It was my privilege to be declared the 26th
President of IPWEAQ at the Annual General Meeting held 13 October in Cairns
after serving as Vice President (2019-2021) and SWQ Branch President
(2017-2019).
I look forward to working with our CEO and other members of
the IPWEAQ Board including our Vice President, Andrew Johnson (SWQ Branch
President, 2017-2019) and:
Re-elected Board members
- NQ Branch
President: Glenda Kirk, Director Infrastructure Services, Mareeba Shire Council
- Sarah Hausler, Partner,
McCullough Robertson
Newly elected Board members:
- SWQ Branch
President: Dereck Sanderson, District Director (Darling Downs District) |
Southern Queensland Region Program Delivery and Operations | Infrastructure
Management & Delivery, TMR
- CQ Branch
President: Adam Doherty, Director, Dileigh Consulting Engineers
- SEQ Branch
President: Jo O’Brien, Qld Program Manager, Tonkin
- Sean Rice,
Managing Director, Proterra Group
I’d also like to thank retiring Board members for their
contributions: Raad Jarjees (2017-2021), Celisa Faulkner (2017-2021), Trevor
Dean (2019-2021) and Craig Murrell (2015-2021).
Congratulations to all the projects and people nominated for
awards at the 2021 IPWEAQ Excellence Awards. It was a great night celebrating
our sector with a record 100 nominations. On behalf of GHD – Toowoomba Office,
I was delighted to accept the inaugural award for Employer of the Year (Private
Sector) from a field of high-quality finalists. Congratulations also to TMR,
inaugural winner of the Employer of the Year (Public Sector).
And congratulations also to IPWEAQ, a shortlisted finalist
for the Association of the Year awards.
For my two-year term as President, we have established a
fund for Strengthening Rural Communities, an initiative of the Foundation for
Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR). I look forward to initiating our
fundraising activities at the President’s Breakfast, 4 February 2022 when we
will hear from Engineer of the Year, Ross Ulmann and from Brisbane City Council
engineers who delivered the Project of the Year, the Kingsford Smith Upgrade.
Our Partners and sponsors play a critical role in our successes and I look
forward to acknowledging and celebrating them at the President’s Breakfast.
It has been another big year at IPWEAQ with many more
‘firsts’ including our first Asset Management Symposium in May, the launch of
the Every Community Needs an Engineer calendar and campaign, establishment of
the NT Branch, four new excellence awards including employer awards, 16 career
cards for the sector and the Track My CPD portal to help engineers better
manage their compliance. And this month, the launch of the Temporary Traffic
Management Toolkit, an invaluable tool to save councils and organisations
considerable time and costs preparing a Traffic Management Plan (TMP) for every
roadworks project regardless of the duration of those works. See more in Craig Moss' Report.
Also just launched in November, the Women in Public Works
Leadership Program. Applications closed 30 November with successful candidates
to be announced this month. I look forward to participating as a presenter and
joining the WPWLP Alumni.
Next year at IPWEAQ is already building to be another
successful year with a few more ‘firsts’, the Bridge Management Symposium in
Brisbane, 22-23 February 2022, the inaugural NT Branch conference in
Palmerston, 26-27 May and digital badges coming in March. And currently under
development, a certification program in project management. New asset
management specific topics will be introduced that align the new Certificate IV
in Civil Infrastructure Asset Management and asset management specific units
for the Diploma of Civil Construction Management. While IPWEAQ is not an RTO,
we will be working closely with a partner organisation to deliver nationally
accredited units for our sector.
And now we find ourselves at Christmas. Please have a
wonderful, safe time with family and friends and we welcome home Queenslanders
who’ve been stranded on the other side of the border. I look forward to getting
started on a new year with the President’s Breakfast, 4 February. Please join
us in person or via satellite to celebrate the past year and to look forward
into the new.
Angela Fry
President