Industry advisory committee
David Collett - State Manager Vic/Tas, SMEC (IAC Chair)
David is Civil Engineer and executive with over 30 years’ experience delivering innovative solutions in the engineering consulting and construction industries. His diverse experience encompasses project management, business leadership, client relationship management, business transformation and change management, fix-its/turnarounds, strategic planning, execution and operations management across Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
During his varied career David has held operational and project leadership roles on major infrastructure projects with top-tier consultants encompassing a wide spectrum of responsibilities and projects including; light and heavy rail; building and industrial structures; highways; urban development; water and maritime projects. This diverse experience has provided him with the skills to provide effective leadership of engineering projects and business units across a broad range of technical areas.
David has a passion for, and extensive experience in, training of engineering professionals in the workplace. In a previous role he led the development of an internal Project Management course for consultants; an intensive two-day course which became mandatory training for all company staff involved in Project leadership activities around the world.
As State Manager at SMEC, David is responsible for over 500 staff in three offices delivering projects to clients throughout Victoria and Tasmania.
David holds a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education in Churchill, achieved just prior to GIAE becoming Monash Gippsland, making him a Monash Alumni. He is also a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia.
David comes from an engineering family; his wife Melanie is an Engineer at AECOM and his daughter Paige is a Graduate Project Engineer at Lend Lease.
Dr. Beth Ebert - Head of Weather & Environmental Prediction Research, Bureau of Meteorology
Beth leads the Weather and Environmental Prediction research at the Bureau of Meteorology, a team of about 40 scientists and IT professionals working in the areas of high impact weather science, forecast system development, and remote sensing. With a PhD in Meteorology from the University of Wisconsin she joined the Bureau of Meteorology in 1989 as a research scientist where she conducted research in satellite meteorology, rainfall measurement, ensemble prediction, nowcasting, and spatial methods for forecast verification. Most recently she has helped develop weather-related forecasting applications for public health and safety: smoke and air quality, pollen and thunderstorm asthma, heat wave, and hazard impacts.
Beth is a member of the Scientific Steering Committee for the World Meteorological Organization's World Weather Research Programme (WWRP), and the leads the User-Oriented Evaluation task team for the 10-year WWRP High Impact Weather project. In 2016 Dr Ebert was elected as a Fellow of the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society.
Khaled Elagha - Operations Manager, Fulton Hogan
Khaled has over 30 years experience in the field of civil infrastructure. He has worked on a wide range of projects including roads, bridges, rail, airports, ports, water, dams in Australia and overseas. Khaled’s role includes identifying opportunities and assisting clients with achieving their objectives in the delivery of major infrastructure. He is passionate about building strong working relationships with clients, partners, subcontractors, and most of all, his team.
Throughout his career, he has put an emphasis on training, mentoring and providing opportunities to young engineers coming into the workforce. Khaled is a member of a number of organisations involved with the upskilling of upcoming leaders in the industry. His aim is to guide the younger generation and in preparation for the challenges ahead.
Dr. Dan Evans - Director Environment & Planning, Aurecon
Dan has 24 year’s post-degree experience as an environmental scientist. He has skills in contamination studies, environmental impact assessments, environmental monitoring, fluvial geomorphology, water management and water quality studies. He specialises in linking water monitoring studies to down-gradient receptor fate / impacts and justifying improvements in catchment management. He has experience working in academic, consultancy and government regulatory positions in his career.
Dan is currently a Director in the Environment and Planning Service Group for Aurecon - an engineering, design and advisory company. This is a forward thinking role responsible for management of the NSW Water Resources Team and the National Practice Lead for Water Quality and Catchment Science. Dan is responsible for developing and implementing actions to enhance Aurecon’s technical capability, making significant contributions to business development, project delivery and strategic priorities.
Dan is passionate about disseminating complex scientific findings in the most approachable way, using clear language and visual tools where possible. He has published book chapters and peer-reviewed journal articles but has also presented to communities in development project areas and to the media via newspapers and radio interviews.
Snowie Healy - Civil Engineer at Aurecon Group Brand
Snowie is a Civil Engineer who has strong skills in design and project management gained from working on multidisciplinary infrastructure projects for almost 15 years. Her roles are design focussed and have involved extensive stakeholder co-ordination with a focus on understanding key technical drivers and client requirements. Snowie’s recent experience in managing the design of both regional and metropolitan rail projects. Prior to joining Aurecon’s project management and rail teams, Snowie was a Water Engineer with experience in the design and construction of pipelines, pumping stations and water/wastewater treatment plants.
Snowie has worked on projects from the early feasibility stage through to detailed design and onto the construction and commissioning of the works in varying roles including Design Engineer, Design Manager and also a Commissioning Engineer. Snowie is originally from Ireland and holds a Bachelors degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering from University College Cork and also has a Masters degree in Water & Environmental Engineering from University College Dublin.
Laurie Langford - Program Director, Department of Transport, Network Integration Technical Advisor, AECOM
Laurie is a Technical Director at AECOM, where she has worked since 2007. She holds a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours in Civil Engineering from Monash University. After a number of years employed as a civil and structural engineer, Laurie specialised in Project Management. Laurie has 20 years of technical and project management experience working on infrastructure and construction projects in Australia and the UK, successfully managing a broad range of projects from feasibility through construction and handover across a variety of industries, incorporating safety management, quality assurance, requirements elicitation, brief preparation, stakeholder management, design management, contract management, budget and program control.
Laurie is currently the Program Director for the Technical Advisory Services Program to the Department of Transport, provided by AECOM WSP Joint Venture. She demonstrates strong leadership of the JV resulting in a high performing team that is collaborative and innovative, with strong culture and behaviours. She actively manages program risk and opportunities in relation to the performance of the contract and implements strategies and management measures to drive a focus on positive solutions for the Client.
Laurie has extensive and proven Commercial and Project Management expertise and was the Commercial and Technical Manager for the Level Crossing Removal Project Technical Advisory Joint Venture from 2017-2019. Another career highlight was working in London as Project Manager for a new Service Control Centre for London Underground.
Charlie Littlefair -General Manager Liveable Water Solutions, South East Water
Charlie joined South East Water in 2008 and is currently the General Manager Liveable Water Solutions. This group is accountable for land development servicing, resource recovery, liveability, connections, reliability, growth and strategic asset management functions of the business. Previously he was General Manager Asset Investment and prior to that General Manager Operations for Metro water in Auckland.
Charlie has 35 years of international experience in the water and sewerage industry, having worked for both private and public water utility organisations including, Opus International Consultants, Acer Engineering (a subsidiary of Severn Trent Water) and NZ Forest Products across New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. Throughout his whole career Charlie’s approach has always been to pursue value for money through innovation and collaboration. Charlie’s current focus includes innovation in integrated water management and digital disruption of the water industry, to provide customers and communities with inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable water and waste water services of the future, in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goals Global Compact initiative.
Charlie was recognised for his outstanding engineering achievements, innovation and resourcefulness as Victoria’s Professional Engineer 2019, by Engineers Australia.
Sue Mills - Processing Manager, Fosterville Gold Mine (MAusIMM)
Sue is a highly experienced process engineering professional who has held senior technical and operational roles within the manufacturing, biotechnology and mining sectors. With 25 years’ experience in the resource industry, she is currently a member of the senior management team at Fosterville Gold Mine. With a specific interest in biomining and bioremediation, Sue provides leadership to a team that is recognised globally as being industry leaders in the operation of bacterial oxidation plants, and the development of a number of innovative technologies specific to the recovery of colloidal gold from bioleached wash liquors and heavy metal removal from process waters.
As an advocate for operational excellence, Sue is passionate about creative thinking, and promoting the experiences of students in STEM through vocational and graduate employment programmes.
She is a previous award finalist for Businesswoman of the Year in Non-Traditional Areas of Work (Swinburne University) and holds a Bachelor degree in Materials and Manufacturing Engineering (University of Queensland), and Graduate Diplomas in Metallurgy and Project Management.