Recently Oshini Wijenayake, Yvette Nguyen and I attended the Railway Technical Society of Australasia’s (RTSA) CORE2023 Conference on Railway Excellence, as recipients of the RTSA Emerging Professionals scholarships. The theme of the conference this year was “Celebrating 25 Years in Motion”, which looked at the achievements of the past 25 years in the rail industry and also delved into the next 25 years and what hurdles there still are to overcome.

The Fiber Optic infrastructure rollout (Mestia and Zugdidi-Khobi) is a project funded by the World Bank to improve fibre optic connectivity in remote regions of Georgia. The project involves the construction of a new fiber optic networks to improve access to high-speed internet and other telecommunications services.

The Government of Uzbekistan, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently hosted International Partnership Week "New Uzbekistan: Progress, Innovation, and Enlightenment". As part of the program Kawa Baha was invited to join an esteemed panel discussion titled ‘The Need to Save Water Resources is the Requirement of Time’.

The Tbilisi Development Fund has engaged SMEC to develop the Dighomi floodplain rehabilitation strategy. The Dighomi Floodplain is an area of special conservation interest, which includes riparian forest, protected Otter habitat and other unique flora and fauna ecosystems that have been assessed as critical by the International Finance Corporate Performance Standard.

SMEC has been contracted by Electricidade De Timor-Leste (EDTL) for the role of Project Supervision Consultants for the Power Distribution Modernisation Project in Timor-Leste. Supported by a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the project aims to assist EDTL in modernising the country’s power distribution system and strengthening institutional capacity.

Geotechnics will play a key role in helping our society achieve a safe, prosperous and sustainable future. Recent droughts have resulted in a need for more dam design and construction. Recent rainfall has resulted in extensive slop failures impacting our roads, rail and urban infrastructure. Energy transformation is driving large scale solar, wind and pumped hydro construction. These projects will all require geotechnical input to future plan for our communities.

Richard Parsons, one of SMEC’s key leaders in Social Value and Engagement is presenting on their technical paper ‘Considering Social Impact Assessment from a public interest perspective - some critical questions’ at the Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand 2023 Impact Assessment Symposium in Canberra.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Public-Private Partnership Center (PPPC) are inviting participants to the Market Sounding Webinar for the Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEX) on June 27, 2023.

SMEC’s waste and resource recovery specialists are presenting project presentations at this year’s Australian Landfill and Transfer Station Conference.

Australia is undergoing a dramatic energy transition. While a key part of the transition requires more renewable energy generation, these cannot be reliably delivered to consumers without significant development of long-term energy storage and network ancillary services.