Engagement is the word following a promising start to the calendar year from Queensland’s Regional Groups and their early consolidation and preparation in 2019.
Kick-starting the year was a meeting of the Regional Chairs to plan their year of professional development and engagement with local members; A congregation in the form of the Office Bearer Induction Day held at Brisbane’s United Services Club in late January.
“This year, Engineers Australia Queensland will have a firm focus on the strengthening of our Regional Groups,” said Engineers Australia Queensland President, Mark Lendich.
“Through various initiatives such as our regional-specific communications and the integration of webinar into our Brisbane-based CPD events, we are now able to connect to our regional members in a way not experienced before.”
In a bid to make diverse and required learning more accessible for all, Engineers Australia has plans to continue making more Brisbane-based events available via webinar.
Nothing beats the real thing, however, and that is where the Central Regional Forum (CRF), hosted at Central Queensland University’s Rockhampton campus comes in!
Held on February 27th, the CRF showcased a number of local projects delivered by a variety of disciplines including energy production, flood prevention, recreation, security and infrastructure.
This won’t be the only regional forum to take place in 2019, with Southern (Toowoomba, May 24th), a Northern (Mackay, August), and a second Central forum penciled in.
Traditionally held three times a year, the forums are an opportunity for Engineers to attend a day of informative and open discussion of local matters and take part in site tours to current or completed engineering projects in the region.
In another win for Queensland’s regional contingent, the Central Highlands (Emerald) have been re-instated in 2019. Local engineers have been able to participate in one site tour already with another planned for May (Fairbairn Dam Spillway Safety Improvement Project). With the appointment of many new chairs amongst the rest of the Committees, and many fresh faces joining them, CPD sessions and site tours are being planned for the coming months.
Looking ahead for the Centenary year, there are several challenges and opportunities that present themselves for the regions.
As we address challenges and explore opportunities, we look forward to working with all the passionate engineers from around the state this year.