Aurecon Bridges Gap Between Engineering Industry And Students

Aurecon Bridges Gap Between Engineering Industry and Students


Over 250 Years 8 and 9 students from schools all over New South Wales competed last Friday for the title of Best Bridge Builder 2009 as part of National Engineering Week.

Aurecon's Bridge Building Competition at the Art Gallery of New South Wales saw 65 bridges built from wood, string and glue tested by progressively increasing weight onto a rig.

Judges Gordon Chirgwin, Manager Bridge Durability & Protection at the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority, and John Hilton, Aurecon's Leader for Bridges, awarded points for strength, aesthetics and workmanship.

First prize went to Baulkham Hills High School's Daniel Hwang, Clement Ding and Vincent Lee whose design withstood a record breaking 135 kg before collapsing.

"It was a really, really good experience because it's something all schools can be a part of and learn from," says Daniel, 14, who was selected to participate out of the 180 Year 9 students in his school after coming up with the strongest design for their internal 'knock-out' competition.

The school currently offers three engineering classes in Year 9 which, according to their teacher Marijan Maricic, continue to gain increasing interest from the student body.

"Around a third of our Year 9 kids have taken up engineering," Marijan says.

"Hopefully, with the help of events like these, we can convert them to be engineers one day."

This annual event complements Aurecon's efforts to expose the engineering profession to secondary school students before they choose their electives for the Higher School Certificate.

"By encouraging the youth of today, we are investing in the engineers of tomorrow," says William Cox, General Manager Transport Asia Pacific.

"We hope this event encourages the students to take up maths and science subjects so they will have the opportunity to one day have a career in this most crucial profession."

An estimated shortfall of more than 15,000 engineering career opportunities currently exist in the Australian market, according to the Chief Executive of Engineers Australia, Peter Taylor, who says these numbers will only increase as Australia recovers from the global financial crisis.

Note for editors:

Aurecon is a leading, vibrant, global group created by the coming together of three world-class companies: Connell Wagner, Africon and Ninham Shand. The group placed 52 in the 2009 Engineering News Record Top 150 Global Design Firms list.


Media contact
Dinaaz Lentin
+61 2 9465 5766 /
[email protected]


SOURCE: Aurecon