Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Engineers Australia'

A significant number of engineers move into management positions, their numbers increasing with their length of service. However, engineers are not considered to be effective managers and are generally considered inadequate in soft skills. Given the centrality of engineers and management, understanding this transition is essential in order to develop strategies for managing. This research is an exploratory field-based study of the transition of professional engineers into management roles (engineer-managers) in Australia, from the perspective of the individual engineer. The study investigates the attitudes of engineers towards such areas as engineering education, towards managerial transition, status, organizational support systems, and strategies for managing transition, and examines their influence on the process of transition. Importantly, this research examines the influence of factors such as job nature, management qualifications, age, employing organizations, and other variables on their attitudes, and studies the differences between various subgroups of engineers. This research is based on the results of a case study and a questionnaire survey. An important outcome of this research is the focus on the process of engineering education. This research concludes that different emphases in the process of teaching and learning would contribute, in the long run, to engineers developing soft skills, and so make their transition into management easier. The study found that electrical engineers are more proactive than civil or mechanical engineers and that it is necessary to develop different strategies for different groups of engineers. The study observed that the higher the status of professional engineers within an organization, the greater was the likelihood of success. Supporting the anecdotal evidence from the case study, it is noted that the more engineers there are in management positions, the better the perception of senior management about their capabilities. This study found that management education for engineers has a strong influence, both in terms of their acquiring managerial skills as well as enhancing their status within their organization. Experiential learning, though, is the most common method by which engineers acquire managerial skills. The study also found that this is the least-managed strategy in Australian organizations; learning is left entirely to the individual. For engineers to be able to take advantage of experiential learning, better management is necessary
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis examines issues in Australian undergraduate engineering management studies in the context of flexible learning delivery. It is proposed that, within an Australian context: a) the management skills and competencies required by graduate engineers can be determined and classified on a rational basis, permitting an educational focus on those elements most appropriate for graduates; and b) on-line and other computer-based technologies are a practical and effective method for the support of undergraduate engineering management studies. The doctoral project incorporates: • an examination of the nature of engineering management; • a review of the relevant literature establishing the importance of management studies in undergraduate engineering courses; • a review of historical and recent developments in Australian undergraduate engineering management studies; • an investigation of the management skills and competencies required by graduate engineers - based on original research; • an examination of flexible delivery of engineering education - based on professional practice experience; and • an evaluation of case studies of flexible delivery of engineering management education - based on original research and professional practice experience. A framework of ranked classified management skills is developed. Broadly, the ranking framework is generic professional skills, followed by general management skills and technical discipline specific management skills, followed by other professional discipline skills and theoretical skills. This framework provides a rational basis for design of undergraduate engineering management studies. This is supplemented by consideration of the management skills required for the future of engineering practice. It is concluded that undergraduate engineering management education is well suited to delivery and support by on-line and computer-based technology. Recent developments in improved access to the Internet, software systems for on-line collaboration and changes in copyright legislation to create a broad-based right to communication via on-line media have contributed to the facilitation of on-line delivery of teaching and learning. It is noted that though many on-line infrastructure issues have been satisfactorily resolved, higher level issues will emerge as being crucial, including the academic staff development and reward for operating in an online teaching environment and the financial sustainability of on-line development and delivery of courses.

Western Australia was founded as Australia’s first free colony in June 1829. The colony was not as successful as those in eastern Australia, and many of the settlers argued that the poor progress was due in part to a shortage of labourers. By 1849 the colonists had decided that their only way forward was to become a penal colony and the first ship arrived in June 1850 carrying 75 convicts.The thesis explores the impact that convicts had on the built environment of Western Australia. To understand the convicts’ contribution to the building industry this thesis begins with a study of buildings constructed before 1850. Extensive research was undertaken into the types of buildings erected by the settlers between 1829 and 1850: such as the types of materials used, the design and who actually constructed the buildings. The study found that before the arrival of the convicts the colony had a shortage of men with skills in the building trade. One of the major factors that enabled the convicts to contribute to the development of the colony’s building industry was vocational training, in areas such as bricklaying, brickmaking, carpentry and masonry that they obtained during their incarceration in public works prisons in Britain.This training was provided by the British government before the convicts were transported to a penal colony, as part of a new system of penal discipline. Following their arrival in Western Australia, soldiers of the Royal Engineers continued the convicts’ training on public works projects in the colony.This thesis expands our knowledge of how the convict system operated in Western Australia, especially how it differed from that used in Australia’s eastern colonies. It highlights the integral part that the Royal Engineers had in the convicts’ training, a role not previously investigated. The examination of how ticket--‐of--‐leave men (convicts out on parole) were utilised by private settlers indicated that there were considerable flow--‐on effects for the private citizen, not just for public projects. In particular, the research has shown that the skills gained by the convicts while erecting government colonial buildings were of direct benefit to the settlers. One important and far--‐reaching benefit was the substitution of brick for rammed earth or wattle and daub.Finally, the thesis used an archaeological methodology to analyse and compare two groups of buildings; those constructed before 1850 and those constructed after 1850. This use of archaeological methods to analyse standing structures is considerably under--‐utilized in Western Australia.

The 1996 Johnson stakeholder review of Australian engineering education recommended the development of a number of broadly defined attributes in all engineering graduates. The Institution of Engineers, Australia (now Engineers Australia) responded swiftly by switching the focus of its engineering course accreditation requirements from course content to graduate attribute outcomes. To maximise the effectiveness of this approach to the mechanical engineering discipline a clear understanding of the relative significance of a more detailed range of attributes to Australian industry is essential, yet the scope of the mechanical engineering profession is broad and views of individual practitioners contributing to debate on attribute requirements are largely influenced by their own often unique professional formation. The research presented in this thesis is unique in using a role based analysis of the relative significance of an extensive range of attributes considered relevant to Australian mechanical engineers. The study covers the six industries found to employ the greatest number of Australian mechanical engineers. The significance of these attributes in the core mechanical engineering roles of each industry are weighted according to the numbers of mechanical engineers employed in those roles. These attribute significance profiles are considered in the context of a study of the formative development of the profession under the extensive influence of 19th and 20th century UK and US practices and recent momentous changes in engineering employment and formation. A wide range of appropriate teaching strategies to develop the most significant attributes through proximal and distance learning are explored and a brief account of the candidate’s work in developing and assessing the use of technology to enhance flexible learning in the field of engineering education is also included in this thesis. Whilst major areas of the mechanical engineers knowledge base are considered as part of the main study, further case study based research is presented to assess in more detail the knowledge base requirements for Australia’s best performing manufacturing industry by ‘industry value added’ - Food, Beverage and Pharmaceuticals and as such provides an indication of the relevance of the content base of Australian mechanical (as well as chemical and electrical) engineering degree programs to an Australian industry sector.

The Transition Continuum Model explains the ongoing and often unresolved nature of women engineers’ transitions to manager and leader. Qualitative methodology, informed by phenomenological and feminist perspectives, were used to explore this transition. Transitions occur over external, internal and temporal dimensions shaped by an interplaying triad of individual, relational and structural influences. The research shows that the multiple dimensions and influences must be considered together as a dynamic system.

"This research investigated whether engineers, graduating from universities more than a decade after the introduction new occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation in Australia, were being equipped with the knowledge and skills to fulfil their professional, legal and moral responsibilities in relation to occupational health and safety. The study focussed on engineering students as future business leaders and designers of working environments. An instrument was designed to examine the ability of OH&S education to affect decision-making and problem solving competence in engineering students and graduates. The study found that engineering graduates in the 1990's were departing [from] their academic institutions with superficial knowledge of occupational health and safety responsibilities and accountability in the workplace. The evaluative tool identified an absence of safety management skills and knowledge within graduate and student engineer groups and an extensive urge to blame and discipline the victim or blame a government regulatory authority. The research found that although occupational health and safety professionals adopt a strategy of a safe work place rather than place emphasis on individual workers the engineers did not adopt the safe place approach and focussed on the person. It is recommended that the evaluative tool or a derivative of it should be used to evaluate the extent to which our community progresses in developing the vital OHS decision-making skills of the people who will manage and design workplaces." --p.ii.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

"This research investigated whether engineers, graduating from universities more than a decade after the introduction new occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation in Australia, were being equipped with the knowledge and skills to fulfil their professional, legal and moral responsibilities in relation to occupational health and safety. The study focussed on engineering students as future business leaders and designers of working environments. An instrument was designed to examine the ability of OH&S education to affect decision-making and problem solving competence in engineering students and graduates. The study found that engineering graduates in the 1990's were departing [from] their academic institutions with superficial knowledge of occupational health and safety responsibilities and accountability in the workplace. The evaluative tool identified an absence of safety management skills and knowledge within graduate and student engineer groups and an extensive urge to blame and discipline the victim or blame a government regulatory authority. The research found that although occupational health and safety professionals adopt a strategy of a safe work place rather than place emphasis on individual workers the engineers did not adopt the safe place approach and focussed on the person. It is recommended that the evaluative tool or a derivative of it should be used to evaluate the extent to which our community progresses in developing the vital OHS decision-making skills of the people who will manage and design workplaces." --p.ii.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Pomacentridae is one of the most representative families of herbivorous fishes inhabiting both tropical and temperate reefs, yet the vast majority of studies examining feeding within this family have been undertaken in tropical rather than temperate regions. Despite the high abundances of the pomacentrid Parma mccullochi in temperate waters of Western Australia, and their likely importance in removing algae from reefs in the region, there is a lack of information on their diet and their impact on the reef algal community. This study aims to determine the role of Parma mccullochi as an ecosystem engineer on temperate algal-dominated reefs in the metropolitan waters of Perth, Western Australia. To achieve this, the diet of P. mccullochi and any ontogenetic differences, and its impact on the reef in terms of algal composition and algal recruitment were determined. P. mccullochi in the temperate reefs of Western Australia was found to be a strict herbivore, with its diet comprising almost entirely red foliose and filamentous algae such as Hypnea spp., Ceramium sp. and Brongniatrella sp., and showing no ontogenetic shift. Based on electivity indices, P. mccullochi showed a positive selection for specific algal taxa such as Brongniartella sp., Dasyclonium sp., Hypnea spp. and Dictyopteris spp. The species composition of macroalgae differed significantly between inside and outside P. mccullochi territories (P = 0.010), and a caging experiment in P. mccullochi territories indicated a moderate effect on the composition of recruiting algae (P = 0.067). Algal assemblages inside the territories were characterised by Hypnea spp. and Dasyclonium spp., while those outside the territories were characterised by the brown algae Ecklonia radiata and Sargassum spp., the foliose red alga Rhodimenia sonderi and the coralline red alga Amphiroa anceps. Total algal biomass was significantly lower (P = 0.0126) while species richness was higher (P = 0.0114) inside compared to outside territories. This study, therefore, provides the evidence to refute the theory that temperate Pomacentridae have a low impact on the temperate reefs (Jones 1992). P. mccullochi has the capacity to structure the benthic composition of reefs and maintain high biodiversity patches within kelp canopies. This effect is amplified by the high abundances of the species observed in Perth metropolitan waters, and can therefore be considered an ecosystem engineer/landscaper of temperate algal dominated reefs, highlighting its importance in ecosystem processes of temperate reefs in the region.

The issue of sustainability has greatest significance in the midst of unilateral bio-socioeconomic degradation resulting from intense and increasing societal pressures placed on the unified global ecology. In such an environment, sustainable development seeks to manage natural resources within a free market economy, aiming to meet the needs of today's population, and to protect and enhance current resource quality and abundance. In this light, techniques of integrated sustainable primary production and wastewater management are the subject matters of this applied research. There are many researchable issues which could be addressed within the subject matter. The first focus in the research scope was driven by the most severe sustainability issue facing Central Queensland (Australia) in 2000: the depletion and degradation of freshwater supplies. Central Queensland (CQ) is an arid sub-tropical region that has suffered from a marked reduction in rainfall and increase in temperature over the last 100 years, {Miles, 2004 #172}, and by the year 2000, conditions had been exacerbated by eight years of severe drought and warmer than average temperatures and resulted in widespread animal and crop failures due to freshwater shortages. Such a problem required a multi-faceted ecological, social, and economic approach. Hence, research centred on investigating the science of integrating regional water-related industries and agribusiness, and biodiverse ecosystems to achieve water and wastewater reuse applications, and associated eco-socioeconomic benefits. Specifically, this research investigates the integration of (a) electrical power station wastewater (b) barramundi culture, (c) red claw culture, (d) constructed wetlands (for water quality management and habitat creation), and (e) hydroponic flower culture. This research produced outcomes of integrated water and wastewater reuse and recycling, marketable agriproducts production (fish, crayfish, and flowers), water and wastewater reuse and conservation, wetland primary production, carbon dioxide sequestration, aquatic pollution control, and biodiversity creation and support. Successful design and management, experimental trialing and evaluation of system components and subjects, and the development of a knowledge base including static and dynamic system models, represent advances in respective research areas, and underpin the emerging discipline of integrated systems approaches to eco-socioeconomic development. Additionally, several gaps in the current body of knowledge regarding integrated systems were filled, and interactive management tools were developed. Apart from this study, the integration of technologies (as described above) has not, to this author's knowledge, been accomplished.

This thesis focuses on the factors which lead to off-shore manufacture of Australian inventions. It establishes this phenomenon as a problem, both in terms of its incidence in the post-war period, and in the strategic importance of innovative activity to economic growth. The thesis utilises a case study approach and concentrates on the experiences of one company, the Orbital Engine Corporation (Orbital). In 1989 Ralph Sarich, inventor of the Orbital Combustion Process (OCP) engine and founder of Orbital, signed an agreement with the Michigan state government to manufacture the engine in the United States of America (USA), in preference to several alternative sites in Australia and overseas. This occurred in the context of Orbital actively pursuing assistance from the Australian government to secure local production. The research question is: Why did Orbital decide to manufacture its engine invention ofshore? A multi-disciplinary approach to this question is adopted. Three different conceptual frameworks are employed: industrial organisation theory, market failure theory and policy network theory. The analysis is not structured around a pre-existing hypothesis; instead, the aim is to generate potential explanations for more rigorous testing by subsequent researchers. The thesis concludes that, in terms of industrial organisation theory, the decision to manufacture OCP engines off-shore was a function of the poor quality of the Australian industrial context and the failure by those seeking assistance from the Commonwealth government to stress Orbital's status as an exemplary enterprise in Australian industry. Market failure theory indicated that offshore production of the OCP engine was made more likely by the suboptimal operation of the price mechanism, the neglect of market failure arguments by those supporting local production of the engine and 'government failure'. Policy network theory explained Orbital's decision as the result of: ineffective employment of negotiation tactics by proponents of the engine's domestic manufacture; and the chaotic nature of negotiations which allowed certain personal and ideological prejudices to dominate the issue resolution process. It is shown that some or all of these explanations underlie a number of other examples where Australian inventions have been manufactured offshore. In commenting on policy implications, the thesis points to the economic potential of the Orbital invention and the value of interventionist industry policy. The thesis identifies a number of actions which might be taken to lower the incidence of foreign manufacture of Australian inventions. Further research is necessary to determine the relative importance of the various factors which are identified as leading to offshore production. In addition, there remains a particularly crucial need to improve the social efficiency of existing cost-benefit techniques employed by government policy-makers and commercial analysts.

This thesis focuses on the factors which lead to off-shore manufacture of Australian inventions. It establishes this phenomenon as a problem, both in terms of its incidence in the post-war period, and in the strategic importance of innovative activity to economic growth. The thesis utilises a case study approach and concentrates on the experiences of one company, the Orbital Engine Corporation (Orbital). In 1989 Ralph Sarich, inventor of the Orbital Combustion Process (OCP) engine and founder of Orbital, signed an agreement with the Michigan state government to manufacture the engine in the United States of America (USA), in preference to several alternative sites in Australia and overseas. This occurred in the context of Orbital actively pursuing assistance from the Australian government to secure local production. The research question is: Why did Orbital decide to manufacture its engine invention ofshore? A multi-disciplinary approach to this question is adopted. Three different conceptual frameworks are employed: industrial organisation theory, market failure theory and policy network theory. The analysis is not structured around a pre-existing hypothesis; instead, the aim is to generate potential explanations for more rigorous testing by subsequent researchers. The thesis concludes that, in terms of industrial organisation theory, the decision to manufacture OCP engines off-shore was a function of the poor quality of the Australian industrial context and the failure by those seeking assistance from the Commonwealth government to stress Orbital's status as an exemplary enterprise in Australian industry. Market failure theory indicated that offshore production of the OCP engine was made more likely by the suboptimal operation of the price mechanism, the neglect of market failure arguments by those supporting local production of the engine and 'government failure'. Policy network theory explained Orbital's decision as the result of: ineffective employment of negotiation tactics by proponents of the engine's domestic manufacture; and the chaotic nature of negotiations which allowed certain personal and ideological prejudices to dominate the issue resolution process. It is shown that some or all of these explanations underlie a number of other examples where Australian inventions have been manufactured offshore. In commenting on policy implications, the thesis points to the economic potential of the Orbital invention and the value of interventionist industry policy. The thesis identifies a number of actions which might be taken to lower the incidence of foreign manufacture of Australian inventions. Further research is necessary to determine the relative importance of the various factors which are identified as leading to offshore production. In addition, there remains a particularly crucial need to improve the social efficiency of existing cost-benefit techniques employed by government policy-makers and commercial analysts.

[Truncated abstract] Ecosystem engineers are organisms that physically modify habitat in a manner that modulate resource flows and species within ecosystems. Ecosystem engineering is distinct from classical interactions (competition, predation, parasitism and mutualism) in that it does not involve direct trophic exchange between organisms. The term ‘ecosystem engineer’ is a recently adopted one, and we are just beginning to investigate the occurrence and impact of engineers in ecosystems. My thesis explores the ecosystem engineering actions of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, Puffinus pacificus, in a Mediterranean island, heathland ecosystem. I have approached this by (1) describing and quantifying the physical impact of these engineers, and (2) describing and quantifying the effects that these actions have on three major ecosystem components: the soil, the vascular plants, and the vertebrate fauna. Wedge-tailed Shearwaters are procellariid seabirds that excavate nesting burrows on offshore islands. The birds are colonial nesters, and on Rottnest Island, 17 km off the mainland coast of south-western Western Australia, their colonies have expanded considerably in recent decades. The expansion fits the trend observed in other tropicalorigin seabirds that breed in south-western Australia. In the last ten years, two new colonies have appeared (in a total of six) and the number of burrows on the island has almost doubled, to 11 745 ± 1320SE. In the same period the area occupied by the birds has increased by almost half ...

Low Intensity Conflict (LIC) is a significant feature of the contemporary world and it is a particular challenge to the armed forces of many states which are involved is such conflict, or are likely to become so. This thesis is not concerned with how such difficult conflict situations arise. Rather it is concerned with how, from the point of view of the state, they may be contained and ultimately brought to a satisfactory resolution. The work is thus concerned with the practicalities of ending LIC. More specifically, the purpose of this research is to establish a framework of doctrinal and military principles applicable to the prevention and resolution of LIC. The principles of this thesis are based in numerous historical examples of LIC and six in depth case studies. These distilled principles are analysed in two central chapters, and are then applied in two latter defence force chapters so as to ensure there practicality and resilience. Numerous defence academics and military practitioners have been consulted in the production of this thesis; their contribution has further reinforced the functionality of the principles examined in this research. The research illustrates the criticality of a holistic approach to LIC. The function of this approach is to guarantee the stability of the sovereign state, by unifying civil, police, intelligence and military services. The effectiveness of the military elements must also be ensured, as military force is central to the suppression of LIC. Consequently, the research makes strategic and operational prescriptions, so as to improve the capability of defence forces that are concerned with preventing or resolving LIC.

The purpose of this research is to address the issue of education for Requirements Engineers. This thesis argues that a framework can be developed that more closely models the experiences of practitioners, and addresses their expectations of novice Requirements Engineers. By examining the gap between the competency expectations of practitioners and traditional formal education for the discipline, and then matching these gaps with strategies drawn from the literature of learning theory and models that purport to focus on these, this study shows that non-traditional approaches provide leverage for a graduate entering the profession of Requirements Engineering.

Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) is a new virus of wheat crop in Australia. Discovered in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in 2003, the virus has put Australian commercial bread wheat at a risk of major losses. Although, the virus is naturally transmitted by Wheat curl mites (WCM), some of the Australian farming community expressed concerns that grazing of early sown, dual-purpose wheat for winter forage may have a role in the spread of WSMV. We probed this issue in a series of experiments with housed sheep grazing on WSMV infected wheat plants. However, we find no evidence for the suggestion that grazing sheep spread the WSMV between plants in a grazed wheat crop as a consequence of the grazing process itself. We tested for natural resistance against WSMV in diverse germplasm including three different known resistance sources in cultivated wheat. Previously reported resistances were effective against the Australian isolate of WSMV. Some accessions of these resistances were ineffective at higher temperatures (all Wsm1 and most Wsm2 accessions); some were reported to have linked negative agronomic traits (most accessions of Wsm1). Two exceptions were c2652 and Wsm2 accession CA745 which were very effective at controlled higher temperatures (28{u00B0}C), in the glasshouse, and also protected plants from symptoms and yield loss following WSMV mechanical inoculation in the field, making these two sources particularly useful in the relatively warm Australian agro-climate. New molecular markers were developed for the various derivatives of Wsm1 resistance that should help speed up the breeding of resistance into wheat cultivars. These Wsm1 markers are now being used by CSIRO for breeding Wsm1-resistance into elite wheat cultivars. Furthermore, we developed and tested two independent transgenic strategies based on intron-hairpin RNA (ihpRNAi) and artificial microRNAs (amiRNA). Both strategies were effective in conferring immunity in transgenic wheat to mechanically inoculated WSMV. We classified this resistance as immunity by four criteria: no disease symptoms were produced; Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) readings were as in un-inoculated plants; viral sequences could not be detected by RT-PCR from leaf extracts; and leaf extracts failed to give infections in susceptible plants when used in test-inoculation experiments. We developed ihpRNA or RNAi based immune transgenic wheat by designing an RNAi construct to target the Nuclear inclusion protein 'a' (NIa) gene of WSMV. The Northern and Southern blot hybridization analysis indicated the ihpRNA transgene integrated into the wheat genome and was processed into typical 21-24 nucleotide long siRNAs and correlated with immunity in transgenic plants. In order to achieve amiRNA immunity, we designed five artificial microRNAs (amiRNA) against different portions of the WSMV genome, utilising published miRNA sequence and folding rules; these amiRNAs were incorporated into five duplex arms of the polycistronic rice primary microRNA (pri-miR395) and transformed into wheat. Southern blot hybridisation showed that the transgene was stably integrated into the wheat genome and processed into small RNAs, both correlating with transgenic resistance against WSMV. As a consequence of the work described in this thesis, the wheat industry in Australia and abroad has both conventional and transgenic options for the control of this serious viral pathogen.