Andy Cole began working (for Worley) in the offshore oil & gas industry in Western Australia in 1986 as a graduate civil engineer specialising in the design of offshore structures. 

Early experience was gained on the structural design of Woodside’s large Goodwyn platform on the Northwest shelf together with various minimal facilities platforms throughout South East Asia . Following a move to the UK, North Sea experience was gained on the design and fabrication of Chevron’s Alba North platform. 

He has subsequently gained 30+ years of EPCM experience across the Upstream and Midstream sectors of the Oil & Gas industry working in Australia, UK, South East Asia and the Middle East. Other roles have included operational management of Worley’s business (most recently across South East Asia), mergers & acquisitions and leading the company’s growth strategy program.

Andy currently manages Worley’s global partnerships. Andy has a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration, both from the University of Western Australia. 

In his current role, Barry is responsible for delivering WSP’s capability and strategic outcomes to Transport clients in Western Australia. He works with WSP’s teams across road, civil, rail, bridges, maritime and advisory to ensure that WSP’s clients are served in meeting their requirements for the planning and delivery of transport infrastructure in WA. Within WSP he chairs the WA Transport Leadership Group and is a member of WSP’s WA Leadership Team.

With 18 years’ experience, John is a Principal Civil and Structural Engineer and currently leads the WGA WA team as Regional Manager based in Perth. John specialises in a wide range of construction methodologies, across multiple sectors – including Buildings (Commercial and Civic), Infrastructure, Maritime and Defence. He has a keen interest in concrete construction systems in particular, and practical constructable engineering solutions.

John is the former WA Branch President of the Concrete Institute of Australia and has contributed to the sharing of innovations in engineering design and the maximisation of new technologies. John is also a part of the WA Engineers Australia Structures Panel and remains a committee member for the WA Branch of the Concrete Institute of Australia.

He is passionate when it comes to mentoring young engineers with an emphasis on creating pathways, imparting his expertise, and building relationships. He is an active conduit between university education and practical teachings for future engineers, having also lectured for several years at the Munster Institute of Technology, Ireland

Hamed Sharafizad is currently the Chief Electrical Engineer at Clough where he is responsible and accountable for the discipline in Australia and the Asia Pacific regions. He started his electrical engineering career at Worley working on Alinta’s Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline upgrade project after completing his bachelor’s degree in engineering (Electrical) from Curtin University in 1995. He travelled overseas as resident electrical engineer overseeing the construction of buildings and bridges before coming back to Australia and joining Clough projects in 2001. During his time at Clough he has been involved on a number of key projects including concept studies and FEED projects. 
His 27-year career has seen him work on projects in the mining sector, energy sector, building services, construction and infrastructure projects both here in Australia and overseas. 

Mr Sharafizad is a Chartered Engineer through the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) and is a Fellow with the Institute of Engineers Australia.

Reza has many years of experience in power systems planning engineering and design and power system operations working in Iran, Germany, Ireland and Australia. 

Reza is recognised as a power system security analysis specialist and a system dynamic and electro-magnetic transient (EMT) expert. Reza has a fellowship on inverter connected renewable generation operation in power systems with high renewable penetration levels. Reza has worked in various industry sectors from research and development and manufacturing to utilities and industries.

He has extensive experience in South-West Interconnected System (SWIS) planning, design, operations, and security analysis. Reza has in depth understanding of WEM regulatory requirements, network access assessments, design standards, generator performance standards, testing and commissioning requirements, test plans and impact assessment on power systems. 

Dr. Ali Kharrazi is currently serving as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Western Australia (UWA) and Engineering Team Leader at Western Power, a leading utility company.

Dr. Kharrazi's academic and professional journey is both diverse and impressive, equipping him with the expertise needed for his dual roles. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Electronic Engineering and a Master of Science Degree in Control Engineering in Iran, and then took on roles as a Project Engineer and Telecom Engineer across various industries.
Seeking further education, he moved to Australia and earned an Honors Degree in Electrical Power Engineering from Murdoch University in 2015. He then achieved his doctorate from the University of Western Australia in 2021. His research interests span across renewable energy integration, Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), and Energy Blockchain.

Paul is the founder of Norwood Systems and is responsible for directing the company’s overall strategy. His goal is to revolutionise communications network services, with Norwood providing advanced cognitive voice consumer and business services to communications service providers worldwide. With over 35 years of experience in the high-technology sector, Paul has held senior executive roles in start-ups and large corporations across North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific.

Before Norwood Systems, Paul founded several wireless communication companies, including the original award-winning Norwood Systems Limited in the UK. Previously he headed the global platform marketing strategy for a $1 billion systems platform at 3Com Corporation, where he led the platform’s brand and core technology development, which saw the platform’s worldwide market share of the Ethernet switching and hub market increase to a peak of 35% earning 3Com $1.2 billion in annual revenues.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Electronic Engineering from the University of Western Australia and an MBA from INSEAD. He has received numerous honours and awards, including being named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Engineers in Australia by Engineers Australia.

Ross graduated from UWA in 2006 with a Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental) and Science (Geography). He has worked as a consultant hydrologist since, for a variety of clients and applications including resource and land development, government, and community organisations. Environmental engineering provided the foundation for his technical skills, including hydrological and hydraulic modelling and design and implementation of groundwater and surface water management strategies. It also provided a strong basis for the non-technical aspects of his work, including multi-disciplinary project management and liaison with regulators and stakeholders for project approvals. 

Ross has been the chair of the Environmental Engineering Industry Advisory Panel since 2020. He is keen to provide UWA with links to industry to ensure course content is relevant, and to help students understand their potential career pathways prior to graduating. 

Alice graduated from Environmental Engineering at UWA in 2005. Since that time she has built her career in environmental and social impact assessment, risk management and regulation, principally focused on the mining and oil and gas sectors. Alice finds uses for a whole range of skills she obtained studying environmental engineering when ensuring that oil and gas activities appropriately manage the environmental impacts of their operations offshore. 

Alicia is a chartered professional engineer with 19 years’ experience in project management, technical leadership and business improvement. She has a Master of Environmental Management and Development from the Australian National University and is passionate about sharing knowledge to improve livelihoods.

Two of her career highlights include working in Manilla, Philippines as the Project Manager for the Asian Development Bank’s assistance to the Public-Private Partnership Center (PPP Center | The Official Site Public-Private Partnership Center of the Philippines) and managing South32’s Northern Territory Groote Eylandt Mining Company (GEMCO - South32) pre-feasibility study for closure, which involved leading a large team of consultants to produce the Mine Closure Plan, Closure Cost Estimate and Conceptual Closure Landform Engineering Designs.

Alicia currently works part time at Rio Tinto Iron Ore as a Senior Advisor in the Closure Governance and Strategy team. She is a mother of four boys (Luca 9, Mitchell 6, Theo 5 and Jordi 2) and is married to Matthew, whom she met doing Environmental Engineering at UWA and shares her love of nature. 

Emily is an Environmental Engineer who has worked in site environmental and engineering roles since 2015. Emily leads the Engineering Group within Mine Earth, a specialist mine closure and rehabilitation consultancy. Her technical skills include preparing detailed closure cost estimates to advise mining companies the cost to rehabilitate mine sites, closure landform options assessments, landform design, construction support and quality management. Managing a team of talented engineers also makes use of Emily’s organisational, leadership and management skills.

Emily enjoys working in multidisciplinary teams and being part of the solution to complex problems.  

Karl has over 10 years of experience in the environmental industry, spanning strategic and operational roles in both private and government sectors. After relocating to Australia, he joined a family-owned environmental company, initially delivering hands-on work and later transitioning to planning and administration. He then moved to the City of Perth as a technical officer, where his role evolved into project management and advisory, focusing on contract management, erosion, hydrology, and river restoration projects. 

In 2021, following the birth of his daughter Finley, Karl joined EY’s Climate Change and Sustainability team as a senior consultant to gain experience in environmental consultancy and non-financial reporting standards like GRI, TCFD, and SASB. 

Balancing work and family life, and with the upcoming arrival of his son Theo, Karl returned to the local government sector in a strategic role, continuing to lead environmental projects while managing a small team of environmental practitioners. 

Katie has an extensive career in environment engineering and sustainability accumulated over 30 years in the alumina and aluminium, oil and gas and offshore wind industries in Australia. This has encompassed both site-based operational roles in aluminium smelting and alumina refining and centralised leadership roles in LNG production.

Additionally, Katie has led the environment teams for some of Australia’s biggest and most complex LNG major capital projects across all delivery phases. Currently, Katie is supporting the feasibility development of Australia’s first floating offshore wind project which includes managing stakeholder engagement with all levels of government, communities and independent experts. Katie has graduated from UWA twice, first with a Bachelor or Engineering (Environmental) 1st Class Honours, and more recently with a Masters in Law, Policy and Government.

She lives in Perth with her husband and three children and loves to hike, dive, sing and bake. 

Martin graduated from UWA in 2012 with a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering. Martin has over 12 years’ experience working as a water resources engineer at Worley.

Early in Martin’s career he was involved in hydrological and hydraulic modelling projects for a range of clients, ranging from urban developers to government agencies and various mining clients. In recent years, Martin has moved to a project lead / manager role managing multi-disciplinary teams to deliver technical solutions to clients particularly focused around surface water management. Martin is a Member of Engineers Australia and has been on the environmental engineering IAP since 2021. 

Pandora graduated from UWA in 2012 with a degree in Environmental Engineering. She over 11 years’ experience in surface water hydrology and dam engineering work. Pandora has been a member of the Dams and Dam Safety Section at the Water Corporation of Western Australia for seven years. Her most recent experience includes dam safety inspections and reporting, hydrological flood studies and dambreak modelling. 

Pandora’s former experience was in creating stormwater management strategies for urban developments. She was involved in the compilation of numerous Local Water Management Strategy and Urban Water Management Plan reports for property developments throughout the Perth metropolitan area. Her technical experience in surface water hydrology includes surface water monitoring and data analysis, 1D and 2D hydraulic modelling and stormwater drainage design. 

Sam is a senior marine engineer and project manager with over 9 years’ experience leading numerical modelling and design projects across the maritime industry with DHI. Specialised in moored vessel behaviour and harbour design, Sam has worked on Ports around the world helping them to improve safety, operational efficiency and to develop strategic expansion initiatives. His experience in vessel response is complemented by a background in hydrodynamic modelling, metocean forecasting and data analytics.

Recently Sam has joined DHI Seaport, DHI’s specialized digital advisory service, focusing on designing operational systems that help ports tackle complex challenges associated with climate change, aging infrastructure, and changes across the global vessel fleet. In addition to his role at DHI, Sam is part of the teaching team at UWA where he provides support across various design, modelling and fluid mechanics units.  

Sarah has over seven years’ experience working in coastal management as a consultant and within Local Government. Sarah began her career in consulting, working for Cardno (now Stantec) in their Coastal and Marine Team. During her time at Cardno, Sarah worked on a wide range of projects for various clients in Western Australia, interstate and overseas. 

Sarah joined the City of Wanneroo in 2021 where she is responsible for the management of the City’s coastline. Sarah’s role includes managing coastal infrastructure projects, planning for the future of the coastline and actively consulting with the community, council members and external organisations. 

As a major beneficiary of industry mentoring during her university days, Sarah is a huge advocate for promoting collaboration between industry and academia. She is also passionate about introducing young engineers to coastal management, which is a field that is becoming increasingly critical for the sustainable management of WA.