OUR BRANCHES
Our branches are the lifeblood of our membership. Run by volunteers, the branches bring members together through networking events, site visits and talks. They offer engineers of all disciplines and career stages an opportunity to network, share experiences and build friendships. Here we share some of the 2017 highlights from our branches.
17
Branches in New Zealand and the UK
8968
Biggest branch (Auckland)
28
Smallest branch (West Coast)
8
New branch chairs elected
SAY HELLO TO DR TIM FISHER FENGNZ
AUCKLAND BRANCH CHAIR 2015-2017
Engineering New Zealand’s branches bring together the local engineering communities. They help us create our professional networks and get support. Through these communities, we share information and knowledge, and we have a collective voice when it’s needed, such as on issues of local or national importance. By working together, we become better engineers, we lift our game and that of our firms, and we contribute more to society.
"We are so grateful to all the members who support Engineering New Zealand by volunteering their valuable time to run branch committees and events."
Branches offer a tremendous and diverse programme of local events to members, with site visits being a perennial favourite. In 2017, the branches organised trips that ranged from a visit to the largest carrot-juicing plant in Australasia (by South Canterbury branch) to a climb on the Auckland Harbour Bridge, which was not for those with a fear of heights. We also facilitated events to help members understand the changes to Engineering New Zealand and the new Membership Pathway, and organised talks on critical issues, such as the ongoing Canterbury Earthquake rebuild, and resilience and seismic safety. While the events often have a technical and professional focus, a commonality is that we all love to get together to meet new people or catch up with old colleagues.
We are so grateful to all the members who support Engineering New Zealand by volunteering their valuable time to run branch committees and events.
In 2018, our aspirations include delivering on the Engineering New Zealand strategies at a local level, creating new programmes of events to reach more members, and working to strengthen our role as the hub of the local engineering community.
Tim is a Principal Water Engineer at Tonkin+Taylor.
NORTH ISLAND
AUCKLAND
EAST COAST
MEMBERSHIP: 8,921 (UP 21%)
With almost 9,000 members, the Auckland Branch increasingly have to think about how to provide meaningful events and activities for members travelling across the region. In 2016-2017, they organised three to four events per month on average including the GT Murray Awards, Young Engineer of the Year presentations, site visits to the Auckland Harbour Bridge and an annual dinner which included the Arthur Mead Award. 2018 will be the branch’s centennial year, during which they plan to showcase Auckland’s key infrastructure through presentations and site visits focused on themes as diverse as heritage buildings, Auckland transport links, future energy supply, and the next Waitemata Harbour crossing.
MEMBERSHIP: 35 (UP 16%)
The East Coast Branch has a relatively small number of members; in 2017, there was a limited programme of activities and events. These included the Board roadshow and the President’s visit. In 2018, the branch plans to support local events that showcase the engineering profession and have the potential to inspire local students to pursue an engineering career, such as the regional science fair and careers expo.
SOUTH ISLAND
CANTERBURY
NELSON-MARLBOROUGH
MEMBERSHIP: 4,019 (UP 15%)
The decision to rebrand provided a great point of interest around which members considered the place of engineers and engineering within the community. Highlights of the year included Dr Catherine Mohr’s Pickering Lecture and Professor Mark Burry’s Hopkins Lecture, where he spoke about the Sagrada Familia, as well as the branch’s involvement in the Week of Engineering. The engineering sector has been key in local development over recent years, and the branch is working hard to maintain and enhance its role and its profile. In 2018, they intend to focus on how they can become the hub for the local engineering community.
MEMBERSHIP: 301 (UP 12%)
The Nelson-Marlborough Branch organised a variety of events on different engineering disciplines across the region. They continued to work closely with the Engenerate and Student Members as well as with NEON, the New Engineers of Nelson, a Student Engineers New Zealand group. This included two combined events with Engenerate – a Young Engineer’s presentation competition and Speed Interviewing – and they also had good participation from students and graduates at their site visits and AGM. Other highlights from the branch included site visits to the Pic’s Peanut Butter warehouse, the Taylor Pass Reservoir construction project and the Royal NZ Air Force Woodbourne Base. In 2018, they will be collaborating more with other technical groups, both inside and outside the engineering profession.