M. Olsen, Chair for IEEE Northern Australia Section
IEEE Northern Australia Section was established in 1994 and recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. IEEE Northern Australia covers distances of some 2,200 km East-West and 2,800 km North-South encompassing the Northern Territory, Papua New Guinea and the Northern areas of Queensland. Despite being a small section, Northern Australia has strong membership retention rates and focuses on delivering relevant content. IEEE Northern Australia’s headquarters is at Townsville, Queensland with a secondary base in Cairns. It also has a Northern Territory Subsection based in Darwin. IEEE Northern Australia has a strong Power and Energy Society Chapter and a joint Communications – Microwave Theory & Techniques Society Chapter. Given the Section’s proximity to the Great Barrier Reef, it also has an Oceanic Engineering Society representative in the Executive Committee. The Section has Young Professionals and Women in Engineering Affinity groups as well as a Student Branch extending across three University campuses. The Northern Australia Section also sponsors several university engineering awards for academic excellence each year. In 2020, Australia started the year with severe bushfires and A/Prof Mal Heron gave a Communications in Bushfire’s technical talk for the local community.
The Northern Australia Section then adapted to COVID-19 implications by switching to virtual activities and focusing on content generated within the region. The Section launched the IEEE Backyard Invention Series (IBIS – Australia’s iconic bin chicken) to showcase the ingenuity of its members who were predominantly constrained to their homes. Topics ranged from Green Turtle Nesting by Ron Goodwin to Dunny Drama’s and the 12V pump by Dr. Graham Woods, intertwined with technical presentations such as Planning your Home Solar System with a Battery by A/PROF Keith Kikkert and Space 2.0 – the Buccaneer Project by Natalie Stevens. Last year, the Section held its flagship Peter Arlett Lecture with David Leitch presenting on The Economic Consequences of Technology Change in Electricity for North Queensland. The Northern Australia Section collaborated with Engineers Australia to boost the Women in Engineering affinity group impact through cohosting an International Women’s Day Breakfast and technical panel. It also worked with the local primary school community to engage with students on engineering careers with robotics and electronics, and was judges for the regional primary school robotics lego competition.
IEEE Backyard Invention Series (IBIS – Australia’s Iconic Bin Chicken) and Regional Robotics Competition Judges
The Northern Australia Section is grateful to have the 2021 Membership Development Plan selected as one of IEEE’s top 10, and to receive the 2020 R10 award for best small section membership growth. In 2021, the Section hopes to build closer ties with Industry, Young Professionals and the student community to help the region overcome the challenges of distance and strengthen our electrical & electronics engineering community.