In this role I look after the long term strategic future of Melbourne Water's Western Treatment Plant

Pride in Water is an opportunity to create a more inclusive water industry specifically for LGBTIQ+ staff, contractors and customers. Working together, our vision is to create a water industry for ALL LGBTIQ+ people to feel safe, included and valued.To deliver on this vision Pride in Water provides support and guidance for all water authorities on their LGBTIQ+ inclusion journeys and will create a better practice model for the inclusion of the LGBTIQ+ community across the entire water industry.

In this role I have led a team of around 9 people to ensure that Recycled Water could be safely and efficiently delivered to over 45,000 homes across Yarra Valley Water's distribution area. Achievements in this role include;- The creation of Yarra Valley Water's first target for Recycled Water reportable to the Essential Services Commission. This will ensure a more sustainable growth future for Recycled Water and provide better insight into community usage and acceptance.- Introducing an initiative around Recycled Water Meter Caps developed by South East Water into Yarra Valley Water ensuring a significant risk reduction for customers and increased quality assurance of our product.- Reintroduction of Recycled Water Carting allowing areas of the community to be serviced by Recycled Water even though there is no network to service them. This creates sustainable greening of community spaces and reduces potable water usage.- The creation and delivery of the pilot project for Recycled Water Community Assets. A water offset scheme which creates multifaceted partnerships to look for opportunities to offset potable water usage during construction of major projects to provide infrastructure which can deliver Recycled Water to community assets like parks and sporting fields offsetting millions of water each year. This also helps to create sustainable drought proof community green spaces which help to lower ambient temperatures.

As a Senior Project Manager in the Treatment Plant Program team I led the delivery of numerous complex treatment plant projects as well as developing processes and upskilling of junior project managers in the division.In this role I helped to establish and run a program of sessions and learning forums which provided technical guidance for project managers across the division and worked with other senior project managers to improve our capital delivery processes.As a senior project manager I led the following projects;- Brushy Creek STP Tank Refurbishment Project- Brushy Creek PLC Upgrade Detailed Design- Brushy Creek Aeration Upgrade Market EOI- Brushy Creek Flowmeter Installation

In July 2016 I joined Yarra Valley Water as a Project Manager in the Asset Creation Sewer Growth team. Here I am tasked with project managing the construction of reticulation sewerage network through built up residential areas. This includes putting together project documentations, going to tender, evaluation of tenders and the awarding of the contract before construction began. During construction I am responsible for design and scope changes, variations to contract, progress payments as well as community and stakeholder engagement. Key projects I have worked on in this role include; - On Property Works and Declaration of North Warrandyte Community Sewerage Project- Construction of Donvale Package E Community Sewerage Project- Construction of Donvale Package F Community Sewerage Project- Design Review and Construction of Launching Place Package A Community Sewerage Project- Design Review and Construction of Launching Place Package C Community Sewerage ProjectAs well as this I have also taken over the management two key contracts including a key equipment supplier (Aquatec) and a primary on-property construction contractor (Pressure Sewer Services Australia, PSSA).

In early 2015 I joined Jacobs' ANZ Infrastructure and Environment group as part of their water section team. Moving into a design and consultancy field I brought my operational experience on various Wastewater and Water Treatment Plants and my Process Engineering skills. As a Water Process Engineer at Jacobs, I undertook design and review of wastewater treatment plants, project management, data analysis, HAZOP review, report writing and editing as well as water asset valuations for rural Victorian Water Authorities. I undertook a 6 month in-house secondment with a key client, GMW, on their $2 Billion AUD Connections Project providing project management and engineering services. The success of this secondment led to a contract extension managing on farm works for the project from Melbourne 2 days a week.

GMW engaged Jacobs for a short term secondment to assist in the delivery of milestones for the GMW Connections Project. The project is a $2 Billion AUD Commonwealth and State funded project to modernise irrigation channels to increase efficiency and reduce volume of water usage for irrigation purposes in northern Victoria. During the secondment I streamlined the On Farm Works management for the Torrumbarry and Loddon Valley regions by creating a task list data base, creating SOPs, scheduling and tracking works happening on site. I continued to support GMW after the secondment on a part-time remote basis to maintain the systems I had implemented and to facilitate in a handover back to GMW.

Having been approached due to my operational experience on the graduate program, I joined the Northern and Western region treatment team in early 2013. In this role I was responsible for the quality of effluent from 6 Wastewater Treatment plants in the Northern and Western regions of South Australia. The plants were a mix of lagoon based systems, Intermittently Decanted Extended Aeration (IDEA) and Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) plants. In the service area there were also 3 reuse systems in place which supplied recycled water to councils, golf courses and 3rd parties indirectly. In this role I was also required to contribute to the corporate Environmental Management System, regulate sampling routines, take part in optimisation trials, technical improvements and liaise with other agencies such as the Department of Health, EPA and local councils when required. Further to this I was also responsible for managing the HR requirements, training needs, development and support for the operators of the plants across the region.

As an Engineer on the SA Water Graduate Program my first secondment was to outer metro operations. Here I was exposed to the daily operation and functioning of both wastewater and water treatment plants. I was fortunate enough to work along side the regional technical officer and project engineer in bringing a $60 million wastewater plant through the final stages of commissioning. I helped to optimize the removal of phosporous and nitrogen levels from the plant effluent, participate in sludge thickening trials utilizing a gravity belt thickener and poly additive as well as help to optimize the mixing regime of the anaerobic digester to lower power consumption but maximize biogas production. As well as my engineering skills I developed my scientific skills through the maintenance, use and running of the onsite laboratory including equipment calibration, standard testing and wet chemistry analysis.

After completing my degree in November I was asked to return back to Hospira for a short term contract before taking up my permanent position with SA Water. I returned to the Validation department and took up similar roles and projects to my original Student Validation Position, this time with less supervision and more independent management of projects.

During the summer of 2010/2011 I undertook work experience at Hospira Pharmaceuticals under the guidance of an experienced Chemical Engineer dealing with Validation and Process issues. While there I worked as a Validation Engineer to complete projects and tasks in collaboration with various departments including QA/QC, Engineering, R&D and of course Validation. I was exposed to fermentation processes, cleaning processes for equipment, compliance with regulating bodies such as the TGA and FDA, trouble shooting process equipment, applied calculations to determine maximum flow rates and settling velocities of cells in suspension. I gained knowledge into what is expected of a professional engineer and how to successfully manage time and responsibilities delegated by managers and supervisors.

I joined the Chemical Engineering Society of the University of Adelaide (CHEMS) as a committee member in my first year at university in 2007. During my time on the committee I held such positions as 1st and 2nd Year Representative, General Representative, Vice President and finally President in 2011. During my leadership as President CHEMS membership numbers grew, the number of events ran increased and the number of attendees at each event rose from previous years. This coordination of events and the management of funds led CHEMS to have a very successful financial year for 2011 leading to surplus funds. While President I continued to strengthen the relationship between CHEMS and the School of Chemical Engineering by building a rapport with the Head of School, Professor Mark Biggs. By closely maintaining a relationship with Professor Biggs as well as other staff members of the school I was able to act as a liaison between the student body and the school allowing maximum communication and mutual understanding.