Meet our South East Water Champion

She’ll soon finish our Champions Program but Amanda Cheang is far from finished with IWN. She’ll keep connecting and learning through our Alumni Program - that’s why she helped set it up for our industry. Find out more below.

LET’S START WITH THE PERSONAL - TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF

I was born and raised in South East Melbourne and continue to live there today with my 50+ house plants.

I’ve been on a fitness kick for the last couple of years - in my spare time I enjoy reformer Pilates and CrossFit. I’m also a huge fan of gardening. On a sunny day, you’ll find me nurturing my vegetable patch and fruit trees or finding an excuse to give something a hard prune.

WHAT’S YOUR CURRENT ROLE?

I’m a Technical Support Engineer within the service delivery group at South East Water and have been in the role for just over three years. I work closely with the amazing operators at our sewage treatment plants to optimise process performance, co-ordinate minor works and ensure our plants adhere to licence requirements.

WHAT’S YOUR PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND?

I’m a chemical engineer involved in the wastewater treatment and water recycling space. I had the fantastic opportunity to join the graduate program at South East Water a couple of years back and have been there ever since. I started out in operations, where I was lucky enough to experience the reactive nature of operating and maintaining our water and sewerage networks. Then I moved into my current role where I have stayed except for a secondment into our waste strategy team to explore alternative trade waste management strategies.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE TO YOUR GRANDMA WHAT YOU DO EACH DAY ?

I help the operators at our sewage treatment plants take care of whatever goes down toilets and drains so you don’t have to worry about it.

WHAT IWN PROGRAMS INTEREST YOU THE MOST?

I’d have to say the Alumni Program, which I am slightly biased towards given I am also the Deputy Program Manager. As an IWN Champion who is about to rotate out of the two-year program, I knew early on that I wanted to remain part of IWN and be able to contribute to an organisation that fosters the unique mix of innovation, knowledge sharing and collaboration. The Alumni Program provides a clear avenue for me and the many others who want to keep connecting with past and present IWN members, be involved in IWN activities and access opportunities to support personal and professional growth. The program is still in the early days but I’m looking forward to the plans our working group have in the pipeline.

I am also interested in the Data & Analytics and Edge Technologies programs. They say data is king and given the amount our industry has available it’s incredibly advantageous to interpret it in a way that supports business needs. There is also always something exciting in the works within Edge Technologies, whether it be trialling virtual reality (VR) headsets, bio-electrode sensors or some sort of robot, which I find fascinating.

WHY DID YOU WANT TO BE AN IWN CHAMPION?

When I first heard about IWN, I was attracted to its focus on knowledge sharing and collaboration within the Victorian water industry, which is incredibly important and something we can always do more of.

I’m sure many of us can relate to a time when a problem has arisen, and we’ve thought “surely someone else has had the same issue”. IWN is a great platform to share perspectives, solve common challenges and connect with others passionate about creating innovative change within our industry. We’ve recently seen TasWater join IWN and I hope to see more water authorities become part of our collaborative network in the future.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE WITH IWN?

As a Champion I wanted to increase the visibility of IWN in our member organisations as there is so much knowledge available for sharing, but to benefit from it you need to know that the avenue exists. I’m especially proud of our Metro Roadshow series from 2021, which was facilitated by the Central Champions Group and delivered by our Program Managers and IWN Executive Group in an accessible online format.

Moving forward, as the Alumni Deputy Program Manager, I’d like to facilitate opportunities to support the growth of our alumni, starting with launching our mentoring program.

WHAT GETS YOU OUT OF BED IN THE MORNING?

As clichéd as it sounds, it’s knowing I am in a position to make a tangible difference to the customers and communities we service.