Dr Chris Walker (pictured above) already had bachelor’s and Honours degrees and a PhD when he was awarded a Postgraduate University Medal for a master’s degree at Charles Sturt University.

The prestigious Post Graduate University Medal was awarded as part of earning a Master of Engineering (Civil) in the Charles Sturt University  School of Computing, Mathematics and Engineering in the Faculty of Business, Justice and Behavioural Sciences.

Chris celebrated this achievement at a graduation ceremony at Rosehill in Sydney on Tuesday 10 September.

A Postgraduate University Medal is awarded by the University to students who have completed the coursework requirements and achieve a grade point average of 6.75 or higher.

Chris said he is really humbled by the award of the Postgraduate University Medal.

“I try to put a lot of effort into everything I do, and this is a recognition of that, and one I am quite grateful for,” he said.

“It is also a real credit to the support of my wife Katie and daughter Clare (pictured left), who were so supportive of me throughout this journey, as well as my co-directors at Covey Associates.”

Chris has lived on the Sunshine Coast since moving from the USA in 2002. He currently lives at Bli Bli and is a Director of Covey Associates Pty Ltd (Consulting Engineers), one of the largest privately-owned consultancies in South-East Queensland.

Chris previously studied environmental science at other universities to attain his bachelor’s and Honours degrees. He was then awarded an international postgraduate research scholarship to study a PhD, which he completed in 2012.

“At the start of my PhD in late 2007 I was employed at Covey Associates as their environmental scientist, which really aligned with my PhD research on urban lake ecosystems,” Chris said.

“In 2022, I turned 40 and I felt I really just wanted to challenge myself. I had always wanted to do an engineering degree, but at the time I was initially at Uni, it wasn’t offered where I lived, and I just loved the Sunshine Coast and my job too much to leave it.

“So, I started to have discussions with Charles Sturt University and here we are, two and half years later and I’ve successfully completed the Master of Engineering (Civil).”

Chris said he learned that the Charles Sturt Master of Engineering differed to every other program across Australia because it was geared towards professionals who had extensive engineering experience but didn’t have the tertiary qualifications for one reason or another.

“Given my background working for an engineering consultancy, I had extensive experience across the civil and environmental engineering specialties but getting that recognised was often challenging,” he said.

“The huge benefit of the Charles Sturt master’s program was that I worked closely with the former Director of Charles Sturt Engineering, Professor Jim Morgan, right at the start to determine what could be classified as prior learning. It was very beneficial to tailoring a program that really suited my needs as a professional working full-time.”

Chris said one of the key benefits of studying the course was that he was able to work full-time while carrying out the degree.

“I am now a Director of Covey Associates, which carries with it a lot of responsibility, not only to ensure our staff are being looked after, but also to help to guide the future direction of the business,” he said.

“Being a degree I studied remotely, it also did not require me to be away from home or my family much at all.

“However, the most significant benefit was how much the Charles Sturt Engineering staff really care about helping the students succeed. All the staff I interacted with put in a huge amount of time and energy to make this program successful and I cannot give them enough praise.”

Chris said that being both a scientist and an engineer has given him a unique approach to his work and ongoing research.

“It really gives me a broad perspective when looking at projects, and I’ve remained active in research since I finished my PhD, averaging a publication a year since 2012,” he said.

“I have worked with some great research institutions, and still am, for example with  the University of South Australia where I’m an Adjunct Associate Professor, and at the CSIRO, as well as universities abroad such as the University of Alberta in Canada and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.”

Chris said he is lucky to have the most amazing and supportive wife, Katie, and that he never would have finished this degree without her endless support.

“Also, my seven-year-old daughter Clare is so smart and interested in everything, and despite getting annoyed with me some Saturday mornings when I was doing ‘school work’, has been really understanding and cheers me on,” he said.

“My wife is also from the US, so our families are living over there, but they are both wonderful. My parents and brothers, who also all went to university, are so supportive and my in-laws are just fantastic. It is great to have such a supportive family, I can’t thank them all enough.”

When asked about his career goals and aspirations for the future, Chris said he was really looking forward to working with the other directors at Covey Associates to grow the business further.

“We are one of the largest privately-owned consultancies in south-east Queensland and we get to work on so many innovative projects across Australia and abroad,” he said. “I want to make sure that trend continues, while also ensuring it’s a genuinely great place to work for our staff.”

Does Chris have any words of advice for others considering a university education?

“Don’t shy away from it,” Chris said. “For people with similar circumstances to me, in that they have experience but never got the tertiary education recognition and qualification, reach out to Charles Sturt University, you won’t regret it.”