GENERAL EDITION Vol 87 No 3: APRIL 2015 $7.85 inc. gst
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01 g - Cover.indd 1 13/04/15 4:44 PM 0563 03 15 a1.pdf 1 11/3/15 2:58 pm FROM THE PRESIDENT
A successful ballot outcome
s I was writing my last column, voting had just commenced in the ballot for fundamental Agovernance reform. Now, as I write this, I have just been advised of the results of the ballot by our Dr David Cruickshanks-Boyd Returning Officer. I am delighted by the results. Over 14% of eligible [email protected] voters took the time to vote, which is a significant number considering that governance reform does not excite many members! Over 80% of voters agreed with the fundamental reform which enables any voting member to stand for Defence Force, warning this should be of grave concern to election to our Council (soon to be re-named our Board). Australian taxpayers. All four recommendations were supported, with majorities In the article ‘Cuts to Defence engineering numbers a ranging from 67-83%. Details are available in the notice on false economy’ published on 20 March, Walters said: “It p. 35. is a sad indictment when highly skilled and experienced I want to publicly record my thanks to past National government employees are accepted in public discourse as President Merv Lindsay, who initiated the early reform an overhead rather than an asset”. discussions. Merv has since led the member-based He argued that engineering expertise is central to being Congress Governance Committee, which was charged an informed specifier, buyer and owner, before going on with the responsibility of developing the recommendations to cite several recent Defence reviews that demonstrate and overseeing the ballot process on behalf of Council. effective procurement requires informed engineering input I am sure that Merv will join me in thanking the other across the entire life cycle. members of the Committee – Alexandra Meldrum, Mark Our commentary on this issue is particularly pertinent, Toner and Matthew Taylor. as the Future Submarine Program – the most complex, We were all driven by the solid belief that reforming sensitive and expensive Defence capability acquisition our board was the first and necessary step in enabling our government has ever made – is currently undergoing Engineers Australia to go from ‘good to great’ and to be vociferous public scrutiny. This critical debate is clouded the best it can be in representing our profession for the by competing voices and opinions. In our report benefit of our members and the Australian community. Government as an Informed Buyer and our subsequent Our belief was supported by the excellent research work policy on government purchasing, Engineers Australia done by Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers in their book drew attention to the practice of government agencies Race for Relevance. reducing engineering positions over the past two decades. The final step in the process is now to make application Without adequate engineering expertise, governments to the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of cannot successfully manage complex engineering contracts Australia for his assent to the grant of a Supplemental nor assess the engineering competencies of contractors and Royal Charter and amended By-Laws. sub-contractors. DEFENCE CAPABILITY Australia’s modern defence capability is dependent on National councillor Greg Walters, who is also a leading technologies, but technology itself cannot achieve former president of the Australian Society for Defence this capability. Knowledgeable people are required to Engineering, recently wrote an opinion piece for The manage the processes and systems that create and shape Canberra Times to voice our concerns about impending the development, operation and sustainment of our engineering and technical staff cuts in the Australian national defence capability.
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 3
03 g - President.indd 3 13/04/15 4:37 PM ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA NATIONAL OFFICE 11 National Circuit, Barton, ACT 2600 phone 02 6270 6555 contents www.engineersaustralia.org.au [email protected] 1300 653 113 NATIONAL PRESIDENT: Dr David Cruickshanks-Boyd, FIEAust CPEng EngExec NATIONAL DEPUTY PRESIDENT: John McIntosh, FIEAust CPEng EngExec NATIONAL IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: Prof Alex Baitch, HonFIEAust CPEng COUNCILLORS: Dr Steven Goh, MIEAust; Alexandra Meldrum, FIEAust CPEng; John Olson, FIEAust CPEng EngExec; Simon Orton, FIEAust CPEng EngExec; Murray Thompson, FIEAust; Greg Walters (National Vice President – Finance), FIEAust CPEng EngExec. CHIEF EXECUTIVE : Stephen Durkin, FIEAust COLLEGE CHAIRS: Prof Karen Reynolds, FIEAust (biomedical); Prof Robert Burford, FIEAust CPEng (chemical); Gerry Doyle, FIEAust CPEng (civil); Tiina Ratamo, FIEAust CPEng (electrical); Erik Maranik, FIEAust CPEng (environmental); Geoff Sizer, FIEAust CPEng (ITEE); David Singleton, HonFIEAust CPEng EngExec (leadership and management); Michael Lucas, FIEAust CPEng (mechanical); Dr Rob Heywood, FIEAust CPEng (structural). DIVISION OFFICES CANBERRA Cyclone Marcia tests buildings 11 National Circuit, Barton, ACT 2600, phone 02 6270 6519 12 NEWCASTLE 122 Parry St, Newcastle West 2302, phone 02 4926 4440 NORTHERN GPO Box 417, Darwin 0801, phone 08 8981 4137 QUEENSLAND EnginEErs AustrAliA 447 Upper Edward St, Brisbane 4000, phone 07 3832 3749 SOUTH AUSTRALIA Level 11, 108 King William St, Adelaide 5000, phone 08 8202 7100 3 President’s column SYDNEY 6 CEO’s column Level 3, 8 Thomas Street, Chatswood 2067, phone 02 9410 5600 TASMANIA 8 Letters Level 8, 188 Collins St, Hobart 7000, phone 03 6218 1901 VICTORIA 19 EA commemorates WWI engineering 13-21 Bedford St, North Melbourne 3051, phone 03 9329 8188 20 EA urges caution on DMO WESTERN AUSTRALIA 712 Murray St, West Perth 6005, phone 08 9321 3340 25 EA streamlines assessment systems HONG KONG CHAPTER, Paul Freeman, President, [email protected] 30 Australian Engineering Heritage Conference MALAYSIA CHAPTER Dennis Ong, Chairman, [email protected] 35 EA Ballot 2015 results SINGAPORE CHAPTER Percy Jeyapal, President, [email protected] 66 Singapore Chapter 20th anniversary UK CHAPTER Peter Walsh, Chairman, [email protected] 69 Diary ENGINEERS MEDIA Engineers Australia magazine, published by Engine ers Media (registered name CurrEnt AffAirs Engineers Australia Pty Limited, ACN 001311511), a wholly owned subsidiary of Engineers Australia, is a magazine reporting impartially the latest news of interest to engineers. The statements made or opinions expressed in the magazine do 12 Buildings tested by Cyclone Marcia not necessarily reflect the views of the Institution. Engineers Media retains copyright for this publication. Written permission is 16 Cyber attack on blast furnace required for the reprinting of any of its content. BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Mervyn Lindsay, FIEAust CPEng (chair); Stephen Durkin, FIEAust; Terence Jeyaretnam, FIEAust CPEng; ProjECt nEws Bruce Roff, FIPA AGIA. HEAD OFFICE: 2 Ernest Place, Crows Nest, NSW 2065 (PO Box 588, Crows Nest 1585), phone 02 9438 1533 32 Melbourne’s Regional Rail Link www.engineersmedia.com.au 34 Project briefs EDITORIAL EMAIL: [email protected] ADVERTISING EMAIL: [email protected] GENERAL MANAGER: Bruce Roff MANAGING EDITOR: Dr Tim Kannegieter DEPUTY EDITOR: Desi Corbett EDITORIAL: Patrick Durrant, Callum Rhodes Member of ACCOUNTANT: Tissa Mohotti General Edition Vol 87 No 3 ADVERTISING SALES: ISSN 1448-4951 Dee Grant, [email protected] 02 9438 1533 ADVERTISING CO-ORDINATOR: Esme Johnstone PRODUCTION MANAGER: Chris Gerelli PRODUCTION: Stefan Novak, Nicole Sidoti Find us EA BOOKS: Dean Clarke elsewhere
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 4 Follow@EngAusMag
Caution urged on Defence review 20 Solar plane on record flight 53
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18 Qld solar array switched on 56 Upgrading a 1966 office block 18 Vic govt says no to building project 57 Detecting leaks with drive-by 22 Construction industry figures slide thermal imaging 24 Engineering features in top 58 New device for indoor environment 1000 companies monitoring 24 Leighton seeks name change steeL CoNstruCtioN 26 IPENZ disciplines engineers 27 NT considers registration 60 New compliance scheme for structural steel ViewpoiNt 61 New facility floats on steel “flower” columns 36 Australia must innovate for industrial growth 62 The rise of structural steel framing 38 David Singleton on higher education geNeraL Leadership & MaNageMeNt 28 People and companies 64 Leading across cultural divides 53 Soaring on solar wings 65 Margot Cairnes on the 54 Co-op programs benefiting students abundance of choice 55 Ion engines bring satellite into Ceres orbit CoVer story 67 Obituary: Kenneth Kelsall 68 Terence Jeyaretnam on the role Our cover story on page 40 takes a of modern government look at the top 10 engineering 69 Classifieds tourist attractions around the world. 70 EA Books – The Engineers Bookshop
Reader Average Net Distribution surveys by 33,529 April to September 2014 ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 5 FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Being the trusted voice
ngineers Australia has a bold vision to be the “trusted voice of the profession” and the “global home for Eengineering professionals”. Stephen Durkin Engineering is a global profession and Australian [email protected] engineers are world-class. EA sees an immense opportunity – indeed obligation – to take Australian engineering to the world stage. We are delivering this strategy through building our international membership base and facilitating international mobility of engineering teams through our international An example of this is that in late March Engineers accords and agreements. Australia hosted a Nuclear Engineering Panel at Parliament I was honoured to recently spend 10 days with National House in Canberra. In light of the South Australian Royal President Dr David Cruickshanks-Boyd visiting our overseas Commission, the upcoming release of the Energy White chapters in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Engineers Paper and our own Energy Security for Australia Report, Australia now has 5000 members in more than 50 countries Sydney Division organised a panel of nuclear experts around the world, with the majority based in our three comprising Martin Thomas, Tony Irwin and Dr Don Higson Asian chapters. Our dedicated local committees in Asia are to present the facts on how a nuclear energy industry now forging even stronger links with Australian engineering could operate safely and effectively in Australia. The panel companies in the region. dispelled a number of misconceptions and answered a range We are also working closely with the five Australian of questions from an engaged audience of policymakers universities which have campuses in these three locations from both sides of politics. (RMIT in Hong Kong; Monash, Swinburne and Curtin in In Queensland, the EA Division Committee has been Malaysia; and Newcastle in Singapore). As there are around working closely with the new government to advise them 10,000 international students attending these Australian on how they can provide greater certainty in infrastructure universities, there is a clear opportunity for EA to connect delivery for the state. In an opinion piece in the Courier these students with the engineering profession in Australia. Mail, EA Queensland President Chris Warnock called for a Our change agenda at EA continues at a fast pace to long term, bipartisan approach to infrastructure planning keep up with a rapidly changing global market. To support and delivery – a call which is echoed by our members these changes, we are committed to putting in place the best Australia-wide. A healthy, thriving engineering profession possible governance model at EA. needs a sustainable pipeline of work, rather than a flurry of I am pleased to report the counting of votes for Ballot activity bought on by election cycles. 2015 has been completed and the final results declared. 8279 In view of recent announcements of staff cuts to the ballots were cast by voting members and all four resolutions Defence Department, EA national councillor Greg Walters were passed by large margins. The Declaration of Results wrote for The Canberra Times to explain why it is critical can be found, together with breakdowns of ballots received that government be an informed buyer and technically and votes cast, on our website at www.engineersaustralia.org. competent owner of engineered-intensive products (see au/ballot2015resolutions. See also p. 35. further comment in the President’s column on p. 3). These governance reforms will support our flagship Engineers Australia is committed to having an even strategy to position ourselves as the “trusted voice” of the stronger voice in these major national debates. It is pleasing profession. This strategy is already well underway as we to see our office bearers, both in Australia and overseas, work to inject ourselves into the big conversations taking playing such an important role to support our vision to be place in Australia. the trusted voice of the engineering profession.
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 6
06 g - Chief.indd 6 13/04/15 3:42 PM 6027-Zinfra Engineers Aust Ad_OUT.indd 1 26/09/13 1:20 PM LETTERS
Maintain value-add in Australia Send your letter either in the body of the email t was stimulating to read be reduced to only mining committed international or as an attachment in the article on energy operations. contracts at 3-4 times the Microsoft Word. Isecurity by Patrick Gas supply in central price that was forecast as Durrant. I feel that “energy Queensland is an interesting viable to the industry seven SEND TO literacy”, as he puts it, is a story with existing years ago. Obviously this is The Editor, critical accountability for businesses moving back function of globalisation/ Engineers Media, engineers in Australia. from efficient gas and privatisation but we need PO Box 588, Without a long term staged comparatively clean plant to maximise the wealth Crows Nest NSW 1585 plan for energy I see the configurations to a reliance retained in Australia by EMAIL TO value-add to our natural on coal fired assets. This maintaining jobs in value- letters@ resources slowly eroding. is appalling, given that adding industries. engineersmedia.com.au My fear is that within a the gas is literally running Letters should not exceed generation, Australia will right past local plants to Dane Linforth, MIEAust Gladstone, Qld 200 words. Include IEAust post-nominals, suburb, state and phone number. Not all letters can be Stop unpaid internships published. By submitting your letter ur profession students expected it. Now, a paid position to achieve for publication you agree actively encourages new graduates are expected, their graduation. To this that Engineers Australia the practice of and even required, to take end, organisations need to magazine may edit the O letter for legal, length or unpaid internships. As an an unpaid internship. To cease their association with other reasons. engineer who graduated in add insult to injury, students these schemes and actively Unpublished letters 1964, I had to work in an sometimes have to pay a oppose them. cannot be acknowledged engineering position for 12 placement agency to find or returned. months before I formally them a position. Karl Reed, FIEAust Eltham, Victoria graduated, but during that I am sure that studying period I was paid a proper engineering would be more salary. No employer would attractive if students knew have argued about this and that they would be given
Don’t politicise infrastructure t is so disappointing to and short sighted in the sighted. A country like both sides of politics. see major infrastructure extreme. Australia has the resources I urge every engineer to Iprojects become Worse still, at a time and talents to accomplish be outraged by such short politicised resulting in when the industry is on both. Improve our public sighted decisions and make poor outcomes for the its knees with limited job transport and also reduce it known to their local community and our opportunities for engineers, major transportation members of parliament, profession. we are losing highly sought bottlenecks that improve media organisations and A case in point is after skills that will be hard social amenity and improve friends. Doing nothing is the current Victorian to replace in the longer the productivity of our not an option any longer for government’s decision to term. cities. our industry. abandon the East West The people opposing It is a vote of no Tunnel project. Regardless this particular project confidence in our ability Nick Apostolidis, FIEAust The Gap, Qld of your political views you suggest the money would and vision for this great have to agree spending $1 have been better spent on country. The above is only billion of taxpayer’s money public transport. I find this one example. There are to stop a project is illogical argument selfish and short numerous others involving
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 8
08-10 g - Letters.indd 8 13/04/15 5:36 PM NMW15_A4 - 2 2015-01-22T11:07:43+11:00
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Cooling tower vapours must be controlled photograph of used to heat entire cities in currents is melted annually weather will become dire a nuclear power Europe. by heat energy relinquished climate change. Astation in the The “dumping” of the quantitatively the same as It is imperative that March issue of Engineers energetic water vapour from that released from fossil engineers focus on Australia featured in an the global proliferation fuels. containing the dynamic article on nuclear energy of cooling towers is As sea ice is depleted, energy emanating from being considered as a contributing to the extreme the ability to attain energy thermal station cooling means to reduce greenhouse flooding now occurring equilibrium diminishes. towers. The simple and emissions. It is ironic world-wide. The latent heat Rampant energy is effective proven technology that it was dominated by subsequently relinquished manifested as extreme of combined heat and power a pair of cooling towers persists as kinetic energy weather - now emanating needs to be implemented emitting water vapour. in atmospheric and ocean from the Arctic Circle. immediately. The waste heat from the currents, which carry it When the Arctic Ocean power generation process to the cold polar regions. is ice free in summer, Anthony A Laven, MIEAust (Ret) Croydon, Victoria converted into latent heat Billions of tonnes of ice predicted by the end of is dynamic “real energy”, in contact with the ocean this decade, then extreme
Reinventing the wheel Don’t be he articles on the information and the National PPP Policy and myopic Future Submarine streamlining of compliance Guidelines, related to TProgram, better processes”. What the infrastructure and with an about government procurement articles do not say is that undertone of interference, and government the 20% of cost attributed will not have advanced the renewables deengineering paint a to professional services, if discipline appreciably. picture of the wheel being properly spent, can reduce How many more attempts n the March issue reinvented, and not by overall project cost by must there be to arrive at a letters, Graham Keith engineers. several times that amount. situation where the letting Isees other renewable The need to retain How far has Engineers of essentially engineering power generators “as a a workable nucleus of Australia’s Government as an contracts is recognised as a flock of dead ducks”. How engineers in the public Informed Buyer report been role for engineers? disappointing and short- service was highlighted in ignored, or would a plain sighted. In the same issue, 1995, predated by papers language and abbreviated Derek Fern, FIEAust there was mention of a Box Hill , Vic. stressing the importance version have had greater wave energy project being of “verification of brief impact? Similarly the switched on. Most of us live on the coast and I have been watching this field for quite some time. Fortunately, Harness the sun there are many engineers who are not myopic. n the March issue there demolition costs of getting approaching when we must were two articles by rid of the debris. By far the do something about climate Harry Seccombe, MIEAust CPEng Iengineers supporting the best solution is to harness change. Unless this matter is Bangalow, NSW use of nuclear technology. the costless energy of the dealt with there is probably Although much is known sun. Incidentally, I doubt no point in worrying about about this technology they if the money could be future energy needs because forget that it has enormous borrowed to build a modern there will be no future. problems such as nuclear nuclear plant whereas it is weapons potential, the readily available for solar Keith Bedford FIEAust Moggill, Queensland cost of controlling the power products. reactors and the subsequent Also, it is fast
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 10
08-10 g - Letters.indd 10 14/04/15 2:26 PM PUMP & PIPING TRAINING
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Safety-in-Design Fundamentals For Australian Designers (e-Learning Course) KƵƌĮƌƐƚŽŶůŝŶĞ;ĞͲůĞĂƌŶŝŶŐͿĐŽƵƌƐĞŚĂƐďĞĞŶƵƉͲĂŶĚͲƌƵŶŶŝŶŐƐŝŶĐĞDĂƌĐŚŽĨůĂƐƚLJĞĂƌ͘dŚĞƉƵƌƉŽƐĞŽĨƚŚŝƐƚŚƌĞĞŚŽƵƌ ĐŽƵƌƐĞŝƐƚŽƉƌŽǀŝĚĞďĂƐŝĐŝŶƐƚƌƵĐƟŽŶĂŶĚŐƵŝĚĂŶĐĞŽŶƚŚĞt,^ŽďůŝŐĂƟŽŶƐŽĨĚĞƐŝŐŶĞƌƐŝŶƵƐƚƌĂůŝĂĂƐǁĞůůĂƐƉƌŽǀŝĚĞ ƌĞĐŽŵŵĞŶĚĂƟŽŶƐŽŶŚŽǁďĞƐƚƚŽĨƵůĮůƚŚĞƐĞŽďůŝŐĂƟŽŶƐƚŚĞƌĞďLJƉƌŽǀŝĚŝŶŐƐĂĨĞƌĚĞƐŝŐŶƐ͘dŚŝƐĐŽƵƌƐĞĂŶĚƚŚĞƚƌĂŝŶŝŶŐ ŵĂƚĞƌŝĂůƐ ĂƌĞ ĂĐĐĞƐƐĞĚ ƚŚƌŽƵŐŚ ƚŚĞ <^ ZĞĚďĞƌŐ ůĞĂƌŶŝŶŐ ŵĂŶĂŐĞŵĞŶƚ ƐLJƐƚĞŵ͘ >ŽŐŝŶ ĚĞƚĂŝůƐ ĂƌĞ ƉƌŽǀŝĚĞĚ ƚŽ ƌĞŐŝƐƚƌĂŶƚƐǀŝĂĞŵĂŝůĂŌĞƌƚŚĞŝƌŽŶůŝŶĞƉĂLJŵĞŶƚ;ŝ͘Ğ͘ĐƌĞĚŝƚĐĂƌĚŽƌWĂLJWĂůͿŚĂƐďĞĞŶƉƌŽĐĞƐƐĞĚ͘dŚĞƉƌŽĐĞƐƐŽĨƌĞŐŝƐƚƌĂͲ ƟŽŶ͕ƉĂLJŵĞŶƚĂŶĚƌĞĐĞŝƉƚŽĨůŽŐŝŶĚĞƚĂŝůƐŽŶůLJƚĂŬĞƐĂĨĞǁŵŝŶƵƚĞƐ͘ www.kasa.com.au
BLANK.indd 12 25/03/15 10:57 AM Weak links let down strong buildings
n 13 March, one of the strongest tropical cyclones populated Shoalwater Bay and rapidly dissipated as it ever recorded made landfall in Vanuatu, crippling moved south. Othe country’s infrastructure. Many buildings were “Bureau of Meteorology measurements showed that severely damaged, with media reports of 90% damage in by the time it had reached Yeppoon, the peak gusts were some areas. about 155 km/h or Category 2 and at Rockhampton they According to James Cook University Cyclone Testing were about 115 km/h or Category 1,” Henderson said. Station (CTS) director David Henderson, that event is a However, there is a perception among some members strong reminder of the need to remain vigilant in ensuring of the community that the region had survived a Category Australian buildings are designed and built to withstand 5 cyclone. Henderson is concerned this may result in such extreme weather events. complacency in the building industry. Queensland communities recently braced as Tropical “If a community thinks that they have experienced a Cyclone (TC) Marcia approached the coast as a Category 5 Category 4 or 5 cyclone when it has actually experienced event. Fortunately, it crossed the coast at the sparsely Category 1 or 2, there is a real risk of complacency
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PHOTO: AFP PHOTO / SHELLY ALLSOP
in future events. This can place communities at risk,” USAR team to the region impacted by Marcia. Fortunately, Henderson said. rescue operations were not required, so the attention “There are some important points that need to be turned to damage assessments in the area. The CTS’s understood. The wind speeds in Yeppoon would have damage assessments have been a key part of improvements resulted in pressures less than 55% of the design pressure to building codes and standards since Cyclone Tracy and as such, the large number of failures is an indication devastated Darwin in 1974. of unacceptable building performance, whether due to What they discovered was at once encouraging and design or construction issues or deterioration of materials.” disturbing, given that most structures were not damaged In the aftermath of TC Marcia, Henderson joined forces in the cyclone but a significant number did experience with the immediate past chair of Engineers Australia’s failures well below design wind strength. Structural College Board, Rob Heywood, to study the “As with previous cyclones, most of the damage in engineering implications. Heywood is an Urban Search Cyclone Marcia arose from issues with the way structures and Rescue (USAR) engineer who was deployed with a were tied together”, Heywood said. “If there is any weak
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 13
12-15 g - TC Marcia.indd 13 13/04/15 4:48 PM link in the load path, the wind will invariably find it and often unzip the structure.” According to the pair, common problems for older buildings were inadequate fixing of battens, rafters and top plates, as well as corroded connectors and the absence of tie-down. Failed windows and garage doors also led to pressurisation of structures and water ingress. Another significant issue was the failure of roofs that had been replaced on older buildings. There were numerous examples of new roof cladding still with battens and rafters attached, essentially intact, being blown off the house leaving the walls still standing and the contents of the house open to the elements. Heywood said “There is something inherently wrong when owners make an investment in a new roof, only to see it blown away because the next link in the tie-down chain was not upgraded at the same time. When roofing is replaced, the complete load path from roofing to foundations needs to be considered, and not just from roof cladding to battens”. Flashings, fascias and eave linings from new buildings sometimes A more concerning issue identified is that the damage ended up on the street. was not constrained to older structures. There were numerous examples of substantial damage inflicted to new medium rise and industrial buildings. In these cases, the damage was primarily to “secondary” elements such as roller doors, flashings, fascias and the linings of eaves, along with air-conditioning plant, antennae and parapets being blown from buildings into the streets below. “This should not have occurred at the wind speeds experienced, which were less than the serviceability limit state wind speed and hence below the nominal damage threshold. One can only imagine the level of damage that would have resulted from an event approaching the ultimate design wind speed,” Heywood said. “This issue is not restricted to cyclonic areas as the damage that occurred at Rockhampton did so for wind speeds less than the damage threshold wind speed for all regions of Australia, although the duration of cyclonic Inattention to load paths left what was a newly installed roof, wind events are generally much longer.” essentially intact upside down among the trees. The failure of these “secondary” elements, and the consequent water damage, has resulted in significant cost to owners, tenants and insurers. “The engineering profession is in a position to manage Heywood also said that flashings, fascias and soffits these risks by ensuring the engineering design of these are part of the envelope of the building and need to secondary elements does not slip through the gaps be designed to withstand wind loads. Marcia had between the responsibilities of multi-disciplinary design demonstrated that compromising these elements leads teams,” Heywood said. to water ingress and changes in internal pressure in the Areas for improvement include ensuring these building with potentially damaging consequences to “secondary” elements are actively considered in the ceilings, walls and roofs, he said. wind engineering design, according to Heywood. “Many structures in Yeppoon and Rockhampton Marcia has demonstrated that simply screwing exposed suffered damage that was disproportionate to the intensity air-conditioning equipment into the roof sheeting is of the cyclone and so did not meet the requirement for inadequate, he said. Substantial flashings also require wind structural robustness prescribed in the general principles engineering design, if they are to remain intact in edge section of AS 1170.0 Structural design actions,” Heywood zones where the wind pressures are highest. Likewise, vent said. covers need to have demonstrated compliance for wind “As engineers we can take simple steps to improve the loads and ultra violet exposure. situation by ensuring all elements exposed to the wind
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Structural damage to houses left them open to the elements, causing a high insurance bill.
Rob Heywood (L) and David Henderson inspecting a damaged road sign in order to provide a lower bound estimate of wind speed.
are engineered and have redundancy, contemporary buildings have so that a progressive collapse is not generally performed well. However, a consequence of the failure of one Henderson said it has been shown element. It is also important that that overlooking what may seem like the durability of critical tie-down small details can have much greater components is consistent with the life consequences. of the structure, especially in coastal “We have seen significant areas and where maintenance access is failures of building components and limited.” unacceptable consequences at wind There have been significant speeds much less than the design improvements in the design of wind speed,” Henderson said. buildings in recent decades, thanks “We have to look at the full picture in no small part to the work of the and get the detailing right so that engineering community. However, it ONE CAN ONLY IMAGINE buildings perform to expectation. is clear that there is still work to be This is important because our done to rectify the issues Heywood THE LEVEL OF DAMAGE houses are where most of us seek and Henderson have identified. THAT WOULD HAVE shelter in a cyclone. Not only is As well as Vanuatu’s Pam and adequate performance critical for Marcia discussed here, Australia RESULTED FROM AN the reputation of engineers and the has recently been impacted by EVENT APPROACHING building industry, but also the safety cyclones Lam (NT), Olwyn (WA) of our families and our communities and Nathan (Qld, NT, WA). In these DESIGN WIND SPEED. depends upon it.” events, as in many previous cyclones,
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Hackers infl ict damage on German facility
by Callum Rhodes
cyber attack on a steel mill in a trustworthy entity to gain secure unregulated state and resulted in “mas- Germany caused massive dam- information – like logins and passwords sive damage”, according to the report. Aage to a blast furnace, according – from one or more specific individuals. BSI rated the attackers’ technical skills to a recent report issued by the German This was used in tandem with “sophisti- as “very advanced”. government’s cyber security authority, cated social engineering” to gain initial “The attackers’ expertise extended the Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der access to the steel mill’s office network, not just to classical IT security but also Informationstechnik (BSI). the report stated. to detailed technical knowledge of the The report, The State of IT Security Once inside the office network, the industrial control systems and produc- in Germany 2014, said there had been a attackers worked their way progressively tion processes being used,” BSI stated. targeted attack on a German steel mill into production networks. Individual While the number of known cyber in 2014, although it did not name the control components and entire instal- attacks on industrial systems is still owner of the plant or any suspects. lations began to break down, leading relatively few, the report said actions The attackers used spear phishing, to the uncontrolled shutdown of a blast targeting critical infrastructure are a technique that involves mimicking furnace. This left the furnace in an particularly serious, as they could
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potentially have consequences for the devices to hack attacks, according to The Australian government subse- general public and the economy. John Immelman, NSW branch chair of quently formed an Australian Cyber Geoff Sizer, chair of Engineers the Institute of Instrumentation, Control Security Centre in November 2014 to Australia’s Information, and Automation (IICA). bring together expertise from a number Telecommunications and Electronics “Historically the control room and of federal departments and agencies, Engineering (ITEE) College, said the control systems were isolated from the including ASIO and the Australian attack raised a fundamental question: plant-wide IT network, reducing the Federal Police. why are critical systems connected to possibility of outside access, but today ITEE College immediate past chair the Internet in the first place? this is not the case,” Immelman said. Peter Hitchiner said effective cyber “As well as the possibility of inten- “New communication technologies, security in Australia is especially vital tional connection, there is the likelihood infiltration of powerful software control for the large scale infrastructure, run- of inadvertent internet connection systems and the outsourcing of control ning on computer control systems, that arising from the design and implementa- room skills have necessitated that the underpins our daily lives. tion of corporate networks,” Sizer said. control systems are integrated into the This extends to electricity generation, He suggested a connection between an plant IT network, and that this network water treatment, air traffic control and office network and a process control has Internet connectivity.” major transport networks, he said. system, possibly intended for remote He referred to the 2010 Stuxnet “Cyber research and security is to be monitoring or information gathering, incident in which a computer worm taken more seriously than ever before; could provide backdoor access to the was reportedly introduced into Iranian critical data must be kept safe as it travels control system’s network. nuclear facilities, where it targeted across multiple devices and networks,” The risk of exposure may be inevitable, industrial control systems. Immelman Hitchiner said. “Cyber criminals are however. Technological advances have said that attack had triggered concerns getting smarter, more technologically exposed many control systems and their in IICA about the risk posed by cyber savvy and are willing to try anything to associated measuring and monitoring attacks to local Australian industry. disrupt or destroy systems.”
CYBER RESEARCH AND SECURITY IS TO BE TAKEN MORE SERIOUSLY THAN EVER BEFORE. CYBER CRIMINALS ARE GETTING SMARTER, MORE TECHNOLOGICALLY SAVVY AND ARE WILLING TO TRY ANYTHING TO DISRUPT OR DESTROY SYSTEMS.
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Qld switches on solar array
ueensland has flicked the switch on its largest solar array outside QGatton, 90 km west of Brisbane, to harness the state’s annual 2700 hours of sunlight. UQ’s Gatton campus solar array. PHOTO: ADAM HARPER Built on a former 10 ha airstrip at the University of Queensland’s (UQ) Gatton campus, the 3.275 MW Gatton Solar Research Facility comprises more manager Jack Curtis said the facil- That remains Australia’s largest rooftop than 37,000 thin-film photovoltaic (PV) ity’s capability and research potential system.” panels. is “unrivalled”, forecasting the lessons However, he said the Gatton system The PV modules from project partner learned from the installation would have is almost three times bigger than the First Solar will produce enough clean a global impact. system at St Lucia. energy to power more than 450 average UQ vice-chancellor and president UQ Solar director Professor Paul sized homes, according to UQ’s Global Professor Peter Høj said the Gatton Meredith called the Gatton facil- Change Institute, and will displace the installation was one of the most advanced ity a “game-changer in renewables equivalent of 5600 t of carbon dioxide research facilities of its kind in the research”. He said the research would annually. world, and its commissioning was a improve the way solar is integrated First Solar managed the facility’s engi- landmark in UQ’s clean energy journey. into Queensland’s overall energy mix. neering and construction and supplied “This infrastructure brings “It also works towards establishing and the panels. For the first time in Australia, UQ’s total solar generation capac- proving the business model for solar multiple PV mounting technologies ity to more than 5 MW,” Høj said. generation in Australia at the megawatt including fixed-tilt, single-axis and “UQ made a significant step into solar scale,” Meredith said. The development dual-axis tracker technologies will operate power generation and research four years was funded by a $40.7 million federal side-by-side in the same field. ago when it installed a 1.22 MW solar government Education Investment Fund First Solar Asia-Pacific regional system across four rooftops at St Lucia. program grant.
Victoria says no to building project
he Labor government has refused this year. The Australian Financial Review with problems. It wasn’t up to scratch Grocon’s proposed 43 level (AFR) reported Wynne has encouraged and didn’t go far enough”. Tapartment project to go ahead Grocon to resubmit a new project. This comes on the back of the Andrews in central Melbourne. “We are reviewing the minister’s government cancelling the now notorious Planning minister Richard Wynne has decision. We believe that 85 Spring East-West Link project, which is still deemed the building would be too high Street would be a high quality addition awaiting an outcome as to costs involved. and too close to other buildings around to Melbourne and we remain committed With the government cancelling these the proposed site at 85 Spring Street. to the project,” Dan McLennan, Grocon’s major projects, Wynne plans to recon- This was his first refusal of a develop- general manager for business develop- vene the expert Ministerial Advisory ment since taking the job. Grocon’s plan ment, told the AFR. Committee to reboot ‘Plan Melbourne’ was to build a 335-apartment complex The Victorian government has also which he said was politically driven by close to the Bourke Hill heritage zone. said no to the previous government’s the last government. New community A 16 storey office tower currently stands planned $2.5 billion Cranbourne- consultation on the refreshed plan will on the site which was purchased by Pakenham line improvements, with be completed by the second half of this Grocon in 2013 for about $45 million. the Minister for transport Jacinta Allan year, Wynne revealed. Construction was due to commence early saying, “the unsolicited bid was riddled
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Engineering at war and home
ith commemorations of the and experience from civilian employment Butters, Sir Henry Barraclough and Sir 100th anniversiary of the in Australia and applied them successfully John Monash,” Link said. WGallipoli landing bringing to military operations,” she said. The main focus of the program is a the role of the military to national “Their contributions didn’t stop WWI Speaker Series, to be delivered to consciousness, Engineers Australia is with the war – many of these engineers Divisions and other interested groups, by launching a website and program of returned home to contribute to the military representatives and historians. events to highlight the role of engineering development of Australia through their The official launch of the website and in World War I. work in government, various companies program will take place at the Australian Engineers Australia’s project manager and other organisations. War Memorial in Canberra during for the program and general manager of “Engineers Australia itself had a host Australian Engineering Week. Newcastle Division, Helen Link, said the of returned war engineers as founding Other presentations include Peter contribution made by the engineering members and presidents, including FitzSimons at the AEW dinner in profession to WWI cannot be overstated. Honorary Fellows who served with Newcastle as well as a dinner presentation “These engineers carried their skills distinction during WWI, such as Sir John in Ballina on 11 November by Lt Col Harry Jarvie, to coincide with Armistice Day. Immediate past president of the Australian Society of Defence Engineer- ing and past president of EA’s Sydney Division, Doug Roser, said the Sydney Division was working with the com- mandant of the Army School of Military Engineering, currently relocating to Holsworthy, to arrange an Engineering Week event to highlight the engineering contribution to WWI. This will include a visit to the School of Military Engineering to see its new Museum of Army Engineer- ing and a display of current equipment. Updates to events and further information can be found on the Engineers Australia WWI website at
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The Australian designed and built Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle 2014. PHOTO: HPETERSWALD WIKIMEDIA CC Signifi cant risk to DMO disbandment
ngineers Australia has cau- “It is particularly critical that when the Walters also made reference to the tiously supported the Defence responsibilities of DMO are transferred, Coles Review which examined the issues EDepartment’s First Principles that the opportunity is taken to not just around the Collins Class submarine Review released in early April, calling on maintain its engineering capability, but sustainment. He revealed the review decision-makers not to allow expertise to strengthen it.” identified an issue that potentially put and engineering capability to become Walters said having the technological the sustainment program at serious risk. “collateral damage” in proposed cuts. advantage is imperative to success in “This was the requirement ‘to develop Between 1000 and 1650 jobs are a sector where effective engineering a workforce strategy to specifically set to go and the Defence Materiel skills must be embedded in all levels address skills shortages at the manage- Organisation’s (DMO) role will be of the organisation and throughout the ment level’. This issue applied in equal re-absorbed into the Department of decision-making process of the lifecycle measure to all parts of the organisations Defence as a result of the review. of its systems. involved in the submarine sustainment,” EA National Vice-President and for- Defence must maintain sufficient Walters explained. mer President of the Australian Society engineering personnel to carry out its The Coles Review showed that the for Defence Engineering, Greg Walters, engineering activities, according to DMO needed to change its workforce said the changes would fundamentally Walters. Without this expertise, it cannot and address the lack of suitably quali- change the nature of the Defence force be an informed buyer and a technically fied experienced personnel in its ranks, but that EA was “broadly supportive” competent owner and sustainer of its according to Walters. of the review. equipment and systems. He added that “We cannot afford to reduce the “While we recognise implementing these were issues that were highlighted technical capability of our Defence these changes will be difficult organi- as lacking in previous reviews. organisations at a time when the size, cost sationally – and indeed personally for He referred to the Black Review which and technical complexity of equipment many Defence Department employees – identified the need to increase the rigour systems continues to increase,” Walters this is Defence’s opportunity to optimise and contestability within capability warned. the way in which they operate,” he said. development, and highlighted delivery While applauding the Department However, Walters said the opportunity failures for capability projects and non- of Defence for undertaking the First does come with “significant risk”. compliance, and poor or inappropriate Principles Review to identify the skills “One such risk is that engineering procurement decision-making. and structures necessary for it to be capability may be lost when DMO “Effective capability development for efficient and effective, Walters said the is disbanded, and when DMO and major equipment platforms requires a review provides an opportunity to “get DSTO are bought into the Capability systems engineering approach. Effective the balance right and plug the gaps that Acquisition and Sustainment Group. delivery of a capability requires the have resulted from the de-engineering It must be understood that the core ability to manage the core engineering of the department over successive capability of such groups lies in their elements on a project of time, cost and years”, which he said has been further people,” he said. quality,” Walters said. exacerbated by natural attrition.
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Construction industry fi gures slide
he estimated value of total engineering construction work done in the December 2014 quarter fell 3%, the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics T(ABS) figures show. The trend estimate for the value of total engineering construction work done dropped 2.8% in the last quarter of 2014 while the seasonally adjusted estimate for the value of total engineering construction work done fell 0.6% to $27.8 billion. Seasonally adjusted estimates for the private sector revealed a drop of 2.8% to $21.5 billion and for the public sector, down 2.3% to $6.3 billion. Comparing December 2014 against the previous year’s last quarter, the trend estimates for value of total engineering work done were down 13.3%. However, the value of work commenced in the December 2014 quarter was $13.9 billion in original terms, an increase of 3.3% from the September quarter. Trend estimates for quarterly work done on engineering construction in the Northern Territory have not been released by the ABS for September and December 2014.
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Engineering consultancies relying on infrastructure
ngineering consulting as an industry is third in line in growth behind property operators and real estate E services, a new list of top 1000 companies reveals. IBISWorld has released its 2015 top 1000 list of Australian companies measured by total revenue following with $4,977.23 million. Calibre Group at 537 was cited up last year’s list that highlighted the breakout growth of by IBISWorld as an example of engineering consultancies the $41.2 billion engineering consulting industry. shifting into the infrastructure sector, relying on gains in BHP Billiton is the top earner with $72,968.32 million that segment to offset falls from resources. in revenue and Rio Tinto is in third place with $59,139.52 “This shift by engineering consulting companies million. Leighton Holdings sits at number 20 with into the infrastructure sector could result in increased $16,923.10 million and WorleyParsons moved up two spots competition for building and construction firms, such as to 36 due to an increase in revenue after it restructured to Lend Lease Group (24), that also provide engineering and consolidate a number of divisions, shedding 4200 jobs in construction services in the infrastructure space.” 2013-14. IBISWorld forecast that increased government spending Many of the energy companies are in the first 500 along on public infrastructure such as roads and rail, increasing with car manufacturers, mining companies and oil and technological complexity and continued industry gas producers. BlueScope Steel is at 49 while chemical consolidation should result in stable growth for the giant Orica rates 54 with revenue of $6,887 million. LNG, engineering consultancies over the next five years. mining and metals firm Bechtel Australia wasn’t far behind
Leighton seeks name change
eighton Holdings is planning to change its name to The move suggests that the name change may be part Cimic Group, subject to a vote being passed at its of a strategy by Leighton Holding’s new owners to refresh LAGM this month. the brand that has been tarnished in recent years by A special resolution is on the agenda for consideration allegations of corruption. of the change of name for the company following an German company Hochtief owns almost 70% of application to trademark “Cimic” with IP Australia on 3 Leighton, which in turn is owned by Spanish construction March. Leighton Holdings also applied on 12 March for group ACS. Since the 2014 AGM, Leighton Holdings the trademark of “Pacific Construction Contractors” and has seen a massive overhaul with chief executive Hamish its acronym “PCC”, signalling a potential new name for Tyrwhitt and chief financial officer Peter Gregg stepping Leighton Contractors. down while top executives that remained have had their If the name change is passed it marks an end of an salaries slashed to cut costs. And ACS sold subsidiary era for the company that has carried Stanley Leighton’s John Holland subsidiary to the China Communications moniker since it was established in Melbourne in 1949. Construction Company in December for $853 million.
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Online system to reduce migration skills waiting times
new online system has been Education Qualification and Accord level, using competencies common to introduced to reduce the Assessments. However, the team now EA’s and the Washington, Sydney and Aresponse time by the Migration anticipates these times will drop to eight Dublin Accords. Skills Assessment (MSA) team of and four weeks, respectively. Another plus EA is one of 35 authorised migration Engineers Australia to advise applicants is that applicants will not have to wait for skills assessing bodies, under agreement of their assessment outcomes. postal services for their outcome letters as with the National Office of Overseas Skills The team which comprises 12 CDR they can now be viewed instantly online, Recognition on behalf of the Department assessors (engineers), two accredited via the website. of Immigration and Border Protection. qualifications assessors, one manager and Engineers Australia is authorised to The role of assessing authorities is to two administration staff, process around assess most engineering occupations for assess the qualifications and skills of 8000 applications each year. migration purposes and has the respon- clients against the criteria for their MSA said that the time taken for sibility for assessing in 31 ANZSCO nominated occupation and provide EA to review an application, through (Australia and New Zealand Standard them with a migration skills assessment to completion, is about 10 weeks for Classification of Occupations) codes. outcome letter to include with their visa Competency Demonstration Reports Assessment is carried out at the engi- application. and around six weeks for Australian neering professional ‘Stage 1’ graduate
Proudly presented by: Sponsored by: Thursday 30 July 2015 Melbourne - Hotel Mercure Sydney - Engineers Australia 13 Spring St 8 Thomas St Melbourne VIC Chatswood NSW
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IPENZ disciplinary hearing starts
by Desi Corbett
hearing into the registration of an NZ chartered engineer ADr Alan Reay has commenced following the alleged non-disclosure of his design and construction involvement in the collapsed CTV building in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Alan Reay Consulting designed the Canterbury Television (CTV) building, in which 115 people died, in the mid-1980s. NZ building and housing minister Dr Nick Smith, a civil engineer, said the country owed it to the memory of those who died to “hold those responsible to account for the building’s flawed design”. He emphasised that it was to ensure “every possible lesson is learnt by the engineering profession to minimise the future risk”. IPENZ was in the middle of investigat- ing Reay early last year when he resigned as a member on 28 February. “The complaint is that Dr Reay applied for registration as a Chartered Professional Engineer after the February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch not The CTV building a few years before its collapse. PHOTO: PHILLIP PEARSON HTTP://BIT.LY/1OBESDT disclosing (either in his application or interview with assessors) his involvement in the design and construction of the CTV had advanced from the investigating com- will also be important in clarifying the building,” IPENZ stated. mittee stage to the disciplinary committee professional standards expected of a The Ministry of Business, Innovation stage and IPENZ considered it did have senior engineer supervising the work of and Employment’s chief engineer had the appropriate jurisdiction. Harding was a more junior engineer,” the building and lodged a complaint with IPENZ in the actual designer of the building. housing minister said. “The proceedings 2012, sparking the IPENZ investigation. He challenged IPENZ’s decision are complementary and not an alternative However, IPENZ discontinued the but a High Court Judge determined in to reforms to improve the regulation of disciplinary processes against Reay as it September 2014 that IPENZ was entitled professional engineering.” no longer considered it had jurisdiction to consider the complaint. It was ruled that The proceedings filed in the High to deal with him as a former member. an investigation and disciplinary hearing Court seek to set aside the decision But in April 2014 it referred the matter could continue even when an IPENZ by IPENZ to dismiss the complaint so to a disciplinary committee to see if the member resigned. The NZ government that the disciplinary investigation can complaint could be upheld and penalties has now launched a judicial review into the proceed, the NZ government stated. This applied. IPENZ decision to drop the investigation. is separate to the complaint being heard IPENZ proceeded with complaints “It is important that we clarify the law by IPENZ that Reay failed to disclose his against Reay’s employee, engineer David as to whether a professional can avoid involvement in the CTV building when Harding (who had also resigned as a disciplinary proceedings by simply resign- he sought renewal of his registration as a member), because the complaints process ing. Completing the IPENZ investigation Chartered Professional Engineer in 2012.
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NT mulls registering engineers
by Desi Corbett
he Northern Territory govern- President of Engineers Australia’s in the survey, the government said. ment is testing the waters for Northern Division, Jaswant Deo, was Enquiries can be directed to Jacqueline Tproposed compulsory registration involved in numerous discussions with Bohn, project director, Engineering of engineers and has released a survey on the NT government on the subject of and Environment Services in the NT the controversial topic. registration in the Territory, along with Department of Infrastructure, 08 8946 “The Territory is poised to benefit the divisional committee. It was eventu- 5003 or
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Email changes in key engineering personnel to The board of Infrastructure editorial@engineersmedia. Australia has appointed engineer Philip Davies as its inaugural com.au CEO. Davies currently leads AECOM’s infrastructure advisory Prof Mark Hoffman practice for the Asia Pacific region, and has also been the director for traffic operations at Transport for London. He has also advised the federal government on high speed rail and state governments on transport projects. Davies begins his new role in April. Philip Davies
Chartered civil engineer Louise of projects and pursue future work Adams has been appointed to lead opportunities for the southern region. Aurecon’s operations in Melbourne He previously worked at Parsons and Adelaide, as delivery centre Brinckerhoff in a number of executive manager (see leadership profile on roles. p. 64). Adams joined the firm in Dr Geoff Taplin, retired structural 2000 and was previously Aurecon’s engineer formerly of AECOM, has country manager for the United Arab been awarded the 2014 John Connell Emirates, responsible for operations in Gold Medal by EA’s Structural Dubai and Abu Dhabi. She was also College. The award recognises appointed to the Aurecon Group board Taplin’s significant contribution to in 2013. Adams’ background is in the structural engineering profession, stormwater management and flood risk including his role in the development assessment and mitigation. of a number of structural engineering Mark Dimmock, a civil engineer, standards. has joined Laing O’Rourke as the Trish Kerin has been appointed firm’s southern region director for to serve on the Australian National its Australia hub. In his new role, Offshore Petroleum Safety and Dimmock will oversee the delivery Environmental Management Authority’s (NOPSEMA) board, for a three year term. Kerin is the current director of the Institution of Chemical Engineers Safety Centre. Arup has appointed Brian Smith as public transport planning specialist. Smith has more than 35 years’ experience in the planning, management and operation of public transport systems in Australia and New Zealand, and has led projects including the Sydney Rapid Transit Bus Strategy, the NSW Transport Interchange Strategy and the North West Rail Link. WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff engineers Ian Barnett and Graham Dr Geoff Taplin
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Attendees at an EA Industry Fellows Lunch in March, at which Graham Gilpin and Ian Barnett (at right) were inducted as engineering executives.
Gilpin have been inducted as of the Level Crossing Removal engineering executives by EA, through Authority. Devlin has previously the Centre for Engineering Leadership held the position of executive project and Management. Barnett is a general director at the Linking Melbourne manager for environment and regional Authority. director for Victoria and the ACT, Hyder Australia secured while Gilpin is a senior consultant. The two awards at the Association of pair joins only 25 other engineers in Consulting Structural Engineers New Victoria and 125 nationally in holding South Wales Structural Engineering the title. In addition, WSP | Parsons Awards 2014 in March. The firm’s Brinckerhoff has appointed John structural engineering team won the O’Connell to lead the firm’s Australia award for Small Buildings/Structures New Zealand intelligent transport for its work on the Port Arthur systems (ITS) team. O’Connell brings Penitentiary Conservation Project, and 20 years’ experience in ITS to the the award for Special/Unusual Projects role, including Brisbane’s Airport Link was presented to the team for their project. work on the Sydney Town Hall Clock Structural engineer Ian Pederson Tower. has been elected chair of the Former Victorian treasurer John Australian Industry Construction Lenders has been appointed chair of Forum. Pedersen is a Past National the state’s rail asset owner VicTrack. President of EA and was awarded EA’s Lenders joined cabinet in February National Professional Engineer of the 2002 and has held a range of portfolios Year Award in 1990 for his role in including Major Projects, Information the aftermath of the 1989 Newcastle Communication Technology and earthquake. Treasurer. He replaces retiring chair Evan Tattersall has been Bob Annells, who has held the position appointed CEO of Melbourne since April 2012. Metro Rail Authority. Tattersall has Cardno has opened a new office worked on a long list of projects in in Auckland, following an increase in Victoria, including the Craigieburn demand for the firm’s services in the Electrification Project, the Western region. The office is the company’s Ring Road Project and most recently fifth in New Zealand, with others the $4 billion Regional Rail Link already established in Wellington, project. In addition, Kevin Devlin Christchurch, Taupo and Hastings. has been appointed as the CEO
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 29
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Engineering heritage
he 18th Australian Engineering Heritage Conference Hawkesbury River Rail Bridge, 1889. will be held in Newcastle from 7-9 December, hosted Tand organised by the Newcastle Division of EA and Engineering Heritage Australia. The conference venue is the Newcastle Museum, the site of engineering heritage exhibits including an 1826 fish-belly rail from Australia’s first commercial coal mine and railway, and the world’s only working rope-driven gantry crane, from 1885. Newcastle built its early success on technology imported mainly from Britain during the Industrial Revolution, and engineering’s contribution to the war effort would be welcome, early technology transfer will be a primary theme for the in part due to the centenary anniversary of Gallipoli this year. conference, according to Engineering Heritage Australia To introduce the varied themes proposed for the (EHA). conference, a pre-conference tour will start on 3 December Papers at the conference will also cover secondary themes. at Sydney’s Central Station. The tour will take in parts of the These include ‘filling in the gaps’ in knowledge of historical UNESCO World Heritage listed Great North Road and other engineering technologies or works and exploring the heritage sites of engineering heritage value. of new or unusual areas of engineering such as computer, Registration for the conference and the pre-conference medical, space or industrial engineering. In addition, EHA tour opens on 1 May. A call for abstracts for submissions said Newcastle is the site of some of the most significant opened on 30 March. For more information visit
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APRIL 2015 OCTOBER 2015 27 22nd International Conference on 19 9th International Water Sensitive Urban Design Telecommunications (ICT 2015) Conference & 3rd International Erosion Control 27 – 29 April 2015, Sydney, NSW Conference (WSUD 2015) www.engineersaustralia.org.au/ict2015-conference 19 – 23 October, Sydney, NSW LAST OPPORTUNITY TO REGISTER www.wsud2015.org SUPER EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION CLOSING SOON 09 SEPTEMBER 2015 Dynamic EcoLibrium – Sustainable Engineering Conference (SENG 2015) 22 NOVEMBER 2015 The Australian Biomedical Engineering 09 – 10 September 2015, Adelaide, SA Conference (ABEC 2015) www.dynamicecolibrium2015.com 22 – 25 November 2015, Melbourne, VIC www.abec.org.au 15 SEPTEMBER 2015 21st Australasian Coastal and Ocean ABSTRACT SUBMISSION OPENING SOON Engineering Conference & 14th Australasian Port and Harbour Conference 25 NOVEMBER 2015 (Coasts & Ports 2015) Asia Pacific International Symposium on Aerospace Technology 2015 (APISAT 2015) 15 – 18 September 2015, Auckland, NZ www.coastsandports2015.com 25 – 27 November 2015, Cairns, QLD www.apisat2015.com ABSTRACT SUBMISSION CLOSING SOON 27 SEPTEMBER 2015 International Conference on Coal Science & Technology 2015 – Incorporating 2015 Australia- China Symposium on Energy (ICCS&T 2015) 07 DECEMBER 2015 18th Australian Engineering Heritage Conference 27 September – 01 October 2015, Melbourne, VIC www.engineersaustralia.org.au/iccst-2015 07-09 December 2015, Newcastle, NSW www.engineersaustralia.org.au/heritage-2015 REGISTRATION OPENING SOON ABSTRACT SUBMISSION NOW OPEN
27 SEPTEMBER 2015 Asian Pacific Confederation of Chemical Engineering Congress 2015 – Incorporating DECEMBERLogo portrait 2015 07 36th Hydrology and Water Resources Chemeca 2015 (APCChE 2015) Symposium (HWRS 2015) 27 September – 01 October 2015, Melbourne, VIC 07 – 10 December 2015, Hobart, TAS www.apcche2015.org www.hwrs2015.com.au REGISTRATION OPENING SOON ABSTRACT SUBMISSION CLOSING SOON
07 OCTOBER 2015 The ATS Tunnel Design & Construction Short Course 2015 07 – 09 October 2015, Brisbane, QLD Logo landscape www.engineersaustralia.org.au/ats2015 REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
For more information on all events visit www.engineersaustralia.org.auWeb banner (not to size)
National Conference & Events A4 page.indd 1 26/03/15 11:11 AM Southern Cross to West Werribee
ork on the final stage of Victoria’s $3.65 billion Tarneit Link, was mooted in the Bracks government’s Regional Rail Link (RRL) has been completed, 2006 Meeting our transport challenges report, and was Wwith passenger services to commence in June, also recommended in Sir Rod Eddington’s East West Link almost six years after construction began in August 2009. Needs Assessment study in 2008. The project was then “The RRL enables more convenient, efficient and expanded and rebranded as the ‘Regional Rail Link’ by the reliable train services, and lays the foundation for future Brumby government later in 2008. expansion of the rail network,” Regional Rail Link Regional services will now use 90 km of new track, Authority (RRLA) CEO Allen Garner said. “It’s one of 45 km each way, on dedicated lines from West Werribee to Australia’s largest public transport infrastructure projects Deer Park and then along the existing rail corridor from and Melbourne’s first new major rail line in 80 years.” Sunshine to Southern Cross Station in Docklands. The project, jointly funded by the federal and Victorian The project included two new stations at Wyndham governments, is intended to untangle regional and Vale and Tarneit in Melbourne’s west, as well as rebuilds metropolitan rail lines running through Melbourne’s of West Footscray and Sunshine stations. Footscray, western fringe into the city. Previously, V/Line regional Tottenham and Southern Cross stations have also received services from Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo shared tracks upgrades. with suburban Metro Trains Melbourne (MTM) services Among other works, a 1.1 km elevated railway over the as they passed through the suburbs into the city, leading to Maribyrnong River, in the Kensington and Footscray areas congestion as passenger numbers and services increased. of Melbourne, was required. A narrow corridor between A separate line for regional trains, then dubbed the the existing rail line and industrial buildings in Kensington constrained construction of the bridge. This was compounded by the need to eliminate any risk of polluting the river, which is home to a protected fish species, the Australian grayling. CONTRACTS AND CONTRACTORS “Due to the considerable geographic and environmental Southern Cross: franchisee-managed design constraints, the [City to Maribyrnong River] alliance and construct contract brought in a device called a ‘launching truss’,” RRLA director for engineering Brendan Driscoll said. “It’s an MTM, Brookfi eld Multiplex, John Holland, engineered frame that allowed us to lift bridge beams Coleman Rail, Alstom into place in this very tight corridor without harming the City to Maribyrnong River: alliance contract sensitive local river environment.” John Holland, Lend Lease, Coleman Rail, AECOM, The 96 m launching truss minimised the requirement GHD, MTM, V/Line, RRLA for alternative support equipment such as scaffolds or cranes. The launching truss was one of the largest pieces of Footscray to Deer Park: alliance contract machinery used across the project, according to the RRLA, Thiess, Balfour Beatty, Parsons Brinckerhoff , and lifted 30 bridge beams, each weighing around 80 t, Jacobs SKM, MTM, V/Line, RRLA into place. Another goal of the project was to address level Deer Park to West Werribee Junction: design and construct contract crossings. The RRL alignment includes no new level crossings, instead using 13 road and rail grade separations Lend Lease/Leighton Contractors JV (design by in the new line through Wyndham Vale and Tarneit. In Aurecon Hyder JV) Sunshine, two level crossings on the same road, within 500 West Werribee Junction: design and construct m of each other, were removed. contract Additionally, new signalling and train control systems have been rolled out along the entire alignment, delivering Leighton/Downer JV (design by AECOM) an upgrade to infrastructure along the existing tracks. Rail Systems: alliance contract The project was broken up into a number of discrete UGL Limited, RPS, MTM, V/Line sections, with varying contract types (see breakout box). The sheer size and complexity of the project was one of Client designers: KBR/Arup JV the most unique aspects about it, according to Garner. “There has never been a transport infrastructure job
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REGIONAL RAIL LINK
The 96 m launching truss over the Maribyrnong River. PHOTO: RRLA
ASSET MANAGEMENT this big in Victoria before,” Garner explained. “Managing a construction interface 45 km long, in both brownfield PROMOTE EDUCATE ASSIST KNOWLEDGE and greenfield environments, across five local government areas over three years is a huge undertaking.” ASSET MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE “One of the RRL’s great strengths has been the 24-28 MAY 2015, Sydney innovative approach to management and coordination of construction, and the willingness to look for opportunities to do things better, even if it’s not how things have Assets converted to Cost, Risk and Performance been done in the past,” he said. For example, a Joint Coordination Committee was established to resolve Why Attend interface issues during the project delivery phase. “The best way to describe this approach is to liken it • Leading Edge Speakers to a project board overseeing the delivery with executives • In-Depth Workshops from the contractors, rail operators and client all trying to • Network with 300+ colleagues achieve one goal,” Garner said. “The Joint Coordination Network l Learn l Earn CPD Committee structure has been critical to this.” Major construction work was completed in 2014 and Areas Include commuters from Melbourne’s west have already begun • Life Cycle, Maturity, & Performance to see improvements in reliability as project stages have • ISO 5500X Implementation become operational, according to RRLA. The final stage, • Leadership & Culture the new line through Wyndham Vale and Tarneit, was scheduled to open in April, but the recently elected Victorian government has announced services will not commence until June, due to a shortage of available trains. When service begins, it will be with capacity for an extra 23 metropolitan and 10 regional services during Register at each morning and evening peak period. This equates to www.amcouncil.com.au/AMPEAK capacity for an additional 54,000 passenger trips each day, according to RRLA.
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NEWS BRIEFS
Work starts on WestConnex Mid West Energy Project reaches completion Work has begun on the first stage of The WA government has marked the WestConnex in Sydney, after a ceremony completion of one of the largest power marking the commencement of the $500 line projects ever undertaken in the state. million M4 widening project. The project The $400 million project is a combination will upgrade 7.5 km of the M4 motorway from three of two major power lines and a number to four lanes in each direction from Parramatta to of substation upgrades that will allow for more than Homebush. 500 MW of additional energy for the region.
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ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 34
34 g - Proj Briefs.indd 34 13/04/15 4:49 PM MEMBERSHIP BALLOT Declaration of results
On 24 November 2014, the National Congress of the Institution of Engineers Australia requested the Chief Executive Officer to conduct a membership ballot for agreement to seek amendments to the 2011 Royal Charter and By-laws, in the form of four proposed membership resolutions. I hereby declare all four membership resolutions passed, with the voting results as below.
Agree? Votes % Decision Membership Resolution 1 YES 6,877 83.4% PASSED NO 1,370 16.6% Valid ballots 8,247 Unexercised 32 Invalid 0 Total ballots lodged 8,279 Agree? Votes % Decision Membership Resolution 2 YES 6,227 76.0% PASSED NO 1,964 24.0% Valid ballots 8,191 Unexercised 87 Invalid 1 Total ballots lodged 8,279 Agree? Votes % Decision Membership Resolution 3 YES 5,515 67.4% PASSED NO 2,665 32.6% Valid ballots 8,180 Unexercised 99 Invalid 0 Total ballots lodged 8,279 Agree? Votes % Decision Membership Resolution 4 YES 6,628 80.7% PASSED NO 1,588 19.3% Valid ballots 8,216 Unexercised 63 Invalid 0 Total ballots lodged 8,279
The report of the voting results for each resolution by Division, and of ballots received by Division and by membership grade and occupational category will be available from 2 April 2015 at https://www. engineersaustralia.org.au/ballot2015resolutions/ The amendments to the Royal Charter and By-laws as Stephen Durkin FIEAust a result of the passing of these resolutions require the CEO – Returning Officer assent of His Excellency the Governor-General of the 1 April 2015 Commonwealth of Australia before coming into effect.
EA Ballot.indd 12 10/04/15 8:46 AM VIEWPOINT
MANUFACTURING
Innovate for industrial growth
by John Blakemore
ustralia has very special and pressing problems. drew a picture of the eye and explained that the ocular We have failed to capitalise on opportunities in the pressure was squeezing the optic nerve which was feeding Anuclear and aluminium industries, and we are still the retina with blood. hostage to commodity prices which have collapsed in the To me as an engineer this seems like a very easy last year. Our basic manufacturing industries have been problem to solve. decimated and multinationals like Ford, GM and Toyota “Why don’t we cut a canal in the corner of the eye and are preparing to close their facilities in Australia. allow the fluid to drain to relieve the pressure?” I asked. We still govern on a three year window where “Everyone has tried that and it does not work,” he said. successive governments concentrate on devising strategies “Okay, why don’t we drill a hole in the iris so that at for re-election rather that the long term interest of the low pressure the fluid will escape by capillary action and nation. Each state, regardless of size, has the same number at high pressure the fluid will squirt out and so relieve the of senators and many are poorly educated and have no pressure on the optic nerve?” idea of how to work together for the common good. “You can’t do that,” he cried. Australia currently carries more than $660 billion in “Why?” debt and we have the fastest growth in spending among “Because no one else in the world has done that.” IMF nations. So how are we going to clear this debt log To me, this was like waving a red rag at a bull. So jam? How do we generate the wealth to support our several conversations and some months later it was agreed economic commitments? that we would drill the holes one at a time. Australia urgently needs to find new sources of The first operation on the left eye went reasonably industrial growth. More precisely, we need to invent them. well. Some 40 shots of the laser finally produced what Australia must boost its capacity for strategic innovation was thought to be a satisfactory hole. The surgery worked in areas where we have the skills and knowledge or can and that operation is now a standard in Sydney – and develop them. We must become more innovative, and in elsewhere – called the iridectomy. The lesson for me was my view, it is up to disciplines such as engineering to find that by bringing my engineering discipline to a problem in the way forward. another field, I have saved not only my eyesight, but that Personally, I have had to innovate in my own career of others. when my plan to pursue a career in nuclear engineering, What other problems – that medical and other complete with a PhD on the effect of radiation alloys, was professionals believe to be insurmountable – might we interrupted by the decision not to build a nuclear reactor engineers resolve? in Jervis Bay in 1970. Since then my experience has ranged I believe that it is engineers and others like us who from spraying liquid steel at 1600 °C with liquid oxygen at are equipped to lead Australia in adapting to the new –196 °C to working on the next season’s range of female paradigm through innovation and creativity. Engineers swimwear. think differently. We have the mindset – as The ability to innovate and change has well as the skills – that can help craft real been good for me professionally but it and workable solutions to many of the has also helped make a difference to my challenges we face, on the micro and macro own and others’ lives. My mother went scale. blind at the age of 55. She suffered from Eratosthenes, born in 276 BCE, angle closure glaucoma with superimposed measured the circumference of the earth chronically high ocular pressure. It at 40,000 km – using a stick. The actual appeared that the same fate awaited me AUSTRALIA URGENTLY circumference is 40,075 km. Albert when I was diagnosed with the same NEEDS TO FIND NEW Einstein postulated that there must be condition in 1991. SOURCES OF INDUSTRIAL a “cosmological term”, to explain the I was angry and upset. I refused to leave GROWTH. MORE stability of the universe. That is the sort the surgeon’s consulting room until he PRECISELY, WE NEED TO of thinking that is required for our future illustrated and explained the condition in INVENT THEM. and we are fortunate in 2015 to have more a way I could understand. He reluctantly sophisticated tools to aid our work.
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 36
36 - 37 g.indd 36 14/04/15 2:27 PM The next major wave of change in all economies is the speed of innovation. Digital data now Many years ago, I measured the efficiency of a coal enables us to innovate faster than ever. The internet brings mine in the Hunter Valley. My measurement was 32%. The together a degree of teamwork and collaboration never management were initially scathing in their criticism of seen before and this will be intrinsic to future success. my report since a world-renowned global consulting firm Accelerated technological developments, compounds claimed that it was 98%. When given the opportunity to constructed molecule by molecule, solids built atom by work on some bottleneck areas, we were able to improve atom, cloning, genetic engineering, photovoltaic paints, productivity of the whole mine by 16% in less than six climate change – an endless stream of new ideas is needed months. However, the coal loader at Newcastle could not to embrace and create new opportunities. cope with an increased volume of coal and the improvement Even the best of us are unable to grasp the full program ceased. significance of all the events of the world around us. We While this raises simple issues on the definition of need to use data more effectively to enhance standards efficiency and productivity, the point remains that while we of living, improve health and assist in solving all types define 98% efficiency as being the capability to service the of people problems as well as technical ones. We need existing structure, we fail to realise the potential that a 16% enthusiastic, intelligent creative well educated people productivity gain could deliver. capable of thinking outside the square, asking why and Businesses in the future will move at higher velocity, with why not. greater creativity and capacity for innovation. We must step Our value-added industries have not kept pace and we up to this opportunity, by challenging the status quo and do not compete on a level playing field. We cannot afford bringing creativity, innovation and our professional skills to to continue to ride on the back of high commodity prices the task of re-engineering our sense of what is possible. We and mining. can start with our existing context – but we must also work Over the last 30 years, my company has studied and in collaboration with other professions, combining our skill worked for what we consider to be some of the world’s sets with doctors, scientists and others who are charged with best companies. These include Honda, Panasonic, delivering solutions to Australia’s most pressing problems. Mercedes Benz, Braun, Pirelli, Cochlear, Canon, BHP, By doing so, we can establish the foundations for new CSIRO, Toyota, Bluescope, Speedo, Seeley, ANCA and sources of competitive advantage – for their businesses, our many more. businesses, for industry as a whole. And who knows? At the We have also tracked the rise and fall of many giants of very least, you could improve your own life and the lives of the past – such as GEC, Email, Ford and Chrysler. The key those that are near and dear to you. issue signalling demise is the lack of innovation and the inability to move quickly as the market and technological developments take hold. Working with a wide range of Dr John Blakemore is the CEO of Blakemore Consulting industries, I am continuously surprised at how slowly International and is a keynote speaker at National opportunities are seized by most companies. I still wonder Manufacturing Week 2015 (May 26–29, Melbourne) at the opportunities lost.
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 37
36 - 37 g.indd 37 13/04/15 4:50 PM Bridging the gap BETWEEN UNIVERSITY and ‘the real world’
Do universities give students and businesses what they actually need? David Singleton explores the changing world of higher education.
ome employers want students to be prepared for Vice president of the Australian Council of Engineering particular workforce specialties, while others value an Deans, Professor John Wilson, believes we are seeing great Seducation underpinning judgment, communication, change to the way engineering is being taught, which is all collaboration, creativity and analytical skill. So how are aimed at providing more rounded graduates for industry. universities bridging the gap between the classroom and “Engineering education has been changing to provide a ‘the real world’ of business? broader set of skills around engineering applications and The traditional measurement of a university’s success systems thinking, in addition to the traditional emphasis is how well they are doing in their research, in publishing on engineering science,” he said. academic papers, and their success at securing grants. “These changes are ensuring graduates are more career However, a key objective for students is to end up with ready for a range of jobs and understand the importance a degree that improves the chances of securing a job they of being independent and life-long learners.” want. So universities are increasingly focused on how In terms of course content, there has been an increased easy it is for their students to gain employment, post- emphasis on design and project based learning. Students graduation. are undertaking reflective diaries (e-portfolios) to Universities have had to adjust to stay relevant and demonstrate their attainment of graduate attributes, viable. Higher education is changing in all sorts of ways – particularly around professional skills that include team from technological advancements in the online space, to work, communication, leadership and business awareness. the way universities carry out assessments and engage with Technological advancements over the last decade has students – but are these changes ensuring graduates are seen online education soar. You could very easily convince job ready? yourself that the students who study their degree online are getting better all round support than those who attend a physical campus in the ‘old fashioned way’, because technology provides systems to determine how engaged students are. Are they logging in to look at materials? Are they spending sufficient time online? Such information is an efficient means of spotting students who look like they could be in danger of falling behind, and the university can intervene to help them before they might fail. Online learning significantly empowers non-traditional students. For example, Swinburne University statistics show that 75% of online students are female. In particular, online learning is a great opportunity for mothers to study at a time that fits into their day. It is also well suited to students from different cultural backgrounds and for students doing part-time work. I was somewhat cynical about online education 12 months ago, having studied two degrees in a traditional way. However, the more I learn about it, the more I appreciate what they offer and how there are a broad range of students who can benefit. Online programs give students more flexibility to
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THE GREATEST RISK TO ANY TERTIARY INSTITUTION IS TO NOT RECOGNISE AND ACCOMMODATE THE CHANGING NEEDS OF EMPLOYERS AND STUDENTS IN ALL ASPECTS OF THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE.
build a degree over time. For example, Swinburne Online Globally, universities are recognising that (a 50/50 partnership between SEEK and Swinburne) recommendation by students is fuelled by successful recognises many students are looking to change jobs and employment outcomes. Yet in Australia, there is a potential need qualifications to develop their career. surplus of graduates and employment is not easy to secure. Modularity is a key to the successful future of higher When it comes to engineering specifically, Wilson says education, as Harvard Business School professor of the real gap between engineering graduates and what business administration Clayton Christensen said in a business wants is extended work experience. recent keynote. Students will soon have the ability to learn “Graduates who have undertaken extended periods anything they desire, from anyone, at any institution. of engineering employment during their undergraduate Increasingly, it could be that a work-ready person will studies are more ‘job ready’, with superior understanding be qualified differently to the traditional four-year degree. of the business of engineering and the importance of Studying may be less about technical skills and more about engineering judgement, compared with graduates that have a broader capability to address a variety of employment only the minimum 12 weeks work experience,” he said. circumstances. While there will always be a call for people Australia needs to follow its global counterparts – with a deep technical capability, their percentage of the universities cannot guarantee employment outcomes, population is going to be static or reducing. but they should ensure students are equipped with the Technology has the ability to simultaneously enhance knowledge and competencies to be employable. and damage the university enterprise. This is no truer Today’s generation of graduates need to be armed than with Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), that with a portfolio of skills, competencies, attributes and are aimed at unlimited participation and open access via experiences. They need to demonstrate to employers that the web. However, there will always be a need for bricks they have the personality, passion and attitude to fit in. and mortar education. To provide graduates with the skills The greatest risk to any tertiary institution is to not businesses need, it’s imperative they successfully cross- recognise and accommodate the changing needs of fertilise MOOC technology and on-campus teaching to employers and students in all aspects of the educational ensure students get better value out of face-to-face time. experience. New approaches to education is more than just online learning. Universities must look at their processes, the way David Singleton is the chair of Engineers Australia’s College they do assessments and improving engagement. of Leadership and Management, chair of the Infrastructure Sustainability Council and a member of council But are these changes bridging the gap to ensure at Swinburne University of Technology. graduates are job ready? Are our universities creating what businesses need?
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 39
38-39 g - Singleton.indd 39 13/04/15 4:50 PM The Top Ten ENGINEERING Tourist Attractions IN THE WORLD by Tim Kannegieter Researcher: Paula Wallace
he tourism industry world-wide is worth the International Space Station, but to date only seven over a trillion US dollars annually and such tourists have made the trip – so it did not make engineering is a key contributor not just to our short list. tourism infrastructure but in attractions We also decided not to include attractions that themselves. With this list we are aiming had been completed before 1900. Sites such as Egypt’s Tto identify the best tourist attractions where people Pyramids at Giza and the Great Wall of China are marvel at the engineering. rightly engineering marvels of their times. However, Selection was challenging because in many when we began to consider the huge number of attractions the engineering, while amazing, is taken for spectacularly engineered churches, mosques and granted or overwhelmed by other factors such as the mausoleums around the world – such as they Taj architecture or the natural phenomena at the site. Many Mahal, the Blue Mosque in Istanbul and the Chartres great feats of engineering, such as the Channel Tunnel Cathedral in France – we realised we had to limit the between France and the UK, are well patronised but scope. how many people visit them to admire the engineering? During selection, we sought input from Engineers So tourist numbers are important and we wanted Australia members via social media channels. We hope this list to be more than a list of engineering marvels. you agree that the 10 selected are crowd pleasers for If you have a spare US$50 million or so you could visit the public and engineers alike.
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 40
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ENGINEERING ATTRACTIONS
Golden DESCRIPTION: The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge Gate spanning the Golden Gate Strait, the 1.6 km wide, 4.8 km long channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific 1Bridge Ocean. The structure links San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to Marin County.
BACKGROUND: Building the bridge seemed like an impossible task a century ago and is still considered one of the most spectactular in the world today. The location meant the design had to withstand brutal winds, tide, and fog. It also sits less than 13 km from the epicentre of the most catastrophic earthquake in history. Only one engineer was willing to gamble that his bridge could withstand such destructive power – that was Joseph Strauss. Planning for the Golden Gate Bridge began in 1916, but the design underwent many changes before construction finally started in 1933. Strauss was the chief engineer in charge of the bridge project but he had little experience with the construction of suspension bridges. For this LOCATION: reason, other engineers, architects, and designers made vital SAN FRANCISCO, contributions to its design and construction. For example, CALIFORNIA, USA
PHOTO: LUCIANO MORTULA / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
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40-52 g - top10.indd 41 13/04/15 5:00 PM PHOTO: MICHAEL WARWICK / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
the bridge owes its art deco style and distinctive orange colour (International Orange) to the architects Irving and Gertrude Morrow. Charles Alton Ellis, an expert in structural design, was the main engineer on the project, and did much of the technical PHOTO: STEVE BUCKLEY/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM work necessary to build the bridge in consultation with engineer Leon Moisseiff. Together, the two engineers explored a practical structure (the stiffening truss). Although the net did save application of Moisseiff’s deflection theory of suspension 19 men, and Strauss’ safety regulations were considered to be bridges. They made their design flexible enough to rigorous, tragedy still struck the project with 11 fatalities. withstand the gales that often blew through the Golden Gate On May 27, 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge was opened to Strait. The bridge was lighter, longer and narrower than any great acclaim, a symbol of progress in the Bay area during of its predecessors. a time of economic crisis. The 1280 m long suspension Work began in January 1933. Hundreds of men were span was the longest span in the world from the time of its hired to do the back-breaking work of removing 92,000 m3 completion until New York City’s Verrazano Narrows Bridge of earth to make room for the anchorages that would hold was opened in 1964. The current record is held by the Akashi- the bridge’s main cables in place. Throughout construction, Kaikyo Bridge in Japan which has a main span of 1991 m. the workers would be exposed to severe weather and The bridge connects San Francisco to California’s northern dangerous conditions of working high above the Golden counties with its tremendous 227.4 m tall towers and lays Gate Strait. It was not the first big job to feature hard hats claim to being the “most photographed” in the world and safety lines as some have claimed, but it was the first to attracting more than ten million visitors annually. It is one enforce their use with the threat of dismissal. of the most internationally recognised symbols of California In addition, a safety net was suspended under the ‘floor’ and has been declared one of the ‘Wonders of the Modern of the bridge during the construction of the roadway World’ by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Main cables are and made up of 2332 27,572 metres long strands of wire
Main span is 1280 67 metres long metres high
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ENGINEERING ATTRACTIONS
Large Hadron 2 Collider
LOCATION: FRANCE AND Views of the Large Hadron Collider tunnel sector 3-4. PHOTO: © 2009 CERN (LICENSE: CC-BY-SA-4.0) SWITZERLAND
DESCRIPTION: The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s Considered by some to be the most ambitious machine largest and most powerful particle accelerator, located in an ever constructed, it holds the record for being the largest and underground tunnel with a 27 km circumference and up to longest single machine in the world. 175 m deep. The LHC runs beneath the Franco-Swiss border. The 3.8 m wide concrete lined tunnel, constructed between 1983 and 1988, was formerly used to house the BACKGROUND: The European Laboratory for Particle Physics Large Electron–Positron Collider. It crosses the border (CERN), which manages the LHC, has played an important between Switzerland and France at four points, with role in many modern scientific breakthroughs. The LHC was the majority in France. Surface buildings hold ancillary built in collaboration with more than 10,000 scientists and equipment such as compressors, ventilation equipment, engineers from over 100 countries. control electronics and refrigeration plants.
CMS Magnets contain 10,000 tonnes of iron FRANCE (more than the Eiffel Tower) ALICE LHC–B
ATLAS
SWITZERLAND 1232 Shown here are the main experimental stations. electromagnets
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40-52 g - top10.indd 43 13/04/15 5:00 PM Welding of fi nal shunt. PHOTO: © 2014 CERN PHOTO: © 2014 CERN
The LHC’s synchrotron is designed to collide colder than outer space, and is capable of sending protons two opposing particle beams of protons at up to hurling at speeds in excess of 99.999999% of the speed 4 teraelectronvolts (4 TeV or 0.64 microjoules) or lead of light. nuclei (574 TeV per nucleus, or 2.76 TeV per nucleon), with Each of the 6000-9000 superconducting filaments of energies to be increased to around 6.5 TeV (13 TeV collision niobium–titanium in the cable produced for the LHC is energy). about 0.007 mm thick, about 10 times thinner than a normal Aside from setting a record for the highest energy human hair. If you added all the filaments together they collisions ever made, the LHC had some impressive early would stretch to the sun and back six times with enough left accomplishments, discovering a new kind of subatomic over for about 150 trips to the moon. particle and detecting evidence of dark matter. The The popularity of the LHC is measured by the fact that accelerator’s successes come thanks to its incredible visits are usually booked out several months in advance. design. Its track is 27.36 km long, cooled to temperatures Tours are conducted by scientists in several languages.
Burj Khalifa 3 (Dubai Tower)
LOCATION: DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Burj Khalifa towers above the Dubai skyline. PHOTO: SOPHIE JAMES / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
DESCRIPTION: At more than 828 m and 160 floors high, Burj BACKGROUND: Employing the skills of more than 380 Khalifa holds many records, primarily that of the tallest, engineers and on site technicians, the Burj Khalifa is a free-standing man-made structure the world has ever seen. triumph of modern engineering, built between 2004 and
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ENGINEERING ATTRACTIONS
2009 and officially opened on 4 January 2010. Such a project World’s tallest by necessity requires pushing current analysis, material, existing structure World's construction technologies, and building systems to literally 829.8 highest new heights. metres high New Year Designers purposely shaped the structural concrete Burj fireworks Khalifa – Y-shaped in plan – to reduce the wind forces on display the tower, as well as to keep the structure simple and foster constructability. The structural system can be described as a buttressed core. Each wing, with its own high performance concrete corridor walls and perimeter columns, buttresses 163 the others via a six-sided central core, or hexagonal hub. floors The result is a tower that is extremely stiff, laterally and torsionally. 3 Over 45,000 m of concrete, weighing more than 110,000 t Highest vertical was used to construct the concrete and steel foundation, concrete pumping 504 which features 192 piles buried more than 50 m deep. Burj (for a building) Khalifa’s construction used 330,000 m3 of concrete and metres of 39,000 t of steel rebar, and construction took approximately 606m elevators 22 million work-hours. In November 2007, the highest reinforced concrete corewalls were pumped using 80 MPa concrete from ground level; a height of 601 m. It smashed the previous pumping 12,000 record of 470 m on the Taipei 101, the world’s second tallest workers from tower. 100 For a building of this height and slenderness, wind forces and the resulting motions in the upper levels countries became dominant factors in the structural design. An per day at peak extensive program of wind tunnel tests and other studies of construction were undertaken by wind tunnel consultant RWDI, in its boundary layer wind tunnels in Guelph, Ontario, to evaluate the effects of wind on building loading, behaviour, and Based on the results of the wind tunnel testing program, occupant comfort. Additionally, the wind tunnel testing the predicted building motions are within the ISO standard program was utilised as part of a process to shape the recommended values, without the need for auxiliary building to minimise wind effects. damping.
Burj Khalifa up close. PHOTO: LYUBOV TIMOFEYEVA / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 45
40-52 g - top10.indd 45 14/04/15 9:00 AM PHOTO: ANDREW ZARIVNY / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM Hoover 4 Dam
LOCATION: COLORADO RIVER, ARIZONA AND NEVADA BORDER, DESCRIPTION: Hoover Dam, once known as Boulder Dam, is a concrete arch-gravity dam USA in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the US states of Arizona and Nevada.
BACKGROUND: Hoover Dam was part of the wave of major blocks in columns were poured, some as large as 15 m2 and construction projects that swept through the USA in 1930s, 1.5 m high. along with La Guardia Airport, the Empire State Building Each 1.5 m form contained a series of 25 mm steel pipes and the Golden Gate Bridge among others. through which first cool river water, then ice-cold water from a Several circumstances contributed to this phenomenon. refrigeration plant was run. Once an individual block had cured The building of the Panama Canal in the early years of last and had stopped contracting, the pipes were filled with grout. century was an engineering triumph that led the nation to Grout was also used to fill the hairline spaces between columns, consider other projects of comparable scale, but World War which were grooved to increase the strength of the joins. I intervened before plans could be carried out. Planning for Hoover Dam began after the war in the early 1920s, though construction didn’t begin until 1931. At the same time, engineering advances and new 2,480,000 m3 technology made possible projects of unprecedented proportions: at Hoover Dam, for example, such innovations of concrete included cableways to transport materials and the means to was poured cure massive amounts of concrete. 24/7 Hoover Dam was, without question, the greatest dam of for 2 years its day. Construction began in 1931, and the last concrete was poured in 1935. The power plant wings were completed in 1936, and the first generator began operation in October of that year. Before work could start, the river had to be diverted. Four tunnels, each 15 m in diameter, were drilled through the solid rock walls of the Black Canyon. The first concrete was poured into the dam in 1933, but engineers were faced with a challenge. Bureau of Stores Reclamation engineers calculated that if the dam was built in a single continuous pour, the concrete would take 34.8 trillion 125 years to cool and the resulting stresses would cause the litres of water dam to crack and crumble. Instead, the ground where the dam was to rise was marked with rectangles, and concrete
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ENGINEERING ATTRACTIONS
Panama 5 Canal
LOCATION: REPUBLIC OF PANAMA, CENTRAL AMERICA PHOTO: CHRIS JENNER / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
DESCRIPTION: The Panama Canal is a 77.1 km ship canal that This greatly reduced the time for ships to travel between connects the Atlantic Ocean (via the Caribbean Sea) to the the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, enabling the US to become Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama more integrated with the world economy. and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. During the decade-long American effort to build the Panama Canal, the project had three different chief BACKGROUND: On 15 August 1914, the Panama Canal engineers. All three faced innumerable challenges, including opened, connecting the world’s two largest oceans and a complex bureaucracy, pressure from American politicians, signalling America’s emergence as a global superpower. and the constant threat of yellow fever and malaria, all while American ingenuity and innovation had succeeded where, planning the construction and execution of the world’s 15 years earlier, the French had failed. But the US paid a largest lock canal to date in difficult terrain. price for victory: a decade of ceaseless, grinding toil, an In 1905, a US engineering panel recommended to outlay of more than $350 million – the largest single federal President Roosevelt a sea-level canal. However, more expenditure in history to that time – and the loss of more extensive engineering studies favoured a canal using a lock than 5000 lives. system to raise and lower ships from a large reservoir 26 m The construction of the canal is seen by some as the above sea level. This would create both the largest dam epitome of humanity’s mastery over nature. It was certainly (Gatun Dam) and the largest artificial lake (Gatun Lake) in one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever the world at that time. undertaken. The canal enables ships to avoid the lengthy, The current locks are 33.5 m wide. A third, wider lane of hazardous Cape Horn route around the southernmost tip of locks is currently under construction and is due to open in South America via the Drake Passage or Strait of Magellan. the next 12 months.
Atlantic Connects the world’s two largest oceans Atlantic Pacific
Raises26 ships PANAMA metres above Pacific sea level
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ENGINEERING ATTRACTIONS
Millau Viaduct over the Tarn Valley in France. PHOTO: PHB.CZ (RICHARD SEMIK) / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM Millau 6 Viaduct
LOCATION: RIVER TARN VALLEY, FRANCE
DESCRIPTION: The Millau Viaduct is a cable-stayed bridge reality, with the geography and weather conditions proving that spans the valley of the River Tarn near Millau in a challenge for engineers. The finished viaduct is constructed southern France – the tallest bridge in the world with one of an eight-span steel roadway supported by seven concrete mast’s summit at 343 m above the base of the structure. pylons. The pylons, including temporary ones, were assembled first. Once they were in place, the roadway BACKGROUND: Designed by the French structural engineer was slid across the pylon from both sides by hydraulic Michel Virlogeux and British architect Norman Foster, rams. Finally, masts were erected on top of the pylons the Millau Viaduct formally inaugurated on 14 December and connected to the deck. When the connections were 2004, has consistently been ranked as one of the great completed, the temporary pylons were removed. modern engineering achievements due to the a combination Before the construction of the viaduct, no building site of record breaking construction, use of cutting edge ever used such a mixture of technologies in one location technologies/materials and challenging conditions. – lasers, GPS, sliders, self-climbing formwork, high It took 14 years of research and three years of performance concrete, and other advanced materials all construction for the Millau Viaduct project to become a made the final bridge possible.
PHOTO: DAVID MUSCROFT / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM 5000 19,000 tonnes of pre-stressed tonnes of steel steel for the cables 343 metres
3 127,000 m of concrete
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40-52 g - top10.indd 48 13/04/15 5:01 PM Falkirk 7 Wheel
PHOTO: GODRICK / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
LOCATION: Connecting canals. FALKIRK, SCOTLAND The Falkirk Wheel. PHOTO: TARGN PLEIADES / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
DESCRIPTION: The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift in Scotland, connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal, the only lift of its kind in the world.
BACKGROUND: The Falkirk Wheel was opened in 2002, replacing a flight of 11 locks that had fallen into disrepair. The ingenious use of the Archimedes principle to ensure that the two caissons have the same weight, whether a boat is present or not, means that remarkably little energy is required to turn the wheel through 180 degrees. The wheel Over raises boats by 24 m. The various parts of The Falkirk Wheel were actually 15,000 bolts constructed and assembled, like one giant Meccano set, at Butterley Engineering’s Steelworks in Derbyshire. A team there carefully assembled the 1200 t of steel, painstakingly fitting the pieces together to an accuracy of just 10 mm to ensure a perfect final fit. In 2001, the structure was then dismantled and transported on 35 lorry loads to Falkirk, before all being bolted back together again on the ground, and finally lifted by crane in five large sections into position. The total 600 t weight of the water and boat-filled gondolas imposes immense and constantly changing stresses on the structure as it turns around the central spine. Normal welded joints of steel would be susceptible to fatigue induced by these stresses, so to make the structure more robust, Successfully combining both function and design, the the steel sections were bolted together. Over 15,000 bolts Falkirk Wheel is considered a piece of working sculpture that were matched with 45,000 bolt holes, and each was hand has spurred its own tourist industry and range of educational tightened. and recreational activities onsite.
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40-52 g - top10.indd 49 13/04/15 5:01 PM 8 Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum
LOCATION: WASHINGTON, DC, USA PHOTO: ALAN FREED / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
DESCRIPTION: Receiving almost seven million visitors in artefacts and more than 6000 m3 of archival materials 2014, the Smithsonian collection is spread across two – and boasts 14,970.9 m2 of exhibition floor space. centres focused on the history and science of aviation and Displays include the 1903 Wright Flyer and the Apollo 11 spaceflight, as well as planetary science and terrestrial Command Module Columbia, which are highlights of the geology and geophysics. Almost all space and aircraft on National Collection. Thousands of additional artefacts – display are originals or backups to the originals. including engines, rockets, uniforms, spacesuits, balloons, artwork, documents, manuscripts, and photographs – BACKGROUND: The museum holds the largest collection of document the richness of the history of flight. A wide historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world – over 60,000 variety of these artifacts are on display at the museum in
The Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum holds the largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft in the world.
PHOTO: VACCLAV / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM PHOTO: JORG HACKEMANN / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 50
40-52 g - top10.indd 50 13/04/15 5:42 PM 60,000 artifacts Washington, D.C. and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. The Smithsonian rates as one of the most visited museums globally in its quest to achieve “the increase and diffusion of knowledge” and offers a diverse range of educational and cultural programs. More than 3600 m3 of documents recording the history, 2 science, and technology of flight are housed in the museum’s 14,970.9 m archives. The facility also holds the most complete collection of exhibition floor space of aviation and space images – more than 1.75 million photographs and 14,000 film and video titles.
Three Gorges 9 Dam
LOCATION: YANGTZE RIVER, CHINA
PHOTO: PRILL MEDIENDESIGN & FOTOGRAFIE/THINKSTOCK
DESCRIPTION: The world’s largest hydroelectric power station and largest concrete structure, The Three Gorges Dam is one of China’s biggest construction projects since the Great Wall. 4 times BACKGROUND: For this project, the Chinese set out to build the largest hydropower dam in the world, four times as large as big as the as the Hoover Dam, with a height of 185 m and a length of Hoover Dam 2.3 km. The Three Gorges Dam Project’s (TGDP) primary purpose is to control the Yangtze River, one of the longest rivers in the world, specifically to reduce the severity of 185 flooding by 90%. The dam also provides hydroelectric power metres generation with turbines producing the equivalent of 20% of China’s power consumption. It would take 50 million t of coal or 18 nuclear power plants to produce this much electricity. While its success and environmental and social costs have been debated, China’s government highlights the benefits 700 MW of reduced greenhouse gas emissions and the engineering per turbine success of its state-of-the-art turbines.
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40-52 g - top10.indd 51 13/04/15 5:01 PM Each main water turbine has a capacity of 700 MW. Since 1997, the Dam Scenic Area offers visitors a Coupling the dam’s 32 main turbines with two smaller panoramic view of the whole dam and a museum exhibits generators (50 MW each) to power the plant itself, the total a large number of machines that were used in construction, electric generating capacity of the dam is 22,500 MW. It is such as mechanical excavators and cranes – making TGDP a the largest operating hydroelectric facility globally in terms true engineering tourist destination. of annual energy generation. 10 Boeing’s Future of Flight Aviation Center
LOCATION: MULKILTAO, Boeing began offering tours of the 747 factory in 1968. The factory tour has grown over the years to include WASHINGTON, USA a glimpse of all four widebody jetliners including the 767, 777 and the newest widebody, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. PHOTO: BOEING
DESCRIPTION: The Future of Flight Aviation Center & 280,000 Boeing Tour is located in Washington and public tours are visitors every year conducted of Boeing’s Everett factory – home of the 747, 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner production lines. World's largest BACKGROUND: During the tour of the world’s largest building building by volume by volume (13,385,378 m3), visitors see daily aeroplanes 3 actually being built for deployment all around the world. 13,385,378 m The Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour features the only public tour of a commercial jet assembly plant in North America. The facility was designed to accommodate Boeing’s announcement in 1966 that it would build the world’s largest jet airliner, the 747. Boeing began officially conducting Everett factory tours in 1968, the year it rolled out the first 747. That year more exhibits allow people to compare the dials and switches of than 39,000 visitors toured the factory and it is now host to the Boeing 727 to the digital flight deck of the Boeing 787 around 280,000 visitors annually. Dreamliner, and see the refined design of the new Boeing The Center enables visitors to explore the dynamics of 787 Dreamliner fuselage to an actual section of a fuselage in flight and experience innovations in aviation. Interactive relation from a Boeing 707.
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AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING
Soaring on SOLAR WINGS
by Callum Rhodes
solar powered plane has embarked on a round-the- renewable energy can achieve the impossible,” Piccard said. world journey, which will include a five day stretch He said the attempt would be a historical first, although Aof non-stop flying over the Pacific Ocean. the tour would be “very, very challenging and difficult.” The project team flew several test flights of the Solar From the starting point in Abu Dhabi on 9 March, Impulse 2 over the Middle East ahead of its planned the 35,000 km journey was to take 25 days of total flight departure, after shipping the craft from Switzerland where time, with 12 stops. The plane first flew to Oman and it completed its maiden flight in June 2014. then crossed the Arabian sea to visit India, Myanmar and The plane is powered by more than 17,000 solar cells. China. The silicon cells, mounted on the wings, fuselage and From the Chinese city of Nanjing, one pilot will fly the horizontal tailplane, are 135 microns thick and provide plane 8500 km non-stop across the Pacific to Hawaii, over 23% efficiency, according to the project team. the longest single leg of the trip. The collected solar energy is stored in lithium polymer The plane will then stop in New York, then land batteries mounted in the four engine nacelles. The 633 kg in southern Europe or northern Africa, depending on batteries account for just over a quarter of the aircraft’s weather, before arriving back in Abu Dhabi in July. total mass. Despite its 72 m wingspan, almost as wide as Due to the aircraft’s single-person capacity, one pilot an Airbus A380, the carbon fibre aircraft weighs only 2.3 t, will fly ahead separately with the ground team of flight about the same as a family SUV. engineers and other personnel while the other is at the The plane will fly at speeds of up to 100 km/h. At night, solar powered plane’s controls. the speed will be reduced to around 50 km/h to avoid The aircraft is the successor to Solar Impulse, a draining the batteries before sunrise. smaller plane that completed a 26 hour flight in 2010, The project is the culmination of 12 years of work by demonstrating the ability of the lithium batteries to store the two pilots, adventurer Bertrand Piccard and engineer enough power during the day to allow for continued flying Andre Borschberg, who will fly the aircraft in turns. through the night. “We want to demonstrate that clean technology and
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53 g - Solar.indd 53 13/04/15 4:51 PM EDUCATION
CO-OP PROGRAMS
Co-op program graduates more employable
ngineers Australia magazine is partly due to the faculty’s very has recently featured a strong industry links, she said. Enumber of letters and articles Sponsors of the program range describing the challenges students from Westpac to industry specific have in securing the practical partners such as Cochlear, Sydney experience required for their degree. Water, Downer, Weir Minerals, For this reason it is worth revisiting Evoqua, Valspar Corporation, Mars, a proven alternative, which is that SMEC, Suntech, Veolia Water, of a co-op program, where students Woodside Energy, City of Sydney alternate their study with periods of and Green Global Solutions. employment. Green Global Solutions CEO Bob UNSW developed a Co-op Sharon places an immense value Scholarship Program in partnership on supporting bright students in with industry over 25 years ago reaching their full potential. “Almost as a strategic initiative to attract, anything can be achieved with the innovation and collaboration of Tom Perfrement will soon be the train and develop outstanding “most employable” graduate in the world’s most talented students, young professionals. The aim of the engineering. program is to “develop the complete combined with support from graduate and offer high potential businesses wishing to improve the students an opportunity to combine way we live, work and learn,” he named ‘Australia’s most employable’ academic excellence with invaluable said. in his field in the inaugural work experience, leadership training Morris said that in recent years GradConnection Top 100 Awards. and professional development, UNSW had noticed an increasing The top 100 were chosen from more mentoring and networking, all trend of the program’s engineering than 2500 applications Australia- before they graduate” students being hired by consulting wide. Students were assessed not Students in the UNSW Co-op firms, as well as investment banks only on academic results, but also Program receive a scholarship of and the Big 4, because of their on skills and experiences including $16,750 per annum for a minimum ability to problem solve and to create leadership, volunteering, sports and of four years. Current offerings span diversity in their team. work experience acquired during 24 areas in business, engineering, One such Co-op scholar is their degree. science and the built environment. UNSW chemical engineering Last year, UNSW, working A recent graduate of the program, student Tom Perfrement, recently in partnership with 3M and Aaron Millican, specialising in the Graduate Research School, photovoltaics engineering said introduced a new one year PhD “having seen what my friends Career Development Scholarship go through to secure a single based on the undergraduate Co-op internship, while working part-time Program model. Three engineering jobs or being tied to one sponsor or science PhD students will be company for years, I can definitely given the opportunity to undertake say that UNSW Co-op is the best ALMOST ANYTHING CAN an industry placement with 3M in opportunity an ambitious student BE ACHIEVED WITH THE the Asia-Pacific region. out of high school can find’. COLLABORATION OF THE 3M Australia Technical Manager The program’s communication WORLD’S MOST TALENTED Peter Gray said “the program is manager, Michelle Morris, said STUDENTS WITH SUPPORT designed to provide a learning graduates of the program have one FROM BUSINESS WISHING experience that enhances their of the highest employability rates TO IMPROVE attributes and transferable skills, and in Australia. In engineering, this increases employability.
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AEROSPACE
Dawn reaches dwarf planet Ceres
on engines have propelled a NASA movement to allow for the gradual spacecraft into orbit around the migration of Dawn’s centre of mass. Idwarf planet Ceres, the largest Although three engines are required object in the belt of asteroids lying to provide enough thruster lifetime to between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. complete the mission with adequate WHY WE HAVEN’T LOOKEDThe AT craft,THE NUCLEAR Dawn, is the first ever to reserve, only one thruster operates at OPTION MUCH MORE SYSTEMATICALLYachieve orbit around a dwarf planet any given time. I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND.– an object of planetary mass that is These work by using an electrical neither a planet nor a natural satellite. charge to accelerate ions from xenon Dawn was approximately 61,000 km fuel reserves to high speeds. The from Ceres when it was captured by the force produced is extremely small: object’s gravity in early March. Mission at maximum throttle, it would take controllers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Dawn’s system four days to accelerate Laboratory in California received a from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h), according signal from the spacecraft reporting that to NASA. it was in good condition and thrusting The engines are so efficient, however, with its ion engines, indicating it had that Dawn can thrust for years at a entered orbit as planned. time. Total thrust time throughout the Chris Russell, principal investigator mission is expected to be about 2100 on the Dawn mission at the University days. Over the course of the mission, of California Los Angeles, said the the total change in Dawn’s velocity from result was exhilarating. ion propulsion alone will be comparable “We have much to do over the next to that provided by the craft’s launch year and a half,” he said, “but we are vehicle, a Delta II rocket. now on station with ample reserves, In addition to being the first and a robust plan to obtain our science spacecraft to visit a dwarf planet, Dawn objectives.” is also the first mission to orbit two According to NASA, Dawn combines extraterrestrial bodies. From 2011 to technologies pioneered by other recent 2012, it explored the giant asteroid missions with off-the-shelf components Vesta. Ceres and Vesta together account and, in some cases, spare parts and for more than a third of the total mass instrumentation left over from previous in the asteroid belt. missions. Mission operators have already NASA described the mission profile received images of Ceres from Dawn, as “demanding” and said without which will be over the dark side of Dawn’s ion engines it would be the dwarf planet until mid-April. The impossible, requiring a much larger craft would capture increasing amounts craft and a “dramatically larger” launch of detail on the surface of Ceres as it vehicle. spirals to lower orbits as part of its Each of the spacecraft’s three 30 science mission. cm ion thrust units has two axes of
While Dawn visits Vesta and Ceres, NASA’s Glenn Research Centre has been developing the next generation of ion thrusters (shown here), known as NASA’s Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT). NEXT’s performance allows future missions for extended tours of asteroids, comets, and outer planets and their moons. PHOTO: NASA
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55 g - NASA.indd 55 13/04/15 5:19 PM New life for AN OLD DOG
refurbishment of the HVAC system in a 49 year chiller also offers greater efficiency at loads below 75%, old Brisbane office building has taken its NABERS where most of its operating life would be spent, according Arating from zero to five stars, and halved the to NDY’s senior project engineer Glenn Geary. building’s energy consumption. The building, at 247 Face and bypass dampers on the AHUs were also Adelaide Street, dates from 1966 and is one of the oldest in replaced, after mechanical services contractor Airmaster Queensland to achieve the five star rating. discovered leaks and modelling confirmed there were The upgrade is now delivering annual energy savings savings to be made. of $64,000 per year for the operators, according to project Indeed, collaboration with Airmaster was one of services consultants Norman Disney & Young (NDY). the main reasons for the project’s success, Geary told “The building overhaul included installing a high Ecolibrium. efficiency, low load HVAC system, a new building “Weekly meetings and inspections were carried out, management system (BMS), LED lights and a lighting and problems were sorted out early. Airmaster suggested control system,” NDY director Andrew Gentner said. different energy saving options throughout this project,” he “Inefficient equipment was upgraded and new strategies said. for controlling temperature and water flow were The cost of the upgrade was partly borne by the Clean implemented.” Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), which contributed An NDY audit of the building showed it was serviced around $700,000 of the $1.23 million price tag. The by an ageing reciprocating chiller supplying a constant remainder was sourced through the federal Green Building speed air handling unit (AHU) on each floor, with face Fund. and bypass dampers. The existing BMS was primitive and CEFC CEO Oliver Yates said the upgrade was a “star offered limited control of the mechanical plant. performer”. Development manager Trans Action Property Services “Australia’s capital cities are home to a significant director Marc Stuart said the old equipment’s power number of 20 to 30 year old B and C grade buildings that consumption was “staggeringly inefficient and nearing the would benefit from refurbishments that improved the end of its life”. energy efficiency of the base buildings,” Yates said. In fact, the energy use of the building was so high it The project was awarded the prize for Best HVAC was calculated to have a zero-star NABERS rating. and Refrigeration Retrofit or Upgrade at the national The chiller was upgraded to a magnetic bearing Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Airconditioning and 500 kW unit for high efficiency low load operation, Heating (AIRAH) awards in December. slightly oversized to allow for future requirements. The
Peak demand (kW) Base building monthly energy (kWh) 300.0 60,000
250.0 50,000 200.0 40,000 150.0 30,000 100.0 20,000 50.0 10,000 0.0 - Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug
Pre-upgrade (2011/12) PD reduction target Post-upgrade (2012/13) Pre-upgrade (2011/12) 4.5 Star target Post-upgrade (2012/13)
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FEATURE
Drive-by imaging for effi ciency
startup founded by MIT engineers is deploying a fleet of cars rigged with thermal imaging Aequipment to create heat maps of buildings and neighbourhoods, and to detect fixable leaks in building envelopes. The firm, Essess, claims its analytics can also measure the efficiency of HVAC systems in a building. “We’ve made thermal imaging very automated on a very large scale,” Essess co-founder and MIT professor of mechanical engineering Sanjay Sarma said. The imaging rig mounted on the vehicles includes several infrared and near-infrared cameras. These capture the heat signatures of buildings, while a LiDAR system is simultaneously used to discern building facades from the surrounding environment. The cars can capture up to 2 TB of data in a single night. Computer vision and machine learning algorithms combine the images and remove background details. Back PHOTO: ESSESS at the Essess headquarters, additional data from utilities, property records and census demographics are used to made some innovations that allowed low cost cameras analyse the heat maps. to produce high-resolution thermal images. One such Personalised energy efficiency analyses can then be innovation was an algorithm called Kinetic Super created for individual buildings, and according to Essess Resolution, co-invented with Sarma and MIT researcher this extends to the HVAC systems. Jonathan Jesneck, which computationally combines HVAC system efficiency is affected by the building a number of images taken with an inexpensive low envelope, as well as by the system itself and by household resolution infrared camera to produce a high resolution behaviours. But companies measuring HVAC efficiency by mosaic image. reading meters, for example, have no information on the These hardware innovations have enabled Essess to building envelope, and obtaining this information can be gather large amounts of data and build a large scale costly, according to Essess. software analytics approach, Sarma said. He and other With Essess’ thermal images and access to data from Essess engineers have developed software that takes in utility companies, the firm can determine whether the household and demographic information when analysing envelope is a cause of inefficiency. the heat maps. “If we see high meter usage that corresponds to really This analysis allows utilities to pinpoint homeowners high HVAC load, but see a really strong envelope, we more likely to make energy saving improvements. Based know there’s probably something going on that’s abnormal on Essess’ US data for example, a household with three and has to be addressed by an HVAC contractor,” Essess children is around 8% more likely to seal a leak than a president and CEO Tom Scaramellino said. household with two. The startup has already mapped more than four million “It’s not just figuring out who the worst culprits are homes and buildings across the US. It also works with – who’s wasting the most energy – because there are the US Department of Defense to identify energy wasting customers that can be wasting energy, but they’ll never buildings on bases, and with other organisations including fix it,” Scaramellino explained. “There’s the actual energy schools and municipalities to scan facilities and find fixes. waste and the psychological component to do something The idea for the Essess cars originally came to Sarma in about it. Those are two distinct analyses we layer on top of 2009, when a company sent an employee to his home with one another.” a handheld thermal imaging device. The technology has required constant refining, “I remember thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be easier to just including the addition of the LiDAR system and a switch throw it on a car and drive by the house?’ ” Sarma said. to detachable camera rigs to avoid damage from weather. That was easier said than done, however. At the time, The system is now in its fourth generation, Sarma an expensive thermal camera would have had a lower revealed. resolution than the camera in a smartphone. “Reality is a tough customer to wrestle down,” he said. A student at MIT’s Field Intelligence Lab, Long Phan, “But that’s what engineering’s all about.”
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FEATURE
Digital eyes, ears, nose and skin
compact, low cost device could allow building Aoperators to remotely monitor their facility’s indoor environment, in order to improve comfort levels for the occupants. Researchers at the University of Sydney’s Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Laboratory have developed an integrated package of sensors for just that purpose, dubbing the device SAMBA. The invention has already won the People’s Choice prize at the Weapons of Mass Creation competition at the Green Cities 2015 conference in Melbourne. The networkable device monitors key environmental parameters across a building’s entire footprint, reporting the data on its own network frequency to the IEQ Lab server, according to Prof Richard de Dear, director of the IEQ Lab. The server then processes the data and displays information in real time on a web based dashboard for the building operator. The technology is the brainchild of PhD student Tom Parkinson, who developed the University of Sydney’s Prof Richard de Dear with the SAMBA device. PHOTO: MAJA BASKA/USYD idea with his brother and IEQ research assistant Alex Parkinson, under the leadership of de Dear. “Most of the energy a building consumes is related “We can cover not just single points here and there but to the delivery of IEQ, to the occupants of the building, actually the whole space, and I like to think of it as being because at the end of the day we have buildings for the operator’s eyes, ears, nose and skin,” de Dear said. people,” he said. In NSW, more than 90% of office blocks In terms of “eyes and ears”, the device has sensors for and about 50% of homes now have airconditioning. The light levels and sound pressure levels. As a “nose”, SAMBA transition towards an energy efficient economy will have senses carbon dioxide, volatile compounds and particulate an impact on comfort levels within built environments. matter in the indoor air. It also reports on thermal “IEQ, however, is a complex science,” de Dear said. comfort, air temperature, radiant temperature and air “SAMBA will help to make sense of the science by giving speed parameters – the “skin”. companies the information or evidence to understand how “The way we’ve handled IEQ up until this point has efficiently and effectively their building is operating for the been restricted by technology and costs,” de Dear said. comfort of its people.” “Probably the dimension of sustainable buildings that De Dear said the concept of SAMBA was made possible we’ve put the least attention on in the last decade or so by a revolution in sensor technology. would be the IEQ.” “As we go forward I can envisage many more One of the broader objectives of SAMBA, however, is to parameters being sensed at an affordable price, raise IEQ in industry’s priorities, according to de Dear. continuously, by a device like this,” he said.
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Simultaneous heating and cooling for large buildings
For medium to large air conditioning projects Toshiba’s VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow) systems are designed and built utilising a wide choice of stylish indoor units to suit new and existing buildings as well as combining flexibility, energy monitoring and respect for the environment.
Toshiba’s SHRMi (Super Heat Recovery Multi) VRF system is ideal in applications where the temperature in different rooms of the building requires control to suit individual needs simultaneously. The advanced 3-pipe technology enables heat recovery between indoor units to deliver exceptional energy savings with precise control.
Thanks to the twin rotary all inverter compressors, the operational load is distributed evenly using inbuilt control logic which regulates the operating sequence for maximum equipment life and reliability. Large capacity outdoor units and a compact footprint permit greater use of building space and straightforward installations.
For any enquires please contact 03 9556 0134 or toshiba-aircon.com.au New scheme for MANAGING RISKS by Dr Peter Key
ustralia finally has a robust compliance scheme steel structures, affected the integrity of glass panels and in place, providing third party certification of windows, and through fraudulent supply, caused the Afabricated steelwork similar to that operating in delamination of engineered timber. This is of concern for many developed countries. This will provide engineers the safety of the structures that engineers design. with a better way to cover off risk when specifying Distinct from the safety aspects, the building and structural steel. construction industry is becoming aware of the cost of The new National Structural Steelwork Compliance rework, disruption and commercial risk associated with Scheme (NSSCS) provides a number of tools for practising non-compliance. engineers to assure what is designed is actually what gets The NSSCS is based on the European and UK’s CE built: conformity marking scheme as a risk based fit-for-purpose • The Australian Steel Institute (ASI) Structural Steelwork approach to steelwork compliance. Fabrication and Erection Code of Practice (COP) TOUCH POINTS FOR ENGINEERS • ‘Construction categories’, a risk based approach to • Nominate the ‘construction or risk category’ for a structure categorisation particular structure or component. In most instances, • A mechanism for certifying fabricators to a nominated this will be obvious and already established through construction category industry best practice and guidance from the ASI and/ • Implementation guidance is also provided. or other professional bodies. Knight Consulting Engineers recently became the first • Ensure the construction specification has suitable engineering practice to specify to one of the risk based wording to reference the COP/Standard and the construction categories, for the steelwork being supplied to necessary project-specific detail selections. In most a Toowoomba waste management facility development. cases, the scope already covered in the COP/Standard Steelwork Compliance Australia (SCA) was recently will allow project specifications to be much simpler and established as the auditing authority to ensure that a standardised. fabricator has the compliance capability for the required • Check the submittals for materials and fabrication to construction category. In the past few months, Brisbane confirm conformity on a project specific basis. With based Brezac Constructions was the first steel fabricator to the use of certified fabricators, much of this is already be certified. To date, eight fabricators have been certified, configured with another 20 or so at various stages of the auditing • Provide project specific certification as required by the process. We estimate that by the end of 2015 there is likely builder. to be 50 certified. Notes should be placed on all engineering drawings Engineers can access a list of certified fabricators and that specify the service category reflecting the loads to information on the certification process via the SCA which the structure and its parts are likely to be exposed, website at
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FEATURE
Floating on structural steel
he $200 million South Australian Health and up to 45° and spanning up to 16 m, support six storeys Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) facility and result in 36 structural columns coming to just six at Tfeatures an innovative design solution integrating the plaza level. structural steel to create the impression of a floating Steel was chosen for the flower columns due to its building. structural efficiency and ability to be fabricated offsite, The 26,000 m2 building was designed by architects according to Aurecon. The final design adopted 500 mm Woods Bagot, with Aurecon providing consulting on the square columns, fabricated from readily available and structural engineering, as well as on civil, facade, traffic, locally sourced 40 mm thick grade 350 steel plate. The geotechnical, wind, specialist vibration, electrical, vertical columns were internally lined with shear studs and filled transportation and fire engineering. with concrete to provide composite axial stiffness to One of the most striking aspects of the facility is the maintain design efficiency. facade, a structural steel diagrid sub-frame combined with “The integration of architecture and structural an external skin of triangular panels of glass, mesh and engineering was brought together in the early stages of the aluminium. The diagrid also supports two glass atriums, design process,” Aurecon project director Niko Tsoulakas on the eastern and western sides of the building, which said. The collaboration resulted in a number of design span up to 40 m across and 40 m up without additional efficiencies, including the optimisation of the facade and support. roof geometry to reduce modelling time and fabrication The facade combines traditional geometry – arches, costs. cylinders, and toroids – with modern day finite element analysis (FEA) to achieve the lightweight form. The diagrid has a steel density of less than 40 kg/m2, according to Aurecon. The final member design for the facade, using standard rectangular hollow sections, ensured members would be readily available to avoid material lead time and availability issues and reduce fabrication, based on advice from local industry. “To our knowledge, the design and construction techniques undertaken for this facade represent a world first,” Aurecon stated. “The structural facade integrates the incredibly lightweight steel diagrid and highly sophisticated glass design into a single system, resulting in an extremely elegant and highly transparent facade with a total thickness of just 230 mm.” Another of the building’s architectural features is its appearance of floating above the ground, achieved with raking “flower” columns. The slender steel columns, raking
PHOTOS: SAHMRI
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FEATURE
The RISE and RISE of structural steel framing
by David Ryan
sea change is currently underway for the steel-formwork-held concrete slab. Tier 1 and 2 builders of Australia’s high-rise Toscan explained that in the parallel beam flooring Adevelopments. The past year has witnessed an system, beams are placed in two separate layers like a unprecedented upsurge in the number of steel framed bearer and joist arrangement, allowing building services to multilevel buildings, with over 20 just completed or ‘weave’ in and out with zero beam penetrations. underway. “The approach allows construction to speed up from This is based on two main factors: offsite fabrication fabrication to installation with every process significantly reducing onsite safety risks and speed of construction. quicker,” he said. REDUCING ONSITE RISKS ECONOMIC BENEFITS The most common characteristic of these inner city In a construction world where builders’ preliminaries can developments is very limited site access and set-down be between $50,000 and $100,000 per day for a Sydney areas, so the ability of steelwork to be prefabricated offsite premium building, and potential rental returns can be on and delivered to site sequenced to plan is also a strong the order of $550/m2, there are considerable savings to be factor influencing the choice to design in steel. made with structural steel’s recognised faster floor cycle Steel use typically reduces the number of workers times. onsite by approximately 10-20% of the labour needed for For example on a 30,000 m2 building, builders’ concrete construction, helping reduce accident liability for preliminary costs may total $350,000 to $375,000 per builders and relieving congested and hard to access sites. week. An estimate of early rental returns may in the order This is especially important for the array of recent and of $300,000 to $320,000 per week. current steel framed building extension works, as steel In a situation where the faster speed of construction can buildings inherently lend themselves to structural addition. enable earlier tenancy, a considerable early return bonus For instance, the Star City Events Centre near Sydney can be achieved by the builder or client from early tenancy Harbour, which won the 2014 National Steel Excellence as well as a reduction in total onsite preliminary costs. Award for Buildings – Major Projects, was developed atop For a conservative two month earlier completion the popular live venue’s main gaming floor. date from steel construction for this size building in a Taylor Thomson Whitting project engineer Kevin Berry competitive CBD environment, a potential saving of well said the tight worksite limited suitable lay-down areas, over $5 million is within the realm of possibility. materials handling and access to the site for trades. Other un-costed benefits of steel construction are the He said the size of any prefabricated element was reduction in preliminary costs through having less people able to be limited, not only for transport but also to be onsite and a significant reduction in site waste removal. manageable with crane operation onsite. The steel was split up into different phases to be erected sequentially, working David Ryan is the national marketing manager around the site constraints and maximising or retaining as at the Australian Steel Institute. much working area as possible. SPEED OF CONSTRUCTION A striking example of this is the current Grocon building 480 Queen Street, at 480 Queen Street in Brisbane, the first steel building Brisbane. of its size in the city. It uses a steel system for composite decking, allowing a new floor to be added each week. Driven by Grocon’s need for constructability and speed, Aurecon project engineer Aaron Toscan said the floor construction uses parallel continuous primary floor beams with continuous secondary beams above, supporting a
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 62
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BLANK.indd 12 10/04/15 2:18 PM LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT
Leading across cultures
Tim Kannegieter spoke with Aurecon’s new delivery centre manager for Victoria and SA, Louise Adams, on leadership in engineering.
Previously, you were country manager for Aurecon What are your tips for effective leadership? Q in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. What are the cultural Q challenges working in that environment? I would strongly encourage people to be as mobile as Cross cultural challenges come not only from A possible. I left Australia 11 years ago and worked in a A working in places like the Middle East but also from number of countries on a number of projects. When I look globalisation, which means we do a lot of work sharing back on it, it’s been a great ride and it certainly helped to and collaboration between offices around the globe. fast-track my career. For me, there are two parts to this. There is a subjective Mentoring is another thing I strongly recommend. I’ve part, around cross-cultural communication, setting got mentors both internal to the firm and external. Having expectations and understanding what drives behaviour people that you can test your instincts with and motivate in different cultures. This includes what is and is not you is critical to success. Mentors don’t necessarily give acceptable. A big one in the Middle East is the interaction you the answers. They should be people with whom you between men and women. In Australia, I wouldn’t think can have open, honest conversations. twice of saying to my male clients, “let’s go out for coffee, I’ve certainly used my mentors a lot and maintained or have a bite to eat”. But in the Middle East there are a lot those relationships even as I moved around because I of instances where those kinds of interactions just aren’t know they have been influential in my development. appropriate or acceptable. Mentors help you understand where the influences on Secondly, there is a practical your career are going to come from. challenge in working across Another tip is to be really proactive on social media, cultures. For example, here in whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or any of the other Australia we know it’s not platforms. This is a quick and simple way of building a appropriate to call each personal brand. The challenge is to be clear on how you other on Boxing Day. want to be perceived within your industry and ensure your When you work across content reflects that. a lot of different What does it take for a woman to be successful in offices and different engineering? countries, it’s about Q My advice is to be quite proactive in vocalising what understanding the you want in your career and how you intend to get huge range of things A there. In a male dominated environment, women have to like that which you deal with unconscious bias by making key decision makers have to be aware conscious that you are up for a change, an opportunity of. For example, its or a role. That can be a five or 10 year plan or just sitting not widely known down with people who can influence your career. in Australia that One thing that is the same for both men and woman is weekends in to really invest a lot of time in skills development, not just the Middle East engineering skills but leadership skills. When it comes to are Friday and soft skills like communication, women can be very good. Saturday. They tend to have very strong emotional intelligence levels and this helps when it comes to people management. These skills are hugely important for consulting firms in particular, which essentially sell people. When our people engage with clients they represent our brand, so we want them to be enthusiastic and that motivation comes out of good strong leadership.
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 64
64 g - Adams.indd 64 14/04/15 2:32 PM LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT
Bombarded with choice
by Margot Cairnes
licking through a newly acquired online video Oprah Winfrey with her book club served this streaming service, I felt overwhelmed by the purpose for many. With millions of books available Fchoices. I didn’t have enough information to and limited time, how do we decide where to invest know which of the thousands of options were worth our time and money? Oprah told us and created my time and effort. A bigger challenge seemed to be numerous bestselling authors in the process. to review even a small percentage of the options. My young entrepreneurial friend, who has My newly divorced friend expressed the same developed a nationwide service business, recently sentiment. He had gone online and was inundated discovered that his client list was more valuable than with “kisses” from a popular dating site. How to his entire business. The information in his database navigate his way through the lush field of possibilities? about the preferences of a large proportion of the When information is so readily available, when there population would allow other larger companies to are so many alternatives, how do we choose? How do target customers with products and services in line we even narrow the field down to one small enough with their known preferences. How do we – when for us to investigate properly? targeted by a well-informed selling machine – decide To choose a movie I went online, googled the if what we are being offered is the best available and best movies of all time and started to work my way most suitable to our needs? I guess the options are: through one of the many lists provided. I sought and • We can take the path of least resistance and go with followed the advice of an arbiter. My dating friend whatever feels easiest at the time – this may well is still puzzled about how to develop a short list of back fire on us later. people worth meeting. Who can tell him which of the • We can spend hours researching options – as there 95 responses he received is appropriate? are so many in so many areas of our lives this is Yvonne Allen – a psychologist who specialises in challenging. match making – told me that in the past, our friends • We can find appropriate and trusted arbiters to and social network helped us choose our partners. provide us with short lists. We tended only to meet people who went to our The challenge then is finding such referees. Perhaps same school, university, church or social group. Then there is a business opportunity in providing a list of our friends and parents let us know which potential appropriate mediators of information and choice? Life partners were less suitable. Choice is easier when is getting complicated. there is less of it. With the proliferation of online dating our options are limitless. As our range of choices increases we increasingly Margot Cairnes is a leadership strategist and can be contacted at
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA MARCH 2015 65
65 g - Margot.indd 65 13/04/15 3:49 PM INTERNATIONAL
CONGRESS
Singapore chapter celebrates 20th anniversary
ngineers Australia’s Singapore Chapter celebrated its speech, he raised some important points about the 20th anniversary, hosting the 3rd ASEAN-Australian importance of innovation and sustainability in the EEngineering Congress last month at the country’s engineering profession worldwide. He also reiterated iconic Marina Bay Sands. Australia’s commitment to building a long-lasting Co-hosted by the University of Newcastle (which relationship with Singapore. 2015 marks the 50th year of has a campus in Singapore), the Congress presented an bilateral relations between Australia and Singapore. opp ortunity for engineers, academics and government Over the 20 years since the chapter’s founding, representatives to discuss sustainable engineering solutions EA’s presence in Singapore has grown and it now has for the advancement of economic growth. The Congress approximately 400 members in the country, including was previously held in Malaysia in 2003 and 2011. It was a a student chapter within the University of Newcastle’s great opportunity to move the event to Singapore this year, Singapore campus. The Singapore Chapter provides a where engineering has made a significant contribution to regular program of ongoing CPD activities in support of the city’s transformation to a first-world economy. our members including technical talks and site visits, as The Congress was opened by the Australian high well as a strong community for networking within the commissioner to Singapore, Philip Green. In his opening Singapore engineering community.
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66 g - Singapore.indd 66 13/04/15 5:11 PM OBITUARY
Kenneth ‘Ken’ Kelsall 1921-2015
en Kelsall was a gifted engineer involved in Kbuilding 26 dams across Western Australia and a pioneer of one of Australia’s biggest water projects, the Ord River Dam and Irrigation Scheme. Fellow engineers and colleagues around the nation remember him as a generous, fabulous bloke who mentored and helped guide the careers of scores of engineers. Kelsall was born in Perth in 1921. He started as a cadet engineer with the Public Works Department in Perth in 1939, the year after he graduated from Aquinas College where he had been dux and school captain. He later graduated from the University of WA with a Bachelor Kelsall at the commemoration plaque for the Ord River Irrigation Project. IMAGE: PETER KELSALL of Engineering with Honours. The next three or four decades were a period of unprecedented expansion of water supply friend. He remembers him as a respected leader and and irrigation systems throughout WA, with Kelsall someone who could see how engineering could be applied involved in many of them. to non-traditional areas. He was one of the pioneers of the Ord River project – “I think that the quality and reliability of our irrigation an extraordinary engineering feat of national significance. and water supplies in Western Australia are a tribute to his In 1945, Kelsall supervised the drilling of the foundations efforts,” Fitzhardinge says. of the Ord River dam site and from 1968-72, he was the “Dams are inherently risky structures, depending on engineer in charge of the contract covering construction of how they are designed and constructed. WA has been very the dam. The project in the remote top end of WA created fortunate in that it’s had very reliable dams, largely due to the huge Lake Argyle reservoir – which held the equivalent the diligence and oversight of Ken Kelsall.” of 42 times the volume of Sydney Harbour during the WA’s water minister Mia Davies paid a special 2011 wet season – and opened up 76,000 ha of land for tribute to Kelsall in the WA Parliament, saying he was irrigated agriculture. an outstanding engineer who was a pioneer in the Kelsall’s son Peter says his father’s passion for development of the water industry and a “truly great engineering became part of a family holiday ritual. Western Australian”. “I got to realise that before I was born, Dad had been During his career, Kelsall rose from being a cadet involved in the construction of a lot of dams around WA – engineer to become chief engineer, then deputy director of every time we travelled down south we would often go and Engineering with the Public Works Department (PWD). In check out a dam because we were ‘in the area’,” he recalls. 1980, he was appointed chief engineer of the Metropolitan Kelsall helped generations of water supply engineers Water Board. provide reliable water supplies to a vast, thirsty state. Kelsall retired in 1985 and the following year was “For all he achieved in his career, dad’s greatest thrill awarded the Order of Australia. He was an Honorary was to see the development of the young engineers – his Fellow of Engineers Australia, a Past President of the WA ability and commitment to mentor them is a repeated Division of Engineers Australia, and a Past National Vice theme in the messages we have been receiving,” Kelsall President. says. Ken Kelsall AM HonFIEAust CPEng died in late Chris Fitzhardinge, a former President of Engineers February at the age of 93. Australia WA Division, worked with Kelsall and is a family
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 67
67 g - Obit.indd 67 13/04/15 4:01 PM SUSTAINABILITY
The role of modern governments
2012 GlobeScan/SustainAbility survey found stimulation via internal sustainability management) is that expert and public confidence in national severely lacking. A governments when it comes to governments’ Governments need to realise that private sector drivers ability to tackle global economic, environmental and social for sustainability are now vastly different to what they challenges are at severe lows. The findings suggested that were used to be in the past. These include investor, national governments will not take action unprompted – activist, reputational, community and consumer led, and that business has a much more than in unique ability to play a response to regulation. greater role in addressing Modern governments sustainable development. need to leverage these Nearly eight in ten drivers and facilitate (77%) sustainability green tape reduction experts felt a major incentives. Alongside, catastrophe will they should stimulate the need to happen for sustainability products national governments and services markets to take action, and through their significant 68% identified a lack government procurement of political will as programs. the greatest obstacle 2015 is a critical year to making further for sustainability. Firstly, progress on sustainable there are the UN’s new development. Another Sustainable Development survey by the same Goals (the former groups in 2013 found millennium development that despite pessimism goals), with the world of national governments’ looking to set a group willingness and ability to of universally adopted make substantive progress goals. Equally important on the sustainability will be the global climate agenda, experts change negotiations, overwhelmingly believe which will reach a that progress requires critical moment in Paris companies collaborating in December, where with multiple actors, binding commitments including governments. covering emissions and Markets alone are not financing are to be agreed. proving to be an effective mechanism for long term Governments must find a way of leveraging private sector sustainability. If not markets, then the question of how drivers in looking to present long term solutions for these governments could provide an avenue looks even more significant challenges. tenuous. Governments and businesses are naturally not inclined to face long term concerns alone, especially when Terence Jeyaretnam is a Partner, Climate Change and there are short term issues to deal with. Sustainability at EY, based in Melbourne Government has four distinct roles in addressing [email protected] sustainability concerns. These roles are policy The views expressed in this article are the views of the author, not development, regulation, facilitation and internal EY. This article provides general information, does not constitute sustainability management. Largely, modern governments advice and should not be relied on as such. Professional advice should be sought prior to any action being taken in reliance on any of the are still stuck in regulatory control. Policy development information. Liability limited by a scheme approved follows closely. Facilitation and leadership (market under Professional Standards Legislation.
ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA APRIL 2015 68
68 g - Terence.indd 68 13/04/15 5:15 PM DIARY
a forum for discussion and networking with experts in the field. The industry CONFERENCES launch of the revised edition of Australian Rainfall and Runoff will also be held at 22nd International Conference the symposium. For more information go to
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69 g - Diary/Class.indd 69 13/04/15 4:30 PM THE ENGINEER’S EA BOOKS BOOKSHOP
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