For our final episode of 'But seriously, what is Engineering?' for Season 2, we invited four of The University of Queensland's Women in Engineering Student Leaders to answer your questions about studying engineering, choosing your specialisation, and planning for the future!

This is a fun, candid chat with our incredible student leaders, and is a great way to get an insight into university life. Perhaps you'll find that engineering might be the perfect career path for you too! 

This episode features four of The University of Queensland's Women in Engineering student leaders; Yvette (Evie) Gibbon, Kathleen Cox, Laura Musgrave and Sophie Bates. 

Connect with our student leader hosts via LinkedIn below!
Kathleen Cox: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-cox-142286184/
Yvette (Evie) Gibbon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvette-gibbon/ 
Laura Musgrave: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-musgrave-ab02821a6/
Sophie Bates: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-bates-7a9a38186/ 

Find out more about UQ Women in Engineering here: https://www.eait.uq.edu.au/we

Find out more about studying engineering at The University of Queensland here: https://www.eait.uq.edu.au/

Today, we’ll be talking to Dr Terese Milford. Dr Terese is a Senior Engineer working in the Intelligent Grid New Technology team at Energex and Ergon Energy. Energex and Ergon Energy are Queensland’s distribution networks with a team that develops business solutions to improve customer choice and provide cost competitive alternatives to traditional network investment. Dr Terese is currently working on solutions to dynamically manage Distributed Energy Resources (batteries and rooftop solar) to enable more of these energy resources to be safely connected to the grid.

In this episode we'll be talking about the shift to renewable energy and how you can be a part of this change too! We also talk to Dr Terese about what it was like to study mechanical and space engineering, as well as her experience with studying a PhD.

This episode is hosted by two of The University of Queensland's Women in Engineering student leaders; Laura Musgrave and Esandi Kalugalage. 

Connect with Dr Terese Milford on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terese-milford/ 

Connect with Laura on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-musgrave-ab02821a6/

Connect with Esandi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esandi-kalugalage-9b39401a0/ 

Riley O'Donnell graduated from The University of Queensland with the University medal, studying a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) specialising in chemical engineering  and a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in finance. After graduating, Riley co-founded Endla, a startup company that develops core technology to lower the cost of physical engineering assets with Software.

In this episode we ask Riley about his experience and advice with starting a startup, and we discuss how to approach imposter syndrome to achieve success in your career.

This episode is hosted by two of The University of Queensland's Women in Engineering student leaders; Kathleen Cox and Yvette (Evie) Gibbon.

Visit Endla's website: https://endla.com/

Connect with Riley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rileyodonnell-1/ 

Connect with Kathleen Cox on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-cox-142286184/

Connect with Yvette (Evie) Gibbon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvette-gibbon/

Professor Kate O’Brien will be joining us as our guest for today’s podcast. Kate is the Director of Teaching and Learning for the School of Chemical Engineering at The University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, Australia. She studied Maths and Engineering and UQ, then worked in an aluminium smelter in NZ before completing a phD in environmental engineering at The University of Western Australia, before returning to UQ as a Lecturer in Chemical and Environmental Engineering. In fact, she was one of the first women ever promoted to Professor in the UQ School of Chemical Engineering!

Kate uses mathematical modelling and systems analysis to investigate how socio-ecological systems work, and how they can be managed more sustainably.  In this conversation we will be covering sustainability, what it's like to have a family as an engineer, and we will be discussing Kate's perception of the concept of 'work-life balance'.

This episode is hosted by two of The University of Queensland's Women in Engineering student leaders; Yu-Zhen Eva Seet and Amy Tran.

The University of Queensland's School of Chemical Engineering: https://chemeng.uq.edu.au/

Connect with Kate O'Brien on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-o-brien-0390382a/  

Connect with Eva Seet on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eva-seet-3ba834221/

Connect with Amy Tran on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-tran-484850160/ 

This episode is a perfect example of how engineering can bring about a freedom in your career that you didn’t know possible. The freedom to choose from an endless list of disciplines and roles, and the freedom to ‘pivot’ your career outside your specialisation into a direction you had never considered. 

Today we are joined by Clare Lavrencic as we talk about the unique freedom of engineering and the endless opportunities within engineering.

Clare graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering (Biomedical). After graduation, she was able to secure a spot in the Rio Tinto Graduate program, in the Major Projects Project Management Office, working on multimillion & billion dollar projects building new mines in Queensland and NSW. Clare has worked hard to cultivate a reputation of tenacity and ability to grow, leading her to opportunities in the innovation and R&D space in Rio Tinto.
 
  This episode is hosted by two of The University of Queensland's Women in Engineering student leaders; Kathleen Cox and Jess Rock.
 
 Connect with Clare Lavrencic on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clare-lavrencic-07539837/

Connect with Kathleen Cox on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-cox-142286184/

Connect with Jess Rock on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-rock-447223165/ 

Dr Denys Villa-Gomez will be joining us for today’s podcast. Dr Denys Villa-Gomez is a Lecturer at The University of Queensland's School of Civil Engineering. Dr Denys Villa-Gomez obtained her PhD at the world-leading institute UNESCO-IHE and Wageningen University, the Netherlands. 

Dr Denys works on the development of sustainable technologies that reduce pollution and recover valuable resources from wastewater and solid waste such as energy and metals, leading projects on the recovery of cobalt and rare earth elements from mine impacted waters and tailings using biological processes. Recovery of these elements is a priority for Australia, due to its low abundance and high demand worldwide, particularly in new technologies combating climate change. She collaborates with international and local researchers as well as with industry and government stakeholders, where she provides technical advice regarding the treatment and management of waste.  

At the teaching front, she has a growing influence in the implementation of environmental engineering concepts, updating the civil engineering program to make it more responsive to the big world challenges. Alongside her research interests, she is passionate about creating an impact on others through mentoring and supporting programs, particularly for women in STEM. 

This episode is hosted by two of The University of Queensland's Women in Engineering student leaders; Yvette (Evie) Gibbon and Sophie Bates.

Connect with Dr Denys Villa-Gomes on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denys-kristalia-villa-gomez-47594b28/ 

Connect with Yvette (Evie) Gibbon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yvette-gibbon/

Connect with Sophie Bates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-bates-7a9a38186/

Often people visualise buildings or bridges when they think of engineering, however there are endless specialisations within engineering, and countless career pathways within each of these specialisations! As one of these specialisations, civil engineering works across multiple sectors. You could work in erosion control, designing airports and even flood mitigation works to name a few. Today, we’ll be talking to Ella Hingston, exploring just one of the unique career pathways available within civil engineering. 

Ella is a Senior Asset Management Engineer in Cardno, now Stantec’s Asset Strategies team with seven years’ experience in infrastructure asset management. In her role at Cardno, she works across the water supply and sewerage, stormwater, buildings, and transport sectors to maximize the value provided by infrastructure assets to governments and the communities they serve.

Ella has assisted local, state and federal government clients across Australia with understanding the current state of their asset base, forecasting and providing assurance on current and future investment needs, and developing supporting asset management framework documentation.

Across these key public infrastructure sectors, Ella has developed short- and long-term capital and operating expenditure forecasts and lifecycle cost models, undertaken regulatory audits, and assisted with the review of government expenditure programs and the business processes underlying these.

Additionally, Ella has experience in assisting with the development and implementation of asset management systems for government clients, through her preparation of asset management plans and other asset management system artefacts, and collection of asset attribute, condition and valuation data to provide governments with a sound, evidence-based platform upon which asset decisions can be made.

 This episode is hosted by two of The University of Queensland's Women in Engineering student leaders; Christie Patterson and Elizabeth (Lizzy) Pumpa.

Connect with Christie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christie-patterson-6431ba16b/ 

Connect with Elizabeth (Lizzy) on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-pumpa-560649172/ 

Connect with Ella on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ella-hingston-3a8b6231/

Find out more about the Cardno, now Stantec, Asset Management services in Australia: https://www.cardno.com/services-au/infrastructure/asset-management/

Growing up in the small Queensland town of Roma, Zoe Eather knew that she wanted a career that would allow her to travel overseas and make a difference in developing countries. Engineering took her from rural Australia to international smart communities consultant — and even saw her named the 2021 Queensland Young Professional Engineer of the Year! 

Zoe is an experienced engineer, consultant and Churchill Fellow who specialises in Smart Communities. The combination of Zoe’s engineering background and her ability to engage and explain complex topics in a friendly and informative way, allows her to offer future-thinking, useful and realistic strategic advice. 

Zoe keeps up-to-date with the latest trends and shares her learnings through hosting The Smart Community Podcast. Through her boutique consultancy 'My Smart Community', she offers strategic advisory on dealing with disruption, leveraging infrastructure spend and major projects, smart technology in regional communities and facilitating genuine collaboration. 

This episode is hosted by two of The University of Queensland's Women in Engineering student leaders; Christie Patterson and Elizabeth (Lizzy) Pumpa.

Connect with Zoe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zoemayeather/ 

Follow 'My Smart Community': https://www.linkedin.com/company/smartcommhq/

Connect with Christie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christie-patterson-6431ba16b/ 

Connect with Elizabeth (Lizzy) on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-pumpa-560649172/ 

Cait Thomas has a resume of experience and wisdom that will, quite simply, blow your mind. Cait has already accomplished so much during her career as a biomedical engineer working across a number of fields.

Cait is the perfect example of how a career in engineering can lead you to fascinating corners of the medical industry that you never thought possible. From developing orthopaedic implants, to working on tech than can diagnose respiratory disease from the sound of a cough, to her current role at Vaxxas; a med-tech company developing a novel needle-free vaccine delivery system. Cait has lived an admirable career so far! 
 
This episode is hosted by two of The University of Queensland's Women in Engineering student leaders; Laura Musgrave and Esandi Kalugalage. 

Connect with Cait on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cait-thomas/

Connect with Laura on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-musgrave-ab02821a6/

Connect with Esandi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esandi-kalugalage-9b39401a0/ 

Shivani Gupta moved from India to Australia with her family at the age of 11, a decision her family made to ensure that she would have the same opportunities as her brothers. Shivani didn't take this opportunity lightly, working hard and graduating with a double degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, closely followed by completing an MBA. In this episode we also talk to Shivani about her life changing trip to Nepal that inspired her to start her own business. 

Shivani won the Telstra Business Women's awards, EY award and is an honorary member of the Golden Key Society. She has run several million dollar businesses, is an author of 8 books and has spoken to over 150,000 people globally in 18 countries, all driven by her passion for supporting girls and women in engineering their own career and confidence. 

This episode is hosted by two of The University of Queensland's Women in Engineering student leaders; Sophie Bates and Esandi Kalugalage. 

Connect with Sophie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-bates-7a9a38186/

Connect with Esandi on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esandi-kalugalage-9b39401a0/

Felicity Furey was named Boss Magazine’s Young Executive of The Year and one of AFR’s 100 Women of Influence at just 26 years of age. Need we say more? 

Felicity has led multimillion dollar engineering projects, founded several successful businesses, and secured partnerships with Qantas, Toyota and Energy Australia. With experience in helping to develop smart cities, Felicity now works with high-performing teams to give leaders the skills they need to ignite new possibilities in Business, Education and STEM.

Felicity co-founded WeAspire to help organisations enhance their emerging leadership program and supports emerging leaders to be confident and ready to lead. So far, Felicity has inspired over 20,000 leaders globally and through WeAspire, an incredible achievement.

In this episode, we discuss the importance of diversity in engineering, entrepreneurship, having courage to take on a challenge, and how you can find a mentor that will help to boost your career growth. 

This episode is hosted by two of The University of Queensland's Women in Engineering student leaders; Christie Patterson and Elizabeth Pumpa.

Find out more about WeAspire: https://www.weaspire.education/ 

Connect with Felicity on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicity-furey-24b7a834/

Connect with Christie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christie-patterson-6431ba16b/ 

Connect with Elizabeth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-pumpa-560649172/ 

Rob Joseph is a co-founder of Anti Ordinary, a startup that have developed a beanie that is as safe as a helmet. Intrigued? So were we! 

Rob studied an undergrad of Medical Engineering, with the hope to combine his love for sport and engineering into a career. Originally eyeing off prosthetics for sport, his attention turned to brain protection after experiencing first-hand the pain points of brain protection in action sports. Rob teamed up with his co-founder Brodie to change the way we protect brains across all categories, starting in the unlikely market of Snowsports – and thus, Anti Ordinary was born. 

This episode is hosted by two of The University of Queensland's Women in Engineering student leaders; Jessica Rock and Kathleen Cox. 

For more information about Anti Ordinary, follow this link: https://antiordinary.co/ 

Connect with Rob on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robjosephanti/

Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-rock-447223165/

Connect with Kathleen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-cox-142286184/

Imagine an entire city floating peacefully and sustainably on water, its energy comes from waves and wind, food is fish that grows in specially-designed ocean-based structures…this is the life work of globally renowned structural engineer and UQ researcher Professor CM Wang.

His vision for a more sustainable future will leave you inspired.

"[In the future,] we will be much richer in terms of new energies available, living will be clean, and farming could change in ways we never thought possible,” he said.

Hear more about his work and how engineers can help to make a better world in the final episode of But Seriously, What is Engineering? Season One.

To learn more about studying engineering at The University of Queensland, visit the Future Students website.

Engineering has many diverse disciplines, so finding your niche can take some time.

Today we speak to UQ software engineering student, Jessica Rock, and hear how she found her calling in software engineering.

Jess wasn’t always convinced engineering was for her. Jess found the more traditional engineering disciplines like civil or mechanical engineering didn’t spark her interest. It was only when she studied her first software engineering courses that she discovered the joys of coding and grew to love the discipline.

For Jess, the ability to solve problems, see immediate results, and use software as a means for positive change are the ingredients to a rewarding career in coding.

To learn more about studying engineering at The University of Queensland, visit the Future Students website.

Would you like to learn a new language? Or do work that makes a difference in society? Research might be the right path for you.

In this episode we meet two UQ researchers, Dr Carolyn Jacobs and Katarzyna Hourigan, who completed their PhD degrees in the area of mechanical and chemical engineering respectively.

Carolyn completed her PhD in a ‘cotutelle’ program, which was a dual enrolment at The University of Queensland and École Centrale Paris as part of UQ’s Centre for Hypersonics.

Katarzyna completed her undergraduate studies in Poland, followed by a Master’s Degree in Denmark, before finally landing in Australia to complete a PhD in nanotechnology at The University of Queensland.

Who knew a career in academia could take you around the world!

To learn more about studying engineering at The University of Queensland, visit the Future Students website.

Guests Martyn Robotham and Negin Beaton share their engineering journeys and dig deep into their rewarding careers in the resources industry.

Martyn started out in the mining industry 35 years ago, when gender diversity in the sector was non-existent. He has seen significant changes in his time and is a true champion of change as an active member of the UQ Women in Engineering Advisory Board.

Negin was motivated to follow in her father's footsteps when she chose mining engineering. She's able to apply her aptitude for problem solving to an industry that is integral to our every day lives, and is excited by the positive impact she can have on the sector's social, economic and environmental footprint.

Together they share insights into a day in the life of an operational mine, the challenges they have overcome in their careers, and the value of support networks and mentors in this global, yet small, industry.

With technological advances and scope for further innovation to create even safer and more efficient operations, the future of mining is exciting for prospective engineers looking to consider a career in the resources sector.

Get set to explore the possibilities available through a career in mining engineering.

To learn more about studying engineering at UQ visit the Future Students website.

Engineers may be the world's problem solvers, but they rarely work alone. Team work and collaboration are fundamental to engineering.

But what makes a great team?

In this episode, we’re unpacking what it means to work effectively as a team. We hear from current UQ engineering students on their experiences of teamwork at university, the challenges they’ve faced, and the skills they’ll be taking with them as they embark on their engineering careers. We also explore the power of diversity in team building, and how it can impact creativity, innovation and performance.

To learn more about studying engineering at UQ visit the Future Students website.

It was the declining number of women enrolled in Jessica Kahl’s university engineering courses that sparked her big business idea.

Jessica saw the impact she could make on school students and was inspired to create more opportunities for young people to experience the exciting reality of the science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) field first-hand. And so, her business Dream Big Australia was born.

Now a civil engineer herself, Jessica is inspiring a new generation of future engineers to consider a career in STEAM while driving gender balance in the engineering industry and championing innovation.

Her engineering journey will leave you inspired.

Our guests today, Vigya Sharma and Aira Fabello, are willing to go the extra mile to help the world through their passion working as humanitarian engineers. Engineers are passionate about helping people and making the world a better place to live.

Join us as we learn more about humanitarian engineering – an area where you can build on your existing engineering knowledge to solve problems and address global issues such as climate change and poverty or help to develop interventions for clean, modern and reliable forms of energy or water sanitation.

To learn more about studying engineering at UQ visit the Future Students website.

When you think of engineering it’s often the technical side that comes to mind – building and designing, maths and science. But a career in engineering can take many paths.

In this week’s episode, we meet Trang Pham and Rebecca Pickering, two engineers who have paved their own way in engineering, and whose careers look nothing like they expected.

Hear how through their exciting careers they are working with the community and empowering their sector to excel in every way, not just technically.

To learn more about studying engineering at The University of Queensland, visit the Future Students website.

Research indicates that most people know what they want to be when they grow up by age 10.

In this episode of the But Seriously, What is Engineering? podcast, we ask, why choose engineering?

Hear from Caitlin Grant, a third-year chemical and environmental engineering student at The University of Queensland, as she shares her motivations to pursue engineering and why she sticks with this rewarding, yet challenging, program.

Engineering wasn’t on Caitlin’s radar growing up. She originally wanted to be a vet, but support and encouragement from family and a desire to combine her environmental-mindedness with skills in problem solving and maths drew her to study chemical and environmental engineering at UQ.

These days, a dream to make a positive impact on our global environmental footprint and think differently about waste helps to keep her motivated through her studies.

Listen in as Caitlin shares tips for making the most of your engineering studies, including postgraduate studies, industry placement, exchange experiences, networking, and the importance of getting out of your comfort zone.

To learn more about studying engineering at The University of Queensland, visit the Future Students website.

A lot in the engineering industry has changed in the past 30 years, but, according to mother-daughter engineering duo, Jo-Anne Dudley and Darcy Beer, hard work, resilience, and passion are still the key ingredients to a fulfilling career in engineering.

Jo-Anne is a mining engineer with 26 years’ experience in the engineering sector and her daughter, Darcy is studying civil and environmental engineering at UQ. Together they share and compare their experiences studying and working in the engineering industry, including starting out in the workplace, raising a family as a fly-in fly-out worker, and the piece of advice Darcy values most from her mum.

If you are considering taking the leap into engineering, this episode is essential listening.

To learn more about studying engineering at The University of Queensland, visit the Future Students website.

What's it really like to study engineering? And how can your university experience help to shape your career?

In this week’s episode of But Seriously, What is Engineering? we hear from two recent University of Queensland graduates and best friends, Karminee Karuna and Karen Zhou. 

Karminee and Karen reflect on their inspirations to pursue engineering, their journeys as university students, and how their friendship has enhanced their engineering careers.  

Listen in to hear how they found their tribe and built connections through their university years and the importance of maintaining those contacts as they move into the industry.

Whether they were sharing a dorm on a semester abroad supporting disadvantaged communities or championing diversity together through UQ's Women in Engineering program, their friendship and support has seen them achieve some amazing things. And they're just getting started.

To learn more about studying engineering at The University of Queensland, visit the Future Students website.

We're kicking off our new podcast series But Seriously, What is Engineering? with the incredible journey of mechanical engineering student Isabelle Fleming.

Isabelle has followed her passion for problem solving and people, making the most of every opportunity and stepping out of her comfort zone to grow and diversify her skill set. From joining the founding team of UQ Space to becoming co-founder and CEO of Koi Pay Australia, her varied experiences in such a short time have opened up endless possibilities for her future endeavours.

Prepare to be inspired by rockets, travel and entrepreneurship – who knows where engineering could lead you!

To learn more about studying engineering at The University of Queensland, visit the Future Students website.