WIE Annual Breakfast

Last Thursday 13 October provided for another early start for the WiE&IT team and the other 250 guests who gathered at the Four Seasons Hotel to attend the WIE (Sydney Division) Annual Breakfast. The topic, "Engineers, Humanitarians, Women going Places" fit in very well with this year’s them of Humanitarian Engineering.

Three highly regarded ladies in the field of engineering, presented some of their personal experiences and highlighted the important humanitarian work that engineers do all over the world. Emily Mudge is a UTS alumnus and project engineer with Bovis Lend Lease. She spoke of her time working with the United Nations on a Post-Tsunami Community Recovery & Reconstruction Programme to build homes for many families that were displaced. Dr Naomi McClure-Griffiths, who is the CEO Science Leader of CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science, expressed her passion for her profession and the significance of the collaborative relationship between engineers and scientists. Finally, Capt Clare O'Neill a civil engineer in the Australian Army and currently on secondment as the Aide-de-Camp to the Governor-General reflected on a most touching experience in Afghanistan, where her team was sent to a hospital that was in dire need of reconstruction.

As usual, the breakfast was delicious and the whole atmosphere and presentations of the speakers made for some interesting conversation. Thanks to Engineers Australia Women in Engineering and Abigroup for hosting the event, and the UTS students who attended – Bella Basaglia, Karen Belista, Santi Botross, Amy Burrows, Jasmin Chhatwal, Amanda Hanna, Francesca Joesoep, Jenny Lui, Sijjal Tasneem.