Bridge building is hardly the most common dream job for school-age girls, but this was precisely the career path that Louise McCormick was inspired to pursue.

Now working in the field of structural engineering she has been involved with the design and construction of hundreds of bridges through Queensland and the NT.

Have a read of her profile in the Brisbane Times.

‘Anything is possible when you follow your passion…’ That’s the message from the new campaign from the South Australian Government designed to encourage students to study maths and science and look to future careers in the field.

The campaign includes an interactive website, career ambassadors and a competition to win an ultimate worksite visit.

SA Deputy Premier, Kevin Foley announced, “We need more students thinking about careers in science, engineering and technology, as well as the mechanical, electrical and construction trades.” Adding, “Choosing the right subjects in the final years of high school is a vital prerequisite to working in these dynamic sectors.”

South Australia has a high demand for these industries, particularly due to defence, research, information technology and mining sectors.

This is an excellent resource for anyone considering their future. This campaign has the same core goals as EngVibe, so we’re big fans. Check it out, the main site is here:

 www.TheresMoreToIt.com.au

Overall, this is an outstanding initiative by the SA Government.

(Source: SouthAustralia.biz | Image: TheresMoreToIt)

An OECD report has shown that 35 percent of Aussie students that top the class in science have no interest in pursuing a career or further study in a related field. The data comes from a 2006 survey of 15 year olds and found that this proportion is slightly less than the overall OECD average of 40 percent.

Is this to be expected? There is always going to be the group of top students who do well in a range of subjects and then settle on the area that interests them most. No doubt the contrast does also exist where some students perform well in English and then choose to study in engineering or science.

The proposed solutions include making the sciences more appealing and fun for student and to improve the understanding of the career pathways in scientific fields. Agreed.

(Source: AdelaideNow | Image: TheTruthAbout)

The impact of the GFC is starting to be felt in Australia, with the announcement this week of unemployment reaching a five-year high.

Separate news reports over the past few weeks have shed some light onto how this will impact the engineering and scientific industries.

The first article from the ABC talks about jobs drying up for new graduates: “Four years ago there was a lot of demand for engineering places and I guess the market was growing a lot but now it’s the exact opposite, so it’s a bit of a shock to the system.”

The second article from the Australian, highlights the impact the slower market has had on school leavers, with universities showing a significant rise in applications: “In what will be seen as a welcome response to skills shortages in the national priority discipline of engineering, undergraduate enrolments are about 12per cent higher than last year. At 20 per cent higher than last year, full-year engineering enrolments for overseas students heave reached the highest level in recent years.”

It will be a tought time ahead for new uni grads and those currently looking for work. The increase of engineering students, however, will be a big boost for industry over the next few years.

Image by stuartpilbrow

While travelling overseas recently I met a young Canadian engineer. We started trading stories about our respective university experiences where at one point she drew my attention to a simple metal ring she was wearing. She explained that in Canada engineers wear these rings after having them presented at a ritual on graduation. I was fascinated at this point: rituals, special rings; this sounded more like a secret society than an engineering graduation.

I did some further research and present the background and purpose of the ‘Iron Ring’.

In 1922 a civil engineering professor, Herbert Haultain, spoke to a meeting of engineers in Montreal which was attended by past presidents of the Engineering Institute of Canada. At this meeting he suggested the need for a statement of ethics which would unite the profession and be something for engineering graduates to aspire to. This was well received and Haultain got in contact with Rudyard Kipling, who had mentioned the work of engineers in previous poetry. Kipling then wrote both an obligation statement and a ceremony titled, ‘The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer’. This ceremony was held for the first time in 1925 and is still conducted to this day in universities throughout Canada.

The full detail of what occurs at this ceremony isn’t public knowledge and my Canadian friend certainly remained tight-lipped about her experience. The purpose of the ceremony is well known however, and it serves to remind new engineer of their social responsibilities and obligation to maintain high standards of professional conduct.

As part of this ritual the graduating engineer is presented with an Iron Ring, a symbolic ring worn on the little finger of the working hand which acts as a symbol of both pride and humility. My friend said that she uses it as a reminder to always check her work and followed this us with a story about a Quebec bridge which collapsed in the early 1900s, killing 75 people due to an error in judgement by the bridge’s engineers – a sober reminder indeed.

I remain impressed by the notion of a simple, physical item which identifies someone as an engineer.  My question now is, could Australia engineers introduce a similar concept and would we want to? I believe it could increase the sense of belonging amongst engineers and generate a greater sense of pride and would support an initiative if it remained true to its purpose: humble and meaningful.

One thing I am sure of, next time I’m in Canada I’ll be keeping a look out for an Iron Ring, the symbol of a fellow engineer.

For more information visit www.ironring.ca.

EngVibe will be moving from online news and information to print media this year through the form of an exciting new engineering magazine: Kinetic.

Kinetic is targeted at young Australian engineers – from university students through to grads and young professionals. The magazine will include news and coverage of events from throughout the year and will celebrate the human side of this great profession.

This annual publication has been made possible through a grant provided by the Foundation for Young Australians and with the support of other companies. Kinetic will be free, with distribution through universities and other engineering youth organisations throughout Australia. Additionally, an electronic version of the magazine will be available for download here at EngVibe.

More details will be provided over the next few months, but if you want further information or to be involved in this magazine, please get in contact: engvibe@gmail.com

Business Week has an article on the state of the Technology sector job market.  Good news for Engineers in that area- “Unable to find enough U.S. citizens for tech jobs, U.S. companies scoop up as many foreign nationals as they can using the limited pool of H-1B work visas issued by the federal government each year.”

Have a read here.

Were you jumping around the lounge playing Nintendo Wii games the other day? Did you turn around to your fellow Wii Sportsman and say, “What’s the next step after these motion-controlled games? I reckon we should try and make a console that uses your brain to control the game.  We’ll be millionaires!”

Well, you are too slow. This article covers an Australian company, Emotiv Systems, who have done exactly that.  CEO and co-founder Nam Do says, “Our vision for the future communications between man and machine is that it’s not going to be limited to conscious control, but non-conscious interaction will play a big part.”

Can’t beat them to market, why not join them: Senior C / C++ Software Engineer / Architect - Sydney,  Research Scientist - Sydney

Engineers create a huge range of products and systems it isn’t worth trying to list them. For Allan Alcorn his creation and legacy: Pong, the world’s first popular video game. 

Allan was a young electrical engineer when he was hired by Atari. He created a game designed to be so simple that ‘any drunk in any bar could play’.

Allan made the trip to Melbourne to visit Game On, a cool exhibition about of the history of video games at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) – featuring 125+ playable arcade and console games. He thinks himself ‘extremely lucky to have been in the right place at the right time at the start of an industry.’ 

Engineering, who knows what you’ll create. I’m sure Allan didn’t plan on changing home entertainment history with a simple 2D tennis game.

Read a news piece from the Sydney Morning Herald or learn more about Game On.

Two fourth-year University of Queensland students have made PNG their place of work as part of the university’s Professional Engineering Placement Scholarship program. 

David Shaw and Adam Brown will work at New Britain Palm Oil Limited where they will apply work conducted as part of their research projects related to the company.

The projects involves optimising the operation of a screw press that extracts oil from the palm fruit and improving the efficiency of steam emissions, reducing costs. 

‘Things are so different to Australia, so we had to adapt to a totally different way of working,’ David said. 

The UQ press page is here.