Peter Taylor

Recent Speaker

Chief Executive Engineers Australia

August 6, 2008

Engineering Australia's Future

Peter Taylor is the Chief Executive of Engineers Australia, which is the peak body for engineering practitioners in Australia with more than 85,000 members.

Since taking up the position as Chief Executive in early 2004, Peter has been a staunch advocate of infrastructure reform, sustainability, global mobility of engineering professionals, and solving engineering skills shortages. Peter was awarded the Centenary Medal for services to Australian society through engineering.  

Peter’s address is aimed at bringing further debate and actions for what is needed to have the engineering capabilities and resources for Australia’s future.

Almost every aspect of modern life has been influenced by an engineer – the water we drink, the buildings we live, learn and work in, products created in factories, computers we surf the net on, the appliances and vehicles that make our life more efficient and comfortable – all owe their existence to engineers. Without question, engineering has been a constant companion in our development as a civilisation and engineering continues to plays a powerful role in bringing us closer to an environmentally sustainable and economically viable future.

There is a strong social and humanitarian dimension to engineering and virtually all engineering solutions are a response to a human need.  Engineers solve problems.  For example the most significant advances in medicine were not based on improved surgical or medical techniques, but almost entirely on engineering breakthroughs: from replacement joints to whole-body scanners; heart pacemakers; dialysis machines to artificial limbs - they are all designed, developed and built by engineers working closely with medical professionals and their patients.
 
Engineers have a central role to play in understanding nature.  Weather, tides, earthquakes, tsunami and volcanic eruptions are already better understood as a result of complex engineering systems for data gathering, analysis, interpretation, and forecasting, and the future may result in engineered interventions to influence and even, to a degree, control these forces. 

The concept of sustainability will influence almost all engineering developments and the potential effects on the environment, long term and short term, proximate and remote, will be integrated routinely into engineering design and planning.

Creative and innovative engineers can and do make a substantial positive contribution to raise the living standard of other Australians and take the country to a much higher level in terms of prosperity and quality of life. 

Peter’s address will coincide with Australian Engineering Week and the luncheon will also include the announcement of the winner of the inaugural National Press Club’s “Engineers Australia Journalism Award”.   For information about the Engineers Australia Journalism Award please click here