What's your job about?

Nova Systems is a specialist systems engineering advisory and management services company that supports defence and a number of industry sectors, and I am currently a consultant supporting the Remote and Autonomous Systems team. As a systems engineering consultant, I help teams better understand, design and test their systems to ensure they are achieving full lifecycle effectiveness. My current project is focused on identifying, capturing, and managing interfaces of a mining system using model-based systems engineering approaches. On this project, a typical day for me starts with a client meeting (they’re based in America) which crystallizes the day’s priorities. I’ll then get some project work done throughout the day both individually and collaboratively, and then I’ll end the day with a team meeting that includes the UK team on the project. When people hear that I am a systems engineer, they tend to assume that I work on electrical systems, but that isn’t the case at all! Systems engineering is much broader than that and allows me to work on systems of all different forms and sizes and at different points in their lifecycle.

What's your background?

Originally, I’m from the town of Narrogin in the Western Australian Wheatbelt, but I grew up in Eaton which is about 2 hours south of Perth. From a young age, I was always interested in building things (I loved LEGO) and particularly enjoyed math and science at school. That interest in math and science was invigorated throughout high school, and eventually, the idea of becoming an engineer was suggested to me by my physics teacher. I decided to pursue that thread and was able to explore the world of chemical engineering whilst at university through both the course and work experience. Although the technical knowledge and experience gained were incredible, my most valuable experience at university was gained through volunteering, as that was where I discovered my passion for working with and helping people. At the end of my degree, I knew I wanted to be somewhere where I could help people tackle challenging problems, and the position at Nova Systems was perfect for that. The position offered me the chance to solve problems for clients in the energy and resources sector, and for me, that was a perfect blend of knowledge application and helping people. Currently, I’ve been in the position for two years and have just come off the graduate program and am still enjoying tackling problems and helping people as much as ever.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes. Although consulting relies upon technical knowledge and expertise, it just as heavily relies upon your interpersonal and self-awareness abilities. Empathy, compassion, and communication are all key skills when it comes to building, maintaining, and managing relationships with clients and understanding their views on things. Then on the other side of things, being self-aware and being able to manage yourself are equally as important in delivering a positive result.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

The thing I love most about my job is that I get to work with a diverse range of interesting and passionate people to solve interesting and challenging problems in a variety of domains. While it can be tiring given the complexity of the problems, there is no better feeling than solving the challenge at hand with your team and enjoying the knowledge that you’ve delivered a high-quality outcome together.

What are the limitations of your job?

I find that the biggest limitation of my job is that although I get to work on a diverse range of projects and tackle challenging problems with clients, I don’t get to get involved in the technical design aspects of the systems lifecycle. So much of my study at university was focused on developing that technical knowledge, but I don’t get to apply it in the workplace as that is not the domain where Nova Systems operates.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

1. Ask for help when you need it. You don’t know all the answers, and you never will. That’s okay, you shouldn’t be expected to. When you don’t know something, don’t be afraid to ask someone who does.
2. Know yourself and know when you’re reaching your limit. Looking after your mental health is just as, if not more important than looking after your physical health.
3. Do things because you want to and because you enjoy them, not because you think they’ll look good on your resume. Don’t let yourself lose the passion you have for things you enjoy.