Engineers Australia

Crowdfunding can be attractive for engineers because it raises money without giving up any equity in a company. But there are other benefits to the model that go beyond the financial. It can help promote brand recognition and nurture a ready-made market of consumers. Feedback from early-stage donors can also provide valuable insights into research and development, allowing a product to be tweaked before it reaches the market. Crowdfunding can also alleviate the time-sensitivity of projects.

Construction on the new Sydney Metro lines continues apace – here's an update on the project's progress. Watch out for more Sydney Metro content – including a deep-dive analysis of how engineers tunnelled under the harbour – in the coming months.

The Tasman Bridge collapse caused 12 deaths and untold economic damage when the SS Lake Illawarra collided with one of the pylons. Have we done enough to prevent it happening again? The bridge, a vital link between Hobart’s CBD and the town’s eastern suburbs, left 1000s needing to either board a ferry or drive to the next available river crossing. “We are designing bridges for 100-120 years, and they will be used by many people,"" Muhammad Hadi, Professor in Structural Engineering at the University of Wollongong, said. “It will be much better to spend the money now, to make things safer for everybody else." View modelling of the ship, which still sits on the seabed: https://brnw.ch/21wQjEI

When organic waste decomposes anaerobically, or in an environment of low oxygen – as is the case when the waste is buried – methane is released as a result of the breakdown process. Methane, compared to carbon dioxide, can be 26 times more potent in terms of greenhouse gas emission. In an engineered composting facility such as Veolia’s Bulla Organics Facility in Melbourne, the composting occurs in an aerobic environment. The facility is centred around 14 enclosed vessels into which the organic materials are placed. The vessels are purpose-built with a forced aeration system. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/e-wszahS

We sat down with Simone Costello and Millie Simpson from Arup to talk about their essay "Exploring the water-energy nexus through hydrogen: an early career perspective". We loved hearing their insights on the water industry and the balancing act of managing conflicting demands for a finite resource. You can read their essay in the link below as part of our “accelerating the energy transition” essay series. https://lnkd.in/gYtF5HuA

Be at the forefront of critical climate change discussions and showcase how resilience can be engineered at the Climate Smart Engineering Conference 2025. Submit your abstract before 11 February 2025. #CSE25 https://brnw.ch/21wQhYU

The world’s emerging space manufacturing industry needs somewhere to deliver its orbital products safely, regularly and with ease of access. That’s where Australia’s high standard of regional infrastructure comes back into play. “From an Australian perspective, what this means is we can leverage our wide open spaces to receive the capsules coming back down.” Read more about the engineering behind Australia's first two space launch facilities, Koonibba and Whalers Way on the Eyre Peninsula

Congratulations to our members and industry colleagues who were recognised in the 2025 Australian Honours. This well-deserved recognition highlights the valuable contributions engineers make to our nation’s prosperity and wellbeing. Read the full article here:

A weatherboard house lies splintered at the base of a steep hillside, looking more like a failed children’s art project than a $2 million trophy home. Last week’s landslide at McCrae on the Mornington Peninsula destroyed one house, injured a council worker and saw around 20 neighbouring properties evacuated pending urgent assessment. The dramatic escalation to a series of landslides on the peninsula – there have been at least another two recent events in the area – has put homeowners on edge. The event raises broader questions about the safety of buildings that often predate planning controls for landslides, and the role of engineers in mitigating the risk of further landslides.

Karen Whelan is acutely aware that engineering and mathematics have a reputation problem among young people, and she finds it incredibly frustrating. “Movies portray scientists as wonderful and exciting characters. Engineers, however, are rarely represented, except for characters like Howard in The Big Bang Theory, who’s not exactly desirable.”