Top 10: Advice from Engineers Australia magazine’s 2013 Top 100 Engineers

from Engineers Australia

These quotes were extracted from video interviews with some of Engineers Australia magazine’s Top 100 Engineers available at the new site for continuous learning specifically for engineers, Engineering OnLine.

“When I came into the workforce, a degree was defining. It no longer is – and the world is changing rapidly. You do need to commit to ongoing education whether it’s technical or management.”

– John Douglas, managing director of Coffey International.

“Find the role that gives you a sense of reward – you can’t fake that.”

– Chris Jenkins, managing director, Thales Australia

“In Silicon Valley they say no one will even fund you unless you’ve failed once or twice. Young graduates are the perfect people to start up new businesses.”

– Hugh Durrant-Whyte, CEO of NICTA

“It’s good to work for small companies because you get the chance to see everything that’s going on in a business across multiple areas.”

– Matt Barrie, founder and CEO of freelancer.com

“Role models were important particularly in the early part of my career when I was trying to work out my path as an engineer.”

– Simon Poole, director of new business ventures, Finisar Australia

“A network is really just another team: it’s a group of people from which you can obtain ideas and information, a self-help network.”

– Geoff Lilliss, managing director and CEO of Ampcontrol

“If you get the chance to work abroad, take it. You get exposed to a variety of cultures, technologies and systems that engineers need to work within.”

– Guy Templeton, president and COO Asia-Pacific at Parsons Brinckerhoff

“While you’re building your career, it’s important to remember to consider all your social roles and to balance all of them in your life – that will ensure you remain happy, satisfied and successful.”

– Marlene Kanga, 2013 national president of Engineers Australia

“Get a good technical grounding, but if you do aspire to be a senior leader in your company or industry, you’ll need to think about diversification of skills.”

– Peter McIntyre, managing director of Transgrid

“Think carefully about what you’re passionate about and where you can use your abilities most effectively. The world is full of change, so don’t be afraid of it.”

– Peter Wenham, director of Arc Photovoltaics Centre, University of New South Wales

To view the full interviews for free, EA members can visit www.engineeringonlune.com.