Stream
Speakers
Stream Speakers
Stream 1: Sustainability in Pavements
Damian Volker, Department of Transport and Main Roads
Zehra Kaya, Huesker Australia
Sharon Adam, Puma Bitumen
Stream 2: Intelligent Asset Management
Shelley Burchett, Proterra Group
An experienced Project Manager, Shelley is the Assets Manager at Proterra Group.
With a strong focus on regional areas, she is driven to help Local Councils understand the condition of their underground infrastructure to make informed data driven decisions to better service their communities. She takes a hands-on approach to asset management (you will often see her out in the field working with her teams) and encourages a collaborative approach (between Council and Contractor) with any project she undertakes.
Since starting her career at Proterra Group, she has worked with approximately twenty Councils throughout regional Australia, with a focus on developing and delivering best practice asset management projects. She is an active member of the IPWEA community, recently becoming a part of the QLD South West Branch Committee and forming part of the Young IPWEA membership group.
Stephen Hegedus, Shepherd
Stephen is a Registered Professional Civil Engineer with a wealth of experience in the local government environment having held the positions of Director of Engineering Services, Director Corporate Services and Chief Executive Officer.
A proven executive professional, Stephen is a recognised industry leader in strategic and practical Asset Management.
Brad Keane, C.R. Kennedy
Bradley has a diverse professional experience ranging from analytical chemistry through to near surface geophysics and GIS and geospatial sectors. He began with a Bachelor in Applied Science at QUT with a focus on instrumental analysis and geochemistry. A stint in coal analysis in the Moreton and Surat Basins was followed by an exciting opportunity to move to Vietnam in the early 2000s to set up and manage a minerals analysis laboratory.
After returning to Australia, he helped establish a niche geophysical consultancy – Ecophyte Technologies which developed early applications of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to utility detection and mapping, as well as many different applications in near-surface geophysics. Most recently Brad managed the near surface geophysics business for Gap Geophysics with involvement in applying new technologies to mapping unexploded ordnance (UXO) and utilities. With his recent move to C.R. Kennedy Brad is now focused on the Utility Damage Prevention sector as well as mapping and GIS applications.
Chris Campbell, Central Highlands Regional Council
Chris is the Manager Asset Management at Central Highlands Regional Council a position he has held for the last 18 months. Chris has spent the past 20 years being involved in the growth of asset management within Local Governments, prior to this Chris spent 4 years as a surveyor, in a sand mine along the NSW coast and the first 6 years after leaving school in The Royal Australian Navy undertaking Hydrographic Surveying.
Chris has University qualifications in Surveying, GIS and Civil Engineering and whilst being on the wrong side of 50 Chris continues to be a lifetime learner recently going back to Uni to further progress his engineering qualifications.
Stream 3: Project Delivery
Matt Bradbury, McCullough Robertson
Matt is a Partner who leads the Construction and Infrastructure Group at McCullough Robertson. He is an infrastructure, construction and engineering lawyer who has advised on civil, building, mechanical, pipelines, waste and water, mining and LNG projects, and more recently renewables projects in each state and territorial jurisdiction of Australia. He loves getting out and about with his team and seeing new projects that his clients are delivering.
Matt advises on all aspects of construction where he works side by side with his clients and their external consultants to successfully deliver their projects. He strategically advises clients on risk mitigation and administration of contracts so as to avoid disputes, and has particular expertise with respect to security of payment adjudications, large scale litigation and arbitration disputes.
Joseph Jones, McCullough Robertson
Joseph’s expertise covers the entire lifecycle of a project, including procurement and probity advice, drafting contractual documentation, negotiating, contract administration and claims advice.
He regularly assists Local Government and State Government with major projects and has provided advice to them on various large infrastructure projects and funding agreements. He has advised Building Queensland in preparing business cases for a series of road projects, youth detention facilities, hospitals and water infrastructure. He has acted for a range of Local Governments on a variety of civil infrastructure projects, water treatment and waste water treatment projects, major buildings and upgrades, revitalisation projects (including city deals), beach nourishment and waste and recycling projects.
He has recently assisted Sunshine Coast Council with their City Hall project and Toowoomba Regional Council on their TRC Principal Depot project.
Sean Robinson, Isaac Regional Council
Sean has been in Local Government for 8 years and has worked through from a site inspector to currently leading the Galilee and Bowen Basin Operations Department for the Engineering and Infrastructure Directorate at Isaac Regional Council. Sean’s current role includes working with resource proponents and government agencies to manage the impacts and benefits of resource projects on the broader Isaac Communities.
Michael Shellshear, Proterra Group
Mick is an experienced civil engineer and received IPWEAQ’s Young Engineer of the Year in 2019. His technical skills have been highly developed over a number of years, working across the full breadth of disciplines in public works engineering. His specialty is water and wastewater engineering but has managed varied projects ranging from waste facilities to swimming pools.
Eamonn Flynn, Downer Group
Eamonn Flynn is an experienced Program/Project Manager with over 20 years’ international engineering and construction experience, specialising in civil, water/wastewater, pipeline and building infrastructure projects within operational, brownfield and sensitive environmental sites.
Eamonn has worked with leading construction and engineering contractors in Australia and Internationally and has a strong background in delivering design, construction and commissioning of water and civil infrastructure works. Eamonn has strong communication skills backed by technical competency including problem solving and excellent time management expertise, with a strong focus on health and safety. His passion and enthusiasm make him an invaluable asset in the delivery of any infrastructure project.
Jessica O'Hare, Downer Group
Jessica O’Hare joined Downer as a Graduate Engineer in 2016. She has worked on several key wastewater and water recycling projects including Point Lookout WWTP, Mareeba WWTP, Rubyanna WRP and Cedar Grove WWTP, where she has played key roles in process engineering and commissioning. During her Master’s program, Jessica worked with AnoxKaldnes in their Biopolymer research facility.
For the Yeppoon STP Augmentation, Jessica was the Process Commissioning Lead and managed the Process Design, overseeing the implementation of many innovative design features. In doing so, she provided continuity in the project from the design office, to site, and into operations.
Stream 4: Stormwater Management
Tony Loveday, RMA Engineers
Monika Balicki, Water Modelling Solutions
Monika has over 10 years’ professional experience acquired across the water, infrastructure, mining and agricultural sectors in Australia and overseas, with strong expertise in hydrology and hydraulics. Having worked on a wide variety of projects from small developments to multi-billion-dollar projects such as the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing, Monika has an excellent understanding of technical outcomes required for hydraulic engineering projects regardless of complexity.
Since joining Water Modelling Solutions as a Director in 2015, Monika has been responsible for managing WMS’s day-to-day operations including the development and execution of business and marketing strategies, maintaining trust relationships with clients and other stakeholders and delegation and supervision of work.
Eoghain O'Hanlon, Cardno
Mitchell Redenbach, Water Modelling Solutions
Stream 5: Planning and Design
Chris Hodgson, Sunshine Coast Council
Paul Cummings, Department of Transport and Main Roads
David Rankin, WSP
David brings experience spanning 32 years in the planning, design and construction of roadworks and drainage for arterial roads, rural roads, freeways and residential developments. He has led teams on projects ranging from bikeways to large highway upgrades and has substantial experience in community consultation for transport-related projects. He has significant experience in contract and specification requirements for transport infrastructure.
David always looks to improve on the outcomes of the previous projects and to deliver compliant designs that are constructability and stage able. Innovative processes have been employed by David and his team to generate best practice outcomes including the creation of BIM models for quantities derivation, and the application of virtual reality for driver usability assessment of the Maroochydore Road interchange project.
Matthew Bereni, ARRB
Stream 6: Innovation in Structures
Dr Neal Lake, IPWEAQ
With over 25 years’ experience in multi-disciplinary engineering environments including government, consultancy and contractor organisations, Neal has gained a wide variety of experience in the area of civil infrastructure management including, bridge asset management, maintenance, evaluation, design, retrofit, infrastructure testing and research. In 2002 Neal gained his PhD in the field of bridge assessment and has been very active in researching and documenting best practice related to infrastructure management through programs such as NACoE and Austroads. With a passion for focusing on outcomes that make a difference, Neal currently works for IPWEAQ as the Director of Engineering Practice, a newly formed role focused on providing engineering leadership to technical professionals across the public works sector in Queensland.
Paul Steele, Trinity Engineering
Paul is a Director of Trinity Engineering and Consulting and has 28 years’ engineering experience.Initially from the small rural town of Georgetown, Paul attended boarding school in Charters Towers followed by University at JCU Townsville. Paul’s early career included supervision of road construction, design of water and sewerage schemes, and modelling of stormwater systems.
These early experiences led him into urban development where the skill sets came together on every project.In 2005 with 12 years’ experience, Paul left the multinational firm and became a partner in a small local consultancy. He has remained a partner in private practice for 16 years and enjoys mentoring younger engineers to develop skills in the profession.
Paul is passionate about developing a strong local engineering sector and limiting the skills drain to SEQ. Paul’s experience has seen him called on to act as an expert engineering witness in numerous court proceedings.
Logan Mullaney, InQuik
Logan was appointed Managing Director of InQuik Pty Ltd after 10 years in the residential and modular construction industry. He leads the ever-growing team in Australia, and Internationally, where The InQuik system is currently being introduced across Africa, Asia and the USA. Logan is a co-inventor of the bridge system, has a broad knowledge on patents, and has been intimately involved since the system was invented in 2014.
Logan began his career as a carpenter and licensed builder, completing his apprenticeship and founding his own residential construction company at the age of 21. As well as building conventional homes across NSW, Logan became involved in modular construction projects including building containerised modular units in China over 10 years ago. He is also currently building his own house whilst juggling work.
Having been involved in building bridges all over Australia, and more recently across the world, Logan is always on his toes and very much enjoying the journey of seeing The Australian Bridge Innovation, The InQuik System, become recognised and adopted locally and internationally.
Steven Latimer, Interflow
Tara Manning, Brisbane City Council
Stream 7: Effective Solutions
Seren McKenzie, Southern Downs Regional Council
Eben Geldenhuis, Proterra Group
Eben is a former business and change manager that turned his hand to civil engineering in 2012 as a mature aged student. His previous career was spent working in management roles in various industries such as Construction Retail and Disability services. Eben completed a two-year TMR cadetship in the Toowoomba training centre where his education focussed on road design and maintenance. He has since dabbled in the waste sector, worked in traffic engineering, and completed an interesting array of projects as project manager. Recently he has spent most of his time managing flood reconstruction projects in South West Queensland.
Eben has been Proterra’s flood works pioneer for the last two years. In line with his “value for money” passion, he has been leading the charge to find effective ways to ensure that shire road networks are restored to pre-flood condition for the minimum out of pocket expense to council.
Scott Cramer, Mackay Regional Council
Scott Cramer has over 12 years’ experience in Asset Management and holds qualifications in engineering and a master’s in business. Having a diverse background in Heavy Manufacturing, Mining, and Local Government, Scott has made his priority to understand Asset Management from as many different perspectives as possible. This led Scott to perform various roles for different organisations. His experience in engineering, planning, finance, contract management, project management, operations, and maintenance has positioned him well to deliver centre-lead business transformation.
He has spent the last 5 years in Mackay as the Asset Manager with custodianship of an asset portfolio of $4.5 Billion. Over this time, led countless changes to the improve asset management practices, while always being guided by the principle that everyone’s perspective is important and adds value. Recognising that no one person has all the answers, Scott believes sustainable change is made possible when inclusivity is paramount.
James Esson, Assetic
James has been working as the Territory Manager at Assetic for the past 4 years. Previously, James was an Executive at Gold Coast City Council for 7 years, as a leader in the Corporate Asset Management team.
He has a Postgraduate Certificate of Engineering from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ).
Darren Shepherd, Shepherd
Darren Shepherd is a Registered Professional Civil Engineer and has been working hands-on with councils for two decades delivering innovative asset management solutions. Darren’s areas of expertise include, service delivery model development, asset valuations and asset management planning for councils.
Carmen Smith, Gladstone Regional Council
Carmen Smith is an Engineer working for Gladstone Regional Council for the last 4 years. Before transitioning to the Public Works Sector, Carmen worked within the food, iron ore and alumina industries for 15 years. Carmen’s areas of expertise include data evaluation, problem solving and thinking outside the box.
Stream 8: Sustainability in Practice
Dr Kim Polistina, Eternal World
Dr. Kim Polistina has 30 years’ experience working in education for sustainability and global citizenship. She has just completed her second doctorate examining detrimental and beneficial human behaviour for social change towards sustainability. Kim is the Director of Eternal World, an education, training, consultancy and research business assisting people and groups from all walks of life, and sectors of society, with social change towards sustainability. She is a Fellow of Teaching and Assessment with the Higher Education Academy in Britain. Kim adopts a transdisciplinary approach to her work. Her academic interests include social change, cultural literacy, community sustainability frameworks, health and well-being and more recently adult bullying and neoliberalist ideology.
Lana Maki, Peak Services
Lana is a former Councillor of Sarina in Queensland and has extensive experience in managing the delivery of a wide range of public facilities and building projects. Lana is a qualified building designer with over 20 years’ experience in design management, property development, project management and facilities management, providing a strong understanding of both land use planning and building regulation. Lana’s ability to research, analyse and interpret data is one of her key strengths throughout the project development and management stages.
Working as part of a team, Lana was instrumental in delivering advisory projects including Sunshine Coast Regional Council’s 50-year Regional Waste Disposal Strategy, and the Feasibility Study and Master Plan for the regional waste facility (Sustainability Park) in the same region.Lana offers expertise in strategic procurement, with the ability to blend both technical and contractual knowledge with a strategic approach to ensure each approach to market solicits the optimum bids from the market. Lana is a true generalist - able to apply herself to a wide variety of property and infrastructure challenges, and always brings professionalism, rigor and powerful insights.
Willem Rocket, Empower Engineers and Project Managers
Willem graduated from QUT in 2015, completing a Bachelor of Engineering majoring in Civil Construction and Infrastructure; ironically, although spending almost four years studying construction, Willem fell into a consulting role and has not turned back. Willem started his career in engineering with Lenecon, a small civil consultancy in his hometown of Ipswich. This is where Willem found his passion and developed a love for all things water, particularly stormwater. Willem then started with Empower where he has remained since and continued to develop his skills and expertise through various civil engineering projects. In Mach 2020, Willem moved to Adelaide to start Empower’s Adelaide office.
In his personal life, Willem enjoys outdoor activities such as: mountain biking, hiking, running and football. Willem met his partner Amber in 2018 and proposed in late 2020; fortunately she said yes! Amber has accompanied Willem to Adelaide with his 14 year old cattle dog.
Darryl Hayter, Empower Engineers and Project Managers
Darryl is a Principal Civil/Structural Engineer of Empower Engineers & Project Managers and has over 34 years in the planning, design and construction compliance of commercial and public projects. Darryl has been working with Empower (Formerly BMD Consulting) Since 2008 and prior to that was working with John Wilson Partners/Worley Parsons for 22 years. During his time with Empower Darryl was seconded to the TransCity JV for the Legacy Way Tunnel Project. As part of his role for TransCity, Darryl was the Design interface Manager and Construction Compliance Officer for East Surface Works.
Justin Cronin, Moreton Bay Regional Council
Justin completed his engineering studies at CQU in Rockhampton in 1996 and currently holds the position of Principal Development Engineer for Moreton Bay Regional Council (MBRC). MBRC is the third largest Council in Australia by area and population.
Pat Pathmanathan, Peak Services
Pat is a Chartered Professional Engineer and a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ), with more than 30 years of waste management experience including construction management, project management, staff and contract management. Pat’s professional qualifications include a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and Company Directors Course Diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors. In his previous position as Manager of Waste Services at Moreton Bay Regional Council, he maintained one of the lowest rating charges for waste services in South East Queensland while maintaining one of the highest recycling rates.
Futures Challenge Entrants
Craig Van Neuren, USQ
Craig grew up in Melbourne, however, has had an 18+ year career as an architectural, structural, hydraulic and civil draftsman within the Built Environment space in Brisbane, the BENG(Civil)(Honours) at USQ seemed a natural progression to his professional career. Craig has recently been awarded through the Recognition of Prior Learning program at TAFE Qld. the Diploma of Building Design and has applied for his QBCC Building Design licence, Craig is looking forward to finishing his studies this year and having more time for his family.
Sally Williams, USQ
Sally Williams is a fourth year Civil Engineering Student studying at University of Southern Queensland. Her final year dissertation studies the influence of water to grout ratio and curing time on the pulling out load of rock bolt systems. She is currently participating in an internship at the department of Transport and Main Roads with the Structures Asset Management team. She has also worked at Toowoomba Regional Council for three years as an intern engineer, gaining experience in construction, water and waste management and asset management. Previous to her engineering career Sally ran her own business as a visual artist and obtained a Bachelor in Fine Arts with honours at Queensland University of Technology. Her career change is reflective of her ability to adapt, learn, think outside the box and accomplish goals beyond expectations. Sally tributes these qualities to her parents and her rural upbringing in central northern New South Wales. She has lived in many locations across Australia and Canada but now chooses to live in Brisbane Australia.
Martin Luna Juncal, Griffith University
Martin is a fifth year Civil Engineering and Science student, with aspirations to tie industry and academia together through innovative and creative research projects. Furthermore, with over a year and a half of experience as an undergraduate Research Assistant, he has had the opportunity to investigate the applications of engineering in real-world circumstances, further enhancing his knowledge of the discipline. Coupling this with a community-centred approach to engineering research, Martin has continually strived to improve his personal and professional development through his studies and extracurricular activities.