Hey guys,

I currently live in the US (NC) and might be moving to Brisbane at the end of the year.

I don't know where to begin...

Anyone know what the market is like for electrical engineers there?

I want to bring my dog.. is Brisbane a good place for a dog? Do many ppl have them in the city? The quarantine process will be rough, but we think/hope itll be worth it.

Hows amateur motorsports there? Are there HPDEs around?

Any good mountain biking in the area?

:redspot

Thanks!

i dont think theres even any mountains near brisbane dude lol

apart from that, its an awesome city... very open

dunno what the job market is like as im in NZ but aussie has a very healthy economy at the moment

& aussies love their motorsports

you cant really go wrong ... you just need to find a website with jobs on it

i only just saw this thread.
i live in adelaide but i've been to brissie a couple times.

not sure what it's like for electrical engineers there. but generally, aus is a pretty easy place to find work. and as maffoo said, we have a fairly strong economy at the moment.

anywhere in australia is a good place for a dog. you might be used to apartment buildings etc. im not sure. but the average aussie yard is a decent size and all aussie cities have an abundance of public parks etc. yes, birng your dog. he or she will love it

there glass house mountains are a couple hours drive from brisbane and are some amazing roads to drive. and again, as maffoo said, we love our motorsports. you'll have to decide between holden and ford though (choose holden). all of our capital cities have a motorsport park close by, but how often events are run in each city, i'm not sure.

what's the reasons for the move? i don't see a complete change in lifestyle like this simply for electrical engineering? but i could be wrong

Aus is a great place to live with a very relaxed and laid back lifestyle. the people are great and very friendly. i'm sure you'll love it here. feel free to PM me if you have any more questions.

Hey guys,

Sorry for the delay i half forgot i posted here.

It looks like the move is shaping up. We expect to move around July 15th.

We're moving because my fiancee took a job at the University of Queensland. So i'm on her visa as a defacto spouse. I plan to get a job in engineering and/or motorsport while i'm there.

We don't plan to buy a car. We have two friends there and they say you can get by w/o one in the city and just rent a car if you want to travel, etc.

We also think we'll leave our dog here in the US w/ my fiancee's mom. Its a big move and she might not be happy in the city. we have a house w/ a decent yard and we go mountain biking and to the dog park all the time. I'm sure that stuff is there, but there will be a lot going on. She'll be ok at grandma's for a couple years.

Let me know if you guys have any connections to electrical engineering or a motorsport team. :)

Thanks!

brisbane is booming for engineering, so i dont doubt you'll find a job pretty quickly.
its that or perth, and melbourne isnt doing much at the moment :(

TXBdan I was considering moving also but to sydney. I was curious though are you starting completly over with furniture possessions ect. or is there a affordable way to ship everything

Honestly, i'm not finding a whole lot of electrical engineering jobs via the internet. I surely need to get there and figure it all out, but It seems like the EE jobs that i see are w/ mining companies and w/ power companies. My area is more semiconductors (experience) and controls/robotics (focus in school, interest).

^Well we're still trying to figure that out. I think we've just finalized on finding an unfurnished apartment. Theyre much cheaper and we'll be there probably 2 years so its not worth paying the premium for furniture. Right now i'm having a lot of garage/craigslist sales on most of our junk.

As of now we'll likely sell our furniture and start over there w/ cheaper IKEA stuff, etc. We still need to look into the details of crate shipping, but i hear is pretty pricey so we've already sort of scratched it off. But indeed, i plan to get the details to make sure its not an option. I'll let you know what i find.

Also, how are prices on electronics there versus the US? I'll need to buy a new HDTV.. should i buy it in the US or Aus? From what i gather HDTVs arent PAL or NTSC so either should work.

Also, how are prices on electronics there versus the US? I'll need to buy a new HDTV.. should i buy it in the US or Aus? From what i gather HDTVs arent PAL or NTSC so either should work.

Buy it in the US mate, electronics are ridiculous here compared to over there. Also stock up on brand name clothing over there as we pay 5 times what you do for brand names. I know this because I went the opposite way to you (AUS >> US for a few years). Good luck

Hey, if your wife is going to work a UQ then you dont nessarialy have to live in a apartment as there will be plenty of houses for sale around the uni. Both of my sisters are at UQ atm and they have lots of friends living in houses around the uni. But as your leaving a month today you will probally have already signed the contract. And as everyone said before there are heaps of parks around the uni as well as dog parks. I think you'll find brisbane very enjoyable.

Awesome! I'm getting excited. Our visa still hasnt been approved, but the process is moving along, everything is submitted and done on our end, and our officer said he doesnt need anything else from us... we expect to hear soon.

Well... we still don't know where we'll be living. hah. A friend of ours has a small studio there that we can stay in for a week or so if need be. Can you guys recommend a reasonably priced, but nice area close to UQ?

Our friend lives on the west coast on the river of Kangaroo Point. So she takes teh ferry across the river to the university every day. Our other friend lives i think in New Farm. He takes a ferry down the river a little ways to the University.

As for buying a house.. hrmm never really thought about it i guess. i suspect it'd probably cost too much and we probably won't be there long enough to make it worth while. We're thinking small 1, maybe 2, bedreem apartments in nice locations at the moment.

We won't have a car, so we'll be limited to bicycles and public transport for commute to the university. so something within reasonable distance. I'm not sure where i'll be working so i guess we'll just live near the university and i'll figure out a way to get to my work.

I think i'll take my PS3 with us to Aus. I'm a bit confused about TVs though. We'll need to buy a new smaller TV, but i don't think a US TV will work. The US uses ATSC tuners and i believe Aussie TV is DVB. And i *think* most US HDTVs only have ATSC tuners. Please correct me if i'm wrong. Itd be nice to buy one in the US where its a little cheaper, but only if the darn thing will work. :P

im an electrician here in brissy and from what i have seen you will have no probs finding work. alot of the good jobs are found by word of mouth as people like to use somebody they have heard about or who knows someone etc so it will be easier to find something in your field when your here.
and as for the tv, just buy one here. if your an EE the prices will not bother you. good luck with the move.