Congratulations and welcome to Mark Bennet who has taken on the role of PIANC Victoria Regional Chapter Chair, as inaugural Chair Laurence Benn steps down after six years of sterling leadership. Thank you, Laurence, who is still keeping busy as PIANC AU-NZ Treasurer!
Mark, who is a senior maritime engineer for WGA in Melbourne, has been a PIANC VIC stalwart for many years. He was a crucial member of the local organising committee for PIANC’s successful APAC2022 Conference held in Melbourne, and is currently leading the team organising PIANC ‘s pre-Coasts & Ports 2025 workshop in Adelaide in August ‘From Strategy to Reality: Implementing Decarbonisation and ESG Strategies.’
Mark has been a dynamic part of our national Young Professional network, and is currently Deputy Vice-Chair of PIANC AU-NZ YP Commission. He is particularly involved in raising PIANC and the maritime industry’s profile to university students, many of whom don’t know about the exciting, challenging and varied career opportunities the industry offers.
Mark studied ocean engineering at the Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania, graduating with First Class Honours in 2016. His paper and presentation on ‘A Methodology to Design a Rational Static Underkeel Clearance Rule for Dredging and Port Operations’ received the PIANC Young Authors Award at Coasts and Ports Christchurch 2021/22. He became a Chartered Professional Engineer in May 2023.
Mark is passionate about PIANC. ‘It’s an extremely valuable and collegiate community’, he notes, ‘which does amazing things by working together. Many people don’t realise how crucial waterborne transport is to our economy, locally and worldwide. PIANC is actually on the front lines of some big challenges – sea level rise, climate change, the global energy transition, the circular economy, and we are tackling those challenges right now.’
‘I love being able to contribute to our community through PIANC and I’m excited about our big plans for the future.’
Go Mark! And thank you!