NIOA Australia & New Zealand’s General Manager of Engineering has emphasised the strategic importance of cultivating the next generation of engineering leaders to underpin Australia’s sovereign defence priorities.

The engineering talent pipeline marked a milestone at NIOA with the first cohort of the NIOA Group and Engineers Australia’s Engineering Workforce Credentials (EWC) partnership receiving their chartership.

The EWC program provides a structured and supported pathway to internationally-recognised credentialing, including advancing engineers to become chartered engineers, fellow members or engineering executive members.

Defence experts have highlighted the chronic undersupply of skilled professionals as a key vulnerability to the successful ramp-up of Australia’s Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance workforce.

It has been estimated that up to 8000 specially trained technical roles, including 4000 specialised and professional engineers, will be needed over the next decade to establish a resilient industry with substantial local manufacturing knowledge.

NIOA Australia & New Zealand General Manager – Engineering Rudi Bekker said Australia’s Defence Industry Development Strategy (DIDS) and Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities (SDIPs) demanded significant growth in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“The engineering discipline is at the forefront of technological innovation, an essential instrument of resilience and therefore our deterrence strategy,” Mr Bekker told the graduation ceremony held at NIOA’s headquarters in Brisbane.

“To build sovereign capability we must also build workforce capability. The EWC is a testament to NIOA’s commitment to ensuring the highest standards of defence sector excellence and driving forward the future of engineering.”

Engineers Australia CEO Romilly Madew AO said engineers were pivotal against a backdrop of global challenges.

“By partnering with Engineers Australia, NIOA is investing in their engineers' future,” she said.

“This partnership promotes continuing professional development and high standards. It demonstrates a clear commitment to developing a capable and credible engineering workforce.

“We are excited to work with them to achieve these goals."

About the NIOA Group…

• The NIOA Group includes NIOA Australia, NIOA New Zealand, the Australian Missile Corporation, NIOA Inc [USA], Barrett Firearms [USA], NIOA UK and joint venture company Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions.
• Established in 1973, NIOA Group is a global firearms, weapons and munitions company with operations in the USA, Australia and New Zealand with a distribution network covering 75 US State department approved countries.

• NIOA is a major tenant at the Australian government owned, contractor operated (GOCO) munitions facility at Benalla in Victoria where it is currently manufacturing 120mm munitions for the Abrams tank along with 30mm and 35mm cannon ammunition.
• The company is a joint venture partner with Rheinmetall of Germany in the Rheinmetall NIOA Munitions 155mm artillery forging facility in Maryborough, Queensland, delivering key munitions for allied nations.
• NIOA has a strategic agreement with Aerojet Rocketdyne, a L3Harris Technologies company, to explore the manufacturing of key munitions and components within Australia’s sovereign guided weapons enterprise.

Engineers like NIOA’s Matt Hampton, above, are crucial to Australia’s sovereign defence industry workforce, says NIOA Australia’s General Manager – Engineering Rudi Bekker, below, with Engineers Australia’s Laine Duggan and Stacey Rawlings and the cohort of recently chartered NIOA engineers.