Award Recipient 2017 - 2018

JULIE MIKHAIL, President of sydney division of engineers australia

Julie Mikhail FIEAust describes herself as a ‘hybrid engineer’, with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and a Masters in Electrical Engineering, a Certificate IV in Government Procurement and is a Fellow and Chartered Engineer of Engineers Australia.

Julie is the President of Engineers Australia’s Sydney Division.  She has focussed the division’s activities on the expansion and re-establishment of the regional groups to the South Australian & Victorian borders; continued engagement with industry and government resulting in parliamentary submissions in the areas of environmental planning, defence, electricity and procurement; expansion of the of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics programs within schools; and the establishment of the recently NESA accredited Engineering Studies Teachers’ Support programs for schools.

While working for Defence, Julie managed the sustainment of Navy’s communication systems which included upgrades to secure communication systems, maritime distress signaling systems and the installation of satellite TV across the Naval fleet. As a result of outstanding management and leadership Julie was awarded a CEO Commendation and the Australia Day Medallion in 2009.

Over her time at Defence, Julie has issued numerous tenders to industry, evaluated them and debriefed unsuccessful tenderers on the failures of their bids. This has sparked the desire to assist companies that are technically capable but don’t have the resources or knowledge to bid successfully on government tenders and as such open up a whole new world of opportunities to them. To build on this desire, Julie started her own company Engineering Business Pty Ltd in 2016, to work with Small to Medium Enterprises developing capability and assisting them in their bidding process to bid and win on government tenders. Engineering Business also works with larger firms who’ve had little to no exposure in government tendering. Since start up, 2 years ago, Engineering Business has held a 90% success rate in achieving contract signature for clients both SMEs and large corporates across various government departments.