AAEE - Australasian Engineering Education Awards

McGraw-Hill new engineering educator award to Cynthia Mitchell

Announcing Dr Cynthia Mitchell as recipient of the inaugural Australasian Association for Engineering Education New Engineering Educator Award, AAEE President Erin Jancauskas said:

"She has a vision as to what engineering can be and is strongly committed towards achieving that ideal."
Much of that vision came to Cynthia in 1992, the year after she finished her PhD. But the journey began six years earlier. After graduating with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from The University of Queensland, Cynthia began work in a biotechnology company and became fascinated by the complexities of biological systems. The next step was predictable: a PhD at The University of NSW’s Biotechnology Department. However, by the time she had completed that, Cynthia was having trouble reconciling her work with her values. She takes up the story: "In 1992, I shot off into the bush for a year-long 4WD tour of the great Australian outback. The penny dropped somewhere in the Kimberley, and I decided to combine my engineering and science skills in the pursuit of environmental protection. In addition, I discovered I had a keen interest in learning, thinking, reasoning and decision-making."

This combination led to a lectureship at Queensland University of Technology and the development of an environmental program for Civil Engineering. In mid 1994, Cynthia moved to the University of Queensland where one of her most significant achievements was establishment of the Women in Engineering Centre. As founding Director, Cynthia launched an ethnographic study of first-year students which identified a culture unattractive to women and others who do not fit the mould of ‘typical engineer’.

This study, together with Cynthia’s contribution to the 1996 Review of Engineering Education, Changing the Culture, led ultimately to the Engineering Diversity project. Its final report contained about 40 feasible and workable recommendations aimed at achieving a more diverse and open culture in the School of Engineering. The Faculty recently adopted this report and is now seeking funding to implement its recommendations. The Engineering Diversity project also received the inaugural UQ Affirmative Action Award in 1998.

In mid-1998, Cynthia moved to The University of Sydney’s Department of Chemical Engineering to join CRESTA (Centre for Risk, Environment and Systems Technology and Analysis) because "CRESTA provides an exciting opportunity for me to align my research more closely with my commitment to the crucial role that engineers must play in achieving sustainability."

Commenting on her philosophy as an educator and influence on others, AAEE President Erin Jancauskas observed that Cynthia "is a role model for her students", and predicted that "her commitment is such that she will continue to develop as an educator, and will become a prominent figure in both the national and international arenas of engineering education."