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USC appoints Professor of Engineering
The rapidly growing Sunshine Coast is set to face some tough and interesting engineering challenges as it seeks to become Australia’s most sustainable region.
Fortunately, these are the sorts of challenges that appeal to the University of the Sunshine Coast’s recently appointed Professor of Engineering Mark Porter.
Professor Porter, who started at USC in July, was previously Head of Agricultural, Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Southern Queensland.
“I took up this position because I saw opportunities to help develop an engineering degree relevant to the Sunshine Coast region and the main industries here in construction, tourism and coastal zone management,” he said.
“The whole sustainability of the environment in an area where the population is growing rapidly becomes quite an engineering challenge. You have to meet the needs of the people and maintain the environmental quality of the place, and these two things are often in conflict. The engineering challenge is to make the two work together.”
Professor Porter is an award-winning academic who received accolades from USQ for his excellence in research and in developing teaching materials, along with national awards for his outstanding contributions to student learning.
He plans to build on USC’s current engineering degrees in Construction, and in Water and Sustainable Resource Management, to create a suite of undergraduate and postgraduate engineering programs.
“I want to develop programs that will link in with the profession here and the needs of this region and give local students an excellent opportunity to study engineering without having to go to the major capital cities,” he said.
“We are presently gearing up to have the program nationally accredited, and that will ensure the degree we offer is of a comparable standard to any other engineering degree in the country."
Find out more about USC’s Bachelor of Engineering degrees at the University’s Open Day from 10am to 3pm on Sunday 16 August.
— Terry Walsh