Inside Industry #3 Recap: A Day in the Life of Engineers

Aastha Makkar
Oct 16
2 min read

Updated: Oct 28

Our third Inside Industry session for 2025 gave students a rare opportunity to step inside the world of power engineers and hear directly from professionals shaping the sector. The theme, “A Day in the Life of Engineers”, highlighted the diverse career pathways, technical challenges, and personal experiences that make this industry both complex and rewarding.

Watch the full video now:

Spotlight on Susie Lochert – SA Power Networks

Susie Lochert, Equipment Engineer at SA Power Networks, opened the session with a fascinating look at her nearly 20-year career.

She traced her journey from graduate rotations through to her current role introducing and standardising equipment across the network. Susie spoke about major projects including the replacement of carcinogenic liquid-filled fuses with safer boric acid fuses, and her work developing conversion kits to retrofit existing infrastructure.

Students were intrigued by the hands-on aspects of her work—spending time in the warehouse testing new devices, collaborating with suppliers, and creating operator handbooks that guide field crews. Susie shared how her role spans everything from high-voltage fuse design to investigating equipment failures, emphasising both the responsibility and variety that comes with being a subject matter expert.

Importantly, she also highlighted the balance her career allows: working flexibly around family life while still tackling challenging projects that impact network safety and reliability.

Spotlight on Revana Boodhraj – Western Power

Next, we heard from Revana Boodhraj, Reliability Performance Manager at Western Power. Revana took us inside the community battery trial—a project she helped deliver across Western Australia.

Her presentation explored the technical, regulatory, and social aspects of rolling out batteries in residential areas to manage peak demand and support solar penetration. She explained how community batteries offer an alternative to individual household batteries: customers store excess solar locally and draw on it in the evening, while networks avoid costly transformer upgrades.

Revana shared the behind-the-scenes challenges of working with councils, emergency services, and suppliers like Tesla, as well as the learnings gained from scheduling charging and discharging across different communities. Students were particularly interested in how safety, design, and community engagement all intersected in this pioneering project.

Student Questions and Takeaways

The Q&A sessions revealed strong student curiosity. Questions ranged from the software used in equipment design, to the learning curve of managing new engineering portfolios, to the lifetime and recycling of community batteries. Both Susie and Revana emphasised the importance of continuous learning, adaptability, and asking the right questions—whether about technical standards or community expectations.

Why It Matters

Inside Industry #3 reminded us that engineering in the power sector is not just about the technical detail—it’s about solving real-world problems with safety, sustainability, and people in mind. Both speakers demonstrated how engineers contribute to Australia’s energy future in unique ways: through safer equipment, innovative storage solutions, and a passion for making systems work better.