Jack Hopgood grew up in the Adelaide Hills, with dreams of a career working with animals. Attending Urrbrae Agricultural High School, he had all that he needed to achieve his goals. “As much as I loved animals, I realised through my study that science and maths were a real strength for me, so I ended up leaning heavily into those subjects rather than agriculture,” Jack reflected. “Going into University, I had no clear expectation of where I would end up, [...]
Allan Dias was born in Brazil and, after his father received a job offer, he found himself moving to China during high school. With a fascination for flight and a knock-back from the Brazilian Air Force, Allan had to really consider his future career path. “I was looking for an opportunity to explore my passion for flying while also being able to interact with other international students,” said Allan. “Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics was just that place.” Studying [...]
Naida Rasheed is new to South Australia, having relocated from Sydney to join Southern Launch as a Launch Engineer. Space has always been on Naida’s radar. Growing up, she and her father often spoke about space, the pinnacle being the purchase of a family telescope. Spending many evenings zooming in on the rings of Saturn and the craters of the Moon, Naida’s passion was ignited. But was a career in space really possible in Australia? “Early on, when I was [...]
After starting out as a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Australian Air Force, Dr Jordan Plotnek took advantage of South Australia’s booming space industry, and sky-rocketed toward a career in space cyber security. Jordan’s days are now spent democratising their knowledge and expertise as a Senior Lecturer and Researcher at UniSA, and as Critical Infrastructure Lead and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for veteran-owned professional services firm, Anchoram Consulting. Growing up, Jordan’s curiosity for wireless communications piqued at the drive-in theatre. [...]
In a time not all that long ago, you could have been forgiven for thinking a career in the space industry was something you would have to go overseas to do, and it involved being a rocket scientist or astronaut flying to the moon. This is definitely not the case with a range of exciting careers now available in South Australia in an industry that’s making a difference to the way we live, and helping to create a sustainable future. [...]
Antennas are everywhere. There are tiny ones in every mobile phone and laptop, and in the hardware that helps them connect to wi-fi. They are in the security tags that prevent shoplifting in stores. They’re in medical devices that can detect cancerous tumours. And, of course, there are the big ones that capture signals from satellites in space. Zahra Esmati has been fascinated by antennas ever since she studied telecommunications back in her home country of Iran. Now, she’s is [...]
There’s never been a better time to join South Australia’s defence and space industries, with workers needed now to get started on a lucrative career, spanning decades. Recent research conducted by Defence SA shows that while the defence industry alone in South Australia is expected to need an additional 10,000 people over the next 10 years, not everyone is aware of the career opportunities available in the state. Defence SA Chief Executive Richard Price said the highest priority for South [...]
The Australian Industry & Defence Network – South Australia (AIDN SA) Young Achiever Award 2022 was announced at the annual AIDN SA Christmas and Garden Party last week. Southern Launch Regulatory Lead Eamon Lawson received this year’s honour, selected from a competitive field of nominees. Eamon was recognised for his important contribution to critical law reform to support the development of Australia’s first sovereign end-to-end space capability covering payload development, rocket manufacture and launch into space. Space launch is an important pillar [...]
As a young boy James dreamt of being an astronaut and his fascination with space has led to an exciting career as a rocket scientist. James recently made the move to South Australia’s thriving space sector where his career has taken off – and he’s now driving some of the most cutting-edge space innovations in the state. James works as a mechanical and thermal engineer for South Australian space company Neumann Space, which is one of only a few companies [...]
Farisha Jamal has been working in the South Australian space industry for under a year, but is part of a growing constellation of female engineers lighting a successful career path in the sector. She’s now empowering other women and young girls to reach for the stars. The avionics engineer is forging a successful career in the South Australian space sector. Farisha was recently recruited by local space launch provider Southern Launch to help create flight systems and sensor packages that [...]
Wanting to be part of an industry fuelled by innovation and some of the country’s brightest minds, South Australian project manager Ben Adams knew it was time for a change when he took one giant leap into a new career in the space sector. Having worked in the private and public sectors in a range of technology, strategy and project delivery roles, Ben found himself stuck in a mid-career crisis when the appeal of a career in space was something [...]
I get excited about working in the space industry because putting something into space is so difficult. I love the idea of the challenge, that it requires a huge amount of work from so many talented people in a variety of fields all working together to make a project come to fruition.
I love that I’m able to work with others to solve problems that have an impact and make a difference every day while still being able to learn new things.
It was exciting moving back to South Australia not only because it’s where I’m from, but because of the emerging space industry. I wanted to help build the space industry in Australia from the ground up, rather than work overseas in an industry that’s already established.
There’s such a variety of opportunities in the defence industry and I’m really excited about the prospect of working on innovative and cutting-edge projects. I have some of the greatest minds around me and these people support me in my growth and development as an engineer.
Whilst a larger number of roles in the space industry are in engineering, there are lots of other ways to be involved. Space companies, like ours, still need accountants, lawyers and people in communications and marketing.
The best thing about leading a company in South Australia’s defence industry is shining a light on the local skills, talent, and innovation that exists right here, in our own backyard.
I’m excited for the opportunity to work on massive projects that have a real impact on the future of our Defence Force and the nation’s protection and security.
There are a number of projects within South Australia which you can spend your entire career working on and still enjoy what you do.
There’s a misconception that the defence industry is very serious, but the experience I’ve had is that we are a very creative and collaborative group of individuals working towards a common goal.
This sector is growing fast, which means there are always new and exciting projects on the horizon.
If there is something that you want to do, and you want to give back to defence, there is definitely a job out there for you.
What I love most about my job is being able to solve the problems that really matter, knowing that my work contributes to Australia’s national security and economic growth.
You don’t need to be in the armed forces or necessarily have experience in the defence industry in order to be successful and have a rewarding career. The industry is growing, well-funded and rampant with opportunity…I can’t see myself moving on anytime soon.
A lot of people study engineering and do very little engineering in their day to day role. I wanted to be doing calculations and getting my hands dirty in a work shop. I also wanted to be working at the forefront of technology development. This made defence the obvious choice.
I love the culture of our company and the tech we get to work with. The defence industry as a whole has so much to offer in terms of ground breaking technology. We get to develop really cool products and go out in the field testing them. It’s a really interesting industry with so many different aspects that can be worked on.
People should definitely consider a career in the defence industry, it takes all types to do the work that we do and there’s lots of opportunities for growth. Adelaide is not only a really nice place to live it’s a really fantastic place to work especially if you are in the defence industry.
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