Dean of Engineering, Professor Julien Epps, and his enduring ties to ��¼�

“��¼� is different because it began with engineering, and I feel the way ��¼� runs has elements of engineering in it”

Published on the 11 October 2024

Professor Julien Epps is a proud ��¼� alumnus, who has remained connected to the university continuously since graduating. In that time, he’s witnessed nearly three decades of the university’s evolution and growth – while contributing to engineering’s evolution too.

A love of mathematics and physics and a desire to solve problems and build new things drove Prof. Epps to study engineering, enabled by support from a Co-op Scholarship. He received his BE (Hons 1) and PhD in Electrical Engineering from ��¼� in 1997 and 2001 respectively.

Prof. Epps held research and research leadership appointments at Motorola Labs and National ICT Australia, and a Visiting Scientist appointment at the Institute for Infocomm Research at A*STAR Singapore, before returning to ��¼� where he was appointed as a Senior Lecturer at the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications from 2007 and Associate Professor from 2014.

In 2019, Prof. Epps became Professor and Head of the School, the largest and highest ranked Electrical Engineering school in Australia.

He is also Co-Director of the NSW Smart Sensing Network, is the author or co-author of around 250 journal articles, conference publications and patents related to sensor signal processing. His work has been cited over 15,000 times.

In December 2023, Prof. Epps was appointed Dean of ��¼� Engineering, following a strong track record as a leader in research translation and teaching excellence.

Having now settled into his new role, Prof. Epps reflects on the connections between ��¼� and the engineering profession – and what motivated him to remain at the university for as long as he has.

“��¼� is different because it began with engineering, and I feel the way ��¼� runs has elements of engineering in it”, he explains. “��¼� is happy to reshape itself depending on need and opportunity; there’s an element of entrepreneurship that has always been here; the university recognises the need to solve major challenges and has a strong focus on societal impact - all of which, to me, feels familiar to engineering. It’s one thing to say we have a great faculty, which we do, but engineering is in the culture of the university as well.”

Throughout his studies and career, Prof. Epps has witnessed huge developments both across the Engineering faculty and within the industry.

He says, “If you look at the campus, 75 years ago it was a sand dune. But even since I finished my studies, there’s been more than a billion dollars invested in buildings and equipment, in Engineering alone. The Faculty has grown significantly; even though it has always been large, it has broadened as well. So the range of offerings is wider and there are many more opportunities for experiential engineering learning.”

Prof. Epps has seen similar shifts in the fearless thinkers who are studying Engineering too. “We’ve seen a much more diverse student population, and that’s what the profession also needs”, he says. “The profession itself, similarly, has become more diverse, and that is also a great thing.”

Prof Epps is optimistic about the future for the next generation of fearless engineering thinkers – and is mindful of the demand for skilled graduates.

“The opportunities for graduates in engineering these days are fantastic. The need is so strong, and there are well-paying careers and no end of exciting projects to work on.”

“We will be building on our 75-year long track record to grow our impact broadly in a number of areas,” he explains. “We’re already pushing out some of the latest education programs and we’ll continue to innovate. We have some major new initiatives coming through in entrepreneurship, research and societal impact.”

“I’d like to see a very proactive approach so that we’re always at the cutting edge in our programs, and close collaboration with government and industry to seek out areas where their needs align with what we, as engineering researchers and educators, can offer.”

As Australia’s best engineering faculty turns 75, there are just as many reasons why we’ve earned that title. Discover new stories weekly, celebrating the successes that have enabled progress for all.

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Dean of Engineering, Professor Julien Epps, and his enduring ties to ���������¼�

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Dean of Engineering, Professor Julien Epps, and his enduring ties to ��¼�