State Conference

Call for Papers Now Open!

Members of the Institute, professionals and academics working in the public works engineering space are invited to submit expressions of interest to present at IPWEA WA’s 2020 Annual State Conference to be held in Fremantle in March next year.

The IPWEA WA Conference is the leading public works engineering event on the Western Australian calendar and it is attended by participants from all areas of public works. It provides a great opportunity to promote your organisation and yourself to delegates who attend this event.

Over a decade ago, planning for 2020 seemed a very long way away and it seemed highly unlikely that we’d ever be living the “Jetsons” lifestyle of automated cars and robot cleaners. Well, 2020 is almost here, and how the world has changed! Technology has exploded and we not only have automated cars and robots, but we’re trialling flying taxi’s! People across all industries are becoming more and more socially aware and environmentally responsible and there is a huge focus on reducing waste and carbon footprints, recycling, sustainability, and climate change issues.

The Conference Theme – Vision 2020: Opportunity 2030 – is intended to have several focuses: 1) What were your/your organisations objectives for 2020…..and did you meet them? 2) How are you/your organisation planning to reduce your carbon footprint and to lessen environmental and climate change impacts? 3) How are you going to plan for 2030 and the opportunities that it presents?

Abstracts

Abstracts addressing the conference topics should include a focus on challenges, solutions – both proven or possible, lessons learned, and the inclusion of case studies is always welcomed. Potential presenters are requested to provide a personal bio, a photograph (in JPEG format) and an abstract of no more than 300 words outlining the content of their presentation by Friday 20 September 2019.

Written Papers vs Presentations Only

Recognising that life is busy and people still wish to contribute but may not have the time to write a technical paper, the Institute allows abstract submissions for both presentations with a technical paper supplied, and for presentations only with no technical paper required.

Please indicate as part of your submission whether a technical paper will be provided, and which stream you believe your abstract should be presented in.

Submit a Video Abstract!

For the second year IPWEA WA will be trialling the submission of abstracts via video. Videos should be no more than 5 minutes long and will need to be submitted via a Dropbox file. All Dropbox file invitations should be directed to cathy@ipwea.asn.au and the invitation should include a notation that the file contains a conference abstract video submission or your file may not be opened.

Abstracts should be forwarded to IPWEA WA by Friday 20 September 2019

Presenters who are selected for the Conference will be advised by the end of November and full papers will be required by Friday 31 January 2020 for judging purposes. Presentations will be required by Friday 28 February 2020. Please do not ask for extensions.

The Geoff Dutton Best Paper Award & Presentation Award

The author of the best paper presented at the 2020 WA Annual Conference will receive the Geoff Dutton Best Paper Award.

A separate prize category “Best Conference Presentation as Voted by the Audience” was introduced in early 2018 for those who are submitting presentations only. Due to timing, this is often not announced until after the Conference.

For further information, please contact myself, Cathy Higgs, Office & Events Manager on (08) 9321 5470 or email cathy@ipwea.asn.au.

Please feel free to pass this email onto anyone you believe may be interested in presenting.