Aaron Giovenco is an electro-technical specialist who works in the maritime and offshore oil and gas industries. He says our Advanced Diploma of Industrial Automation developed both his theoretical and practical knowledge in the automation space, which will help him to further his career.
He began his career as an electrician after seeking employment opportunities in Perth, Western Australia, due to its mining boom. While studying his apprenticeship, he realized he was interested in engineering.
“Back in 2008, when pursuing my electrical apprenticeship, I found the theoretical side interesting and enjoyed learning it,” he said.
“This passion has continued to evolve over my career. I enjoy designing and coming up with solutions, which is why I’ve decided to pursue a career in the engineering industry, and automation and control engineering has great future job growth potential.”
Once he became qualified, Aaron spent a couple of years working in a myriad of different environments. One thing he says he noticed was how much technology had bled into the sector and fundamentally transformed it. After he took an opportunity to lead a team on a coal seam gas project in Queensland, he realized he wanted to pursue a career in the engineering industry.
He currently works as an electro-technical officer for a marine operations management company on Shell’s Prelude FLNG Project. The job sees him working with a team of people within the ship’s engineering department, and his responsibilities include carrying out electrical and electronic maintenance, repairs, diagnosis, installations, and testing.
“A key part of my role is maintaining high integrity and availability of key vessel systems such as power generation, VFDs with associated thrusters, and automation systems such as dynamic positioning. When breakdowns occur, I attempt to fault find and come up with a solution. However, sometimes this is not possible due to parts, which is why the redundant architecture is important to keep maintained.”
Throughout his career, Aaron has had to familiarize himself with automation technologies and complex instrumentation. He says that the trend of newly introduced automation technologies will likely continue exponentially into the future. Therefore, he decided to complete an advanced diploma through EIT that would encapsulate a broader scope of the industry in the one course.
“Studying the Advanced Diploma of Industrial Automation has enabled me to simultaneously strengthen theoretical knowledge within my present occupation, while also upskilling my qualifications for a future career. I chose Industrial Automation specifically because, in my opinion, it offered a broader range of subjects than a conventional electrical or instrumentation course and also because the qualification is formally recognized by Engineers Australia and internationally through the Dublin Accord.”
Aaron is planning to continue his academic and working journey with further studies.
“I will continue working for my current employer as the job suits me at this stage of my life. I’m also planning to study further - I recently enrolled for the Bachelor of Science (Industrial Automation) with EIT.”