What's your job about?

Powerlink Queensland is a government-owned corporation that owns, develops, operates and maintains the high voltage electricity transmission network in Queensland, providing electricity safely and reliably to homes and businesses across the state. 

As a Graduate Electrical Engineer rotating through the line design team, my role is to provide electrical design advice for new connections. Every week, we receive dozens of requests from new customers who want to connect to our network. It’s our responsibility to design and build the infrastructure that allows these customers to connect to the grid and supply or consume power. 

From a line’s perspective, this includes performing calculations and selecting the appropriate conductors, earthwires and optical fibers based on the customer’s power requirements and other factors which vary from project to project. This is done while ensuring compliance with Powerlink’s standards and having a forward-thinking approach to support future growth, as our network is constantly evolving.

What's your background?

I grew up on the Gold Coast and decided to move to Brisbane in 2017 when I enrolled in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Queensland. After graduating in 2022, I worked for a couple of years as an Electronics Engineer, designing DC fast chargers for electric vehicles. But one night, by sheer luck, I came across Powerlink’s Graduate Program – just as applications were closing that very night. Though I was always keen to work in the energy sector, I was already content with the position I was in. 

Nonetheless, I applied and shortly after was invited to the assessment day at their Virginia office. I rocked up with an open mind – keen to learn more about Powerlink and to see if I could picture myself working there. Pretty quickly, I was sold – the friendly people, the interesting work and the immense opportunities were too good to pass up. When I realised that Powerlink was a good fit for me, all I had to do was convince Powerlink I was a good fit for them. Fast forward to now, I’ve been working at Powerlink for a year and don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Absolutely! If you just look at our graduate cohort, you’ll find a mix of ages and different backgrounds. In our graduate program, you’ll rotate through multiple teams across three years, exploring all divisions of the business. So, one of the best characteristics to have when working as a grad at Powerlink is to be curious and have an appetite to continuously learn as you’ll always be working in different environments.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

The coolest thing about my job is seeing through an entire project from concept design to commissioning. This means we’re given the opportunity to travel across the state and see projects we’ve been working on in person. It’s always cool seeing your design come to life on a grand scale! But more broadly, I get a sense of deep satisfaction knowing that the decisions I make will have a long and lasting impact on not only Queensland’s, but Australia’s energy future.