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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2008-10-29 Daily Xml
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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR WOMEN ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS

The Hon. P.L. WHITE (Taylor) (15:20): As the Minister for Tourism announced in the house during question time today, Adelaide has been successful in its bid to host the 15th International Conference for Women Engineers and Scientists (ICWES). I thank the minister for her kind words about my role in the bid for that conference. ICWES is a conference that is held every three years, and it has been doing so since 1964. This will be the 15th in the series but it is the first time that this conference has been held in Australia, and we are delighted that it will be held in Adelaide.

The conference is hosted by the International Network of Women in Engineering and Science (INWES), which is a body that was initiated with funding from UNESCO to be a global network for organisations of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (or STEM, as it is commonly called).

I was privileged recently to attend the 14th ICWES conference in Lille, France, where Adelaide presented its case for the 15th conference, and it was announced that the next conference would be held in Adelaide. That conference focused on issues of management, leadership, diversity and ethics. The key technical topics were opportunities and challenges in sustainable development, waste management, water resources, climate change, information and communication technologies and new biotechnologies.

An important part of these conferences is a youth forum, where inspirational role models of women in engineering and science are presented, and it provides the opportunity for younger and upcoming women engineers and scientists to learn more about possible career paths and to problem solve as to how they might break down any barriers that exist.

This is an event that is recognised worldwide. The conference in Lille this year was supported by the European Commission, and it generates wide support and recognition. It is a delight to hear that this conference will be held in Adelaide in 2011, and I would like to acknowledge a few people who were instrumental in the bid.

As well as INWES (the owner, if you like, of the conference), a local organisation hosts the conference, and that will be Engineers Australia. The organising committee is made up of the Women in Engineering arm of Engineers Australia, which is the peak professional body for engineers in Australia. I would like to recognise the contribution of Ms Vera Lukic, who brought the idea of attracting this conference to me and asked me to become involved, and I also recognise very strongly the contribution of ACTA (Adelaide Convention and Tourism Authority) and, in particular, Kate Georgiou, who put in many hours of work, and her staff in helping to prepare the successful bid for Adelaide.

This conference will make a difference to not only the reputation of Adelaide as a successful convention venue, but also to our knowledge and expertise in science and engineering amongst women, and will allow a very particular showcase of Adelaide's skills and capabilities in July 2011.

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