Invited Speakers

	Dr Donald Charrett - Avoidance of Structural Disputes Barrister, Arbitrator & Mediator Supported by IABSE Dr Charrett will be presenting a keynote address at the Conference Donald started his engineering career as a Senior Teaching Fellow in civil engineering at Monash University . He was awarded a PhD for a thesis entitled "Plastic analysis and optimal design of slabs, plates and frames". He then spent four years at Irwin Johnson & Partners, responsible for computer applications in the design of buildings, before joining Hardcastle and Richards. During his 24 years at H&R he was involved in the study, design and project management of a range of civil engineering structures, including bridges, buildings, cranes, industrial structures, guyed masts and offshore platforms. He became a director in 1985, and in later years had commercial responsibilities including contractual review and managing H&R's participation in several Joint Ventures in Australia and Indonesia . Donald was responsible for the commercial aspects of H&R's merger with Dames and Moore in 1995. Following three years as a Senior Principal of Dames and Moore, Donald left engineering and studied law at Melbourne University , completing a Bachelor of Law and a Master of Construction Law. He commenced his legal career in the construction group at Mallesons in 2000, working on litigation of large construction projects. He came to the bar in 2004, and has had a number of briefs in connection with arbitrations and litigation in VCAT, the County and Supreme Courts. Donald is an accredited Mediator, and a Grade 3 Arbitrator.
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	Professor Werner Sobek- Light Weight Structures University of Stuttgart, Germany Supported by IStructE Prof Sobek will be presenting a keynote address at the Conference Werner Sobek studied architecture and structural engineering at the University of Stuttgart in Germany. In 1991 he became full-time professor at the University of Hanover in Germany. One year later he founded his own engineering consultancy in Stuttgart, Germany. In 1995 Werner Sobek took over the famous Institute for Lightweight Structures at the University of Stuttgart as successor to Frei Otto. In 2001 he also took over the chair of structural engineer Joerg Schlaich, fusing the two institutes into the new Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK). While the ILEK specializes on the research into new materials and new concepts for lightweight and adaptive structures, Werner Sobek Ingenieure is one of the leading engineering consultancies in Europ e. It excels through excellent engineering combined with first-rate design of constructional elements. A particular focus lies on special structures in steel, glass, titanium, concrete, textiles and wood. Werner Sobek Ingenieure has offices in Stuttgart/Germany, Frankfurt/Germany, and New York, NY. The works of Werner Sobek have been awarded numerous awards and distinctions, e. g. the DuPont Benedictus Award, the Design Award of the Industrial Fabrics Association International, the European Gluelam Award, the Fritz Schumacher Award, the iF Design Award, the SEAOI Structural Engineering Award, AIA awards of the American Institute of Architecture, the Hugo Haering Award, the ‘Building of the Year' Award of the Association of Architects and Engineers of Hamburg, the Fazlur Rahman Khan Medal as well as the UIA's Auguste Perret Priz e.
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	Emeritus Professor Peter Darvall Ex Vice Chancellor of Monash University Prof Darvall will be presenting a speech at the Conference Dinner Peter Darvall is a civil engineering graduate of the University of Melbourne, and gained higher degrees from Ohio State University and Princeton University, where his doctoral thesis was on the full-range behaviour of concrete barrel shells. He had positions as a surveyor on a glaciological expedition in Alaska, and engineer for an archaeological expedition in the Nile delta, and worked as a design and research engineer with Maunsell and Partners in Melbourne, and with Freeman Fox and Partners in London. In his career at Monash University he progressed from Lecturer to Dean of Engineering, and then to Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Vice-Chancellor. Within this time he was also National President of the Federation of Australian University Staff Associations (FAUSA), and had visiting appointments at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the National University of Mexico. His teaching and research was mostly in the field of concrete structures. He has published several books and many papers in this and other areas. He was a member of the Boards of various Co-operative Research Centres, Medical and other Research Centres, and school Councils. He is currently a Director of Melbourne Water, and Chairman of the Monash Engineering Foundation. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws by Monash University in 2005, and was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2007.
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	Air Vice-Marshal Julie Hammer AM, CSC, FIEAust, EngExec, FRAeS, GAICD, FIPENZ Air Vice-Marshal Julie Hammer, an electronics engineer, served in the Royal Australian Air Force for over 28 years in the fields of aircraft maintenance, technical intelligence, electronic warfare, and information and communications technology (ICT) systems. She was the Commandant of the Australian Defence Force Academy during 2002 and 2003. At the time of her transfer to the Reserve in August 2005, she was the most senior woman in the Australian Defence Force. She was the first serving woman in the history of the Australian Defence Force to achieve One Star rank in 1999 and Two Star rank in 2003. She holds a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Physics, a Masters degree in Aerosystems Engineering and a Graduate Diploma in Strategic Studies. Julie was the first woman to command an operational unit in the RAAF, the Electronic Warfare Squadron, and was awarded a Conspicuous Service Cross for that command. She served for three years from 1996 to 1998 as one of the Prime Minister's representatives on the Governor General's Australian Bravery Awards Council. She was awarded the 2001 Sir Charles Kingsford Smith Memorial Medal by the Royal Aeronautical Society and in 2002, she was appointed by the Government to be one of Australia 's Honouring Women Ambassadors. The University of Queensland named her the 2003 Alumnus of the Year and she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2004 Australia Day Honours List. She was the 2005 ACT Australian of the Year. Within Engineers Australia, Julie was one of the inaugural Board Members of the Centre for Engineering Leadership and Management (CELM) and served as Chair of the CELM Board from November 2005 till August 2007. She led the development of advanced competencies for leadership, management and business skills. She became National President of Engineers Australia in November 2007. Julie is also a Director of the .au Domain Administration Ltd, the administrator of the Australian country code top level internet domain.