Local engineering students take on Council’s building audit

Published on 10 December 2018

Four student engineers will get some rare on-the-job engineering training this summer, thanks to some innovative thinking from Byron Shire Council.

Over four months, the student and graduate engineers will be employed to complete an audit and assessment of 265 buildings across the Shire including sheds, halls, toilets, depots, community leases, libraries and recreation buildings.

“This is one of those great win-win situations where Council saw an opportunity to provide valuable, career-building work for some engineering students at our local universities,” Council’s Manager Assets and Major Projects Manager, Phil Warner said.

“It’s the first time we’ve done something like this and we’re looking forward to managing the student team as they get to put their problem solving, data capture, technical building assessment and team building skills to the test – all under the mentorship and supervision of our senior project managers,” he said.

“Our hope is that they can learn a lot from the experience and that it will better prepare them for future employment.

“And the icing on the cake is that by directly managing the students ourselves, and not employing a company to do the work, we’d expect to save Council around $70,000,” he said.

The four students, who are from Griffith (Gold Coast), QUT, Southern Cross (Lismore) and Curtain (WA) universities completed a selection process in October.

The student team’s work on the building audit and assessment project started in November and will conclude on 22 February 2019.

For more information contact Council’s Manager Assets and Major Projects Manager, Phil Warner, on 6626 7165.