The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering

The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering is an Australian engineering and science policy think-tank, established in 1983 and named for Australia's first engineering lecturer.[1] The Sydney-based centre describes itself as Australia’s premier independent think-tank on transformative engineering issues.[2]

The Warren Centre is known for its annual Innovation Lectures and Innovation Hero Awards, which celebrate important figures in Australian innovation.[3] It is influential in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) education policy, and is known for other historical and ongoing programs across different branches of engineering.[4]

History

The Warren Centre was founded in 1983 to mark the centenary of Australia’s first university engineering lecture, delivered by William Henry Warren at the University of Sydney in 1883.[5]

There were 20 founding members of the Committee, including six Professors of the Engineering Faculty and engineers from a wide range of industry backgrounds.[6] The Centre raised an initial AU$2 million endowment (AU$10 million in 2013 currency [7]) from a range of major Australian engineering companies and private donors. Its founding aim was to ‘foster engineering excellence around Australia to create wealth’.[1]

Over the following 30 years, The Warren Centre has had a significant impact on Australian engineering, including programs such as Winning By Design, Fire Safety & Engineering,[8] Underground Space, Sustainable Transport in Sustainable Cities,[9] and Low Energy High Rise,[10] which have influenced the way industry, government and other stakeholders consider major engineering issues.

Since 1996, The Warren Centre has hosted an annual Innovation Lecture series presented by a leading figure in Australian science or engineering on their achievements, including the creation of Cochlear, Google Maps, Maptek and the Virgin Galactic space program.[11]

Current work

Current projects at The Warren Centre include Mobilising PPIR,[12] Off-Grid Power Solutions (including small modular nuclear reactors),[13] Construction Performance, Quality & Waste, and Urban Reform.[14]

The Warren Centre’s science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education work is focused on influencing Commonwealth and state governments, as well as other players, to improve Australia’s science, technology, engineering and maths education.[15] It also includes working with undergraduate and graduate students at Australian universities to commercialise innovative projects - for example, delivery drone service Flirtey.[16]

In its public policy work, the Warren Centre is an advocate of improved engineering leadership and commercialisation,[17] as well as supporting improvements in public transport and urban design,[18][19] and a greater focus on renewable energy.[20] The Warren Centre supports a Chair in Innovation at the University of Sydney, currently held by Professor Andy Dong.[21]

Innovation lectures

The Warren Centre's annual Innovation Lecture program has been running since 1996, with speakers including BHP Billiton's Jerry Ellis, Cochlear's Catherine Livingstone, Aimtek's Don Fry AO, Google's Dr Lars Rasmussen, Professor Hugh F. Durrant-Whyte,[22] Maptek's Dr Bob Johnson, Australian Chief Defence Scientist Dr Alex Zelinsky,[23] and Virgin Galactic's The Spaceship Company Director of Operations Enrico Palermo.[24]

The annual lecture series consists of several dates across Australia's major cities. The lecture series is tied in with The Warren Centre's annual Innovation Hero Awards, which also showcase prominent Australian innovators.[25] 2013's Innovation Hero Award winners were Michael Hammer, Philip Wilson and Hugh Stevenson from Agilent Technologies, who developed the Agilent 4100 series microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometer.[26]

Board and directors
  • Mr Richard Kell AM, Chair
  • Ms Kathy Jones, Co-Deputy Chair (KJA)
  • Professor Mike Dureau AM, Co-Deputy Chair
  • Mr Ashley Brinson, Executive Director
  • Mr Ian Dart (Logical Technologies Pty Ltd)
  • Christopher Janssen (GPC Electronics Pty Ltd)
  • Professor Ron Johnston
  • Dr John Lear (JBL Consulting)
  • Mr Bob Rollinson (Salamander Technologies Pty Ltd)
  • Ms Fiona Mahony (Telstra)
  • Mr John Pickhaver (Macquarie Capital)
  • Mr Ian Oppermann (NSW Data Analytics Centre)
  • Professor Willy Zwaenepoel (Dean of Engineering)

References
  1. "History of Faculty Centres - Engineering & IT - The University of Sydney". Sydney.edu.au. 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  2. "The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering - Google". Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  3. "Meet the Australian engineer behind private space travel - UniSA news releases - University of South Australia". Unisa.edu.au. 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  4. "Pushing the Engineering Envelope : 25 Years of Warren centre Achievement (1983-2008)" (PDF). Thewarrencentre.org.au. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  5. Corbett, Arthur (1926-01-09). "Biography - William Henry Warren - Australian Dictionary of Biography". Adb.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  6. "The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering | History | The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering". Thewarrencentre.org.au. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  7. "Australian Compare". Measuring Worth. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  8. Cox, G.; Langford, B. (2006-02-27). Fire Safety Science - Google Books. ISBN 9781135378516. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  9. "The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering makes this submission to the Standing Committee on Environment and Heritage's Inquiry into Sustainable Cities" (PDF). Aph.gov.au. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  10. "Adopt non-technical building management strategies | eex.gov.au Energy Efficiency Exchange". Eex.gov.au. 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  11. "Cutting-edge Australian engineering & technology | Annual Innovation Lectures | The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering". Thewarrencentre.org.au. 2015-02-10. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  12. "Engineering think tank and TransGrid work on professional performance and innovation". TransGrid. 2014-05-07. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  13. "Mini reactors can power remote mines, experts say — Australian Journal of Mining". Theajmonline.com.au. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  14. (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20140212102420/http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/122577/sub011-major-projects.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 12, 2014. Retrieved January 6, 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. "Why the next Zuckerberg won't be Australian". Afr.com. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  16. Adam Bender (2013-10-15). "Drones to deliver parcels in Australia starting in March". Techworld. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  17. "What Defines Australia's Most Influential Engineers?". Sourceable.net. 2014-07-30. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  18. "The road to nowhere fast - National". www.smh.com.au. 2005-01-10. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  19. Garry Glazebrook. "With Broad and Greiner driving us, chaos is just around the corner". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  20. "Australia should invest A$60bn in renewable energy". Renewable Energy Focus. 2010-04-08. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  21. "Professor Andy Dong - The University of Sydney". Sydney.edu.au. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  22. "Australian Innovation: The Warren Centre Innovation Lecture and Awards". Ausinnovation.org. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  23. "The Warren Centre Innovation Lecture 2013 - Canberra". Engineers Australia. 2013-08-28. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  24. "Australian engineer bucks the trend and leads the world". Aviation Business. 2014-09-01. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  25. "The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering | Innovation Hero Awards | The Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering". Thewarrencentre.org.au. 2015-02-24. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  26. "4100 MP-AES (Discontinued) | Agilent". Chem.agilent.com. 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
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