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Studying overseas  I was recently in Italy visiting relatives and my cousin who is studying aerospace and aeronautical engineering at a university in Milan. He asked me whether it was possible for him to study for a year in Australia. That led me to wonder whether Australian engineering students realise that it is not out of their reach to study overseas. Each year, many university students participate in student exchange or just undertake a year or semester of study abroad. However, only a few are engineering students. If you don't speak another language, don't feel as though your choice for studying overseas is limited to English speaking countries such as the UK, New Zealand, the US and Canada. Most European and some Asian universities conduct engineering subjects in English. However, before you embark on study overseas there are a few important things you should check:
Another exciting option is to undertake work experience (or an industry-based learning year) overseas. Many countries overseas have strong engineering industries. Like universities, most European engineering workplaces are English speaking; in fact if you can speak English fluently you are extremely well regarded. If you identify a company overseas that is of interest, your university or lecturers can often assist you in making initial contact. Happy travels! Carla Cher is chair of the Young Engineers Australia National Committee. |
YOUNG ENGINEERS ONLINE COMMUNITY Young Engineers Australia: Website | Blog |
| Course for NBN skills Demand for appropriately skilled engineers is rising as technology becomes more complex and as organisations seek alignment between technology investments and business requirements, according to Cisco Australia chief technology officer Kevin Bloch. Cisco has teamed up with the University of New South Wales' School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications and School of Computer Science and Engineering to develop a new postgraduate Network Systems Architecture course. The course has been developed in response to a predicted shortage of network engineers due to the emergence of the National Broadband Network and the uptake of technologies such as cloud computing. "Unfortunately, we have found a lack of sufficient industry training to address these important trends," Bloch said. The course will enable students to take a high-level view of networking systems. While students will learn about networking methods and technologies, it also teaches them how to use this knowledge to design, analyse and verify entire systems to meet business requirements and create scalable solutions. The course is available to postgraduates, industry participants and some final-year undergraduate engineering students. |
| NBN training facility National Broadband Network (NBN) equipment supplier Alcatel-Lucent will establish a facility at the University of Technology's (UTS) Blackfriars campus for learning and professional development. The new facility is scheduled to open this month and will include a state-of-the-art laboratory and training rooms with equipment provided by Alcatel-Lucent. UTS students and academics will have access to Alcatel-Lucent facilities and infrastructure. Undergraduate and postgraduate courses will be able to take advantage of the new facility, with elements of courses delivered in conjunction with Alcatel-Lucent staff. By 2012, up to 100 UTS students per year will be able to access the facility. Training will focus on the technologies used to form fundamental parts of a broadband-enabled Australia including voice over IP, video over IP, access IP technology, PON (Passive Optical Networks) technology and others. Courses will form part of the Bachelor of Engineering, Diploma in Engineering Practice and also Master of Engineering Studies. Up to 1500 Alcatel-Lucent staff and customer employees are also expected to use the new facilities each year. |
| Facility
for practical skills The University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) is about to construct a semi-industrial building on campus to provide engineering and paramedic science students a facility that enables them to experience the more practical side of their courses. The 1050m2 Engineering and Science Training Facility will provide large, open spaces suitable for concrete stress tests, hydraulic engineering experiments, photovoltaic cell testing and accident scene simulations. The new training facility will also feature several laboratories and tutorial rooms. Construction company Evans Harch will build the $5 million facility on the southern side of the university and planning for the project is well underway. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of this year. USC secured government funding for the project through the Capital Development Pool Program and the Teaching and Learning Capital Fund. |
| Engineers
pull off podium finish In last month's edition of Student News, Monash Motorsport was heading to the UK to compete in the Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (F-SAE) competition at Silverstone Raceway. This month, they have returned with a podium finish against 100 of the world's best F-SAE teams. Finishing third overall in the international competition, the team also had achieved excellent results in several of the eight separate competition events, testing the car's design, acceleration, cornering, endurance and fuel economy. The team won and set a new world-record in the "Skid Pan" event, finished third in the sprint event, set a personal best for their car's acceleration and placed second in the endurance event. Endurance driver Ashan Perera managed to pass former F-SAE world champion team Stuttgart University during the event. It was the first time any competitor had been able to pass the world champions in two years. Perera was awarded Best Driver of the competition. Monash University head of mechanical and aerospace engineering Professor Mark Thompson said: "We're incredibly pleased with the team's success. It was a fantastic result and reflects the astounding amount of work they all put in. We are really proud of them all."  The Australian team closed the F-SAE
competition with a podium finish. |
| Asset management awards The Asset Management Council has awarded three student awards at the ICOMS Asset Management Conference in June. The three awards – Undergraduate Student, Postgraduate Student and Postgraduate Research – are awarded on the basis of each candidate's overall merit and contribution to the asset management community. This year, the student awards attracted its highest number of entries to date. Flying from Canada to attend the awards dinner function and to accept her award in person for the 2010 Postgraduate Research Award category, was Sharareh Taghipour from the University of Toronto, nominated by Professor Andrew Jardine, flew from Canada to accept the Postgraduate Research award in person. Taghipour impressed the judges with her paper "Periodic inspection optimization models for a repairable system subject to hidden failures". Winning the Postgraduate Student award was Paul Websdane, nominated by Ray Beebe from Monash University. Websdane achieved the highest average grade for those completing the Masters of Maintenance and Reliability Engineering degree. The Undergraduate Student award was won by Samantha Haines, nominated by associate Professor Melinda Hodkiewicz, from the University of Western Australia. Haines completed an honours thesis to develop a nationwide asset management plan for compressors for the APA Group, Australia's largest natural gas infrastructure business. Each recipient received a complimentary 2010 ICOMS Asset Management Conference registration, a framed certificate, a $500 cheque and a 12-month honorary Asset Management Council membership. Submissions to the 2011 Student Awards are due to open shortly. For more information, contact awards and communication coordinator Kate Robertson.  (l to r) Sharareh Taghipour, Samantha Haines, Paul Websdane |
| Statistical
handbook on skill shortages A statistical overview of graduate and migrant engineer employment figures; the effect of the financial crisis, and median salaries of engineers has been released by Engineers Australia. While the handbook, titled "The Engineering Profession - A statistical overview 2010" by Andre Kaspura, serves as a statistical guide to assist policy development and planning, it shows the extent of engineering skill shortages. In releasing the handbook, Engineers Australia chief executive Peter Taylor said: "The domestic supply of new engineering graduates has not been able to keep pace with increases in the demand for engineers for many years." According to the handbook, there were 9880 new engineering graduates in 2008 who could have potentially joined the engineering profession. From 2002 to 2004, numbers fluctuated around 9000 but since then have increased each year. However, the handbook goes on to say there is a presumption that the labour market destination of engineering graduates will be engineering occupations that belong to the engineering profession. In reality, the demand for engineers has increased in many non-traditional occupations and a proportion of engineering graduates accept occupations where it is unlikely they will practise engineering. "The supply of new engineering graduates has at best increased slowly and only in recent years," the handbook states. As for salaries, the handbook states that since in 2009, real salaries increased by 13.3% over the previous year following a 4.7% real increase the year before. For most of the period since 1997, engineering graduate starting salaries have fluctuated about 5% above AWE. Since 2005, this margin has increased and in 2009 was 15% above AWE. A full copy of the handbook is available online. |
| Engineering
Careers Expo Young Engineers Australia at the University of Queensland (YEA-UQ) have been busy for many months planning the annual Engineering Careers Expo. The expo will be held at the UQ Centre, Building 27A, on Friday 3 September. It will provide an opportunity for engineering students to network with industry and find out more about graduate and vacation employment opportunities available to them. Attending the expo will be representatives from engineering companies as well as practising engineers. This year's expo will also feature a presentation from the Queensland Division of Engineers Australia For more information contact Jordan Wan or visit the Young Engineers Australia – YEA-UQ expo website. Further information about future YEA-UQ events are also available on its website or Facebook page. about the benefits of membership, and information related to chartered professional engineer status, which is often the next career step for young engineers upon graduation from their degree. |
| Power
Engineer of the Year Nominations for the Graduate Electrical Power Engineer of the Year award have opened. The award encourages young Australians to develop their careers in electrical power engineering and also rewards those who have demonstrated outstanding achievement or contributions to the community in the past six years. The winner of the award will receive an all expenses paid trip to Europe to attend an electrical energy fair/conference; a framed certificate from the Electrical College; one year's membership of Engineers Australia and the EESA; and free registration to the annual EESA Conference of that year. The winner will also have the opportunity to visit international electrical product manufacturing plants. The award is made possible by a joint effort between Engineers Australia's Electrical College and Electric Energy Society of Australia (EESA) and sponsorship by NHP. Nominations for the award close 1 October and should be submitted using the nomination form available online. |