The importance of giving back
PIANC ANZ’s successful mentoring program has begun its second year, with a launch in April 2021. Participants come from a variety of prominent maritime organisations from around the region. For full list see below. Our congratulations and best wishes to all.
Feedback from those who participated in the inaugural program of 2020 was very positive. A follow up survey found that the three best things about the program for participants were
- its meaningful professional and career development,
- exposure to fresh perspectives, ideas and approaches, and
- the opportunity to reflect on their own goals and practices.
In fact six mentors signed up for a second year, and three mentees have chosen to continue their journey. Participants come from around the region, 9 NSW, 5 VIC, 3 QLD, 3 WA, 2 NZ, and 2 TAS, with one third of mentees being women.
PIANC ANZ Deputy Chair Peter Engelen coordinates the program. He said that the process is proving to be a rewarding experience for all participants, both mentors and mentees, and is a meaningful additional offering from PIANC ANZ to its members.
The importance of giving back:
Six Board members – Greg Britton, Ron Cox, Peter Engelen, Kevin Kane, Scott Keane and Neil Lawson – are active as mentors, showing their commitment to PIANC ANZ’s core purpose, which is to provide leadership in the field of waterborne transport infrastructure – to advance the communities, economies and environments in Australia and New Zealand. This includes providing leadership and development opportunities to our members, to increase their impact in our field.
Our six other wonderful mentors – Catherine Blaine, Peter Fountain, Jack Kerklaan, Giles Lesser, Peter O’Brien and Matthew Turner, are all prominent in their fields and active PIANCers.
Catherine Blaine, General Manager – Asset Management & Projects at Port Authority of New South Wales, has been working in the port and maritime industry for 20 years. She says she’s keen to discuss the areas where mentees would like to develop, and to assist them through coaching based on her own experiences. “I’m looking forward to having the chance to share and also reflect on my career path, the successes and failures, and which skills I’ve needed to develop, and am still developing.”
Senior PIANC leader Neil Lawson says,” I have been privileged to have had some wonderful experiences through my working career. During that time, I had some great mentors who helped me along the way. This is one way that I can give service back to the profession that has treated me so well over the years.”
Peter O’Brien, Managing Director of OMC International echoes Neil’s sentiment, “As a young engineer I was fortunate to receive excellent mentoring from experienced engineers that was invaluable at the time and I still to this day reflect on how important this was in shaping my career path. Now having worked as an engineer for now over 30 years, I would like to offer the same to engineers embarking on their journey. To me this is a critical role for senior engineers to undertake.”
List of 2021 PIANC ANZ Mentoring Program Participants.
Mentors
Catherine Blaine, Port Authority NSW
Greg Britton, Royal HaskoningDHV, NSW
Ron Cox, UNSW Water Research Laboratory, NSW
Peter Engelen, NSW Ports
Peter Fountain, Consultant, NSW
Kevin Kane, NQBP, QLD
Scott Keane, Cardno, QLD
Jack H.C. Kerklaan, Akuna Dredging Solutions, QLD
Neil Lawson, Consultant, TAS
Giles Lesser, OMC International, NZ
Peter O’Brien, OMC International, VIC
Matthew Turner, OMC International, VIC
Mentees
Fiona Allan, Westport Project, Department of Transport, WA
Nathan Cambourn, Port of Newcastle, NSW
Michael Fisher, Wallbridge Gilbert Aztec, WA
Natalie Godward, Port Authority NSW
Greg Hibbert, OMC International, VIC
Dr Mohammadreza Javanmardi, OMC International, VI
Salil Kulkarni, OMC International, VIC
Nery Contti Neto , PhD student UWA, WA
Joshua Male, Maritime Construction, TAS
Shannen Masia, Port of Newcastle, NSW
Fergus Wilson, Beca, NZ
Yanyan Zhang, Student, NSW