News | General
DECO Testing granted ISO 17025 accreditation DECO Australia’s new independent testing body, DECO Testing Pty Ltd, has been granted ISO 17025 accreditation by the National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia (NATA). As Australia’s leading national accreditation body, NATA is recognised by government to assess organisations against a number of international standards for laboratories, inspection bodies, proficiency testing scheme providers and reference material producers. This significant ISO 17025 accreditation means that DECO Testing’s newly refurbished laboratory has scope to offer five material performance and corrosion tests, with results accepted globally. These tests include: •
Cross Hatch Adhesion to ISO 2409
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Wet Adhesion to Qualicoat 2.4.2
16 champions to elevate women in STEM
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Machu Test to Qualicoat 2.11
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Neutral Salt Spray to ISO 9227
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Acetic Salt Spray to ISO 9227
“This respected NATA accreditation is a significant achievement for DECO Testing. It really highlights DECO’s commitment and continued dedication to quality and performance and will now also give us the ability to offer accredited testing services industry wide.” said DECO Australia General Manager, Richard Hamber. DECO Testing conducts these third-party accredited tests across DECO Australia’s wide
range of products and finishes, and offers these globally recognised testing services to the wider industry with NATA accredited test certificates provided on completion.
International Women in Engineering Day International Women in Engineering Day began in the UK in 2014 as a national campaign from the Women’s Engineering Society. Since then, INWED has grown enormously, receiving UNESCO patronage in 2016 and going truly global the following year.
The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) has announced the appointment of 16 STEM champions from across the breadth of industry and academia to lead an Advisory Group for the $41.2 million Elevate: Boosting Women in STEM program. The program is funded by the Australian Government. The transformational program will award up to 500 undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships over seven years to women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, in partnership with the Australian Government, the higher education and research sector and industry. The Elevate Advisory Group will be co-chaired by non-executive director, engineering leader and former President of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO) Dr Marlene Kanga AO FTSE, and Dr Adi Patterson FTSE, an international leader in nuclear science and technology, and a Champion of Change. The Advisory Group will champion the program, secure sector wide partnerships, and guide strategy and implementation of the program. “I am proud to lead this incredible project which we hope will shift the dial in the level of participation of women in STEM. This is vitally important to secure Australia’s future as a technologically advanced nation. The Advisory Group comprises 16 of Australia’s most experienced STEM ambassadors who will collectively transform our assumptions about who can work in STEM,” Dr Kanga said. 8 | June/July 2022
National Women in Engineering Day was launched for the first time in the UK on 23 June 2014 by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) to celebrate its 95th anniversary. In 2017, National Women in Engineering Day became international for the first time due to the interest and enthusiasm developed by the international audience and participants in the previous years. International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) was born to enable the celebration of women in engineering to become global. Figures as of June 2021 show that 16.5 percent of engineers are women, in Australia the figure is lower at 12 percent. INWED gives women engineers around the world a profile when they are still hugely under-represented in their professions. As the only platform of its
kind, it plays a vital role in encouraging more young women and girls to take up engineering careers. This International Women in Engineering Day, Swinburne University of Technology paid tribute to women who have followed their passions in engineering, overcoming the many barriers’ women face in forging successful careers in the field by highlighting Victoria Zinnecker an Aerostructure Innovation Research (AIR) Hub Research Fellow, Associate Professor Mahnaz Shafiei who is pioneering work on next generation miniaturised, low-power gas sensors and at Swinburne’s Factory of the Future Shanti Krishnan who is helping industries innovate and embrace technology through her passion for making engineering interesting.
