It was definitely the clash of the giants at the Australia for the Present Around The World (PATW) Australia Final! 6 champions who won the PATW in their local network were representing their networks in the Australia Final. I had the opportunity to watch these champions present their research finding and to keep myself updated with the latest happenings around the engineering community. The topics presented ranged from recycled polymers in the civil engineering field to groundbreaking researches in the biomedical engineering field to better mankind.


We were all invited to a formal dinner on Friday evening after the competition. Apart from the delicious three course meals on the top floor of the hotel, the spectacular Brisbane city view illuminated with colourful lights and Wheel of Brisbane made the evening flawless. We were pleased to have the presence of keynote speaker, Dr Jenny Riesz to deliver an interesting presentation on a controversial, highly debatable issue in Australia - renewable energy. Dr Riesz had calmly and graciously answered questions from the general public. I personally laud Dr Riesz for her professionalism.


I definitely shared a proud "West is the Best" moment when Rovik Olsen from IET WA Young Professionals was announced as the winner! Rovik's topic is "Omega - The Autonomous Robot." The night ensued with an open dance floor and a "surprise" happy birthday song for Winnie Lee, our Asia Pacific manager (which has become a YPC tradition!) even though it was not her birthday! Everyone had a great time mingling and networking with professionals such as senior engineers from Queensland and IET volunteers from all across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ). As I recall the evening, I knew this trip has yet made everyone closer than ever, creating a lifelong irreplaceable memory.


Words and Photographs: Leon Ha