What's your job about?
My employer, Anglo American, mines and processes mineral resources and my areas of responsibility are reliability and maintenance of equipment used in those activities.
I am a Reliability Engineer with Anglo American; however, my role is quite unique and a little different to your typical Reliability Engineer. I currently work on the Hydrogen Technology Development Project within Anglo’s Group Technical & Sustainability (T&S) team. The T&S team has a global and cross-commodity focus which makes it extra exciting! The project I am on is currently focused on South Africa’s Mogalakwena Mine – the largest open-cut platinum mine in the world! My role in the team is to develop strategies for reliability and maintenance for our Hydrogen trucks, Hydrogen production facilities and other supporting infrastructure. I am involved in ongoing development and improvements of the Hydrogen equipment and thinking of how we can effectively convert our haul trucks from diesel to hydrogen. Product development is very unique and I am lucky enough to work with stakeholders from all around the globe. This means I get to travel and meet people from various cultures and communities. This year I have travelled to Mogalakwena Mine in South Africa and Seattle in the United States. For me, coming from a coal mining operational background to working in the clean energy space and towards a carbon-neutral future is extremely exciting!
What's your background?
I was born and raised for the most part in Sri Lanka and moved to Brisbane when I was in high school. In my new school, I was amazed that there were so many subjects on offer and I especially loved taking Aerospace Studies! After high school, I went on to study Engineering at the University of Queensland. During this time, I also went on an exchange program at Purdue University in Indiana, USA. I lived on campus and really enjoyed the American college culture! Going to college football games and experiencing the energy of the college band was energising; seeing the entire town get behind these teams and pack a 60,000-seat stadium was exciting! I immersed myself in traditions such as Halloween, and Thanksgiving and even went to New York to see the Times Square Ball Drop on New Year’s Eve! In 7 short months, I used any spare time I had to travel across 14 states. Back home and after some years in the aviation industry, I was accepted into the Anglo-American graduate program in 2018. I then ventured off to Central Queensland, with the first stop being Moura’s Dawson Open Cut Coal Mine. I found working and living in a small town an eye-opener and learnt that the people were friendly, helpful and welcoming – just like a big family! These small towns, although isolated, really have a community feel and when you work and live close to each other your bonds develop much faster. After Dawson, I moved further to Anglo’s Moranbah North Underground Coal Mine. After a few years living in regional Australia, I moved back to the bustle of Brisbane, with many amazing learnings both professionally and personally and a sense of appreciation for all the fun times, the tough times and the different ways of life!
Could someone with a different background do your job?
No, I think you definitely need to have an engineering background and on-site mining experience. Working in the maintenance department of various mining operations enables you to truly understand and gain a deeper insight into various equipment failures, reliability issues, how various departments and work teams integrate with each other and general day-to-day challenges that arise within mining environments – these experiences are only acquired from spending time on site. In my current role where I am looking at product development of a new technology for mining applications, I have been able to add unique value from these learned experiences.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
I am part of a global team building hydrogen technology and as a first-mover, I get to influence what that technology will look like in the future! Every day I feel satisfied that I am contributing to bringing about a positive change for the world within the clean energy space and within the impactful mining industry. I also enjoy the opportunity of working with my teammates who are located on 5 continents across the globe and experiencing the diversity in cultures. Being able to travel overseas is also a bonus!
What are the limitations of your job?
Although my current role in a global team presents massive opportunities, it also presents its own challenges given various time zones. I need to be mindful that I manage my hours, take breaks and am not working in all time zones across the day.
A limitation to succeeding in my role would be having no site experience. This experience and insight mean that I can speak the voice of the mine daily. This in turn helps me to guide design and development teams to create hydrogen equipment that is useful and suitable for their eventual mining environments.
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