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YWP Program

Are you a young water professional or new to the industry? The Ozwater’23 Young Water Professionals Program will connect and inspire the industry’s future leaders.

Tuesday, 9 May 2023

9:00am - 9:30am Registrations Open 
9.30am – 10.15am 

Opening Session 
Australian Young Water Professional of the Year 2022, Michael Carter, will provide leadership for the day, beginning with his water story, what inspired him to initiate a water career, and what continues to encourage him to work in the water sector. 

10.15am – 10.45am  Morning Tea 
10.45am – 12.00pm 

Water – United by Data  
In this session, you will hear from several perspectives on the importance of data and embracing digital transformation in the water industry. This session aims to educate and implore the urgency of deepening our efforts to solve major global issues. You will walk away from this session empowered to build your data literacy and be united by data. 

12.00pm – 1.00pm  Lunch 
1.00pm – 2.30pm 

Resilience in a Changing Climate 
This session aims to highlight the solutions and opportunities available as we deal with changes to Australia’s climate. The session will be interactive, allowing you to discuss the issues we face as a sector and how we can work on making our community more resilient. 

2.30pm – 2.45pm  Closing Remarks  
2.45pm – 3.00pm Afternoon Tea 
3.00pm – 5.00pm 

Site Tours 
The locally based site visits held in the afternoon will round out the discussions already undertaken throughout the day. 

Keynote Speaker


YWP Keynote Michael Carter

Michael Carter, Principal Process Engineer, Beca Hunter H2O


Michael is a chartered chemical engineer with thirteen years’ experience in the water industry. Michael's passion for addressing regional water issues has given a voice to those concerns. He has personally and professionally given frank and fearless advice to government agencies, to overcome the regulatory hurdles and assist local water utilities. Michael was recognised as the 2022 AWA Australian Young Water Professional of the Year. Although Michael does not love horses, he was born in the Horse Capital of Australia. So being a country boy, he may speak a tad slower…. but he can run fast in gumboots!

Panellists


Jonny Renton

Jonny Renton, Senior Consultant, Digital Services, Arup

Jonny is the Digital Services market leader for Water, Energy and Resources (Australasia), leads the development for many of Arup’s Global digital water products and leads the digital strategy and advisory team in NSW/ACT. He is passionate about combining Arup’s water design and engineering expertise with new insights coming from data, advanced modelling and analysis, simulation, and visualisation. 
YWP speaker Ellie Hubbard

Ellie Hubbard, Associate Director – Engineering, Assets & Project Delivery, KPMG

Ellie is passionate about helping people better understand risk and resilience considerations associated with owning and managing Infrastructure. She has held varied roles across the asset value chain and brings a breadth of experience which allows her to bring a diverse lens to complex challenges. Ellie specialises in embedding risk-based approaches into existing asset-intensive operations, with a focus on delivering sustainable outcomes.
Micah Starkis

Micah Starkis, Director, Data and Information - Knowledge Division, Department of Planning and Environment

Micah is ensuring the right technology and data outcomes are delivered and managed so water resources are sustainable, secure and healthy for our communities. Over the last 20 years he has lead technology transformation and new product design in government, media and digital health programs of national significance.  He is driven to extract value and benefit from sharing data to enable innovation and industry participation.
YWP speaker Clarissa Philips

Clarissa Philips, Technical Director Digital Delivery, Water ANZ, Jacobs

Clarissa is providing technical leadership to project delivery teams with a focus on Jacobs’ clients future Digital Twins. Clarissa is passionate about digital engineering and is excited to be a part of this fast-moving industry.

Join Ozwater

Register now

Frequently Asked Questions


We’ve developed a how-to guide to help you convey the direct benefits to your employer. Download and read the pack and adjust it to suit your needs.  

The YWP Program is an additional cost to an Ozwater registration: 

  • Member registration $280 
  • Non-member registration $390 

Full day program inclusive of: 

  • Morning keynote presentations 
  • Workshop and panel sessions 
  • Afternoon site tour  
  • Morning Tea, Lunch & Afternoon Tea
  • Welcome Reception with Ozwater'23 delegates and exhibitors