UQ Women in Engineering Breakfast

UQ alumni, industry partners and friends are invited to an inspiring morning at the iconic Brisbane City Hall on Friday, 21 March 2025 for the UQ Women in Engineering Breakfast. This year's event, hosted by the Women in Engineering Alumni Council and The University of Queensland, is centred around the UN Women Australia's International Women’s Day theme 'March Forward: It's time to turn promises into progress'. 

This theme reminds us that progress is not just about reflection but about taking decisive, bold steps to turn our commitments into action. As women leaders and advocates in the engineering sector, this is our opportunity to drive meaningful change toward a more equitable future for women and girls.

Join over 300 engineering industry professionals and UQ alumni for this engaging and empowering discussion featuring esteemed guest speakers.

Keynote Speaker 

Sinead Kaufman
Chief Executive - Minerals, Rio Tinto

As Chief Executive of Rio Tinto’s Minerals portfolio, Sinead has accountability for a global suite of businesses, including battery materials, titanium dioxide, diamonds, borates, scandium and high-grade iron ore pellets and concentrate from operations and projects in Canada, Madagascar, South Africa, Australia, Europe and the US.

The Minerals portfolio is focused on meeting the demand for critical minerals for the energy transition and Sinead oversaw the creation of Rio Tinto’s Battery Materials business which includes the Jadar lithium project in Serbia and multiple technology partnerships. The Minerals portfolio also includes the Platina Scandium Project, a high-grade scandium resource in New South Wales.

Sinead brings to her role deep operational expertise and leadership combined with a track record and a commitment to sustainability and empowerment, advancing a culture of diversity and inclusion in the mining industry.

Sinead first joined Rio Tinto as a geologist in 1997 and has since gained international mining experience across a range of commodities including copper, aluminium, bauxite, diamonds, coal, salt, uranium and iron ore in both underground and open pit environments.

Sinead holds a Masters in Mineral Exploration from the University of Leicester and a Degree in Applied Geology with Honours from the University of Birmingham. Sinead has attended INSEAD through a Chief Executive Women scholarship.
 

Panellists 

Helen Adamson
Regional Managing Director Australia-Asia & Managing Director CORE, Hatch 

Helen Adamson has over 30 years’ experience spanning plant operations, project development, operations readiness and commissioning. She graduated as a Chemical Engineer from Curtin University in Western Australia and moved into operations before later transitioning into engineering and project delivery.  Over her career she has developed a deep understanding of project delivery, client relationships, plant operation, capital and operating cost management, safety, quality and other aspects of business management. This provides her with a clear vision of the key value drivers of both operations and design and the importance of achieving them.  

She is currently based in Perth but has previously lived in the United States and, more recently, spent eight years working in the Middle East. She has three children and currently serves as Regional Managing Director for Hatch Australasia and is also responsible for Hatch’s global practice in Commissioning, Operations Readiness and Ramp Up.

Helen has a strong passion for actively fostering cooperative environments for high performance by building strong relationships between both client and project teams.

Jacqui Bridge 
Executive General Manager Energy Futures, Powerlink Queensland

Jacqui Bridge has more than 25 years’ experience in the energy sector working with electricity, gas and water utilities throughout Australia and the Pacific Region. She has a range of experience including network planning and regulation,  energy markets, asset management and renewable energy development.

As Executive General Manager Energy Futures at Powerlink Queensland, Jacqui leads the Energy Markets, Policy, Corporate Strategy, Enterprise Resilience and Network Regulation functions, and her focus is on the role of the transmission network in delivering the energy transformation.

Evelyn Storey
Director, Eminence & Sustainability, Aurecon

Evelyn Storey is Director of Eminence & Sustainability at Aurecon, responsible for embedding sustainability across all capabilities and projects, bringing appropriate thinking, solutions and technology to respond to the challenges of sustainable development and climate response.

Graduating from Imperial College in London in 1986, Evelyn has over 35 years’ experience as a structural engineer, design director and engineering leader and has successfully delivered a portfolio of complex and award-winning buildings and transport infrastructure in both Australia and the UK.

Evelyn has also held numerous leadership roles at Aurecon and was most recently the Managing Director for Queensland. She is a Fellow of Engineers Australia and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Directors. Evelyn is a Director and Board Member of Aurecon Ltd and Chair of the Structural College Board of Engineers Australia.

Support Women in Engineering 

Please consider a gift towards creating opportunities to drive change and promote greater diversity within the engineering industry.  

Your generous support will enable us to continue to develop and enhance the future of women studying engineering at UQ and inspire women across Australia to consider pursuing a career in engineering. 

Voluntary donations can be made to the Women in Engineering Fund when completing your ticket purchase.

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