Associate Professor Julie Mills

I came to the University of South Australia, as a Lecturer in Civil Engineering in 1996 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2000 and Associate Professor from 2006. Prior to this I worked in industry for 15 years primarily as a Structural Engineer. I spent the first three years after graduation working with the State Electricity Commission of Victoria on the Loy Yang Power Station Project, in structural design and project management.

I then returned to South Australia and worked in the consulting field as a Structural Engineer. Projects ranged from the Myer Centre, office buildings and shopping centres to many residential structures. During this time I also married and had three children (and I'm still married and have three children but they are now adults or nearly so) and had to break new ground wherever I worked with regard to maternity leave, part-time work etc since female engineers were still a bit of a rarity at the time (things are improving though!).

I came to the University for a new challenge and because I like people and felt I could pass on my knowledge successfully. Teaching remains my first priority at university, but I am also involved in research and administration as a Program Director. My teaching has been rewarded with University awards for Excellence in Teaching in 1999 and 2008, Scholarly Teaching Awards in 2004 and 2005,a High Commendation for the New Engineering Educator Award from the Australasian Association for Engineering Education in 1998 and a Carrick Institute Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning in 2006. I have also received Supported Researcher status every year since 2002.

I am currently the holder of two major grants - an Australian Learning and Teaching Grant for 2009-10 on Gender Inclusive Curriculum in Engineering and Construction Management, with my colleagues Judy Gill and Virginia Mehrtens and 3 partner universities; and an ARC Discovery Grant for 2009-11 on Epistemologies of workplace change: transforming gender relations in engineering, with my colleagues Suzanne Franzway, Rhonda Sharp and Judy Gill.

In my spare(?) time, my family is heavily involved in sport primarily hockey with some basketball, so I spend a lot of my time as the manager of family logistics to ensure that everyone gets to their multiple commitments for study, work, games, training and coaching, driving the one without the licence yet to her games and trainings, and watching as many of their games as I can. I try to keep fit with some walking and generally just running around keeping busy, since the ankles have definitely had it after 30+ years of netball.

• Structural Engineering and Design in steel, reinforced concrete and timber
• Professional Practice

Fellow of Engineers Australia

Member Australasian Association of Engineering Education (AAEE)

Member American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE)

Member Concrete Institute of Australia

Member European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI)

Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) (1st Class Hons), University of Adelaide, 1982

Master of Technology, Deakin University, 1999

PhD, Curtin University, 2002 with a thesis "The effectiveness of project-based learning in structural engineering"

• Engineering Education
• Women in Engineering
• Steel structures, particularly cold-formed steel

Refereed journal publications

Franzway, S., Sharp, R., Mills, J.E. & Gill, J., 2009, “Engineering ignorance: The problem of gender equity in engineering” Accepted for publication in Frontiers: A Journal of Women’s Studies

Gill, J., Mills, J.E., Franzway, S. & Sharp, R., 2008, ‘Oh you must be very clever!’ High achieving women, professional power and the ongoing negotiation of workplace identity. Gender and Education Vol 20, No 3, pp. 223-236.

Gill, J., Sharp, R., Mills, J.E. & Franzway, S., 2008, I still wanna be an engineer! Women, education and the engineering profession. European Journal of Engineering Education Vol 33, No 4, pp. 391-402.

Bastalich, W. Franzway, S., Gill, J., Mills, J., and Sharp, R., 2007, “Disrupting masculinities: Women engineers and engineering culture” Australian Feminist Studies, Vol 22, No 54, pp.385-400.

Pham, M.M., Mills J.E., and Zhuge, Y., 2006, “Experimental capacity assessment of cold-formed boxed stud and C-stud wall systems used in Australian residential construction” ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol 132, No. 4, pp. 631-636.

**Mills, J., Ayre, M., Hands, D. and Carden, P., 2005 “Learning about learning styles: Can this improve engineering education?” MountainRise, on-line at http://facctr.wcu.edu/mountainrise/archive/vol2no1/html/learning_about_learning.html

Mills, J.E. and La Boube, R., 2004 “Self-drilling screw joints for cold-formed channel portal frames”, ASCE Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol 130, No. 11, pp.1799-1806.

Mills, J.E. and Treagust, D.F., 2003, “Engineering education – Is problem-based or project-based learning the answer?”, Journal of the Australasian Association of Engineering Education, on-line at http://www.aaee.com.au/journal/2003/mills_treagust03.pdf

Mills, J.E. and Treagust, D.F., 2003, “Using projects to teach structural engineering”, Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, v. 4 No. 3, pp.211-220.

Mills, J.E. and Ayre, M., 2002, “Implementing an inclusive curriculum in engineering education”, ASCE Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education & Practice. Vol 129, No. 4, pp 203-210.

Mills, J.E. and Ayre, M., 2000, “Improving structural engineering teaching: applying the educational principle of constructivism”, Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol 3, Nos 1&2, pp. 1-8.

Recent conference publications (selection only)

Mills, J.E., Ayre, M. & Gill, J. 2008 “Perceptions and understanding of gender inclusive curriculum in engineering education”, 36th Annual SEFI conference 2-5 July, Aalborg, Denmark on CD Rom.

Mills, J.E., 2008 “Students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of project-based learning curriculum in Structural Engineering”, Research Symposium on PBL, 30 June-1 July, Aalborg, Denmark on CD Rom.

Mills, J.E., 2007 “Multiple assessment strategies for capstone civil engineering class design project”, 18th Annual conference of Australasian Association for Engineering Education 10-12 December, Melbourne, Australia on CD Rom.

Mills, J.E., Mehrtens, V., Smith, E.J., and Adams, V. 2007 “Would you choose an engineering degree course if given the choice again?”, 18th Annual conference of Australasian Association for Engineering Education 10-12 December, Melbourne, Australia on CD Rom.

Mills, J.E., Mehrtens, V., Smith, E.J., and Adams, V. 2007 “CREW revisited in 2007 – The Year of Women in Engineering”, CHEMECA, 24-26 September, Melbourne, Australia on CD Rom.

Tongkasame, C., Mills, J.E. & Zhuge, Y. 2007 “Finite element modelling of steel lattice tower legs reinforced for increased loads”, The Fourth International Structural Engineering and Construction Conference (ISEC-4), 26-28 September, Melbourne, Australia, pp.199-204.

Sharp, R., Mills, J., Franzway, S., Gill, J. & Adams, V., 2007 “Market Forces Will Make it Happen! Management Perspectives on Diversity Strategies in Engineering Workplaces”, Our Work … Our Lives 2007: National conference on women and industrial relations, 20-21 September, Adelaide, Australia pp.136-146.

Vyden, D.T. & Mills, J.E., 2007 “The design of portal frames using cold-formed channel sections: A comparison of Australian, US and European requirements”, The Fourth International Structural Engineering and Construction Conference (ISEC-4), 26-28 September, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 191-198.

Hobart, E., Young, S., Mills, J. & Gill, J., 2006 “Factors that influence women to enter and complete engineering studies”, Proceedings of the 17th Annual conference of Australasian Association for Engineering Education, 10-13 December, Auckland, New Zealand on CD Rom.

Pham, M., Zhuge, Y. and Mills, J., 2006, “Finite element analysis of cold-formed stud wall systems, lined on one side, under axial loads’. Proceedings of the 19th Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, 29 November - 1 December, Christchurch, New Zealand, pp. 215-221.

Gill, J., Mills. J., Sharp, R. and Franzway, S., 2005, “Education beyond technical competence: Gender issues in the working lives of engineers”, Global Colloquium on Engineering Education, September 26-29, Sydney, Australia on CD Rom.

Denton, J., Windsor, D., Mills, J., Tongkasame, C. and Zhuge, Y., 2005, “Effectiveness of load sharing connections for the reinforcement of steel lattice tower leg members” Australian Structural Engineering Conference 2005, 11-14 September, Newcastle, Australia on CD Rom.

Franzway, S., Gill, J., Mills, J., Sharp, R. & Bastalich, W., 2004, “Towards a Feminist Politics of Work: Revisioning a Research Project on Women Engineers”, 2004 conference of The Australian Sociological Association (TASA), December 8-11, Beechworth, Australia, on CD-Rom.

I am able to provide media comment in the following areas of expertise:

Discipline: Civil Engineering

• Women in engineering
• Engineering Education