Welcome to our update for engineering alumni, where we share news and opportunities for our engineering graduates.
If you would like to contribute ideas or be featured in our next edition, please contact us.
New Dean of School of Engineering and Technology announced
Professor Steve Hall has been announced as the new Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology. Professor Hall joins CQUniversity from Curtin University, where he was previously the Director of the Western Australia School of Mines. He has qualifications in Metallurgical Engineering and has worked in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia throughout his career.
Get Involved in GECon
CQUniversity now hosts two Graduating Engineers Conferences (GECon) per year, and we’d love to have Engineering alumni and Work Integrated Learning hosts attend to hear the final year students present on their projects.
We are also keen to meet alumni who would like to host students and GECON is a great way to hear the sort of work the students are involved with and meet workplace hosts to learn about their experience hosting students.
Dates for GECon in 2019 are Wednesday 5 June (Term 1) and Wednesday 9 October (Term 2).
Please contact us if you’re interested in know more about the event or discussing how you could host final year students.
Excellence in Research
The Australian Research Council undertakes a triennial evaluation of research quality against international benchmarks. Based on eligibility of a minimum of 50 published papers, subject areas are broken down into broad fields of research which are rated, and then these broad fields are broken down into more granular areas of specialization, which are also rated.
There is a five-point ranking scale: 1 = well below world standard, 2 = below world standard, 3 = at world standard, 4 = above world standard and 5 = well above world standard (highest possible ranking).
In the broad field “Engineering” CQUniversity’s research is rated “Above World Standard” which is an improvement on the 2015 assessment. In specialisations, both Mechanical and Electrical engineering research was rated “Well Above World Standard”.
Additionally, in the specialization areas of ‘Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing’ and ‘Applied Mathematics’, our research was rated at “World Standard”. Read more about the rankings.
You are very welcome to discuss projects or issues you would like to investigate with us to leverage our expertise. This can include partnering with our researchers, or joining our Work Integrated Learning program to have student engineers undertake structured research projects for you.
Clean Energy Research Academy Established
CQUniversity has established a new Research Higher Degree Academy to grow multidisciplinary research collaborations across the fields of mechanical & electrical engineering, energy, environment and economics.
The Clean Energy Academy will build on the university’s existing research strengths in renewable and eco-friendly sources of energy; power generation; smart grids and distributed intelligent systems; plus environmental and applied economics issues.
It will operate across multiple campuses (particularly Rockhampton, Perth and Melbourne) and focus on leveraging and extending the strong connections that our clean energy researchers have with the process, energy and resource industries.
Key activities will include research training events, presentations by invited guest speakers and supervisor professional development.
If you would like to know more about the Clean Energy Academy, please contact the Academy coordinator, A/Prof Rasul ([email protected]).
Engineering Alumni leading the way
Peter Meijer commenced his Engineering studies in 1966 at what would later become CQUniversity. His career has taken him across the globe, and now includes industry governance roles, including current positions on the Standards Australia’s CT-001 committee and as an expert member of the International Standards Organisation and International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC). Read Peter’s career story.
Jessica Kahl graduated with her Bachelor of Engineering / Diploma of Professional Practice in 2017 and is now a civil engineer at Aurecon. She shared her “day in the life” insights to show current students what her role looks like in her workplace. She is also an Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (Qld) (IPWEAQ) Ambassador and a role model and leader in promoting STEM careers to female students through her Dream Big initiative.
