Power industry supports promising engineers

A group of 17 Queensland power engineering students this week received a funding boost to help with their studies as part of a program to attract and retain talented young engineers to the state’s energy sector.

The students from across the state each received an $8,000 bursary to support their higher education studies from the Power Engineering Alliance (PEA), an industry body supported by public and private companies involved in Queensland’s power industry.

The bursary scheme is part of the PEA’s $5 million commitment to strengthen the skills base across the state’s power industry through education, research and professional development.

Minister for Mines and Energy Geoff Wilson said the bursary recipients were starting out on a bright career path.

“This is all about bringing on new generation of skilled engineers in our power industry,” Mr Wilson said.

“Queensland’s energy industry is the second largest in Australia and the fastest-growing. We need to ensure our young power engineers develop the practical, real-world skills they need.

“Bursary recipients will also be offered valuable networking opportunities with peers and senior professionals, which will help advance their career.”

The industry event also marked the announcement of the amalgamation between the Queensland PEA and the national body, The Australian Power Institute (API), and the launch of a website promoting the profession to senior high school students.

The API’s Chief Executive Officer, Mike Griffin, said he was pleased to be joining forces with the Power Engineering Alliance after working closely with the Queensland body since its inception in 2006.

“Both industry bodies have the identical goal of closing the professional human resources gap in power engineering, with the merge strengthening the API’s national focus and capacity to represent the industry,” Mr Griffin said.

“It made good business sense for us to team up because together our membership covers the industry’s major power players all of whom understand the long-term benefits of investing in the training and continued development of our workforce.”

“We achieve this through the bursary scheme, professional development programs, and the funding of academic salaries, university programs, facilities and research, and more recently, the development of the power engineering website.”

Head of School, Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at the University of Queensland, Professor Paul Bailes, said the industry sponsored bursaries went a long way to increasing the number and quality of power engineering graduates educated at Queensland universities.

“The future is certainly bright for existing and budding power engineering professionals due to the level of support and assistance offered, and the industry’s commitment to innovation and continuous improvement,” Prof Bailes said.

Current bursary recipient and University of Queensland Mechatronics/Commerce student Ryan Wong said the bursary program helped place recipients ahead of the game due to the opportunities provided.

“The vacation employment was most beneficial as it offered an appreciation of the power industry that you won’t find in text books,” Ryan said.

“A lot of my friends found it difficult to gain work experience however, we had a placement every summer. Even better, you were able to select what areas you were most interested in and I was able to gain exposure across the distribution, generation and consultancy side of the industry.”

The bursary presentation ceremonies were held at the Brisbane Powerhouse and at James Cook University in Townsville. The aspiring engineers from the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, Central Queensland University and James Cook University were joined by industry and sponsor representatives, their families and current bursary holders.

The Power Engineering Bursary sponsors include ABB Australia, AREVA T&D, Australian Power Institute, Connell Wagner, CS Energy, ENERGEX, Ergon Energy, John Holland Power, Maunsell Australia, Parsons Brinckerhoff Power, Powerlink Queensland, Queensland Alumina Limited, Stanwell Corporation, Tarong Energy, Tenix Australia and The United Group Infrastructure. The bursaries are offered in collaboration with the Queensland University of Technology, the University of Queensland, Central Queensland University and James Cook University.

The 17 successful students awarded today were: