Engineers Australia and Chief Executive Women (CEW) have announced a scholarship to support and develop female engineering leaders. The scholarships are to be used for professional development for women who hold engineering degrees.

There are four scholarships available, one to be awarded to a female engineer in each of four regional groups: NSW/ACT, VIC/TAS, QLD and WA/NT/SA.

Scholarship

Each scholarship is for $5,000 towards leadership development activities or programs.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible to apply:

• You must be an Australian Citizen or have Permanent Resident status
• You must have a recognised engineering qualification and a minimum of five years experience post qualification
• You must be currently working in Australia
• You must be female

Submitting an application

To apply for this scholarship, you need to provide the following information:

• Your CV (maximum 2 pages)
• An essay addressing the topic of “Looking Forward, Looking Back”, as related to your engineering careers, previous experiences and leadership aspirations (maximum 2 pages)
• A proposal for the use of the scholarship funds to assist your leadership development (maximum 1 page)
• A reference from your current employer supporting your application (maximum 1 page)
• Specify which Regional award you are applying for

To apply, forward your application to: CEW WIE Scholarship Program, c/o The Executive Officer, Chief Executive Women, Level 12, 37 Bligh Street, Sydney.

Applications close:  31st May 2009

(Source: Engineers Australia | Image by LynasUK)

Rory Stokes, a 15 year old student from the Australian Science and Mathematics School has put to rest the claim that goldfish have a 3 second memory.

He conducted an experiment where he associated a beacon with the feeding of fish. Over a period of three weeks he would feed the fish and activate the beacon. Six days later he returned the beacon and found the fish had retained the memory.

An interesting school science project - read the full article from the Sydney Morning Herald.

(Image by kakki)

Queenslander Rhys Parry has been awarded a TJ Ryan Memorial Medal and a $2000-a-year scholarship - one of the highest awards for secondary students.

The award, which was selected on academics, leadership, community and cultural participation, will assist Rhys as he heads to Griffith Uni to study a Bachelor of Engineering.

“I’m very maths-science orientated,” said Rhys who chose engineering ahead of other options including medicine or humanities.

A high-achiever, Rhys already has his next major goal in mind - a university medal. We have no doubts he’ll get there.

(Source: Ipswich News)

Simone Liddy, a 22 year old graduate from Charles Darwin University has been named the recipient of the Young Achiever Award for the NT.

Simone was the first indigenous student to graduate from the university’s Bachelor in Pharmaceutical Studies program.

Congrats to Simone, it is excellent to see young science types being recognised at this level!

(Source: NT News)

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