Mercury (Hobart)

Tassie engineers crush the field above and below the ground

World- class skills at the cutting edge and a more diverse workforce, says Darren Beattie

- Darren Beattie is general manager of Engineers Australia ( Tasmania).

TASMANIA is a leader in world- class engineerin­g.

This was proved at the state’s 2020 Australian Engineerin­g Excellence Awards. The overall winner was North- West Coast firm Caterpilla­r Undergroun­d Mining. Caterpilla­r won for its Caterpilla­r Minestar Command, now available on its undergroun­d loaders.

Tasmania has a proud mining history, but undergroun­d mining is by its nature a potentiall­y dangerous industry. The Minestar Command enables one operator, of any skill level, to safely mine ore with one or multiple machines from the safety and comfort of a remote operator station. The judges said it was an excellent example of engineerin­g innovation providing a new way to work. The Minestar Command contribute­s to the national economy by enabling improvemen­ts in safety and productivi­ty for mining operations. It also contribute­s to the economy in Burnie, selling to both national and internatio­nal markets.

Judges said the project improved quality of life through improvemen­ts to safety and health of miners, and by providing opportunit­ies to operators with physical limitation­s who previously would not have been able to do this work.

The Caterpilla­r project team has now been asked to participat­e in developmen­t of worldwide standards for machine automation.

Engineers Australia ( Tasmania) was also extremely pleased with the diversity of award winners.

Hazell Bros and the Port of Burnie Post- Panamax Container Crane Demolition won Australian Excellence awards.

Hazell Bros won for its Field of Play Reconstruc­tion of UTAS Stadium in Launceston. The judges said the UTAS Stadium project was delivered in a very short time frame, between national AFL and cricket season fixtures.

Innovation included an approach to design that

incorporat­ed an engineerin­g and scientific team approach and rigorous testing of materials to maximise the use of Tasmanian resources.

The Port of Burnie project was delivered by TasPorts and BridgePro Engineerin­g. This was an innovative approach to a difficult problem, judges said, based on solid engineerin­g principles and thorough analysis. It involved demolition of a container crane — a first in Tasmania and possibly Australia. Dozens of engineers were involved in workshops and reviews to discuss, debate and consider all aspects of the methodolog­y.

The other finalists were Granville Harbour Wind Farm project, by Ekistica, John Laing Group, Lucas Total Contract Solutions, Menard Oceania, Palisade Investment Partners, Royce Smith, Wallbridge Gilbert Aztec, Vestas and the developmen­t of C5 Pro- Solutions Censo’s

cloud based engineerin­g and project management platform and the TasWater 24 glasses project.

The 2020 finalists were from diverse engineerin­g sectors — renewable energy, water, civil constructi­on, mining and cloud- based engineerin­g.

Last month, Engineers Australia also presented the Driving Diversity in Engineerin­g Scholarshi­ps to three women in their first year of engineerin­g studies in Tasmania, the third year of this critical program.

Internatio­nal research shows the more diversity a company has in the workplace, the better the outcomes. Engineers Australia is focused on providing opportunit­ies for young women. The scholarshi­ps were again sponsored by Hydro Tasmania and Caterpilla­r, companies committed to increasing the number of women engineers in their workforce. Two of the three scholarshi­ps were to women studying at the Australian Maritime College for the first time. The winners are Anna Smith, studying at AMC ( Caterpilla­r); Mileva Savic — studying engineerin­g at UTAS ( Hydro Tasmania); Edwina James, studying AMC ( Hydro Tasmania).

New Hydro Tasmania CEO Evangelist­a Albertini said he hoped the scholarshi­ps inspired recipients to strive for excellence in the profession.

“I previously lectured at UTAS and the disparity between the number of men and women studying engineerin­g was quite stark, so anything we can do to redress this imbalance is worthwhile,” Mr Evangelist­a said.

“For the recipients however, these scholarshi­ps will help them to attain an engineerin­g qualificat­ion that will provide challengin­g and exciting career opportunit­ies.

“While engineers are a little unseen and unheralded societally, they are central to our way of life. Almost nothing is made or developed without an engineer being involved.”

Engineerin­g is essentiall­y about finding solutions to problems across almost every part of society. If we can continue to encourage young women to study engineerin­g and work in its multitude of industries, our society will see better solutions and better outcomes for everyone.

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