Shoal congratulates Shena Howell on being awarded the Defence Industry Leadership Program Achievement Award
Shoal Group congratulates Senior Systems Engineer, Shena Howell, on being awarded the Defence Industry Leadership Program (DILP) Achievement Award today, as she graduated from the nine month leadership program. DILP is a flagship initiative by the Defence Teaming Centre (DTC) that equips aspiring leaders in Australia’s defence industry with the skills and knowledge to lead effectively in complex environments. The award recognises a participant who has demonstrated a strong commitment to personal and professional growth within the defence industry. It acknowledges their dedication and contributions to the DILP program, including attendance at events, active participation in various activities, and effort in assignments and the group research project.
Shena graduated with a Diploma of Leadership and Management at the Adelaide Convention Centre, as part of two cohorts with around 20 graduates each. Graduates included people of different experience levels, from junior to senior, from small-medium enterprises, prime contractors, and research organisations, from both services and manufacturing companies.
The DTC runs the DILP as a collaboration with Skills Lab. It combines in-person workshops, experiential learning, site visits, and ‘real-world’ simulated exercises. Shena’s cohort visited Woodside Barracks, ASC, PMB, and the RAAF Edinburgh, with participants able to engage with senior defence and industry specialists to gain a deep understanding of the industry landscape and leadership dynamics.
Shena’s favourite activity was the cyber-attack experiential exercise. The event prompted the DILP participants to act as an emergency leadership team response group, working through an immersive experience, with a real sense of the practical application of their learnings.
“It was intense and a bit stressful, yet incredibly rewarding to apply what I had learned in a high-pressure scenario,” Shena shared. “It emphasised self-leadership, self-awareness and adaptive thinking to address the challenges in the defence industry.”
Part of the program’s assessment was a research project. Shena’s team addressed the topic of ‘Achieving net zero emissions in the Defence Industry by 2050. Roles, challenges and policy implications.’ Presented on 31 October with the paper submitted 22 November, her team’s work provides an appreciation for the context for, and challenges of, achieving net zero emissions across industry, as well as actionable insights for defence and defence industry.
Their research identified that the Defence Net Zero Strategy released in October this year is a clear commitment to climate adaptation and energy resilience, but that adaptation must be accelerated, including faster transition of Defence assets from reliance on fossil fuels to renewable energy. Additionally, the research paper recommends the development of a Defence Industry Climate Action Working Group for industry to share strategies and information on how to achieve and report on net zero emission targets to meet the new legislative requirements.
Shena’s highlights from undertaking the DILP
- Working with a diverse team from across the industry: she developed strong relationships across the defence industry, particularly with her research project team which has participants from SMEs and Primes.
- The leadership learning: Shena learned new techniques and approaches to develop her as a leader in the defence industry.
- The coaching sessions offered by a certified coach: this provided personal and targeted support towards her growth and development.
- Sharing the learnings: she was able to share Shoal’s leadership and approaches with the DILP cohort, as well as bring the program’s learning back to the Shoal team.
- The impacts for work and home: through exercises like ‘Life Planning’ which looks at goal planning in a broader context, it helped her identify priority areas for personal and professional growth.
Shena’s graduation was attended by Shoal CEO, Shaun Wilson, Head of Engineering, Matthew Wylie, and Program Director – Complex Systems Engineering, Stephen Geer.
“We have been pleased to support Shena’s participation in the Defence Industry Leadership Program and very proud to see her graduate today with the DILP Achievement Award,” said Shaun. “Her success is well-deserved, and we look forward to seeing her continue to lead and innovate in our industry.”
Shena joins a DILP alumni of over 300 defence industry leaders since the program was established in 2010.
People development at Shoal
Shoal engages a workplace culture that facilitates team support, learning and publication, and takes pride in our commitment to, investment in and approach to skills development. Our development principles are based on experience, exposure and education, with flexible work arrangements that enable team members to participate in learning programs like the DILP.
About Shoal
Shoal is complex systems design company. We use Systems Engineering combined with Modelling, Simulation and Analysis to help our clients define, analyse, decide, optimise, and deliver technology-intensive projects in complex environments across Defence, Space, Transport, Energy, and Infrastructure.
More: shoalgroup.com
Media contact
Shaun Wilson
CEO and Founder, Shoal Group
+61 438 394 288
[email protected]
