Any Engineers/Engineering Students on here?

[tommo82]

Nothing. Just change to electrical/electronic/communications because that's where all the fun is.

BTW: Any engineering students interested in vacation / part time work in Melbourne ? Electrical/electronic/computer/communications discipline preferred.

 

[saber]

Nothing. Just change to electrical/electronic/communications because that's where all the fun is.

BTW: Any engineering students interested in vacation / part time work in Melbourne ? Electrical/electronic/computer/communications discipline preferred.

Grrr! Where were you when I was doing my degree! Would have loved to have done some part time work in that field.

 

[bezz]

Just outta curiousity tommo what sort of work would be involved? Joint I'm working for atm have my trying out rf engineering, currently designing and building a class c amp. Sort of a project for me to work at over the year, while I finish final year at uni.

 

[stocky]

yeah what kind of work? did a year of elec engineering, now doing computing, and have a years experience with utilities

 

[VrWagz1]

I assume you are talking about the coal mines in Wollongong?

You wont get mine manager unless you do some serious tertiary study in mining engineering and put in a bit of time at the face. You also need to satisfy a time requirement in several different positions in the mine. You need to be intimately familiar with longwall AND bord and pillar (doesn't matter if nobody uses it, you need to know the theory behind the method as its becoming an attractive alternative when it comes to mining under the Sydney Catchement). You need to have a sound working knowledge of mining geomechanics, ventilation and gas.

Don't want to make it sound **** to you, but I have never seen somebody holding an advanced dimploma in elec engineering end up as mine manager. I have seen it with someone that had a advanced diploma in mining - he went from miner, to deputy, to undermanager, to senior mining engineer, finally to mine manager. He was in his mid 40's when he got there.

In underground metalliferous it seems to be even harder. Without a bachelors degree in mining, you cannot sit for a first class ticket, only a second class.

Just a heads up.

how do you figure the next step is mine manager?, I would say maintenance manager, electrical engineering bears little resemblance to mine management per se.
For that (DPI mine manager) you will need some of the following:
A DIPLOMA of Surface Coal Mine Management OR a Diploma of Extractive Industries
OR
A Mine Engineering Degree / Graduate Diploma / Masters etc, something to do with mineral engineering directly from uni, civil wont cut it.
OR
None of the above but you must occupy a position above overseer for 2 years in a MINING discipline, a maintenance superintendent role wont cut the mustard.

After that you will need to take the DPI exam for a certificate of competency as a mine manager (manager of mine engineering), if your background is electrical then it will be interesting.
I am guessing you have looked at the application rules that state you will need PRACTICAL experience in open cut mining / underground mining, 3 years for no degree, 1 year with degree.
After passing the written examination, you will then be required to attend an ORAL examination, I just had one for my DPI Cert of Competence as an Open Cut Examiner, to call it hard and pressure cooker is an understatement.

Best of luck with it mate, BTW, don't be tempted to stretch the truth with the DPI, on the forms or in any other manner, read the CMHSA 2002 and CMHSR 2006 and you'll get what I mean :yeah: (you'd also be hard pressed to find a Mine Manager who will lie on these app forms anyway, as they can lose their ticket)
Obtaining a seat in the exam through deception of your experience or qualifications will get you in deep ****, not overly deep but rap across knuckles and maybe a disqualification from sitting for a while.
If you then pass said exams and obtain ticket but are later found to have lied about ANY element of your experience / qualifications, meaning you were ineligible to sit, the DPI will render the qualifications void (certificates of competency are numbered, a lost one costs money to replace) and may charge you under the CMHSA 2002 with an offense against the Act, highest penalty, prison (not likely), mid range penalty, monetary fine and tickets voided (potentially) or at the very least, tickets voided, you blacklisted and banned from obtaining them at any point (HIGHLY LIKELY).
All this is better than forging a ticket though, that just gets you in a world of hurt, there is even a section in the CMHSA about that, it attracts penalty units for you (think $$$$$$$$$$$) and the mine that allowed you to perform as a "competent person in a function required by the regulation" gets a bigger amount of penalty units.

EDIT: If you don't know what the CMHSR and CMHSA are yet, don't stress, but you'll be studying them for about 4 hours per day leading into the exams, along with OHSA 2000, OHSR 2001, EA 2003, ER 2005.

Yeah its all good ay. Think you may have read to hard that i have ambitions of being a mine manager, i understand there are more steps to take, and really you want to be heading towards the deputy, undermanger ect... path rather than engineering which i have no interest in doing. I only wanna do my electrical degree and get my "in charge" off the DPI. I can dream of that stuff once i get to my goal first. But my first passion is electrical engineering as it requires many concepts and different ways of thinking and challenges the way you think and see things. These degrees and jobs are challenging but i dont think they are as hard as what some think. If you have the time and the ability to learn then its simply a matter of putting them together and you will have yourself the competencies to take on these roles. There is very little prestige that comes along with these roles.

AND bord and pillar (doesn't matter if nobody uses it,)

Plenty of pitts here use bord and pillar and its definatly somthing people should be familiar with. Just not common in alot of the new and re-oppened mines. But mines that have been ticking along still use this method. Alot of Centenial pitts were bord and pillar setups. Personally i think its the most fun as its a fast paced at the face sorta mining but breaker line supports have taken the fun out of it. But its alot safer now too.

 

[michaelw]

What do you mean by best seven???

Also, what exactly can i expect to look forward to in chemE?

I little joke shared by eng students. Go to parties and piss around and it will take you seven. Works bloody hard and you'll be out in four.

Things to look forward to (I did my phD in chem eng, my u/g was elec so I only observed the chemE students)

1)Maths and lots of it
2)Actually using the maths, yes when you hit the big bad world there are computer programs to do all the calculations for you but if you don't understand them them very bad things can happen.
3)Rate of chemical reactions
4)Heat flow.
5)Working along side some idiot in the lab who will take all your results.
6)Organic chemistry (almost universally acknowledge as the hardest thing you will do.
7)When you do your thesis your supervisor will have a project so broad you will think at the start you will actually save the world and find a cure for baldness. Halfway down the track you will realize that you have barely achieved 5% of your initial scope. Don't panic this is normal.
8)You will discover that most stuff you learned in high school was an oversimplification.
9)You will have a major design project to do, this may almost be as much work as the thesis.

Mike