CQUniversity is supporting the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE) and Engineers Australia to conduct a major conference at Yeppoon, with 170 participants registered to attend...

The AaeE 19th annual conference will be held at Rydges Capricorn Resort at Yeppoon from Sunday to Wednesday (December 7-10), morphing into a meeting of the Australian Council of Engineering Deans on the Wednesday.

Sunday is a workshop day, there's an official opening and conference proceedings on Monday and Tuesday is the day when CQ regional engineers come to mingle with engineering educators. There will be 3 keynote addresses, 10 workshops and 98 presentations.

Tuesday evening has been earmarked for the John Holland Conference and Awards Dinner.

It is 10 years since CQUniversity last co-hosted the conference, which is a major event on the Australian engineering calendar.

Conference Chair Dr Prue Howard, from CQUniversity, said the theme for this year's conference 'To Industry and Beyond' was intended to encourage delegates to think about a number of issues that impact on the future of engineering education.

"What is engineering? What do the various stakeholders want from an engineering graduate? How is the engineering workplace changing? What pressures will engineering graduates face at work now and in the future? What are the internal and external pressures experienced in engineering education?" Dr Howard said.

Overseas-based keynote speaker Dr Shanna Daly is a researcher at Purdue University and the University of Michigan. The other keynotes are Emeritus Professor Robin King (Executive Officer of the Australian Council of Engineering Deans) and Graham Scott (Managing Director of Graham Scott and Associates).