Ahead of World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development (4 March), create spoke with five young Engineers Australia members about their hopes for the profession and what this year’s theme “Build Back Wiser — Engineering the Future” means to them.
Amy Clark
2021 Sydney Young Professional Engineer of the Year and Senior Engineer, Buildings Structures, Aurecon
What attracted you to engineering?
As engineers, we are designers, inventors, managers and makers. We tell the story of how things work. And, ultimately, we are humanitarians. A career in engineering offers us the opportunity to imagine, to create, and to bring to life city-shaping projects that will improve the wellbeing of people and communities for generations to come.
What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the world that engineering can help to address?
The biggest challenge today is ensuring that we are solving the right problems for tomorrow. As such, it is imperative that technically proficient engineers are equally well-represented in the teams delivering projects as those making the decisions surrounding them.
As Dr Mehreen Faruqi, Member of the NSW Legislative Council, said: “Good governance and sound decision-making need input from a diversity of voices.”
What does the 2022 World Engineering Day theme mean to you?
It’s an opportunity to celebrate and raise awareness of our role in improving the wellbeing of people and communities, delivering city-shaping projects, and imagining and co-creating a better future for our planet with our clients.
We play a broader stewardship role in tackling the complex challenges afflicting society, such as those brought about by climate change, not only as engineers, designers and advisors, but as innovators and change activists.
As a participant in the United Nations Global Compact, at Aurecon we have committed to achieving net zero operations by 2025. However, our greatest impacts are made through the work we do with our clients in “engineering the future” through sustainability-centric designs.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
When I was studying for my Higher School Certificate, my father woke me very early one morning and took me to watch the sun rise over the ocean. He told me that that the sun goes down and comes back up again, day after day, and if I were ever feeling overwhelmed, I should return to this place to watch the sunrise again. At the time, I understood the lesson to be that there will always be another day (and quietly enjoyed the serendipity of studying mathematical induction at the time). However, I now recognise the lesson as one in emotional agility and prioritising mental health.
Where do you hope your career takes you?
To unexpected places.
David Ewers
2021 Tasmania Young Professional Engineer of the Year and Project Manager at VEC Civil Engineering
Why engineering?
My uncle who is also an engineer was my inspiration, but I have always had a passion to build things and innovate. Engineering has been the basis for most of the change on our planet and is fundamental to our way of life today. To engineer is to create — that is what inspired me and drives me in my engineering career.
What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the world that engineering can help to address?
I come from a family of eight, a family that didn’t have much. We valued sustainable living, making the most of what we had, and the environment we lived in. Our motto was: “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without!” Hand-me-downs were a normal way of life.
These ideas drive me in terms of what I want to achieve in my engineering career. During uni this influenced some of my elective choices. Studying sustainability and development and how they coexist took me right back to some of the fundamental principles I learned as a kid.
In my job as an engineer I strive to use what is locally available for a project, such as local materials, or reuse of existing materials where possible.
I believe engineering can change the world one project at a time. And the way you do this is through sustainability. Engineering solutions can be found to mitigate challenges in design and construction, which maximise efficiency in how much material you take off the land and how much vegetation you remove.
I’m also a passionate advocate for equity in sustainable development. Sustainable solutions should not only be available to those communities that can afford them, but for all people.
An important part of our job as engineers is to drive positive change for the environment and the communities around us.
What does the 2022 World Engineering Day theme mean to you?
It’s about sustainable development — and equity in sustainable development. In the “bad old days” projects were developed without much thought for the environment or the landscape in which they were constructed. If the plan was to build a road from point A to point B and there were trees in the way, the trees were cleared. That mindset has now changed and we consider the impact we are having, and work out how to minimise disruption.
But the theme is also about making sure we inspire the next generation of engineers. I’m committed to engaging with young Australians to show them how a career in engineering could equip them to make a difference through projects in their own communities.
I’m involved with a program called Smart Seeds. This is a design-led innovation program that develops skills in collaboration, innovation and pitching new ideas to clients and stakeholders. Recently, we asked students to come up with a sustainable idea that could help change the future of Tasmania. Some of the ideas aren’t feasible yet, but an idea is a seed that will grow and with cultivation turn into something tangible that will change people’s lives for the better.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
“Be the change you want to see” is something I was challenged with at the start of my career. This has inspired me to get involved in many different organisations, including Engineers Australia, to inspire change around me.
Where do you hope your career takes you?
I believe I can be involved in shaping the future of Tasmania as we move towards a sustainable future, powering the rest of Australia with natural energy. I will also become more involved with Engineers Australia and also in the lives of the next generations of engineers who I can inspire to create change — one project at a time!
Marceline Overduin
Mechanical engineer, Frazer-Nash Consultancy
What attracted you to engineering?
Engineering gives me the opportunity to give back to society by combining a love for problem-solving with science. From there, I was drawn to mechanical engineering because of the diversity of work, broad applicability of concepts, and the understanding it fosters of the everyday tools and gadgets that make modern life possible. It is an endlessly fascinating, engaging and fulfilling profession to be involved in.
What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the world that engineering can help to address?
Meeting the needs of a growing global population in a way that is safe, smart and sustainable is one of the biggest challenges of our time. Engineering plays an important role in meeting the needs of the population by developing the technology needed for the sanitation, energy and food systems that underpin our society.
The simultaneous development of these systems whilst restoring the balance with our natural world is one of the most important challenges of our time, and one that relies heavily on a concerted effort of all engineering disciplines.
What does “Build Back Wiser — Engineering the Future” mean to you?
Build back wiser has several meanings for me. It is considering how our use of products and infrastructure will change over time. For example, consideration of the design features needed to maintain a safe environment for roads shared by drivers and autonomous cars.
It is the use of technology to develop and manufacture sustainable materials that can be recycled or upcycled to replace infrastructure that is approaching end-of-life.
Lastly, it is the intentional inclusion of sensors and devices to monitor the performance of the physical product and provide the data necessary to predict when and for which components preventative maintenance should occur.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Truly understand a problem before trying to solve it. No problem exists in isolation, so a good solution requires an understanding of how the problem came to be, where it occurred, who it can influence or be influenced by it, and what impacts it currently has or could have. The technical elements of a good solution then emerge from answering these questions through conversations with stakeholders, evaluating the data and sanity checking the assumptions made.
Where do you hope your career takes you?
As an avid learner, I hope to continue working on projects that push me to seek out information and learn how to apply it. I hope that the considered views and opinions I form are listened to, and that I have the opportunity to listen to the views of others. Ultimately, I hope that the work I do constructively contributes to society.
Lord Thabet
Engineering student, University of Wollongong with a graduate job at Hearing Australia
Why engineering?
My engineering journey started in year 12, when I discovered my love of maths and my passion for technology. I decided to pursue this love and passion and study engineering. Since my first year at university, I’ve known I’m in the right place doing the right thing.
What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the world that engineering can help to address?
One of the biggest challenges that engineering is helping to address and overcome is cyber security. Computer systems have become the heart of our daily life; no one can live without technology. But this creates vulnerabilities, because it’s sometimes easy to hack someone’s computer and steal their data.
What does “Build Back Wiser — Engineering the Future” mean to you?
To me, it means how well we will be able to cope with and adapt to the fast transition of technology. We will need better and stronger security solutions. When we plan for the future, we need to be wise and take into consideration rapid changes and the development in technology.
What’s the best piece of advice you have received?
Feed your knowledge like your own body. Everyone needs to feed themselves to stay alive, and this is also the case for our brain. We always need to feed our brain with knowledge.
Where do you hope your career takes you?
I would like to become an expert and a professional in the cyber security and network engineering field, where I can apply my skills and knowledge to protect Australia and its people from cyber criminals.
Brooklyn Davis
Engineering student at CQUniversity and Documentation Technician Intern, GHD
What attracted you to engineering?
I was a part of the International Space Settlement Design competition in 2018 and got to meet some engineers during the competition in America. Seeing the way engineers work inspired me to become one.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the world that engineering can help to address?
I believe connecting is one of our biggest issues in modern life. Engineers can help bring families, communities and nations together through our contributions to society, big or small.
What does the 2022 World Engineering Day theme mean to you?
The theme is a crucial aspect of my career as an undergraduate. Setting up a good foundation in my work relies on contributing to society in a way that will prosper for the future. I believe focusing on outcomes that include environmental, social and humanitarian impacts will not only benefit the world we live in but lead to a fulfilling career.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Don’t forget to be creative in everything you do.
Where do you hope your career takes you?
I hope to grow with my current company and successfully finish my bachelor’s course in 2023.
Don’t miss Engineers Australia’s free World Engineering Day webinar at 12.00 pm AEDT on Friday, 4 March.