Executive Committee

President’s Message

Welcome message from the President

I hope this message finds you well, and you have set aside some quiet time after surviving the first few weeks of semester. Well, I am (trying). Take time to breath and reflect on your role as educators in mentoring the next generations of student engineers, change-makers and inspiring doers that will make an impact on our communities. It has been a busy start to the year, and I am looking forward to productive but challenging times ahead.

Please do remind your colleagues that AAEE membership for Australian academics are sponsored by ACED, however individual registration is required to activate membership – join here. AAEE has developed an academic pathway for engineering educators to achieve Chartered (CPEng) and has close ties with programs accreditation functions in both Engineers Australia and Engineering New Zealand. AAEE has it’s own Q1 journal, the Australasian Journal of Engineering Education, that presents work that is at the forefront of engineering education internationally. Accordingly, the field of engineering education research is suitably recognised with its own 2020 Field of Research (FoR) code – 401002 Engineering education.

I encourage early-career academics to consider applying for the AAEE Academy of Early Career Engineering Educators (AECEE), more commonly called The AAEE Academy, was founded in 2017 to provide an innovative leadership and mentoring program for early career education focused academics. Since 2021, AAEE Engineering Education Grants were introduced in partnership with ACED (with matching funding) to provide seed funding to expedite projects that seeks to implement the key recommendations of 2035 Engineering Futures that are multi-institutional and leveraged to maximise impact.

I also would like to give a plug to the two special interest groups – Engineering Education for International Students, and Diversity and Inclusion in Engineering Education. There is also a community of practice in the form of HDR Symposium that facilitates peer-support, mentoring, and dissemination of Engineering education research conducted by research students.

In 2022, AAEE has been active in outreach in North/South Asia as well as the South Pacific, and is envisaged to continue this work in 2023. These included building relationships with universities in Fiji and South Pacific, and with representation at AEESEAP including AAEE hosting the next meeting of AEESEAP just before the 2023 AAEE conference.

Best wishes, Steven

President, 2023 and 2024

The 2024 Executive Committee

AAEE is governed by an elected executive committee that guides the direction of AAEE and undertake the day-to-day operations of the Association, as well as international outreach and global engagement in engineering education. Leadership roles in AAEE is also an opportunity for engineering educators to demonstrate national/international leadership and recognition in the field. The executive also includes appointed representatives of the aligned bodies Engineers Australia, Engineering New Zealand and the Australian Council of Engineering Deans (ACED). The Executive Committee members for 2024 are:

Helen Fairweather (Engineers Australia)

Brett Williams (Engineering New Zealand)

Sally Male (Australasian Journal of Engineering Education)

Vacant (Australian Council of Engineering Deans)

Governance Roles

The Executive has a number of roles and portfolios in which members serve:

• Leadership (President, Vice-President, and Immediate Past-President)
• Executive Operations (Treasurer, Secretary, EA Executive Officer)
• Communications and Engagement
• Education and Excellence
• Conference and Publications

Communications and Engagement

The Communication and Engagement portfolio oversees the internal and external communication and engagement of the association with its members, AAEE Champions, EA community, academic community and the community at large. It is responsible for developing and implementing a communications plan and protocols. Communication channels include online newsletters, AAEE website, Facebook, EA Magazine, EA online news and when opportunities arises, wider external media sources. The portfolio also oversees the archiving of past communication material. This also currently includes AAEE Networking Events.

Education and Excellence

The Excellence and Education portfolio oversees AAEE affiliated capacity building initiatives and AAEE run recognition and reward programs. This portfolio is about promoting excellence in the field and providing pathways for professional development. There are generally two coordinators within this portfolio with one overseeing awards and other recognition activities and the other managing professional development activities. Specific responsibilities include – AAEE annual conference awards, direction setting and coordination of professional development and recognition programs. This also includes the AAEE Academy of Early Career Engineering Educators.

Conference and Publications

The Conference and Publications portfolio oversees all aspects of AAEE conferences, as well as the publications of the association (AJEE and Conference Proceedings). The conference activities include support of the current conference, awarding of future conferences and overseeing quality processes. The conference coordinator oversees the conference operations in the portfolio, serves as a liaison and mentor to the current year’s organising committee, and facilitator of the bidding process for future conferences. The publication activities include overseeing the major publications of the association to ensure they are aligned with the rest of the organisation’s activities and direction, and are quality outputs of AAEE. The Publication coordinator oversees these activities, and works closely with the AJEE editor.