Emily Shawsmith

5.00 AM

I am a chronic alarm snoozer; however, I am in the process of developing a morning routine! I really enjoy starting my day off with breakfast outside with my puppy before getting ready for a busy day.

6.15 AM

Time to head to work! I usually drive to the office which takes me about 40 minutes, giving me plenty of time to jam out to my Spotify playlists

7.00 AM

I arrive at the Newstead office in Brisbane, Queensland and start my day off checking emails and writing a to do list, specifically covering urgent items I need to address. This is essential for me as I am juggling multiple projects at once and have found that organisation is key for ensuring I am able to stay on track with all my priorities. However, other actions related to my projects will often come up which require my attention, so it is important that I am able to stay agile in case the unexpected happens!

7.30 AM

Coffee is a non-negotiable for me. I always start my day with a coffee and the best part is there is always someone else in the office who wants to start the day off with coffee too!

8.00 AM

I have some time to finish off a lightning study for a colleague’s substation project. The lighting study is required to address what lightning protection is required at the substation to protect newly installed plant. We achieve this protection by installing lighting masts.

After performing some calculations, the protection zone provided by the masts at different heights can be drawn by hand (yes, by hand) on the substation layout drawings. Who would have thought I would need to use a compass again after graduating from university!

8.30 AM

I am now logging in to my first meeting of the day, which is a project leadership team meeting for a project I am working on. I am responsible for ensuring the design for this project is delivered on time, in which we are designing a new connection from this substation to a customer nearby. The purpose of this meeting is for members of the design, construction, and project management teams to catch up and assess how things are going. As we all work in different offices and depots, we meet virtually online.

9.00 AM

Next up I have another meeting, which is for a project at the Broadbeach Substation, Gold Coast. As I am working with contractors from another company for this job, I will be meeting with them virtually too.

9.30 AM

The meeting finished early, so I have time to check some drawings for my projects. Once designs have been completed for a project, they undergo a checking process where they are reviewed and approved by multiple team members.

10.00 AM

It is now time to head to site for you guessed it, another meeting! But instead of meeting virtually, this meeting is an initial site visit for one of my projects that is just getting started at the Hays Inlet Substation north of Brisbane on the Redcliffe Peninsula.

We drive to site which takes us about 30 minutes from the Newstead Office. Another opportunity for a Spotify jam sesh! Once we arrive, we perform a risk assessment and then enter the substation.

The purpose of this meeting is for the design team, construction team, and members of the project leadership team to meet to review the project scope and discuss how the design will be implemented.

This project involves replacing some voltage transformers that are at their end of life. As part of our design, we need to ensure that we comply with various standards, and plan ahead for the installation of the new equipment by considering outages required and also how the transformers will be lifted into the substation via crane.

12.00 PM

Lunchtime! Not only is my supervisor always willing to help out with all my projects, but he is also always willing to make a well-deserved stop for some ramen!

1.00 PM

I got to do something a little different in the afternoon! My supervisor organised for us to visit the workshops at Banyo where substation equipment is fabricated. This includes everything from control panels to modular substation buildings, which are constructed entirely at the warehouse and then transported to their relevant location. 

Once a safety induction was completed, we met with the crew who were wiring up some protection panels for a substation at Coominya, which is west of Brisbane, close to Wivenhoe Dam. They showed me how the schematics we design in the office are constructed in practice. They even got me to wire in some of the circuitry myself, and although I was pleased with my efforts, it is safe to say I should stick with designing the circuitry instead!

Being able to gain exposure to different aspects of the organisation both within and outside of engineering has been incredibly valuable during my time on the graduate program at Energy Queensland. 😊

3.30 PM

Home time already! I am very grateful that I was able to have such a productive, hands on day yet still have plenty of time to head home and relax with my family or pursue my hobbies!­­