EIT Latest News
-
Student Story: Wilbard Mwetulundila
Mar 31, 2020 | 07:34 am
Wilbard Mwetulundila is a marine electrician working on a mining vessel for diamond mining company Debmarine. He is an Engineering Institute of Technology graduate and esteemed alumni. He has an unwavering love for engineering, and despite the challenges he has had to overcome, he is developing into a skilled engineer.It all started with the boyhood curiosity that grips so many: a fascination with technology.“I was raised in a small village in the northern part of Namibia,” he said.“When I was a toddler, I used to be very fascinated with battery-operated toys and how they operate. Since then, I have had persistent curiosity — I always had a picture of myself working in an engineering space. Given that burning passion, it was just a matter of putting in the effort to fulfill my dream”.Upon completion of high school in 2008, Wilbard applied to study electrical engineering at one of the local[…] -
EIT lecturer 3D prints protective equipment to combat COVID-19 in the Phillipines
Mar 31, 2020 | 05:45 am
Human ingenuity, and hobbyists — that’s what the world needs right now, aside from the medical professionals who are on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. As hospitals around the world rush to take stock of the medical equipment they have at their disposal, engineers and engineering companies have been finding ways that they can contribute to the fight against COVID-19. It turns out that the hobbyist engineer who has a 3D printer at home could potentially be an integral player in manufacturing items that can help secure public health. Kasey Martin, our in-house developer at the Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT), is putting his 3D printers to good work. He currently works in the Philippines, which has put contingency plans into place to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. They are now in enhanced community quarantine, meaning the government has imposed a strict home lockdown with only essential movements for necessities and[…] -
Build a Learning Organisation Today
Mar 24, 2020 | 00:01 am
Dear Colleagues,Dr Jack Welch, a feisty chemical engineer, died earlier this month. You may not know who he was as he disappeared from the corporate scene a decade or so ago. He was the driven CEO of General Electric (or GE) – highly successful in growing the company to great heights – in fact, to one of the largest manufacturing and industrial companies in the USA (and indeed, the world). Whilst he was undoubtedly successful as a businessman, his argument on the need for the GE company to be a learning organisation resonates most with me.It is arguably easier to dig stuff out the ground as a miner than to keep innovating with new products in a manufacturing organisation when one thinks of the huge competition from the likes of China. Certainly, miners have the challenge in that the prices they receive for their ore is predicated by buyers in[…] -
COVID-19 Information
Mar 17, 2020 | 05:27 amLast Updated: 31 March 2020This page provides information and advice for the EIT community on COVID-19. We encourage you to review this page regularly.Online Student InformationWe will post essential information and updates to our online student community via our regular channels including this website page, emails and newsletters. For all general enquiries, please contact your Learning Support Officer via phone or email.How is EIT responding to COVID-19?In order to look after the safety (and long-term success) of our students, the Engineering Institute of Technology has appointed a COVID-19 Task Team and are monitoring the situation very closely. As an Australian headquartered organisation, we are following the advice provided by the Australian government and its agencies who we believe have taken a proactive and decisive approach in implementing measures to reduce the spread of the virus.Our COVID-19 task team is led by our HR Manager, Ms Lisa Chisari and is ably assisted by[…]
-
Student Story: Mikkaela Hughes
Mar 10, 2020 | 01:39 am
Mikkaela Hughes is an Engineering Institute of Technology graduate who recently earned her 52810WA – Advanced Diploma of Mechanical Engineering Technology. Mikkaela rose above adversity to pursue her career in engineering, and her story proves there is not just one pathway to take you from studying to the workplace, but that there are many approaches that can lead to success.Mikkaela currently works in the tank manufacturing and refurbishment industry in South Africa. She is responsible for ensuring that her company provides products that comply with the design requirements set by clients. Mikkaela is fascinated with engineering because of the problems it presents.“I am a very open-minded, creative, and passionate individual who thrives on challenges and complexity. I feel that the field of engineering stimulates me and challenges me daily as I get to encounter many challenges on a daily basis, and hence grow from them,” she said.Mikkaela began studying mechanical[…] -
Student Story: Manga Olivier
Mar 10, 2020 | 01:26 am
Manga Olivier is a Chadanian engineer who completed his Master of Engineering (Industrial Automation) through the Engineering Institute of Technology. He currently works for ExxonMobil in Chad as an Instrument and Controls Engineer. His career has grown in leaps and bounds over the years, but his fascination with engineering began when he was younger.“I was interested in engineering at a very early age. I like challenging situations in the realm of troubleshooting faulty devices, appliances, and equipment. I liked discovering new technologies from a young age too. All this led me to technical schools at college level.”Manga started his engineering journey in school, and in 2002, he pursued a Bachelor’s Degree in Electro mechanical and Industrial Computing, which he finished in 2005. In 2007, he found employment at the Chad Brewery Company, where he worked from July to September.In September of that year, he switched companies and began to work[…] -
Solar power in mining surges forward in Australia
Mar 10, 2020 | 00:59 am
Reducing emissions in the mining sector is one of the key focuses for mining companies globally. The recent bushfire events in Australia have sparked conversation around how greatly fossil fuel emissions have affected climate change. The changing climate, experts say, is one of the reasons for the recent bushfire crisis that impacted the entire country.Consequently, Rio Tinto will be spending US$98 million on a new solar plant at their US$2.6 billion Koodaideri iron ore mine in Western Australia. There will be extra expenditure for a battery energy system for the entire Pilbara power network, too.The solar photovoltaic plant will generate 34 megawatts and will supply the brunt of Koodaideri's electricity demand during peak operation times. The solar facility will see 100,000 panels absorbing the sun during the day, with the 12MWh battery storage system charging up.The solar plant will be fully in-service by 2021 - the year the mine becomes[…] -
EIT tours southern Africa to highlight the changing trends in engineering
Mar 10, 2020 | 00:48 am
EIT recently embarked on a roadshow through southern Africa, covering hot trends in engineering, job prospects across the engineering disciplines, and troubleshooting tips.Dean of Engineering Dr. Steve Mackay and Edwina Ross presented an interactive seminar on ‘engineering as a noble profession’ to aspiring engineers and industry professionals in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana.In the crowds were EIT alumni, current students, prospective students, and curious engineering enthusiasts. The seminars did focus on the noble profession of engineering and its immutable age-old principles. However, Dr. Mackay also demonstrated how the industry is changing thanks to globalization and advanced technologies.“We are hyper-connected: mobile apps, emails, social media, and a quickly updating web. Analytics and predictive models are appearing. One of the great programming languages is Python. There are incredible tools you can use in your career. Everything is in the cloud; you can derive huge resilience by working under the cloud. If it[…] -
Celebrating women in engineering on International Women's Day
Mar 6, 2020 | 06:48 am
March 8th marks International Women's Day 2020, a global day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. We wanted to take this opportunity to highlight the valuable contributions from women at the Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) and the movements they are making to break through the glass ceiling.In 2017, the World Economic Forum released its global figures on women in engineering. They reported that around 20% of engineering graduates are women, but only 13% of the engineering workforce is female. A lot has been done to elevate female engineers in the last couple of years, but there is still work to do. Getting girls ready and prepared for the world of STEM work is one of the major challenges of our time.Thus, the importance of introducing young girls to STEM subjects at an early schooling level is paramount. We consulted our very own Deputy Dean[…] -
Student Story: Armando D. Ngojo
Feb 11, 2020 | 23:47 pm
Armando D. Ngojo is an Engineering Institute of Technology graduate who recently completed our 52705WA - Advanced Diploma of Biomedical Engineering. Currently working in the healthcare engineering industry for a company that maintains and manages medical equipment, Armando has spent fifteen years in the technological side of the medical industry. However, Armando’s interest in engineering began at a young age. “When I was younger, I was very fascinated with the functionality of the transistor radio. I opened it up and saw a lot of small things and components which fired up my curiosity. I was amazed at how a television worked. How a refrigerator cooled the items inside of it intrigued me.”In his secondary school years, he pursued his love for technology further by enrolling in an elective that covered electricity & electronics. After high school, he began to pursue a career in Electronics Engineering. However, Armando’s road to an[…] -
Student Story: Islam Sarwat
Feb 11, 2020 | 03:15 am
Islam Sarwat graduated from EIT in 2015 with a 52742WA - Advanced Diploma of Plant Engineering. Before completing the program, he was an in-training operation and mechanical engineer. He noticed that he had some spare time on his hands and a dream to attain a senior engineering job in the future.Islam chose this particular program because, he says, it was comprehensive and covered a lot of material that would improve his knowledge and enhance his skills. He also knew it would help him find direction in his career.“My studies helped orient me in choosing which engineering industry to go into. The engineering industry has a lot of different varieties and disciplines. Instead of one particular field, it includes many different fields.”Islam found that the pathways to being hired in a high-level job became more likely after completing the plant engineering program.“Life was better. I felt that I did what should[…] -
Surviving retrenchment: Tips for engineers
Feb 10, 2020 | 23:57 pm
Legal Wise, a law institute in South Africa, defines retrenchment quite aptly, “Retrenchment is a form of dismissal due to no fault of the employee, it is a process whereby the employer reviews its business needs in order to increase profits or limit losses, which leads to reducing its employees.”In some instances, automation has meant that some jobs no longer require human intervention. For example, in the banking sector, many physical branches have closed down or downsized as Internet banking takes over.In the engineering world, mining companies have also been badly hit. For example, in September 2019, mining conglomerate Sibanye-Stillwater indicated that 5,270 jobs (or roughly 6% of their workforce) would have to be cut after financial losses at their mines. In 2017, Platinum producer Lonmin announced that it would lay off 12,600 workers over three years.However, while some jobs are no longer as in-demand as they once were, advances[…] -
Getting Your Sea Legs: South Africa’s First Female Chief Engineer in Fishing Industry shares her journey
Feb 10, 2020 | 06:47 am
Lucinda Krige is a South African inspiration. She is a qualified Marine Engineer Officer who, since 2003, has been working for renowned seafood processing company Sea Harvest. She currently works as a HR Business Partner in Learning and Development at Sea Harvest.She was the first woman to qualify as a Chief Engineer in the fishing industry in South Africa. The sector produces 80 million tons of food and employs 40 million people across the globe.Sea Harvest is a company that was established in 1964 on the Atlantic West Coast of South Africa. They are headquartered in Saldanha in the Western Cape. They catch and package seafood, exporting it to 22 countries.Lucinda, being the first female engineering cadet in the fisheries industry to rise up the ranks to become a Chief Engineer, is a role model to the many unemployed youths in South Africa who are desperately seeking the kinds of[…] -
Can we get 90% of the globe connected to the internet by 2050?
Feb 6, 2020 | 01:36 am
While the Engineering Institute of Technology has campuses in Perth, Western Australia, and Melbourne, Victoria, we predominantly run as an online institute that sees thousands of students logging in and out every day. For students who are part of our online learning cohort, internet connectivity is imperative.We are proud to have students from all over the world who have earned Australian accredited diplomas and degrees through our unique online delivery model. We are, however, aware of the challenges many countries face with limited internet connectivity.According to Internet World Stats, there are 525,148,631 internet users in Africa. The continent’s population is said to be 1.216 billion people, according to estimates compiled in 2016. About 690 million people are, therefore, without access to life-changing internet technologies.In 2017, the United Nations (UN) reported that more than half of the world’s population still does not have access to the internet, with Asia and Africa[…] -
Flexi-batteries ready for powering the future
Feb 5, 2020 | 00:48 am
Transformative technologies demand flexibility in the modern era. Consumers demand that technologies be smaller, thinner, wearable, fireproof, bendable, etcetera. On top of all that, the battery still needs to hold a charge.In Busan, South Korea, a company named Jenax has been hard at work at revolutionizing the lithium-ion battery. They are ensuring a battery can scrunch, bend, flex, and more. The battery is called the J-Flex. And it looks like this:Source: JenaxJenax says they have batteries as small as 0.5 millimeters that could power sensors, with their biggest battery being a 200mm by 200mm battery. The company says after 1,000 charge-discharge cycles, the cells retain 90% of their capacity.Creating ultra-flexible batteries that can twist and turn increases the chances of flammability. Lithium-ion batteries are prevalent in many of the technologies that we plug-in to charge every day. Most notably, our smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets.Jenax has created a non-flammable liquid electrolyte[…]
Wilbard Mwetulundila is a marine electrician working on a mining vessel for diamond mining company Debmarine. He is an Engineering Institute of Technology graduate and esteemed alumni. He has an unwavering love for engineering, and despite the challenges he has[…]
Human ingenuity, and hobbyists — that’s what the world needs right now, aside from the medical professionals who are on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. As hospitals around the world rush to take stock of the medical equipment they[…]
Dear Colleagues,Dr Jack Welch, a feisty chemical engineer, died earlier this month. You may not know who he was as he disappeared from the corporate scene a decade or so ago. He was the driven CEO of General Electric (or[…]
Mikkaela Hughes is an Engineering Institute of Technology graduate who recently earned her 52810WA – Advanced Diploma of Mechanical Engineering Technology. Mikkaela rose above adversity to pursue her career in engineering, and her story proves there is not just one[…]
Manga Olivier is a Chadanian engineer who completed his Master of Engineering (Industrial Automation) through the Engineering Institute of Technology. He currently works for ExxonMobil in Chad as an Instrument and Controls Engineer. His career has grown in leaps and[…]
Reducing emissions in the mining sector is one of the key focuses for mining companies globally. The recent bushfire events in Australia have sparked conversation around how greatly fossil fuel emissions have affected climate change. The changing climate, experts say,[…]
EIT recently embarked on a roadshow through southern Africa, covering hot trends in engineering, job prospects across the engineering disciplines, and troubleshooting tips.Dean of Engineering Dr. Steve Mackay and Edwina Ross presented an interactive seminar on ‘engineering as a noble[…]
March 8th marks International Women's Day 2020, a global day that celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. We wanted to take this opportunity to highlight the valuable contributions from women at the Engineering Institute of Technology[…]
Armando D. Ngojo is an Engineering Institute of Technology graduate who recently completed our 52705WA - Advanced Diploma of Biomedical Engineering. Currently working in the healthcare engineering industry for a company that maintains and manages medical equipment, Armando has spent[…]
