Maintenance Matters

HEAD LINING THE CONFERENCE, GROWING GREAT ENGINEERS, IS DR MICHELLE DICKINSON, MOST WELL KNOWN AS NANO GIRL, WITH HER TOPIC, ‘THE ENGINEER OF THE FUTURE – WILL YOU BE REPLACED BY A ROBOT ?’

MICHELLE HAS a PhD in biomedical materials engineering, runs New Zealand’s only nanomechanical testing laboratory and is a self- confessed adrenaline junkie with a passion for both sports and science. A passion which has enabled her to travel the world on the search for her next adventure or research project.

With specialist knowledge in nanotechnology, Michelle has contributed to the development of cutting- edge technologies.

Her move to academia from industry was a step towards her goal of inspiring females to push the boundaries in both science and sports, and to encourage environmentally sustainable living through engineering design. As well as being the founder and Director of Nanogirl Labs Ltd, Michelle has also authored two books, No 8 Recharged and The Kitchen Science Cookbook.

A Member of New Zealand Order of Merit, Michelle was the winner of the Women of Influence award for science and innovation in 2016, was awarded the Sir Peter Blake Leadership in 2015 and was winner of the Prime Minister’s Science Media Communication Prize and the New Zealand Association of Scientists Science Communicators Award in 2014.

Along with Dr Dickinson are joint keynote speakers from Beca, Dan Stevens, Business Director – Water, and Utsuk Shah, Senior Instrumentation and Controls Systems Engineer.

Their presentation, OK Who’s Next? Our Role in developing and mentoring the next generation of Engineers, delves into the challenges facing our industry in recruiting and retaining the next generation of engineers, the importance of harnessing their energy and skillset, and how we can help them develop their careers by passing on the skills and experience that we have gained over the years.

In an ever- changing world with huge technological advances over the last 30 years, the workplace is changing at an astonishing rate bringing both challenges and opportunities, and it is important to recognise how the career aspirations and expectations of the generation entering the workforce today are very different than they were in the past.

These are just two of the packed agenda items offered at NMEC 2019 to support a strong engineering education culture in our industry.

Here at the Maintenance Engineering Society, we recognise this as a critical challenge for our members and for NZ Inc. NMEC is the best forum for continuous learning for today’s engineers.

We need to re-fashion engineering with a greater emphasis on applications, problem- solving, creativity and analytics along with our practical, hands- on view of engineering.

The annual NMEC event is staged to bring together as many engineers as we possibly can to learn…

• From each other through well-thought- out networking opportunities.

• From the exhibitors as solution providers.

• From the expertise and inspiration of our invited speakers.

We welcome all engineers, asset managers, and project and operational teams to join us at NMEC 2019 in Rotorua, 12 - 14 November 2019.