpful.” The Endeavour Design Expo is hosted by the University of Melbourne on an annual basis. |
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John Monash scholarships A Royal Australian Air Force Officer serving in Afghanistan, a Chinese-speaking lawyer and a Victorian school teacher are among 10 of the recipients for the 2012 General Sir John Monash Scholarships for academic excellence and leadership. The scholarship, which grants each of its recipients $50,000 per year for a maximum of three years, is provided by the federal government. “John Monash Scholars are a who’s who of scientists, engineers, corporate leaders, policy thinkers and humanists,” said innovation minister Senator Kim Carr. “[The scholarships are] a solid investment in Australia’s future by recognising and supporting outstanding Australian graduates to pursue postgraduate study opportunities at some of the world’s leading universities.” For information on how to apply for a John Monash Scholarship, click here. |
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| POSTGRAD CORNER – UNSW Canberra
UNSW Canberra offers postgraduate courses in a range of engineering fields, catering to careers in both the defence force and broader society. Open to both military and civilian students, the campus is currently home to 1345 postgraduate students, and, according to UNSW, maintains the best teacher-to-student ratio in the country. Depending on the program, a postgrad engineering course at UNSW Canberra can span between six months and one year full-time. For a full list of the postgraduate course formats for engineering science and systems engineering, visit the website. Students who have completed engineering-related undergraduate degrees or who have earned equivalent professional experience are eligible to apply. |
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