INDIGENOUS REPRESENTATION IN THE ENGINEERING COMMUNITY

There is no question that Indigenous Australians are badly under-represented in the engineering profession - the number of trained engineers required to make up the shortfall is numbered in the thousands. This is unfortunate, because engineering is the only original wealth-creating profession. Under-representation of any group in society means that the attitudes and opinions of that group are presented only by hearsay in important forums where the future of Australia is being decided.

Remote communities and outback Australia are areas most in need of sympathetic infrastructure development - a process which can only be undertaken ultimately with the contribution of engineering professionals, educated in our universities. These communities are in need of drinking water, roads, hospitals, schools, radio, television, communication networks and all the fabric of modern society, which have been invented and created by engineers. Wealth creation through irrigation schemes, electricity generation, mining and agriculture will be undertaken in country areas with or without participation of those living there. Communities without engineers remain dependent on outside assistance and ultimately financial exploitation. Engineers can be the most valuable resource such communities can have.

Associate Professor Tim Hesketh
Associate Dean (Academic)
Faculty of Engineering, UNSW

If you think that engineering is the chosen profession for you ...
What's stopping you - make a difference in your community today.

As an Indigenous Student support networks have been established to assist you..

Nura Gili Indigenous Programs is the support network for Indigenous students at UNSW. The Nura Gili Student Centre is your first contact at UNSW for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students studying in the various undergraduate or postgraduate degrees. There are 5 staff members who are able to assist you with any enquires you may have and to support you while you study at UNSW. To achieve this task, Nura Gili strives for excellence in education services, standards and professional education and quality of environment at UNSW.

Visit: http://www.nuragili.unsw.edu.au

The Nura Gili Resource Centre is a large scale educational unit that teaches and researches Aboriginal culture and contemporary issues.

The Nura Gili Resource Centre is dedicated to providing material and human resources to encourage recognition of the aspirations, history, culture and knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Centre also assists University faculties to introduce Aboriginal perspectives into a wide range of courses and subjects in the mainstream curriculum.

The Centre maintains a large and accessible specialised reference library. The holding, which is expanding to include comparative studies material, includes human resources, books, pamphlets, serials, reports, academic papers, newspaper clippings, videos, CD ROMs and audio cassettes.

Visit: http://www.arrc.unsw.edu.au/