Workshop & Plenary
Speakers
Workshop Speakers
Join these experienced, renowned speakers in our dedicated Women in Public Works Engineering (WPWE)
and Emerging Professionals events during #IPWEAQ20.
Tanya Konigsberger
Emerging Professionals Workshop
The ability to communicate effectively is an essential skill for engineers, but we are seldom taught precisely how this can be achieved and what techniques can help us to improve. In this practical and informative workshop we are going to explore two specific components of communication which participants can immediately apply during the conference and also take back to their workplaces. Participants will learn:
- How to make meaningful connections when meeting someone for the first time (including teaching the ‘interview technique’)
- How to understand one’s own communication style preference and other peoples
- How to adjust communication style to suit other people’s styles
Tanya Konigsberger, a certified Dale Carnegie Trainer and Performance Engagement Specialist. Tanya is extremely passionate about helping others reach their full potential. She's an enthusiastic and very personable trainer who has an infectious zest for life.
Tanya has lived and worked in many countries around the world and has a great knowledge of business, people and cultures which is evident in the way she works directly with organisations, empowering them to evoke more confident, engaged and enthusiastic teams. Tanya’s high energy is second to none and as experienced NLP Partitioner, she knows first-hand how to encourage people to reach for greatness by creating behaviour shifts to achieve breakthroughs in their personal lives and professional careers.
Note: this Workshop is designed for those ages under 35.
11:00am, Tuesday 10 November
Alison Hill
WPWE Masterclass Breakfast
TOPIC: Work/Life Balance: Can I have it all?With the year that 2020 has thrown at us, and the sheer mix of things that are on our plate amongst times of uncertainty we can find ourselves in a world of overwhelm, with no idea how to find a way out. It doesn’t have to be like this. You can find calm amongst the chaos, and reconnect to the things that really matter. In this session, Alison will explore:
- The two drivers of change
- Tools for setting boundaries that stick
- Prioritise the things that matter.
Ali is a registered Psychologist and CEO of three-time AFR Fast 100 company, Pragmatic Thinking. A culmination of her expertise across leadership, culture and psychology, Pragmatic Thinking is a behaviour and motivation strategy company that helps organisations build better leaders by building better people.
Awarded Educator of the Year in 2018, as business woman and international keynote speaker, Ali’s work has made its way into businesses you may know of… Virgin Australia, Suncorp, PepsiCo, Siemens, McDonalds, Bond University and Heritage Bank to name a few. On top of all this, Ali’s found the time to author two best-selling books; 'Dealing with the Tough Stuff: How to achieve results from key conversations and Stand Out: A real world guide to get clear, find purpose and become the boss of busy. She’s also the host and producer of one of Australia’s top podcasts, Stand Out Life where she digs into the stories behind some of the world’s greatest thought leaders and talents who lead truly awe-inspiring lives.
Note: this Masterclass is open to both males and females.
7:00am, Wednesday 11 November
Plenary Speakers
We are delighted to welcome our #IPWEAQ20 Plenary speakers:
Jimmy has extensive working knowledge within QRA, having worked in the organisation since 2012 to successfully manage the acquittal of the state’s largest reconstruction program following 2011 events, including Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi.
He was QRA’s General Manager of Operations for three years, assisting state and local governments prepare for and respond to natural disasters. Jimmy now coordinates implementation of the Queensland Strategy for Disaster Resilience as QRA’s General Manager of Resilience.
Holding a Bachelor of Business and Arts, Jimmy is experienced in state government grants administration, principally to local government and has worked across both Queensland and Northern Territory governments. Within his work, Jimmy is passionate about helping communities build their resilience, enabling quick recovery following natural disasters.
John has been in an around local government since the mid-sixties, having served in a variety of roles from Cadet Engineer to Shire Engineer and Acting CEO. John has been a member of IPWEAQ in its various forms since the mid-1980s.
In 1998 John had his first attempt at retiring when he bought an avocado farm a Ravensbourne. Retirement lasted only a few months before engineering once again beckoned. After ten years with Ipswich City Council, John again retired in 2013 but was invited back in 2014 to oversee the design of pavements in Ipswich City – a role he continues to fulfil today.
In addition to his engineering activities, John manages his family avocado and cattle farm at Ravensbourne, has served as a director of the Avocado Export Company and has been Chairman of the Board of Directors of Natures Fruit Company since 2012.
David Toma is a Director at the Queensland Audit Office (QAO) where he leads a wide variety of audits across Queensland’s diverse public sector. He has over 15 years of experience in public sector auditing.
David was the engagement leader for QAO’s recent performance audit in the Effectiveness of the State Penalties Enforcement Registry ICT reform. In this audit, he led a team to examine the concerns referred by the former Under Treasurer to the Auditor-General relating to the effectiveness of the management and administration of the ICT component of the SPER Reform Program by SPER. David has also led performance audits in fraud risk management, cyber security, ICT program delivery, organisational effectiveness, infrastructure planning and delivery and others. David holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Information Systems from the University of Melbourne and is a Certified Practicing Accountant.
As Director-General, Neil leads the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), with an operating budget of $6.189 billion, capital budget of $2.877 billion and managed assets worth $65.148 billion. Neil joined the Queensland Public Service in March 2012 as Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of TransLink where he was responsible for the public transport networkacross Queensland. He was appointed Director-General of TMR in March 2013. In September 2014, Neil became Commissioner for the National Transport Commission (NTC) and joined the Roads Australia Board in November 2014.
Neil is Chair of Austroads and Deputy Chair of the Australian Road Research Board. He is also a board member of the Queensland Transport and Logistics Council, Tourism and Transport Forum, Roads Australia, the Australian Centre for Rail Innovation and Police-Citizens Youth Clubs (PCYC) Queensland. In September 2014, Neil became Government Champion for the Woorabinda Indigenous community. From 2015–2017, Neil was the Queensland Public Sector’s CEO Champion against domestic and family violence. In 2017, Neil won the Australia’s CEO Challenge Race, a fundraising initiative that raises money and awareness for domestic and family violence prevention.Neil became Acting CEO for Queensland Rail in October 2016, returning to the Director-General role at TMR in April 2017.In 2019, Neil successfully completed the Vincent Fairfax ethical leadership course.
Dawson was first appointed to the Board as Chair and regional representative in January 2015 and was re-appointed in April 2018. A qualified civil engineer working in private consultancy, Dawson has worked in the profession for more than 35 years. Graduating from the Queensland Institute of Technology in 1979, Dawson went on to work with the New South Wales Department of Main Roads and then in local government with Dubbo City Council and Townsville City Council. Dawson was the Managing Director of a medium-sized construction company and then the Chief Executive Officer at an engineering firm before moving into private consultancy.
Paul is the Project Director for Brisbane Airport’s New Parallel Runway (NPR) and had the overall responsibility for the successful delivery of this $1.1 billion project, which commenced operations in July 2020.Paul has guided the project since its inception in December 2004 and has been responsible for overseeing the planning, feasibility studies, gaining all regulatory approvals, developing the procurement strategy, tendering and contracts award and the construction delivery.
Paul is a Civil Engineer with 40 years experience. He has a background in Ports & Harbour engineering, coastal studies and environmental management. He was a private pilot for over 10 years so the runway project presented Paul with a unique opportunity to blend his enthusiasm for engineering and aviation.The new runway has provided Brisbane Airport with the largest aviation capacity of any airport in Australia. With passenger numbers forecast to grow to 50 million per annum over the next few decades, the new runway has set up Queensland and Brisbane to continue its economic and tourist growth, as well as enhancing connectivity to regional Queensland, interstate and to the wider world. By 2035, the new runway will provide a $5 billion boost to the Queensland economy.
Alton Twine is the Director of Transport and Infrastructure for the City of Gold Coast, where he oversees the portfolios of transport and traffic, beaches foreshores and drainage, City maintenance and the City’s infrastructure delivery arm. During the 2018 Commonwealth Games he was Director of the City Operations Centre, and has a key role in delivering the light rail system for the city. He is also the City’s Local Disaster Co-ordinator.
Alton’s professional passion is in the transport area and he was responsible for delivering a comprehensive new City Transport Strategy in 2012. His previous experience as a senior executive in Transport and Main Roads and Brisbane City Council has seen his delivery of a diversity of projects such as the South East Qld Strategic Road Network Plan to cycle hire schemes and innovative public transport services. Alton was awarded “cycling professional of the year” in 2009 by the Bicycle Industry of Australia, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Traffic Planning and Management, and was the IPWEAQ Engineer of the Year in 2018/19. He is also a bass player.
Bachelor of Engineering from University of Queensland (Civil). Graduate in Senior Management from Mt Eliza Business College.
Councillor Bob Fredman has worked as a local government engineer continuously for 40 years (over 3 councils).
He is currently serving a second term as a Councillor on Gympie Regional Council.Panel Discussion Speakers
Siva Jeevaratnam, Department of Transport and Main Roads
Siva is the Team Leader and Principal Traffic Engineer in the Traffic Engineering Practice team within the South Coast Region of the Department of Transport and Main Roads, which has a specific focus on road safety engineering. Throughout his 16-year career leading traffic engineering teams in the private and public sectors, he has applied a strong emphasis and provided leadership on road safety in the areas of transport operations, corridor analysis, development planning, event transport planning, pedestrian analysis and transit planning
Siva currently manages the region's Road Safety program which includes the development of Safer Roads Sooner, Road Safety Mass Action Program and Vulnerable User funding proposals. His team is responsible for identifying locations where safety improvements are most required, determining the issues and most appropriate treatments, sourcing funding and providing ongoing advice through the delivery of these safety improvements.
Siva also manages, reviews and approves the region's speed limit reviews, and chairs the Gold Coast Speed Management Committee. His road safety experience has been applied to numerous fatal crash investigations as well as numerous road safety reviews and speed limit studies for key arterial roads in the region. Siva has also recently undertaken the role of expert witness for the state.
Seren McKenzie, Southern Downs Regional Council
Seren McKenzie has been the Director Infrastructure Services at Southern Downs Regional Council since July 2019. Always up for a challenge, Seren joined the SDRC team originally as the Manager Water at a critical time in the water predicament being faced by Southern Downs.
Just to up the challenge a bit more, Seren moved into the director role a few months later. Whilst Seren enjoyed her time on the IPWEAQ board and as a president, she is particularly enjoying her role as Immediate Past President now that she has handed over the reins to Craig!
Gregory Miszkowycz, RACQ
Greg holds a civil engineering degree from the University of Queensland and has worked in RACQ’s Advocacy Division for 18 years. As RACQ’s Traffic and Safety Engineering Manager his responsibilities cover a broad range of traffic engineering, road safety and transport planning matters relevant to safe, affordable and sustainable mobility for Queenslanders. These include road hazard investigations, conducting member surveys and technical research, representing RACQ on local government traffic and speed management committees and preparing submissions to government on proposed road, active transport and public transport infrastructure projects and policy. He also leads the Queensland component of the Australian Road Assessment Program, AusRAP, which produces star ratings of infrastructure risk, and crash risk, on the road network.
Andrew Demack, Bicycle Qld
Andrew Demack serves as Bicycle Queensland’s Director of Advocacy. He combines an near-encyclopaedic knowledge of Queensland’s bike routes and pathways and a collaborative approach to advocacy, with a deep commitment to the principle that life’s better on a bike.
Before bicycle advocacy, he was a journalist for the Uniting Church and regional newspapers in Central and North Queensland.