Len Bettess Memorial Scholarship

SMEC Australia is a multidisciplinary engineering/non engineering company focused on opportunities that connects, moves and powers our communities  which is driven by our purpose and values to achieve state of the art applications to suit our clients needs.

SMEC provides expertise in civil engineering design services and are active in the following fields:

• Urban development
• Roads and Highways
• Maritime
• Rails
• Structural
• Geotechnical
• Electrical

At SMEC within the Urban Engineering team we are proud to provide the Len Bettess Memorial Scholarship in honour of a wonderful former colleague and Swinburne Alumnus.  Len had a positive and energetic nature, and his passion for engineering led to an enviable engineering career, which included both international and local work. Len sadly passed away in 2018, but his legacy and passion for engineering within the urban development sector will be recognised through this scholarship.

The Urban Engineering team deliver fully integrated advisory services, creating, planning, delivering and managing urbanised development of land for the community to enjoy.   In the Urban team you will get  the opportunity to experience the engineering aspects  of creating urban communities in delivering road, drainage, water and sewer design and coordinating electrical, communications and landscaping requirements to shape municipalities and provide places where you will be proud to call your home. 

Some of the recent developments include

• Harpley https://www.smec.com/au/project/harpley/
• Grove https://www.smec.com/au/project/the-grove/
• Atherstone https://www.smec.com/au/project/atherstone-master-planned-community/ 

This scholarship is looking for passionate engineers wanting to make a change and deliver outstanding solutions within the Urban development field.

If successful you will be provided $5,000 (in two tranches) and a paid summer placement at SMEC providing valuable real world experience.

Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) majoring in Civil Engineering offered by Swinburne University of Technology.

To be eligible for the Len Bettess Memorial Scholarship, applicants must:

1. Meet the following criteria:
   • Australian citizen, Australian Permanent Residents or holders of an Australian Permanent Humanitarian visa
   • International student (Conditions apply)**
2. Meet the following enrolment criteria:
   • be a second year, third year or fourth year Swinburne student in Semester 1, 2024
   • enrolled full-time or part-time in an eligible course (see courses eligible in section above)
   • achieved a minimum Credit average in completed units
3. Submit a personal statement of no more than 500 words addressing:
   • Passion for a career in their chosen field of study
   • Excellent communication, interpersonal and organisational skills
   • Leadership qualities
   • Interested in industry work experience with SMEC
4. Provide one written referee report outlining your suitability for the scholarship:
   • Academic reference - from a person qualified to comment on academic studies, such as a subject coordinator, school principal, etc.
5. Submit a current version of your CV

** International students with a Swinburne International Scholarship are not eligible to apply.

This scholarship is valued at $5,000 paid in two tranches. The successful scholarship recipient will also receive:

• the opportunity for a paid summer placement with SMEC and gain valuable industry experience in the engineering sector.
• the opportunity to work on real-world urban engineering projects at SMEC Urban Communities team as part of their Final Year project, as well as the potential for full-time employment following a successful placement. 

Applicants should complete an online application form and submit with all supporting documentation by 30 April 2024. Incomplete applications will not be considered.

For assistance when completing your application, please view the Scholarship Application Help Guide.

Fees and Scholarships Team, Student Administration and Library Services
scholarship@swin.edu.au