What do you do at Adbri?
I joined Adbri straight out of university after relocating to Adelaide. I wanted to make a difference and being part of the Birkenhead Cement Plant’s Reliability Team has been a great experience. My role is about keeping the plant running and making it more efficient. I attend to electrical modifications, scoping out any equipment or system onsite that may require maintenance and ensuring systems are up-to-date.
No day is ever the same, I’m constantly exposed to something new or different. For example, currently, in one of our clinker tunnels operators must manually open the chutes. We want to automate this process and my job as an engineer is to scope the works, which includes site inspections, checking what parts are needed for the works, measuring and specifying cable runs, getting quotes from our vendors, overseeing installation and finally, commissioning the whole system.
Why did you join Adbri?
After graduating from the University of Wollongong, I headed to Adelaide amid border restrictions because I wanted to spend some time with family. I saw that Adbri had a graduate position available. The fact that the company has a huge history and have been a part of some of Australia’s biggest projects, like the Northern Connector in South Australia, really intrigued me, so I went for it.
After going through all the recruitment steps, they offered me the position, which I happily accepted. From then on, I stayed in Adelaide and have been in this role for 15 months at the time of writing!
What skills do you need to do your job?
In addition to being an electrical engineer, it’s essential to have good communication skills and be a team player. Engineers will need to speak with various groups of people and coordinate with them to carry out specific duties, so communication and teamwork need to be your strong suit to get the best outcomes for everyone.
What is the coolest thing about your job?
I love that I get to learn firsthand the intricacies of cement production and be part of making it happen.
I really enjoy being able to scope out projects and planning for them. Scoping a project includes showing our contractors the job and discussing the specifications. And it’s even better seeing the results of my work come to life!
I also like that my manager supports me. They provide me with feedback that really helps me learn and be a better engineer.