SA YWP & YEA Sundowner Mixer October 2026 - Hosing Down Burnout

In collaboration with the Engineers Australia SA Branch Young Engineers Australia (YEA) Committee, the SA Branch AWA Young Water Professionals (YWP) Committee invites you to join us for our October Sundowner and professional development event, Hosing Down Burnout. This engaging session will explore one of the biggest challenges facing modern professionals: how to maintain energy, focus and performance in demanding work environments. Following the presentation, there will be plenty of opportunity to connect with fellow professionals over post-work drinks and networking.

Burnout is one of the biggest challenges facing modern workplaces, yet it is often misunderstood and treated as a workload problem alone. This narrow view can leave individuals addressing the symptoms while the deeper causes continue to affect energy, engagement and performance.

Hosing Down Burnout offers a fresh and deeply human perspective: burnout is not just about workload, but about how we work, how we live, and who we become under pressure.

Combining engineering thinking, behavioural science and lived experience, Ali explores the patterns that drive people into survival mode and keep them there. With a blend of powerful storytelling and practical insight, he helps audiences rethink burnout at its roots and build a more sustainable way of working, living and showing up.

What the audience will discover

• Patterns in how we work. How to identify work patterns that quietly increase the risk of burnout.
• Recovery and daily rhythms. How recovery, lifestyle and daily rhythms shape sustainable performance.
• Self-leadership under pressure. How to recognise personal patterns under pressure and respond with greater awareness.

Join us as award-winning speaker and water industry leader Ali Ahmadi shares a fresh and deeply human perspective on burnout, resilience and self-leadership. Drawing on engineering thinking, behavioural science and lived experience, Ali will challenge conventional views of burnout and provide practical insights into how individuals can better manage pressure while sustaining performance and wellbeing over the long term.

Speaker

Ali Ahmadi - Manager of Planning, GMB Water

Ali Ahmadi is a TEDx and award-winning keynote speaker who understands the water industry and engineering profession from the inside out. As a former member of the Young Water Professionals network and an engineer himself, he is familiar with the challenges and opportunities faced by emerging professionals.

Ali has spoken to more than 75,000 people worldwide on the topics of resilience, leadership, change and burnout. He has been recognised as a WSAA Young Utility Leader, named in Engineers Australia's Force Forty, and awarded South Australia's Impromptu Speaker of the Year. Ali is also a Certified Practitioner in Asset Management, a Board Director with the Australian Refugee Association, and currently serves as Manager of Planning at GMB Water.

Sundowner events are open to anyone with an interest in the water industry and provide an opportunity to connect with professionals from across the sector, regardless of experience level. This is a free event where you can grab your drink(s) of choice; however, please register your attendance. We look forward to seeing you there!

Event Details

Date: 22^nd October 2026

Time: 5:15 PM for a 5:30 PM start, event concluding 6:30 PM.

Location: Some Where House 258 Pulteney St, Adelaide 5000

What: Light snacks provided, and a bar tab set up thanks to GPA Engineering