The City of Swan’s graduate engineer program was formed as a result of the 2007 IPWEA National Conference, where a presentation claimed that 70% of all Local Government engineers retire within 15 years. There were five (5) engineers employed at the time were generally approaching retirement age, aligning with the presentation’s claims.
The City’s graduate engineer program promotes Local Government engineering as an alternate career choice to private sector engineering. The program provides opportunities for community-minded individuals to develop professional, technical and leadership skills, as well as to receive mentoring from senior staff.
A unique benefit of the program is that graduate engineers work on important projects from day one, with real responsibilities and outcomes. In addition, graduates rotate through the organisation every 6-12 months to enable them to gain experience in the following areas:
Since its formation, over 40 engineers have benefitted from the City’s graduate program. As of April 2025, there are 17 engineers in the program, with an additional 20+ engineers also currently working at the City. Many alumni of the program have gone on to become Directors, Managers, Coordinators, senior leaders and technical experts at the City of Swan. At least 10 graduate program alumni have also continued their careers in public works outside of the City of Swan.
The City is complex and diverse organisation that requires professionals with strong analytical and technical skills to manage its $3.6 billion infrastructure (as of 2025). The graduate engineer program continues to foster the next generation of leaders and technical experts dedicated to improving the quality of life for the community through effective, safe and sustainable public works engineering.