Western Australia’s most prestigious engineering awards were handed out at a centenary gala at Optus Stadium on Thursday, August 1; marking 100 years to the day that Engineers Australia was founded.

Engineers Australia is the peak representative body for the engineering profession, representing more than 100,000 members from all disciplines of engineering, and maintains representation in every state and territory.

The Institution of Engineers Australia (now operating as Engineers Australia) was incorporated August 1, 1909.

As such, last Thursday marked a significant milestone for the organisation and a chance to accentuate the critical role engineering plays in the lives of all Australians.

320 people attended the Engineers Australia Centenary Celebration Gala at Optus Stadium that night.

The evening featured an address from WA Chief Scientist, Peter Klinken AC, and a curated performance with members of the Perth Symphony Orchestra led by Professor Alan Harvey.

Allison Selman was named 2019 Professional Engineer of the Year – Western Australia.

One of Ms Selman’s biggest achievements is the founding and running of the Women in Subsea and Engineering (WISE) professional network for the Offshore Oil & Gas industry, which has 400 members. With Allison’s encouragement, there is now a collaborative Joint Industry Mentoring program.

Biomedical engineer, Alex Hayes, received the award for 2019 Young Professional Engineer of the Year – Western Australia.

Ms Selman receiving her award, image courtesy of Engineering Australia.

Mr Hayes co-founded a medtech start-up to commercialise a novel medical device to treat abscesses without surgery.

The simple, cost-effective device is ideal for low-cost healthcare settings such as rural and remote communities and has the potential to save the Australian healthcare system tens of millions of dollars annually.

Con Michael received the only national award presented on the night – the Neville Thiele Eminence Award from the Information, Telecommunications and Electronics Engineering (ITEE) College of Engineers Australia.

Mr Michael developed the Balconi Smart Torch, a portable, affordable global two-way video conferencing tool for Telemedicine coverage.

Engineers Australia Medals for meritorious service were also given to Susan Murphy AO, James Trevelyan and Francis Norman and Dr Gary Bryant was highly commended in the Professional Engineer of the Year category.