Introduction by the Chairman
– Dr Ashok Peiris, PhD, MSc, DIC, BScEng Hons, MEAust, CPEng
IESL NSW Chapter had its 11th Annual General Meeting on 20 September 2020 and a new Management Committee was elected for the year 2020/2021.
The chapter will continue to work towards increasing the members’ participation in its activities in the upcoming year. We encourage engineers living in NSW and ACT to take part in all Chapter activities and contribute towards the sustainable growth of this organisation which is in its 12th year.
The IESL NSW Chapter in general conducts several public lectures every year. Distinguished engineers deliver these lectures at the Engineers Australia auditorium. However, considering the prevailing situation, our activities are limited to on-line base. As part of the scheduled lecture series, we had our first public lecture via Zoom on 17 February 2021. Upcoming public lectures and events will be published in our website and will be circulated among the general membership. We encourage our engineers to actively participate in these lecture series and invite your friends in Australia and Sri Lanka to join via an on-line platform.
IESL NSW Chapter will conduct the annual Young Engineers Day (YED) dedicated for young engineers and engineering students in the universities. The Chapter will also conduct “Women in Engineering Day” for women engineers to have a forum to discuss their issues in workplaces, to develop networking, improve their professional development etc.
We encourage our membership especially to young engineers to share their views and experiences during these forums and thus use this opportunity to interact with practicing engineers and expand their network. We would also like to encourage them to make this newsletter as a platform to publish articles sharing their ideas and experiences.
The main event in the Chapter’s activity calendar is the Engineering Convention which consists of the Engineering Conference and the Gala Dinner scheduled to be held in July/August 2021. IESL NSW Chapter cordially invites and encourages the membership to participate in this important annual event. Further details on the Engineering Convention will be circulated among the membership in due course.
We earnestly request all engineers in NSW and ACT to write to us to inform the achievements of our fellow engineers. IESL NSW Chapter would like to circulate this news among the membership via the newsletters and give due recognition to the achievements of our fellow engineers.
We request the newly migrated engineers to contact us if they need any assistance from the IESL NSW Chapter. The chapter will use its contacts to assist the new migrants in any possible way. We encourage senior engineers who have already established their careers in Australia to reach out to the new migrant engineers and provide their support.
The voluntary contribution scheme held over the last two years was successful and helps the Chapter immensely. More details of the voluntary contribution scheme are available elsewhere in this newsletter.
