Latest news with #Tooley
IOL News
03-08-2025
- General
- IOL News
Women in Engineering: IMESA reports significant growth
The Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa (IMESA) has reported a steady rise in the number of women in infrastructure engineering. Image: Freepik. The Institute of Municipal Engineering of Southern Africa (IMESA) has reported a steady rise in the number of women in infrastructure engineering, with women now making up 30% of its membership, up from just 12% in 2005. The figures were released this month as part of IMESA's Women's Month campaign, which includes events across the country and a new social media campaign, #IMESAseesU - Women in Engineering, spotlighting the contributions of women engineers. IMESA president Geoff Tooley said the increase was not driven by gender quotas but by a changing professional culture. 'We've never implemented specific gender equity strategies or formal policies around this,' Tooley explained. 'What we've done is build a professional home for all municipal engineers, where technical excellence, ethics, and service to communities are the common ground. Inclusion has followed naturally.' Bhavna Soni, who made history as IMESA's first female president, has been in the municipal engineering sector for more than two decades. She is currently operations director for the institute's Young Professionals and Membership portfolio. 'When I joined, female engineers were extremely rare,' she recalled. 'But I had a passion for physics, maths, and problem-solving. Once I found my way into the municipal planning division, I realised I could have a real impact, especially in water infrastructure where the needs are urgent and continuous.' Soni said she faced challenges common to women in male-dominated professions but was able to persevere. 'There are always obstacles,' she said. 'But I don't take things personally. I believe in moving forward, speaking up, and persevering. Engineering is about solving problems, not just technical ones, but human ones too.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Cape Town-based Jeanine du Preez, a long-standing IMESA member and current operations director of Marketing and Communications, started her career after a year in the South African Army Women's College. She now works as district head for Urban Mobility, Roads Infrastructure Management at the City of Cape Town. 'I had always been creative, with a passion for drawing, writing, and architecture,' Du Preez said. 'Engineering gave me a way to apply that in the real world. It's both creative and technical.' She added: 'IMESA gave me the confidence to speak publicly, to lead teams, and to step into more strategic spaces. It was not just about networking; it was about personal growth.' While acknowledging the sector was once more male-dominated, Du Preez said: 'I have never felt like I was denied opportunities because I was a woman. Although others may have had different experiences, I have found that most organisations strive for strong, diverse teams where appointments are made based on what you can offer. No one wants to get the job because of gender or race.' Matseliso Fosa, a Professional Engineering Technologist and IMESA Council member from the Northern Provinces branch, brings a research perspective. She recently completed a Master's degree at Wits University on strategies for retaining women in construction. 'There's definitely been progress,' Fosa said, 'but the number of women in senior roles and on boards remains worryingly low. Representation is improving in technical posts. It is not happening fast enough in management.' She added: 'Organisations need to offer real promotion pathways for women, not just token inclusion. Gender equality must be structural, not symbolic. That includes fair hiring, respectful work environments, and targeted mentoring.' Fosa said professional bodies like IMESA play an important role. 'IMESA has supported me, and now I'm doing the same for others, mentoring my colleagues as they work towards professional registration.' THE MERCURY
The Age
28-06-2025
- Business
- The Age
Bertas is the new sandwich shop where pastrami and cheese dreams are made
Bertas, which opened in May, is a sandwich emporium standing on a new, structurally sound, speckled concrete floor. The menu offers six stout and fabulous sangers on Turkish bread, three hot-diggity breakfast rolls, and chocolate biscuits the size of dinner plates. Tooley, whose hospitality CV includes corner cafe Noon in Manly, has gone gung-ho with creating his own sandwich ingredients – sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers and fennel, fruit compote spreads, garlic sauce, pesto, chimichurri and a range of roasted vegetables, most recently fennel and broccolini. With cold cuts from LP's Quality Meats and Whole Beast Butchery, and bread from Infinity Bakery, he's pairing pickled onion, stracciatella and pistachio pesto in the mortadella sandwich, and layering generous amounts of pastrami between emmental cheese, pickled cucumber and sauerkraut. There's a special – rare roast beef with a lovely onion jam, more emmental, pickled onion and chimichurri – that Tooley is quite rightly adding to the menu permanently. All of these bready parcels allow the meat flavours to jangle with heat, tangy ferments and creamy cheeses on equal terms.
Sydney Morning Herald
28-06-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Bertas is the new sandwich shop where pastrami and cheese dreams are made
Bertas, which opened in May, is a sandwich emporium standing on a new, structurally sound, speckled concrete floor. The menu offers six stout and fabulous sangers on Turkish bread, three hot-diggity breakfast rolls, and chocolate biscuits the size of dinner plates. Tooley, whose hospitality CV includes corner cafe Noon in Manly, has gone gung-ho with creating his own sandwich ingredients – sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers and fennel, fruit compote spreads, garlic sauce, pesto, chimichurri and a range of roasted vegetables, most recently fennel and broccolini. With cold cuts from LP's Quality Meats and Whole Beast Butchery, and bread from Infinity Bakery, he's pairing pickled onion, stracciatella and pistachio pesto in the mortadella sandwich, and layering generous amounts of pastrami between emmental cheese, pickled cucumber and sauerkraut. There's a special – rare roast beef with a lovely onion jam, more emmental, pickled onion and chimichurri – that Tooley is quite rightly adding to the menu permanently. All of these bready parcels allow the meat flavours to jangle with heat, tangy ferments and creamy cheeses on equal terms.
West Australian
07-06-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Landmark study reveals bedroom design having most impact on fly-in, fly-out workers' wellbeing
Wellbeing begins in the bedroom for fly-in, fly-out workers with a first-of-its-kind study revealing the design of private living quarters had the most impact on morale. The study, led by West Australian architectural sociologist Jack Tooley, surveyed workers from around the country in a bid to discover how FIFO camp design impacts worker productivity, morale, presenteeism and retention. Leading the list of gripes for FIFO workers was a lack of sound insulation in bedrooms, bed and mattress quality, room size and the quality of furnishings. A lack of cleanable surfaces, not enough laundry facilities, and the inability to personalise rooms was also impacting wellbeing. Dr Tooley, who is the Monash University head of spatial design, said the results were 'totally understandable'. 'While gyms and other facilities are really important the study has shown by magnitudes that the best thing you can do for FIFO workers is give them comfortable, well-insulated bedrooms with a decent sized bed and a good quality mattress,' he said. 'If you're working 12 hours a day in extreme temperatures and conditions and using your body you don't just want but need a decent bed and a good nights sleep to be able to wake up the next day and perform. 'People just want rest, recuperation and to feel clean.' The study revealed the design of FIFO camps reduced workers' morale by more than 15 per cent and decreased productivity by 12 per cent. Retention was also reduced by more than 11 per cent and presenteeism was down by 9 per cent as a result of bad camp design. Workers who didn't identify as white, heteronormative males reported that camp design had up to 15 per cent more impact on their wellbeing. Dr Tooley was now calling on FIFO workers to complete a second survey for the landmark study. He said the results of this would allow him to develop a first-of-its-kind return on investment calculator, which would allow companies to forecast the ROI from specific design upgrades. 'Mining companies could help so many people with just a few tweaks here and there,' Dr Tooley said. 'The ROI calculator would be available for use by mining companies who are refurbishing existing camps or building them. 'This has the potential to change FIFO workers' lives.' Some construction companies including Grounded Group were already engaging with the data to produce mining villages that improve staffs' wellbeing. FIFO workers can fill in the second survey at
Perth Now
07-06-2025
- General
- Perth Now
Study reveals issues most impacting FIFO worker wellbeing
Wellbeing begins in the bedroom for fly-in, fly-out workers with a first-of-its-kind study revealing the design of private living quarters had the most impact on morale. The study, led by West Australian architectural sociologist Jack Tooley, surveyed workers from around the country in a bid to discover how FIFO camp design impacts worker productivity, morale, presenteeism and retention. Leading the list of gripes for FIFO workers was a lack of sound insulation in bedrooms, bed and mattress quality, room size and the quality of furnishings. A lack of cleanable surfaces, not enough laundry facilities, and the inability to personalise rooms was also impacting wellbeing. Architectural sociologist Jack Tooley is conducting a landmark study into how FIFO camps impact the workers' wellbeing. Credit: Supplied Shotbythom2025 Dr Tooley, who is the Monash University head of spatial design, said the results were 'totally understandable'. 'While gyms and other facilities are really important the study has shown by magnitudes that the best thing you can do for FIFO workers is give them comfortable, well-insulated bedrooms with a decent sized bed and a good quality mattress,' he said. 'If you're working 12 hours a day in extreme temperatures and conditions and using your body you don't just want but need a decent bed and a good nights sleep to be able to wake up the next day and perform. 'People just want rest, recuperation and to feel clean.' The impact of FIFO camp spatial design on workers' wellbeing. Credit: Jack Tooley The study revealed the design of FIFO camps reduced workers' morale by more than 15 per cent and decreased productivity by 12 per cent. Retention was also reduced by more than 11 per cent and presenteeism was down by 9 per cent as a result of bad camp design. Workers who didn't identify as white, heteronormative males reported that camp design had up to 15 per cent more impact on their wellbeing. Dr Tooley was now calling on FIFO workers to complete a second survey for the landmark study. He said the results of this would allow him to develop a first-of-its-kind return on investment calculator, which would allow companies to forecast the ROI from specific design upgrades. 'Mining companies could help so many people with just a few tweaks here and there,' Dr Tooley said. 'The ROI calculator would be available for use by mining companies who are refurbishing existing camps or building them. 'This has the potential to change FIFO workers' lives.' Some construction companies including Grounded Group were already engaging with the data to produce mining villages that improve staffs' wellbeing. FIFO workers can fill in the second survey at
