2024 Scholarship Winners

IPWEA Scholarship Winners

IPWEA is committed to developing and maintaining a high level of competency and the capacity and capability to meet community demands within the sector through our scholarships. 



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Scholarship

2026 Rita Excell Women in Asset Management Scholarship Winners

Lucy Packham

Lucy Packham | City of Melbourne, VC

As a climate change adaptation professional focusing on resilient infrastructure, I am deeply honoured to be a recipient of this Scholarship. At a time when the impacts of climate change are intensifying, strong collaboration between climate scientists, policy leaders and asset management professionals is essential to effect meaningful change. This scholarship will enable me to deepen my expertise, broaden my perspective, and play a more impactful role in shaping resilient infrastructure for our communities.

Melanie Douglas | Hilltops Council, NSW

As an Asset Coordinator, I am passionate about strengthening the way our community’s assets are planned, managed, and sustained. After two years in this role, and with a Cert IV in Leadership and Management, I’m ready to deepen my technical knowledge and enhance my leadership capability. This scholarship would accelerate my development by giving me access to specialised training that supports smarter, future‑focused decision making and helps me guide my team with confidence. It would also enable me to continue advocating for women in asset management—building on my past industry involvement with IPWEA and LGEA. Receiving this scholarship is an honour and will be a meaningful step in my career, empowering me to deliver better outcomes for our organisation and community while contributing to a more diverse and supportive profession.

Melanie Douglas Hilltops Council, NSW

Emerging Leader in Asset Management Scholarship Winners

Bilal Abbey City of Gosnells, WA

Bilal Abbey | City of Gosnells, WA

This Scholarship will allow me to strengthen my leadership capability while deepening my understanding of the full asset lifecycle, combining best-practice asset management planning with my practical experience in local government. I look forward to applying these learnings to support better long-term decision-making and deliver sustainable, resilient infrastructure outcomes for the communities we serve.

Emily Hill | Hunter Water, NSW

I’m excited to combine the Emerging Leaders scholarship learnings into my work digitising Hunter Water’s Asset Class Plans, strengthening my capability across the full asset management cycle and supporting more sustainable, evidence‑based decisions. This opportunity will help me continue growing as a confident, self‑aware and resilient asset leader who can navigate complex trade-offs and foster the deep, empathetic trust needed to deliver long‑term value for the communities we serve.

Emily Hill

IPWEA Future of Asset Management Scholarship Winners

Bilal Abbey City of Gosnells, WA

Brandon Ducharme | Gwaii Engineering, Canada

I am honoured to receive the IPWEA Future of Asset Management Scholarship and the opportunity to further advance my work in strategic asset management. Through infrastructure strategy and capital delivery roles in Aotearoa New Zealand, I have seen firsthand what mature, disciplined asset management looks like in practice and the impact it has on community resilience, financial sustainability, and long term infrastructure performance. Working alongside First Nations and Indigenous communities across Canada, my focus is on bringing that same level of rigor, governance, and lifecycle discipline into Indigenous capital programs and regional infrastructure portfolios. Strong asset management is not simply a technical exercise. It is stewardship that aligns investment decisions with intergenerational responsibility and community priorities. The Professional Certificate in Asset Management Planning will further strengthen my ability to embed transparent and sustainable frameworks that support long term self determination and infrastructure certainty. I look forward to contributing cross jurisdictional insight and advancing asset management maturity across the sector.

Brianna Duncan | Forbes Shire Council, NSW

I am incredibly honoured to receive the IPWEA Future of Asset Management Scholarship. Through my work as an engineer at Forbes Shire Council, I see firsthand the importance of strong asset management practices in supporting the long-term sustainability of Council infrastructure. The relationship between asset management planning and day-to-day engineering operations is critical and must be closely aligned to ensure data driven decision-making and cost-effective investment in our assets. This scholarship provides me with the opportunity to further develop my knowledge of integrated planning, long-term financial modelling, and strategic asset management. Strengthening these skills will enable me to better link operational engineering insights with broader organisational planning and investment decisions. I am also looking forward to connecting with other asset management professionals and learning how they approach similar challenges within their organisations. I look forward to utilising their lessons learnt and experiences to support the continued development of resilient and financially sustainable asset management practices at Forbes Shire Council.

Emily Hill

Carlos AG

Carlos Avila Gutierrez | Auckland Council, NZ

The Professional Certificate will strengthen how I apply asset management in practice, particularly around lifecycle thinking, investment prioritisation, and making trade-offs clear when funding is tight. I already work hands-on with long-term lifecycle models, AMPs and strategic investment cases, so this will sharpen how I connect technical analysis to the real decisions senior leaders and elected members need to make in Auckland. I am genuinely Excited to Attend the International Asset Management Summit, in my experience across New Zealand and the UK, councils face very similar challenges just in different contexts. Learning from peers, sharing practical solutions, and understanding what has worked elsewhere will helps us avoid reinventing the wheel and lift the profession in Australasia.

Victoria Finlayson

Rita Excell Women in Asset Management Scholarship

With a background in Civil Engineering, and in my current role as an Asset Engineer at Wollondilly Shire Council, I am passionate about driving the long-term sustainability and efficiency of critical infrastructure through asset management. I am thrilled to have been awarded the 2025 IPWEA Women in Asset Management Scholarship. This opportunity will provide me with invaluable professional development opportunities and networks to further my career while also empowering me to advocate for and inspire more women to pursue careers in this field. I look forward to using this scholarship to enhance my impact on both my organisation and the wider asset management community.

Victoria Finlayson

Megan Dale

Rita Excell Women in Asset Management Scholarship

As a civil engineer, I am passionate about creating real, lasting value for my community through asset management. Ensuring public infrastructure is maintained, sustainable and future-proof allows me to make meaningful, long-term impacts. While transitioning into this field, my knowledge of asset management was limited. The IPWEA courses will accelerate my learning and equip me with tools to make smarter, more effective decisions that benefit the community now and into the future. Receiving the 2025 IPWEA Rita Excell Women in Asset Management Scholarship is an incredible honour. This scholarship helps remove financial barriers and highlights how organisations like IPWEA are supporting and championing women in engineering and public infrastructure. I’m excited to continue advocating for greater opportunities and representation for women in this field.

Megan Dale

David Johnson

Emerging Leader in Asset Management Scholarship

I intend to benefit from the scholarship by bringing together the learnings of the course and years of field based Operations and Maintenance experience which will allow me to have a full understanding of the Asset Management cycle, a great combination to progress my career and become a better Asset Manager

David Johnson

Brady Gale

IPWEA Future of Asset Management Scholarship

I was fortunate enough to make the shift into asset management a little over 12 months ago and have spent the time since then learning and developing my skills in the day-to-day management of local government assets. The opportunity provided to me with the IPWEA Future of Asset Management Scholarship will mean I am able to greatly build upon these skills and set long-term council asset management plans, the flow on effect of which will be a greater return to the members of our community. I also look forward to the opportunity to network with fellow asset management professionals across a broad range of areas and hear the unique insights they can offer. Being able to take this knowledge and experience and share it with my colleagues will assist us tremendously as we continue to improve our asset management practice.

Brady Gale

Russell Lamattina

IPWEA Future of Asset Management Scholarship

As an engineer working on key strategic plans for Mildura Rural City Council’s vast array of infrastructure, I have gained an insight into the challenges faced by our public sector within the field of asset management, particularly in a regional setting. Since commencing with local government, I have gained a passion for good asset management practices after being exposed to what the full lifetime cost of an asset is and what this means when bringing on a new asset. The professional development opportunities presented by the IPWEA Future of Asset Management Scholarship will enable me continue to follow this passion as I grow within my organisation and allow me to benchmark our current practices with other public sector colleagues as well as share some of the unique experiences and challenges faced by Mildura Rural City Council having a larger infrastructure portfolio spread over a large land area with fewer rate payers.

Russell Lamattina

Edward Dalheimer

IPWEA Future of Asset Management Scholarship

I am very excited about being awarded the IPWEA Future of Asset Management Scholarship. I feel this will help me on my Asset Management journey which I guess started several years ago as I have been involved in the asset lifecycle at all stages through my working life. I joined Gladstone Regional Council 11 years ago and moved from maintaining assets to managing assets. My current role is the Manager of Asset Governance, my team are responsible for the managing and maintaining the asset register and GIS. My role also includes educating the wider business on asset management and I am part of the Capital Portfolio Working Group and the Asset and Services Steering Group. The opportunity to complete the Professional Certificate in Asset Management Planning will reinforce the knowledge already gained from completing other IPWEA courses. I have attended one IPWEA conference which allowed me to connect and learn more from other councils and businesses. I look forward to increasing my network of asset management professionals

Edward Dahlheimer

Smartrak IPWEA Fleet Management Scholarship

I believe it will fill in a large knowledge gap regarding my current career path. Developing my knowledge of areas such as regulatory requirements, asset procurement, understanding contracts and maximising utilisation data will allow me to be more effective in my current role, as well as set up for growth into new positions in the future. Being in one of the largest government fleets in Tasmania, there is a lot of scope for impact by having just a small number of qualified and competent people. I am currently in a small team developing an EV pilot program to help us reach the goal of a 100% EV fleet by 2030. Using the knowledge gained in this course, I will be able to push for better outcomes to reach that goal and keep our drivers happy.

L.Wilson