ANNUAL REPORT 2012 2. Body of Knowledge and Professional Development Technical Sessions and Seminars
Structural College
Electrical College The Electrical College Board held two face to face meetings this year, in Sydney 1st and 2nd June and in Canberra 2nd and 3rd November. The June meeting was held in conjunction with the MA Sargent Medal award dinner. This year the MA Sargent Medal was awarded to Dr.Trevor Bird from ITEE College. The National Professional Electrical Engineer (NPEE) of the year and the National Graduate Electrical Power Engineering (NGEPE)of the Year were also announced at this dinner. This year the NPEE Award went to Dr Robert Barr and the NGEPE award went to Alan Louis. A special committee of the Electrical College is presently in the process of organising a National Building Services and Industrial Installation conference and exhibition in Dockside, Sydney on 17 and 18 April 2013. The conference and exhibition will focus on 21st century opportunities and challenges in electrical building services and industrial installations and will host a number of national and international speakers and exhibiters. The Electrical College is working with the Society of Building Services Engineers (SIBSE) to help rejuvenate interest in SBSE in all States and Territories. A small committee has also been formed to look into the extent of nuclear education around Australia. We believe that it is important for Australia to have the required "in-house" expertise in the area of nuclear science so that we do not need to rely on foreign expertise in making informed decisions within this field. The main functions of the Electrical College is to:
The Structural College Board met in Canberra in February and in Perth in July, and there was also a tele-conference meeting on Wednesday 26 November (i.e. a few days ago). This year has seen another successful Australasian Structural Engineering Conference (ASEC2012) held in Perth in July, which covered a wide variety of topics of interest to structural engineers and was well-supported by engineers including those who had travelled inter-state and from overseas. ASEC2014 is scheduled to be held in Auckland, New Zealand. Much of the discussion at the SCB meetings has focused on our attempts (combined with those of the Civil College Board) to establish a system of confidential reporting of significant safety issues which have arisen through construction activities within Australia. The aim is provide a freely-available on-line resource for disseminating information about incidents or situations or “near-misses” where injuries or significant losses may/could have occurred without identifying individuals or companies. The intended system will be entirely confidential, with the intention of preventing future accidents and mishaps. A similar system has existed for many years in the UK (Confidential Reporting on Structural Safety (CROSS), see www.structural-safety.org for further details). There are examples of similar beneficial schemes for other professional activities within Australia. Members of SCB feel very strongly that an Australian scheme similar to CROSS is long overdue. At the time of writing (late November) it is understood that EA has made a decision to support the establishment of CROSS in Australia but the format and methodology have not yet been confirmed.
There was very limited response to an earlier request for Promote electrical engineering local expressions of interest in some design “workshops/ Promote CPD seminars” based on questions from the Institution of Structural Nominate and award prizes to eminent and outstanding electrical engineers and graduates promote research and development Review and comment on policy documents.
ITEE College
Engineers’ Chartered Membership Examinations, and it has not yet been possible to make progress with this. Another request for expressions of interest will be made in the New Year.
Several local members of the Structural College have Len Chappell become members of the new Course Advisory Group for Civil Electrical College Board Representative Engineering at CDU and, with some members from the Civil College, are helping with comments and advice regarding the content and delivery of the Civil Engineering Degrees.
David Lilley
The ITEE College Representative for 2012 is Colin Van Eck. Eminent Speaker Dr. Trevor Bird spoke on “Wireless to Astronomy” to our members in the Division and he was also awarded the MA Sargeant Medical in 2012.
Structural College Board Representative
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