High-profile projects help fuel engineering upsurge

Ongoing news of major regional project work is among the factors believed to be behind an upsurge in engineering students enrolling at James Cook University. In 2024, JCU saw a 49 per cent increase in semester one commencing enrolments for engineering, with more than 180 students across Townsville and Cairns campuses. Along with a general increase, the other good news this year is that 22 per cent of that intake is female, compared to about 13 per cent last year, according to JCU Head of Engineering Bouchra Senadji. JCU's new Engineering and Innovation Place. "I think the message is out there that we need more engineers," she said. "I think the population is seeing investments in the region and they've probably also seen investments in our campus in the brand new building. So they're seeing investments going on to support engineering." She said also that after taking 'a hit' due to COVID19 measures, JCU engineering had stepped up its engagement with schools in the Cairns and Townsville regions. JCU College of Science and Engineering Dean Professor Ron White said high-profile regional projects like CopperString meant young people could see that the regions offered engineering jobs for them when they graduated. They may previously have viewed the destination as being in the capital cities and migrated there for their education as well, he said. "It's an important part of the mission here at JCU to support local industries so they do provide those destinations for our students," he said. JCU has industry advisory boards that oversee each of the programs within the College of Science and Engineering. Professor White said the importance of this was twofold. "One is about making sure that our curriculum is going to produce graduates that are industry-ready," he said. "But it's also bringing industry closer to us so that they do form part of the community here and they do form part of the solution to generating talent for their industries as well. "So it's been an important thing that has started to really bear fruit." Related: New Townsville university facility a ‘game changer’ JCU offers electrical, mechanical, civil, and chemical engineering courses at the Townsville campus and electrical engineering and the Internet of Things in Cairns. The university's new $100 million Engineering and Innovation Place (EIP) opened its doors to students at the Douglas campus in Townsville last month. Professor White said the university had focused on bringing good talent to lead the engineering program and the EIP provided a great vehicle to showcase its wares and engage industry. "It will house some really unique equipment that differentiates us from some of the other universities in Australia. We've got lots of plans and Bouchra is developing how she's going to shape engineering over the next five years." They may not achieve a 49 per cent increase in students coming into engineering every year, but Professor Senadji said the challenge was to maintain growth as well as continuing industry engagement. "JCU has a very high employment rate for our graduates. It's actually the highest in Queensland. It has a very high satisfaction rate. And again, it's the highest in Queensland. And we want to maintain that," she said. She was also keen to continue the positive messaging around engineering as a profession for women. ‘‘There is a real willingness to increase and improve representation of women in engineering here at JCU and I have been given a licence to do whatever I need to increase numbers,’’ she said. ‘‘The team has made great progress in fostering and empowering women in engineering through the Active Women in Engineering (AWESOME) society which is led by two female academics in Townsville and Cairns. ‘‘I’m looking forward to building on this momentum to grow this society so that we can really ensure women in engineering can shine and that the future engineers of our community, both women and men, can go on to create real change.’’ JCU Head of Engineering Professor Bouchra Senadji. James Cook University’s first female Head of Engineering Professor Bouchra Senadji never dreamt of becoming an engineer during her childhood in Morocco. In fact, she wasn’t even sure what engineers did. Professor Senadji said it was not uncommon for engineering students to have misconceptions about where their career may take them. ‘‘I wish I could say I was passionate about engineering when I was young but often, just like me when I was young, we find our students do not fully understand what engineers do,’’ Professor Senadji said. ‘‘There is a misconception about engineering because of media representations showing hard hats and heavy tools which is not the reality of our work. As women in engineering, we can just be ourselves. We don’t want to be confined to a particular type - and we don’t have to. We can be whoever we want to be while being an engineer. ‘‘For me, it’s the most exciting, creative and beautiful profession ever. Imagine where you would be if engineers weren’t there? Would we have buildings, power, phone, medical devices – we wouldn’t. ‘‘It’s also here to serve the community and, to me, all engineering is humanitarian as it serves the needs of our society through identifying gaps to make everyone’s lives better.’’ Professor Senadji said she was fortunate her parents invested in her education and made ‘strong suggestions’ about pursuing a career in engineering. ‘’They told me it would be great if I could be an engineer,’’ she said. For Professor Senadji, the rest was history. Completing her studies in electrical engineering at a French Grandes écoles was no small feat. ‘‘I can recall in my first job I was building software and I would think ‘when do I get to be an engineer’ because I didn’t realise I was being an engineer,’’ Professor Senadji said. ‘‘I soon found my feet and moved to Australia for four months to do a post-doctoral study in telecommunications with the Queensland University of Technology. ‘‘Four months became two years working as a lecturer and then I met my partner and had two children and many years later, here I am today in Townsville.’’ Professor Senadji said she worked hard to climb through the ranks at QUT taking on various leadership roles before deciding to make the move north. ‘‘I saw the role here at JCU and thought, I can do something great at JCU,’’ she said. ‘‘I’m excited by the strategic possibilities of having a female Head of Engineering because as a university, we want to appeal to women who might be thinking of studying engineering with us. ‘‘I don’t believe that as female leaders and role models we have to be out there preaching every day, but if we can just be and are seen, then obstacles and negative assumptions are removed because people can see that someone else has done it, which means they can too.’’

High-profile projects help fuel engineering upsurge

Industry Queensland

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