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Shutdown
at the Paper Mill
Anthony
Allen, Engineer
Edited by Ben Callegari
The
life of an engineer can be full of excitement and adventure.
Take it from Mr. Anthony Allen -- a process engineer at one
of Australia's largest recycling companies.
My name is Anthony Allen, and I currently work
Visy
Paper as a process engineer. On April 12 the paper mill
at which I work, had to shut down for maintenance on one of
its high voltage transformers. It was my job to keep the system
under control. This meant that I had to make sure the water
and paper stock tanks didn’t overflow. This is not a simple
task as there are some 20-30 tanks which are all linked by
various parts of the process.
It was my job to prepare the mill for this shut down and ensure
that everything went smoothly. I spent quite a bit of time
thinking of how to do this and what contingency plans I might
need. This was lucky because not everything went as planned.
But because of the planning my contingencies avoided the tanks
from overflowing and flooding the mill.
This day was very important in my overall career. I was given
a considerable amount of responsibility and had to perform
under pressure. My bosses were very happy with how everything
went and thanked me for the effort I put in. Since that day,
I have been given more and more responsibility which has enabled
me to get even more involved in the daily running of the business.
Getting Started
At high school, I enjoyed music and sport but my major subjects
were maths, physics and chemistry. I then enrolled in Chemical
Engineering at The University of Sydney because it enabled
me to continue with the science subjects I did in high school
but also gave the opportunity for me to look at the practical
side of science.
When completing a chemical engineering degree, it is a requirement
to complete an undergraduate thesis. I was lucky to be chosen
for a scholarship programme, which gave me the opportunity
to spend an entire semester in industry to complete my thesis.
I was chosen to go to Visy paper and do my thesis on water
management in the paper industry. The company was happy with
my thesis work and offered me a job the following year. Since
then, I’ve enjoyed my work because it is always exciting and
no two days are ever the same.
Science (and engineering) is a great career path to go down.
Chances are the job you end up with will be nothing like a
nine to five desk job. There is no limit to where a job may
take you. My advice is to make as many contacts as you can
through your university and early career. This will give you
a foot in the door if you want to change the direction of
your career or go for another job.
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