There was a quarter of a century of engineering history in the room when the 25th anniversary of Deakin University’s current School of Engineering was celebrated at a commemorative dinner at Waurn Ponds Estate, Geelong, in October.
Guests at the dinner included Deakin Vice-Chancellor Professor Jane den Hollander, past Heads of School, staff and alumni, as well as members of the school’s advisory board and current staff members, including Interim Head of School, Professor Ian Gibson. Professor Trevor Day, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment, was the evening’s Master of Ceremonies.
Mr Nino Ficca, current Chairman of Deakin’s Engineering Advisory Board and Managing Director of AusNet Services, was the evening’s guest speaker. Another highlight of the evening was the presentation of a gift to the Heads of School, past and current. A commemorative booklet capturing memories of the school and its achievements was also given to guests on the evening.
"The evening was a good blend of the formal and informal with some excellent talks from Nino and the Vice-Chancellor," Professor Gibson said.
"It was great to see old friends and colleagues get together, many of whom had not seen each other for many years. The School of Engineering is in great shape and it is largely down to the people in the room that evening."
The establishment in 1991 of the new School of Engineering and Technology at Deakin marked the return of engineering education to Geelong after engineering courses had ended in 1982, following federal government budget cutbacks.
In March 1992 the school’s new engineering programs were officially launched: initially a Bachelor of Technology (Manufacturing) commencing that year which was designed to articulate into a Bachelor of Engineering (Manufacturing) when it was implemented the following year.
Fast forward 25 years, and Deakin’s School of Engineering has approximately 1,400 full-time students and close to 100 members of staff. The school is primarily based in the Centre for Advanced Design in Engineering Training (CADET), a $55 million facility which is home to some of the best future-focused engineering and design facilities in the Australian university sector, located at the University’s Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus. CADET is a partnership between Deakin University and the Australian Government.
Download a copy of the 25 year commemorative booklet
