The ATS are proud to celebrate five decades of tunnelling excellence and invite members and guests to engage with the past and future of the ATS.

The Australian tunnelling industry existed long before 1972, but this was the year the ATS was founded. This event will celebrate the last 50 years of the society and look to cast forward to the future.

This multi-location event will bring together the chapters of the ATS via camera link in a hybrid event. Attendees will then be invited to a local social event to connect with colleagues, discuss the past and speculate on the future of the tunnelling industry in Australia.

The event will start with an afternoon discussing the past, present and future of the tunnelling industry with some of Australia’s tunnelling greats. Upon the completion of the workshop style event guests are invited to attend a celebration dinner. The celebration dinner will be held at another venue so please ensure you check registration details.  Enjoy a three course dinner and beverages whilst networking and celebrating 50 years of ATS with your colleagues.

Not in Melbourne? Join us at the Brisbane or Sydney event.

Event program

4.15 pm: Sign in opens at Arup Offices – Sky Park

4.30 pm: ATS 50th celebration national livestream commences

6.15 pm: ATS 50th celebration national livestream concludes

6.30 pm: Local celebration Dinner begins at the Savoy Hotel on Little Collins

Who should attend?

Tunnelling engineers, civil engineers and transport engineers.

About the speakers

Charles MacDonald (presenting from Brisbane)

Managing Director, MacDonald Project Consulting

Charles is a widely recognised as a leading figure in the Australian tunnelling industry by both the private and public sector with forty years of experience in the design and construction of civil infrastructure works worldwide.

Harry Asche (presenting from Brisbane)

Technical Director, Aurecon

Harry is Design Director for Aurecon and plays an integral role in the firm’s most technically complex projects. With more than 40 years in the design and construction of public sector infrastructure, Harry has deservingly earned “expert” status within the tunnelling industry. He is also the current ATS Chair, having been elected to the position in 2019. Harry has received numerous awards including QLD Professional Engineer of the Year in 2018 and Road Australia Technical Excellence Award.

Arnold Dix (presenting remotely)

ITA President

Professor Arnold Dix is a barrister, mediator, dispute adjudicator, consultant and expert on all matters relating to tunnelling, underground infrastructure, fire and disasters, as well as broader civil planning and environmental disputes. His career over the past 30 years has celebrated a unique hybrid of engineering, geology, law and risk management matters. Arnold’s key strength is in his ability to bridge the gap between the legal and technical dimensions of a problem, risk assessment or dispute.

Arnold’s approach in legal matters is practical and commercially minded, appreciating the many factors that are intrinsic to complex disputes to do with tunnelling, mining, engineering and underground works. He has niche high level experience and a considered appreciation of the issues at hand, as well as the many stakeholder interests to be taken into account.

Arnold is also frequently booked as a guest speaker on subsurface infrastructure, tunnelling, mining and underground works, in Australia as well as internationally. Arnold is the current President of the International Tunnelling Association (Consultative Status to United Nations).

Brodie Aitchison (presenting from Brisbane)

ATSym Representative | Lead Engineer (Tunnelling), Aurecon

Brodie is a Chartered Civil Engineer specialising in tunnels and underground spaces with 10 years’ experience in the design and construction of mined and bored tunnels in hard and soft ground. Brodie is a Lead Engineer (Tunnelling) at Aurecon operating out of Brisbane and is involved with the delivery of tunnelling projects across Australia, New Zealand, and South East Asia.

Sabrina Kost (presenting from Sydney)

Manager, Tunnels, SMEC, Diversity in tunnelling committee member

Sabrina is the Group Manager for SMEC’s tunnels team in Sydney and a Chartered Principal Engineer with over 15 years of experience. Since joining SMEC in 2008, Sabrina has been involved in the design, planning & management of major complex underground infrastructure projects. She has extensive experience in the design of tunnels, shafts and cavern support systems in challenging ground conditions, ranging from hard rock to soft ground including subaqueous environments. Projects include TBM, road header, drill & blast and pipe jacking construction techniques. Sabrina also has a strong background in design review and compliance verification, certification roles and due diligence.

Natascha Rezai (presenting from Sydney)

Technical Director – Tunnels, GHD, Diversity in tunnelling committee member

Natascha is a passionate Tunnel Engineer with 16 years’ experience in Australia and Europe. She has been working with major international design consultancies and delivery contractors for some of Australia’s largest, most complex tunnel projects. Natascha is currently working with GHD and was previously employed with HOCHTIEF Engineering and Halcrow. Before moving to Australia over a decade ago she worked for a tier one tunnel contract as a site engineer and a local design consultancy in Austria where she is originally from. Technic and Engineering has been a key interest of hers from an early age on and she started her career as an Engineer at a technical high school for civil Engineering at the age of 14.

Matt Mules (presenting remotely)

NZTS Chair

Matt has extensive experience in leading tender, preconstruction and construction teams gained over more than 18 years in the construction industry. He has held senior leadership roles on a number of globally significant infrastructure projects such as Crossrail in the UK and the Central Interceptor in NZ and in more recent years has focussed on General Management. His specialty areas are in tunnelling, pipelines, structures and heavy civil engineering – both technical and programme delivery facets.

Matt enjoys making a broad contribution to the construction industry and is currently the Chair of the New Zealand Tunnelling Society, a member of the Worksafe Board of Examiners and a committee member of the NZ Temporary Works Forum.