7.00 AM
My day starts with three snoozed alarms that finally wake me up. Sipping my (first) coffee for the day I catch up on the overnight news by tuning into the tellie and finish off my breakfast. By 7.30 am I’m out the door and drive into work.
8.00 AM
By now I walk into the office and say hello to everyone on my way to my desk. This can take anywhere from 5-30 minutes depending on how eventful everyone’s weekend was. After getting to my desk I review my emails that have come in and check it see if I have any urgent tasks coming up. I try to work out a rough agenda for the day’s events and plan out what I will be working on. Some emails have urgent reviews for our team to conduct and this usually means all premade plans are out the window.
9.00 AM
After settling in, my first round of meetings would usually start, due to the range of my team’s work we collaborate with many other defence organisations across Australia – One Defence is well and truly here! In the morning we might meet with DSTG in Adelaide updating us on their work, this might be followed up with a meeting with CASG from Sydney updating the progress of the project. Sometimes we have to stay up late when we have meetings with counterparts or companies (these in particular can be really insightful).
10.00 AM
10.00 am is our designated daily stand-up time – with a coffee in hand our entire team gets together to discuss any updates on the tasks that we’re working on and our general plans for the week. During this time I get to hear what the wider team is up to and it’s a great opportunity to see the diversity of work undertaking by DNE. Some of the specialities covered include Lasers & Optronics, Underwater Acoustics, Autonomous Systems, Electronic Warfare or even Radar Systems.
12.00 PM
With lunch rolling around the team meets up again to decide between Sushi or Pizza (it can be a tough choice). We decide to go with Sushi and make our way across to Majura Park which is a short drive away.
1.00 PM
We’re currently working on integrating autonomous underwater vehicles onto the RAN’s vessels. To assist our work I organise a visit to a ship based at HMAS Waterhen. Since we’re going to be in Sydney I get in touch with a fellow graduate based at Garden Island East currently undertaking an industry rotation with Thales Australia. The CEDP is unique in allowing graduates to choose their own path and this usually means there is a fellow grad not too far away.
It’s a tight schedule but we also plan to make a visit to DSTG Sydney and visit their autonomous systems lab. The lab is every engineers dream with 3D printers, CNC machines and CAD stations scattered across the room.
2.00 PM
The afternoon is usually filled with a few more meetings or a catch up with my supervisor. This a great time for me to ask any technical questions or concepts I might be unclear on. DNE has a fantastic culture of learning and development and your supervisors are always willing to help you along your way. This makes the technical leap into naval engineering a lot more manageable and you slowly build your knowledge in the space.
3.00 PM
As the day comes to a close I finalise any urgent matters for the day and write any notes down in my diary for updates on tasks. If I have any updates to my tasks I would send out a summary message with the current status of the work to the project stakeholders. Working for such a large organisation such as Defence means communication is critical.
4.00 PM
By 4 o’clock it’s usually time to head off and call it a day. The team is quite flexible with your start/end times and usually means some people start early whilst others have a bit of a sleep in before coming into work.
On my way back home I go past my local shops and pick up the groceries for the week before heading home. After putting away the groceries I sit on the couch with my feet up and catch up on my newsfeeds.
5.00 PM
With the weather cooling down a bit I get changed in to my joggers and step out for an afternoon run. There are numerous lakes around Canberra and I’m spoilt for choice on where to go. I decide to head down to Lake Burley Griffin and do a few laps as I listen to a podcast.
6.30 PM
Dinner rolls around and it’s time to for Taco’s! I whip my dinner and browse through Netflix to find a movie for the night. This is also a good time to check in on friends and family interstate and see how everyone’s doing.
11.30 PM
After doing the rounds I get ready to go to bed to do it all again!