The industry’s young achievers were there in droves, many of them providing informative and interesting presentations on their work in the industry. The variety of presentations highlighted the diversity of careers available in the pipeline industry.
Megan Lawson, from Western Australia, is Senior Environmental Engineer at Environmental Resource Management. She used the forum to describe her work on environmental issues and the importance of getting environmental solutions right when developing a pipeline project. Megan has worked around Australia and overseas and has a wealth of knowledge about this aspect of the industry. As Meg says, environmental management is not about “saving bugs and bunnies,” proactive environmental management is good business!
GasNet’s Technical Officer, Measurement, Andrew Adams described the day-to-day challenges of operation and maintenance, demonstrating the skills and intelligence required for successful pipeline operation, while Ian Black, Facilities Project Manager at OilSearch provided an entertaining and informative description of project management. One of the key themes was “Make sure you know exactly what it is that the client wants.’ Ian pointed out that the project manager must ask the obvious and clearly establish the objective of the project. He also described the challenges of managing a project in the demanding terrain of Papua New Guinea.
Mike Peoples, Pipeline Engineer for SEA Gas, presented a very interesting description of the skills required to become a design engineer, particularly the need to be able to solve complex problems. Andrew Rattray, Contracts Manager, Pipelines at McConnell Dowell provided an excellent insight into the skills required for successful construction. And Liz Kelleher, Senior Manager for Network Advisory Services and economic regulation expert, explained why development and opportunity in the industry could be stifled if governments get economic regulation of the industry wrong. Liz has a real talent for making economics interesting!
Industry stalwarts, Ted Metcalfe of Metcalfe Engineering and Andy Lukas of the AJ Lucas Group provided an overview of the industry and discussed some of the highlights of their varied and interesting careers. Clearly, pipeliners are a diverse lot. There are technical and engineering people, arts graduates, lawyers, bankers and accountants; and their fields cover areas ranging from surveying, construction, mechanical, electrical, chemical and petroleum to geology, the environment, safety and more.
Barbara Jinks, Senior Pipeline Engineer at GHD, described her varied career that involved travel and time out for family, and Susan Jaques, Project Manager for OSD provided an entertaining look at the different lives and expectations of the various generations of people involved in the industry, from the Baby Boomers, through Generation X to Generation Y. Susan described the type of knowledge that makes for a full and rewarding career in the industry – as well as breadth of knowledge, there is a need for depth of knowledge in one or more sectors. Susan also had some excellent tips for forum participants who want to learn more about the industry and further expand their careers.
Chief Executive Cheryl Cartwright provided a background of APIA and an outline of the work the Association currently undertakes, while APIA Vice President, Board member of the Australian Gas Industry Trust and CEO of GasNet, Christine O’Reilly, explained the background of the Trust and its current work. The Trust provides education and travel opportunities for young people in the broad gas industry to expand their experience and knowledge around Australia and throughout the world. Peter Cox, National Pipelines Manager, WorleyParsons and APIA Board Member provided an interesting explanation of the many research projects undertaken by the pipeline industry and Paul Bilston, Manager of Operated Assets, Gas Development at AGL outlined the economic realities of the decisions that must be made before a pipeline is constructed.
The panel discussion on the Friday involved Susan Jaques, Barbara Jinks, Andy Lukas, and Ted Metcalfe, and the “interactive debate” held on Saturday was chaired by Kristin Martin, Mechanical Engineer, Projects at GasNet. These events provided plenty of interaction and many ideas to ensure that the forum initiative is maintained.
The next steps
The forum’s organising committee, Susan Jaques, Ted Metcalfe, Paul Bilston, Kristin Martin, Sarah Leavitt, Steve Dobbie and Cheryl Cartwright will continue to take a strong interest in the initiatives and outcomes of the forum. The committee will now become the Young People’s Forum and will expand to include a younger representative from each State. Within each State there will be an organising committee that will have several roles, including organising State-based networking functions and providing information and feedback to and from their representative on the YPF.
Initiatives and information that will be further developed over the next year or so include developing information sharing and mentoring opportunities; encouraging the “younger” members to attend the range of APIA functions and meet the “experienced” members; encouraging graduates to enter the industry; developing programs to provide “on the job” experience in a range of industry sectors; providing training opportunities and improving the communication of industry and APIA information.
It was a successful forum. The interest and enthusiasm for further initiatives and action augurs well for this diverse and energetic industry.