Regional career move an award winner for GHD young engineer

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3 August 2009

GHD Mount Gambier Manager Michael Scott has been named Young Professional Engineer of the Year at the South Australian Engineering Excellence Awards.

Michael, who began his career at GHD in Brisbane a decade ago, was recognised for raising the profile of professional engineering in regional areas.

Michael is involved in Engineers Australia’s Regional Taskforce, which identifies programs to assist engineers in remote areas, and is also aiming to establish better networks and services for engineers in regional South Australia.

“When young engineers leave university they often don’t consider the advantages of working in a regional area,” Michael said.

“Moving to a regional community can be a great career move. You end up with a lot more responsibility and independence than you would have working in the city.”

Michael spent four years working on mega-projects in Dubai before making his regional move two and a half years ago.

He said he enjoyed working on projects that made a real difference to the community, like the $2.1 million Blue Lake Pontoon Upgrade which also received at commendation at the awards.

The city of Mount Gambier relies on the Blue Lake as its primary source of potable water. GHD and Waternish worked with SA Water to upgrade pumping infrastructure to secure the water supply for the city.

“SA Water was facing a situation where this infrastructure may have been inoperable as early as next year due to the lowering levels of the Blue Lake,” Michael said.

“A coordinated approach from all involved in the project meant a continuous supply of potable water was able to be maintained during construction with no interruptions to SA Water’s customers.

“This vital work has now secured Mount Gambier’s water supply for the future.”

For further information, contact:

Sonia Adams

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