The Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) celebrates Indumathi V on being named Professional Engineer of the Year for Western Australia at the Engineers Australia Excellence Awards, recognizing a career spanning in engineering practice, education, and leadership.
Held at the Optus Stadium in Perth, Western Australia on 10 September 2026, the Engineers Australia Excellence Awards – Western Australia brought together engineering professionals and industry leaders to recognize achievements across the engineering profession. Among the winners was the Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) Dean Indumathi V, who was named Professional Engineer of the Year for Western Australia.
A Moment of Professional Distinction
The Professional Engineer of the Year award recognizes more than technical achievement. It acknowledges the experience and leadership that an engineering professional brings to the profession over the course of a career.
For Indumathi, receiving the Professional Engineer of the Year award prompted her to reflect on the experiences, challenges and opportunities that have shaped her career over time. “The award has reminded me that a successful engineering career is not defined by one position, one project, or one moment of recognition. It develops through the challenges we navigate, the people who support us, and the opportunities we create for others along the way.”
Such a view of her career has shaped how she sees the wider role of an engineering professional, particularly how experience and expertise can be shared beyond the immediate demands of the profession.
Defining a Meaningful Contribution
Among the criteria for the Professional Engineer of the Year award is an engineering professional’s contribution to the wellbeing of people and communities.
For Indumathi, meaningful contribution extends beyond delivering successful projects or applying engineering expertise. It is also about using what engineers know to help others build the confidence and capability to take on challenges themselves.
Throughout her work in engineering education, she has supported students and engineering professionals across Australia – from metropolitan centers to regional and remote communities, as well as learners in developing countries. “Through education and mentoring, I have seen that one of the most enduring contributions we can make is to help other people develop the confidence and capability to solve problems themselves.”
For Indumathi, the value of that support can be seen in what students are able to do with their learning beyond their studies. As they bring it into their workplaces and communities, they can use it to address practical challenges in areas such as infrastructure, energy access, water systems, industrial safety, automation, and community resilience. Indumathi’s work, both as an engineer and an educator, has also shown her how access and opportunity can change lives.
“Meaningful contribution is about whose potential we recognize, whose voices we include, and what capability we leave behind.” This perspective has shaped how Indumathi approaches both engineering and education to bring technical integrity together with human and community impact. Such experiences also made her see the connection between what engineering professionals learn and the difference they can make.
Connecting Engineering Practice and Education
The award criteria also place emphasis on resourcefulness, innovation, and ingenuity. These qualities connect with Engineers Australia’s broader purpose and strategic vision for the profession: to elevate the voice of engineering in service of the nation while helping build a contemporary and future-fit workforce. It also recognizes the role engineering professionals can play in addressing major challenges facing society.
Receiving the Professional Engineer of the Year award also reinforced Indumathi’s view that engineering practice and education cannot be treated separately. Her experience across both areas has shown her how each can inform the other, with industry bringing current expectations into education, and education creating the space to question established practices and consider better ways of solving problems.
“Students need to understand not only whether a solution is technically possible, but whether it is ethical, responsible, and beneficial to the communities it affects.”
As both an engineer and educator, Indumathi sees integrity, competence, and leadership as values that should be embedded throughout the student experience. She believes these values help bridge the gap between education and practice by guiding engineering professionals to uphold standards while influencing others to contribute their ideas.
Indumathi therefore sees the Professional Engineer of the Year award as far more than an endpoint. “It felt less like a confirmation that the work is complete and more like a responsibility to continue strengthening the relationship between education and practice.”
A Wider Engineering Advocacy
As Dean at EIT, Indumathi sees this as a responsibility closely connected to her vision for engineering education. She wants to help develop engineering professionals who are not only technically capable, but who can also exercise sound professional judgement, communicate honestly, support others, and consider the long-term social and environmental consequences of their work.
“Engineering is about leaving the world in a better place for future generations. Education enables us to multiply that impact by giving others the professional values to create positive change in their own communities.” For Indumathi, the Professional Engineer of the Year award is more than a recognition of her work. It carries her advocacy forward – a platform to advocate for others to make a difference in the engineering profession and beyond it.
This article was published September 25th, 2026 and the content is current as at the date of publication.
