The 2023 Pritchard Francis Civil Engineering Scholarship has been awarded to Engineers Australia Member, Eunice Lim who is currently studying a Master of Professional Engineering (Civil Engineering) at the University of Western Australia and is undertaking work experience with Pritchard Francis.
Eunice Lim says winning the 2023 Pritchard Francis scholarship was a tremendous honour, especially since there is only one on offer each year.
“Being awarded the scholarship gave a sense of accomplishment and recognition towards my efforts at university. It has provided major encouragement and motivation to keep striving for better where I will continue to try my absolute best to meet the potential that was seen in me,” she says.
“Part of the scholarship includes the opportunity to work at Pritchard Francis over the summer break. This has been an interesting and rewarding experience. It has given me the opportunity to have a taste of how Pritchard Francis operates as well as what a civil/structural engineer does daily.”
Pritchard Francis recently celebrated the 20-year anniversary of the Pritchard Francis Civil Engineering Scholarship with the UWA.
The annual scholarship is awarded to an exceptional civil engineering student at UWA and includes financial support as well as the opportunity to undertake a paid 12-week work experience placement with the firm.
Recognising the exemplary academic and personal achievement of students enrolled in the Master of Professional Engineering (Civil), the scholarship has supported many of UWA’s brightest students in their engineering careers.
Several recipients have gone on to win various industry accolades including some of Engineers Australia’s awards. Chris Tyler received the Engineers Australia’s 2011 Western Australian Young Professional of the Year Award and James Leiper has been recognised by Engineers Australia as the 2017 Western Australian Young Professional Engineer of the Year.
Chris Tyler was also the Project Director for the complex EZONE UWA Student Hub project, which won the Engineers Australia 2020 Australian Engineering Excellence Award.
Eunice is currently undertaking the main part of her 12-week work experience opportunity in Pritchard Francis’s Perth office, along with a portion of the placement in the Darwin office.
“This experience has already assisted me in implementing the theories learnt at university and putting it into real design projects. Pritchard Francis also gives their work experience students the opportunity to gain experience as both a civil and structural engineer in consultancy. This will undoubtedly set me up for a career in engineering as Pritchard Francis works closely with UWA and as a UWA student myself, this has been a very smooth transition,” she says.
After her work experience, and on completion of her master’s in civil engineering, Eunice hopes to build solid foundations in the industry and to keep expanding her engineering knowledge.
Arthur Psaltis, CEO of Pritchard Francis, says he was guided by the company’s founders Bob Pritchard and Lionel Francis in his professional and personal development and has continued to ‘pay it forward’ to students and graduates.
“We have an obligation to the person, the profession and the community to develop people appropriately so they can reach their full potential. When we employ people, we are not looking to fill a role or task, we are looking at creating a career for that person within our firm,” he said.