Come and join the discussion event as the College of Leadership & Management and Engineers Without Borders committees partner together to take you on a journey to uncover some of the engineering tools and practices being used to deliver programmes that align to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Hear how local engineers and associates are taking action to connect their local community with international developing communities and what opportunities are available for Queensland Engineers to make a difference.

Meet your speakers

Sonja Basson MIEAust CPEng NER
Aurecon Group

Sonja is the Technical Director Renewable Energy for Aurecon group. She is recognised as a professional member of the Australian, Ireland, Queensland and South African Engineering councils and boards. She worked in Europe, Middle East and Africa region before relocating to Australia.

Spending 6 years in base load electricity generation, transmission & distribution specialising in HMI & SCADA, in 2013 Sonha followed her passion and purpose into Renewable Energy. She has worked in residential, commercial & utility scale solar PV gaining Developer, Manufacturer & Consulting experience.

Sonja is currently completing her MBA part-time with the University of South Wales, she is the president of Queensland region for Engineers Without Borders, in her spare time she voluntarily coaches graduates on Linkedin, is involved in the Clean Energy Council and is a Career Mentor at various universities across Queensland, she frequently does public speaking for STEM career development.

She has a keen interest in developing knowledge in Disaster Management, Resilience planning and Asset Management to help fight against Climate Change.

Ian Cameron FIEAust CPEng NER APEC Engineer IntPE(Aus)

Ian has retired after 34 years’ civil engineering experience principally in the field of water engineering. Ian has worked across projects in the Water, Transport, Mining, and Energy sectors in his career and worked on the Logan Water Alliance (Design Manager) and the subsequent Logan Water Infrastructure Alliance (Group Leader, Project Development) for 6 ½ years at the end of his career.

Ian has worked for Local Government, State Government and four consulting engineering firms in his career and in recognition of his expertise, he was awarded, in 1998, a Churchill Fellowship for research into the biological removal of contaminants from water and, in 2011 the Water Professional of the Year Award in the AWA Queensland Branch Water Awards.

Ian has on ongoing interest in mentoring, volunteering, and supporting water and sanitation projects in developing countries. Ian has recently returned from the opening of a Rotary International funded village water supply scheme in PNG, which serves 3,000 people across 10 villages.

Amanda McGuane BEng BTech MIEAust

Discipline Manager Environment Qld, Arcadis

Amanda leads Arcadis Australia Pacific’s Queensland Environment Business. She is a Coastal/Environmental Engineer with almost 20 years’ experience in engineering consulting and environmental management.

Amanda’s professional roles have predominantly been focused on leadership, business strategy and development, and growth within multidisciplinary engineering organisations. Amanda’s programme delivery, environmental engineering and interface skills have been developed through managing and coordinating a range of environmental and engineering-based projects, both in Australia and overseas.

She has spent a lot of her career, living and working in the Middle East, delivering sustainable solutions to greenfield developments in the property, resources and industrial sectors. Her experience is predominantly focused on sustainable master planning for major projects in coastal communities, environmental impact assessment, permitting and advisory, stakeholder consultation, planning and implementation strategies.

Amanda plays a key role in driving Arcadis Australia Pacific’s implementation of the company’s Shelter Programme, providing pro-bono engineering and environmental expertise for UN-Habitat projects across the globe.