PS3 SIMS? Forget it.

The only sim worth flying is a P3 Orion.  And if you think geology is not for you, then you've never studied it from a helicopter.  

Five South Australian students discovered that out in the big, wide world, there are stacks of more interesting career opportunities than they ever thought.  

Sam's Ultimate Workplace Visit

What a day the 16^th of October was. I arrived at BAE Systems headquarters, Edinburgh Parks, Adelaide, not knowing what to expect at all. What I did know was that it would be a day full of excitement and it definitely wouldn’t be boring.

The day began with an overview that was given by our tour guide Cathy Riach, in a meeting room. This is where we met Martin Hilton who was a very intelligent engineer, who has had a great amount of experience at companies like BAE Systems and has also worked in the RAAF. His career has led him all over the world to many exciting places. As an engineer he has also had the opportunity to take part in test flights.

From this point we were escorted out to the main part of BAE Systems at Ed Parks. Here their main project is to design and manufacture special decoys to protect Navy ships from air to sea or sea to sea threats. I soon discovered that most of BAE’s projects were to develop and manufacture systems that protect the people that protect us. We learnt about the processing chips, structural designs, propulsion system and the overall working process and purpose of the decoys.

I never thought that I would ever set foot inside a RAAF base before I left high school but this part was something really special. Unfortunately due to lack of time, we weren’t able to try out the flight simulators but that didn’t matter because we got to have a look inside and out of an AP-3C Orion aircraft. These aircraft are operated by the RAAF for maritime surveillance, search and rescue and have many more uses. They are awesome aircraft but are fairly old, so BAE Systems is currently re-equipping them to see them out to their retirement.

At lunch we had a chance to talk to some university graduates who have gone on to work for BAE Systems and have been involved in some very interesting projects. It was great to be able to talk with Peter and Elizabeth because they have had experience and were able to give some really good advice on University pathways and engineering.

After lunch we made our way to BAE Systems division at Wingfield. This is a major section that does a lot of projects on land support systems. The project that they are currently working on is to extend and re-armour the APC’s that are used by many armies globally. An APC is an armoured personnel carrier, which is the safehold for many soldiers as they are being transported through war zones. Again, this is a system that protects the people that protect us. To manufacture this system it requires extending the vehicle and double armour plating it, to be able to withstand being fired upon and blast proof. After all the modifications have been made it adds up to about an 11 tonne vehicle. This section employs a variety of very skilled trades people. It is a good example of where an engineer can design something, but it has to be efficient and able to be manufactured. Trades people have to be able to follow the designs otherwise it won't be very effective.

 From Wingfield we finally made it tour last stop at BAE Systems, Mawson Lakes. In this place, maintenance is performed on the Collins Class Submarines’ periscopes. This section of BAE Systems is the smallest, only employing 15 people. The task at Mawson Lakes is to disassemble the periscopes, making sure all of the optics are acceptable for service and to maintain seals and other things to prevent leakages, which are unwanted in submarines. One opportunity was to have a look through the periscope and it was that clear that I was able to see people driving in their cars, roughly four kms away. It is just incredible, and also a very slow process because it takes 28 weeks to maintain one periscope.

Mawson Lakes was where our day ended. I was very happy with the whole experience, it’s not something that every 16 year old would get to do. One major thing that I took away from the experience is that the defence systems manufactured at BAE Systems have to be very precise and reliable because at the end of the day, it comes down to saving lives. I also discovered that there are a large range of careers available in the defence industry. I would like to thank all of the staff at BAE Systems for giving up their time to make it a very exciting and interesting day.

If you are considering a career in defence then pursue it because there’s more to defence than you think. Defence is something that Australia and the world will always need. It is a growing industry with many options of what to work on and where to work. The experience that I had at BAE Systems was more than I had expected and a career in defence is definitely where I am heading.

Angelique

Emma

 Keen to explore the world of geology with someone who knows all about it, Emma took to the skies with our Ambassador, Greg Swain from Monax Mining.  They flew in a helicopter over the Fleurieu Peninsula to check out not just the geology of the area, but working and historical mines…and few whales that were out for a swim. Watch the BTN piece here. 

 Alexander took an exclusive trip 200m underground at Terramin Australia's zinc mine just around the corner from his school in Strathalbyn. From geology to truck driving, engineering to project management, Alex discovered there's something for everyone. Dirty work you say? Alex's white protection suit looks pretty clean to us!

 Read Alex's report.