Update from Beth Gentle - IM Australia Chapter Lead

It's been a very productive month for the Australian iMasons Chapter so far, and we can't wait to get started on some great projects with you. 

Just to fill you in on what Tim, Tony & Myself have been up to...

The Maker Games UNSW / Aurecon / iMasons 2020 

iMasons have collaborated with the awesome team at Aurecon as part of the UNSW Maker Games 2020!

The Maker Games participants are UNSW Students and the program involves partnering with industry, coming up with a concept to challenge the norm, then prototyping it. 

The team of Students from UNSW are developing innovative cooling solutions and Aurecon are there to lead and support them. We jumped on board (thank you for the invite Matt Gurr!) and have been able to offer the Students some extra opportunities. The team at Vertiv (thank you Tony Gaunt!) took the students on a guided tour of their Data Centres, for some inspiration and hands on education. Tim Gentle was on the tour and was able to talk to the students about iMasons and potential iM student chapters. On the day he provided all attendees with iMasons tee shirts and pins. We are also liaising with our iM Millennial Leader, Bill Kleyman in the US to be on a panel to hear the students pitch and provide feedback, before they go into the final rounds of the competition. I will keep you all posted with the outcome! 

DCD Syd 7th of October, 2020 

iMasons Panel Discussion - Bridging the Digital Divide 

iMasons ED Jeff Omelchuck hosted a roundtable discussion as part of the DCD>Syd 2020 conference, and we rallied a few of our very own Committee Members to partake in the panel discussion!

On the panel we had Kimberley Johnston from iSeek, Parastoo Amin from RMIT University, Luke Baker from Open Infrastructure Group, Benjamin Armstrong from Indigitek & Chris Thorpe from Leading Edge DC. 

It was a fascinating conversation on all the aspects of bridging the digital divide here in Australia. We look forward to continuing this conversation with our iM Team. 

Sustainability & the Government 

Tony Gaunt has been in discussions with representatives and advisors within the NSW Government. Tony has been in talks with Minister Matt Kean’s office (Energy & Environment) to look at ways the iM Sustainability Committee and state government can work together to break down barriers, educate about Digital Infrastructure industry practices and collaborate with the Government on future initiatives here in NSW. 

Education & TAFE NSW

Tim Gentle is currently working on an expression of interest for iMasons to be involved with a very exciting new project that TAFE NSW are embarking on. Tim is working hard to get iMasons a seat at the table for The Meadowbank Centre of Excellence. Tim has been liaising with the iMasons Education Committee (abroad), and getting some really great feedback and support.

The iM Education Committee here in Australia will be integral to helping develop career pathways and communicating the skills needed to TAFE NSW to enable them to deliver more people with those skills into the industry. Please see attached copy of the Meadowbank Centre of Excellence prospectus which is proposed to have a secondary school also on the site of the campus.

Now that we have wheels turning, it's time for us all to come together and work as a Committee. I will be arranging a call for all of us to virtually meet in the first week of November - date TBA (please let me know if there are any particular days or times that don't work for you)

In the meantime, stay safe & well and we look forward to "seeing" you all soon!

Kindest regards,

Beth Gentle