About the speaker

Our speaker today is Mr William Cox.

Bill is the General Manager for Aurecon in Australia and New Zealand region, a global professional services firm with 87 offices across 26 countries. He is responsible for the performance of 14 offices across the Australia and New Zealand region, focusing on health and safety, client relationships, quality, financial performance, staff management and performance, and culture and diversity.

Bill has over 25 years’ professional experience in Australia and the United Kingdom on major airport, port, rail and highway planning and, design and construction projects. He has held a number of positions including project design director, design manager and alliance leadership roles on a range of major transport infrastructure projects that have shaped Sydney.

Some of the projects that have included the Novo Rail Alliance, Sydney Harbour Bridge Upgrade Alliance, Sydney Airport Parallel Runway and Olympic Upgrade Projects, Second Sydney Airport Planning and Design Study, Rail Clearways Program and the Cross City Tunnel.

Bill has been a member of the UTS Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology Industry Advisory Network since 2007 and has supported the expansion of the UTS Galuwa Program which targets Indigenous high school students from years 9-12 and encourages them in their efforts to attain a degree in Engineering or Information Technology.

It gives me great pleasure to invite Mr William Cox to deliver the occasional address.

Speech

Pro Chancellor Dr Ron Sandland

Vice-chancellor and President Professor Ross Milbourne

Faculty Dean Professor Hung Nguyen

Registrar Mr Brendan Nelson

Chair of the Academic Board Professor Sally Varnham

Staff, distinguished guests, graduates, families and friends, Ladies and Gentlemen

I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal (Ga di gul) and Guring-gai (gu ring gi) people of the Eora (e or u) Nation, upon whose ancestral lands the University now stands.

Standing here this evening it is important that we acknowledge and celebrate the University’s 25th anniversary – the institution that has been the mainstay of the graduates’ educational experience for the past few years.

At the core of this celebration the university’s values of

  • Discover
  • Engage
  • Empower
  • Deliver, and
  • Sustain

are paramount and our recently conferred graduates, who are about to be unleashed on the world, are the latest, quintessential encapsulation of these values. If this sound a little dramatic or over the top, it is deliberate as you represent the next generation of leaders who will increasingly, and more so than any previous generation, work globally in our profession of engineering both physically and virtually through the networks we have created.

However, today, the main order of business is to acknowledge and celebrate your graduation.  We offer each of you sincere congratulations and applaud you on the achievement of your goals through intellect, tenacity, determination and sheer hard work.

You have all made huge sacrifices to be here today, worked crazy hours, done part time jobs, and left family and friends. Only you will know the extent of the efforts you have gone to in being here tonight.

Your graduation today represents the successful outcome of your sustained efforts over a substantial period of time to acquire a level of knowledge that will stand you in good stead as you take your place in the workforce as a skilled professional.

This is indeed a wonderful accomplishment and is a major milestone for you in the attainment of your chosen profession which you should not underestimate and you, your families and friends should celebrate this achievement.

Your degree is an entree into the global network of engineering – what you do from now on is up to you – the sky really is the limit. You are on the threshold of an exciting and fulfilling career.

Your graduation also embodies the culmination of a personal journey you have taken that has helped to shape you into what you are today and prepare you to confidently take your place in the world. Indeed, university life could be described as a metaphor for life in the world.

Because, just like the professional world, university life can be tough, with all the inherent challenges that are fundamental to ambitious, career-focused, passionate individuals seeking to find their niche in a competitive and results-oriented culture that is performance and deadline driven.

However, I am sure you have all realised that education within the university environment is twofold and the strictly formal training you have received in preparation for your entry into the world is finely balanced by the informal but no less important life education that is offered. 

By virtue of the very values it exemplifies, this university also fosters a deep sense of community and “mateship” amongst students; it encourages all students to discover their particular strengths and recognise their weaknesses, and it celebrates and promotes the intrinsic right of each student as a unique individual to realise his or her full potential to succeed, without fear or favour.

So, University life also helps to prepare you for the myriad of challenges you will encounter when you enter the workforce, particularly in relation to the cyclic and often tough nature of business in its many forms regardless of whether you are working in a professional office, consulting office, out on site with a contractor, or in a university research facility. 

In my years in the workforce in Consulting Engineering, I have experienced both the boom times and the quiet times and my biggest lessons learned that I took from University to my workplace was to adapt and regroup quickly (understand where the work is and make sure you are there, ready, willing and able), and survive the troughs (keep your head down and try that little harder, knowing that the trough will pass).

In this regard, change is the only constant and I encourage you to embrace change and go with it when it happens. Don’t fight it; don’t resist it. Adapt to it and use it to your advantage. This can be your key to success.

Above all, enjoy the peaks and all that can be achieved at these times.  Be confident enough with the education and training that you have received to expand your capabilities and explore career possibilities that excite you. Don’t be afraid to step up and speak out. Pursue your passion for excellence and lead by example. Be hungry for success.

As you walk away from this ceremony today you can be very proud of what you have achieved as you carry on the very proud traditions of being an Australian educated Engineer.

Having worked overseas and in my interactions right through to today in the UK, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, I can assure you the brand is very strong, it is a brand that says “can do”. Aussie educated engineers have a reputation for getting the job done regardless of whether you are in a lab coat and overshoes or overalls and steel cap boots and everything in between.

You should never be surprized at where you will meet your colleagues from this room and rooms like it around Australia. We are well travelled and sort out around the globe. You have a passport to opportunities around the world by virtue of your engineering degree. Travel well.

Having now built you up to feel ten feet tall, bullet proof and invincible, I need to add that you don’t know it all -not yet anyway - and I urge you to take with you an ethos to never stop learning and to keep an open mind to the endless possibilities that your education has unlocked. The potential in this room today represents the next generation of leaders of our profession in this country and around the world.

In addition, you join world-class alumni who have graduated from The University of Technology Sydney and carry on the proud traditions of this institution.

Where you will go and the route your career will take you is up to you. I have seen engineers I have worked with end up as missionaries with a talent for water and wastewater projects in Africa to merchant bankers with excel spreadsheets skills to die for in New York before you get to the more mundane aspects of digging tunnels under the English Channel or identifying and fixing a fault in a sub-sea fibre optic cable beneath the Atlantic Ocean.

It is a very long march from a first year physics, chemistry or Statics lecture. The skills you will acquire and judgement you will develop will acquit you well to make a meaningful and important contribution to our community, society and in some cases the world.

As to where you will be when the University celebrates its 50th anniversary only you can decide – it’s a very exciting prospect to contemplate.

From my experiences at university, I have also felt compelled to give back to the university community in some small measure what it so generously offered me.  Being a member of the Industry Advisory Network at UTS has allowed me to do just that and I have been honoured to participate in this forum, which seeks to maximise the affiliation between UTS’s Engineering and IT programmes and industry, a very important and differentiated offering of this Faculty.

I am also grateful to have had the opportunity to be involved in the Galuwa Engineering and IT programme which targets Indigenous high school students from years 9 to12 and encourages them in their efforts to attain a degree in Engineering or Information Technology.

Finally, always remember:

  • Set your goals high- aim for the stars
  • Believe in yourself – if you believe you can, you will
  • Don’t be afraid to venture outside your comfort zone – it is a big exciting world out there, just waiting for you to “have a go”
  • Embrace change (or you will be left behind)
  • Never lose your passion for those things that are most important to you
  • Be true to yourself and ensure you always retain your integrity in all your dealings

In closing, I congratulate each of you, encourage you to enjoy the moment and turn your potential into an exciting and fulfilling career wherever it takes you – enjoy the ride.

Thank you and good evening.