Curtin University Indigenous Australian Engineering Summer School

BG&E has recently become a sponsor of Engineering Aid Australia (EAA), a not-for-profit group whose primary aim is to encourage young Indigenous Australians to pursue a career as a professional engineer. You can find out more about EAA here.

Each year in January EAA sponsors Summer Schools, in association with Curtin University in WA and the University of Sydney in NSW, for suitable candidates who are entering Year 11 or 12.

The Curtin University Indigenous Australian Engineering Summer School (IAESS) was held during 9-13 January and the NSW Summer School the following week. About 20 students are selected for each program, based on nominations from their schools.

In addition to a financial contribution, BG&E have also participated in several functions held during the Summer Schools, and contributed to the students’ program in Western Australia.

Engineers Tim McMinn and Garrett Bray attended an information evening for the students on Wednesday 11 January. They spoke to the students about the kind of projects BG&E runs, and the work they do as structural engineers. Garrett said “It was a pleasure to interact with such an enthusiastic and interested group of students. There are certainly some very positive signs for the future of Australian engineering“.

On Thursday January 12, Brent van Lelyfeld and Tim McMinn gave the students a tour of the construction site at Fiona Stanley Hospital, on which BG&E are structural consultants. Brent introduced the students to the different construction materials used across the buildings, as well as some of the architectural aspects of the hospital.

BG&E engineers Brent van Lelyfeld and Tim McMinn with the 2012 Curtin IAESS

Finally another of BG&E’s engineers, Simon Jewell, delivered a presentation to the students about the finer points of Curtin University’s new Engineering Pavillion, a building around which many of the IAESS events had revolved. The Pavillion is another BG&E project distinguished by its leading green credentials, material efficiency, and expressed structure. Simon was impressed by how engaged the students taking part in the program were, noting, “I was encouraged to see the genuine interest the students had in the Engineering profession, with many of them keen to understand what might drive them as an Engineer, or what field of Engineering might suit them best”.

BG&E engineer Simon Jewell with IAESS students in the Curtin Engineering Pavillion

IAESS students who subsequently select to enrol in an engineering course will qualify for a scholarship from Engineering Aid to assist with their studies. There are currently seven Indigenous students in NSW and one at Curtin University studying engineering who have attended previous Summer Schools. (This year was only the third year that Curtin has been involved).