CQU Professor Elizabeth Taylor, Dean of the James Goldston Faculty of Engineering and Physical Systems, is celebrating being recognised as an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO).

Professor Taylor said she was honoured and overwhelmed to receive the award, which was given for service to engineering education through the design and implementation of innovative academic programs, to professional associations, and to enhancing the status of women in the profession and promoting it as a career option.

CQU’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Glenice Hancock said Professor Taylor was a highly valued member of the University’s leadership team.

“She works tirelessly to build the profile of Engineering and to support her staff and students”, Professor Hancock said.

“Elizabeth is a young woman of enormous talent who provides an excellent role model for staff and students.” Professor Taylor was nominated by the Institution of Engineers Australia, also known as Engineers Australia, the country's largest and most diverse engineering association. Members subscribe to a common code of ethics and are committed to the sustainable development of Australia.

“Elizabeth has demonstrated outstanding excellence in engineering education, its relationship to industry and the community," said Mr Peter Jorss, Queensland President of Engineers Australia.

"She is someone who has displayed extraordinary leadership in tertiary engineering education and is an Australian leader in engineering practice," he added.

Professor Taylor, the first female Dean of Engineering to be appointed to CQU (in 2001), and to any Queensland University was also appointed chairperson to the Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland in 2003, making her the first woman to be appointed to that position as well. The Board registers professional engineers, ensuring public confidence in the level of engineering expertise provided to Queenslanders.

Professor Taylor said she had striven to increase opportunities for staff and community members to have a say in the vision of the Faculty.

“I’m privileged that I have the chance as manager to provide opportunities for a very creative and innovative staff who care about students and the community and their vision for engineering education. CQU has successfully implemented curriculum models such as project based learning and cooperative education that make it an Australian leader in innovative engineering education." Professor Taylor said that staff initiative had led to CQU being Austalia’s only regional university to host a CRC (in this case the CRC for Railway Engineering and Technologies) initiative and now staff were working to create the same research opportunities for the Central Queensland region through the Process Engineering and Light Metals (PELM) project.

Professor Taylor said: "Sustainability is essential to engineering... We have to be sophisticated about the decisions we collectively make to minimise the impact on the environment while bringing benefits to our communities. We need to know how to ask the right questions and ensure that debate is open, generous and empathetic. It's important that all men and women have input on decisions about our future." An engineer with the Maritime Services Board of NSW in the 1980s, Professor Taylor was involved in design and on site management of projects that included the Balmain Coal Loader, the No 3 Berth Darling Harbour and the Ferry Jetty Reconstruction Program. She went on to become a Women in Engineering Coordinator and (subsequently) academic at the University of Technology, Sydney.

An active member of Engineers Australia, Professor Taylor is also on the board of directors of RedR (Registered Engineers for Disaster Relief) and also Engineers Media. Professor Taylor, who holds a law degree was awarded the Boeing Medal for Excellence in Engineering Education in 1998. In 1996 she became the first women President of the Sydney Divison of Engineers Australia representing 17,000 members. During 1995-6 she chaired the Interface with Students Taskforce of the National Review of Engineering Education initiated by the Institution of Engineers, Australia, the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and the Australian Council of Engineering Deans, supported by the Department of Education, Employment and Training.