"Industry Night" in New South Wales

On 15 August 2019, IMechE New South Wales hosted their "Industry Night" providing an opportunity for local university students and graduates to gain insight into what it is like to transition from university into employment in the engineering world.

Hosted by Arup at their Sydney Office, the IMechE organised a panel of industry professionals who generously donated their time and knowledge for the evening. The IMechE conveys their gratitude to Omar Awad (Aurecon), Jakki Artus (Arup), Ruth Hoong Antink (Turnbull Engineering) and Mark Carling (SNC-Lavalin Atkins).

The evening kicked-off with a networking session where all attendees were able to meet fellow like-minded professionals. Hot food and cold beverages were at hand throughout the evening to fuel the minds for thoughts and ideas – it is a well-known fact that there is no better way to entice students with “free food and drinks”!

The transition from university to the working world can be quite daunting. To ease the stress and worry within this journey, the IMechE assembled the panellists to represent each step along the way:

• Omar representing recruitment,
• Ruth and Jakki representing those who have gone through the recruitment process recently
• Mark representing the experienced professional and someone who might oversee the recruitment process.

The panelists illustrated their experience via a short presentation covering their background, their early years and what they are doing today. The presentations were followed by an interactive question and answer session that gave the students a chance to ask those burning questions about recruitment. The underlying message from the presentations was to be opportunistic and not to over plan – you will never know what is around the corner! Learning does not stop after university and as budding and seasoned engineers, it is important to take advantage of every opportunity.

The evening was well attended and well received by everyone. All attendees certainly were able to take something away from the event – students and panellists alike. Attendees were given the opportunity to sign up for an IMechE membership and hence participate in future such events. 

IMechE wishes to extend their gratitude and appreciation to all students for attending the event, to our panel members for their generosity and time, to Arup for providing the venue and organisation and finally to the IMechE NSW Committee for volunteering their time and efforts into organising a successful event.