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What is it like to work in manufacturing?

So what attracted me to manufacturing, was the opportunities to grow my skills.

I love anything that includes making something I guess.

After completion of my mechanical engineering degree, I was the first female engineer on site at Toyota, then I built medical devices, now I build trains and trams.

A typical day for an operator involves a few set of rounds to monitor our compressors, pumps, and sort of any associated equipment and trying to be proactive in our monitoring to pick up on any issues before little ones become big ones.

We make things for trains, trucks, renewable energy and we have machines that are able to fold material, cut material. I like been a mentor, educating women to take on manufacturing, take on engineering. It's not that hard, you just got to get your hands dirty and give it a go.

I really enjoy the work that I do and I think historically it hasn't been offered all that much to women, but we're seeing change across Australia and I think it's fantastic.

People say to me, what's engineering about? It's about problem solving. There's heaps of things that you can do in manufacturing. There are more opportunities for us than what we realise. Definitely believe in yourself and if you're passionate about it, just go for it.

It's fun. It's exciting. I think when you do have a diverse work environment, you can really benefit from that, everyone can benefit from that.

When I see a tram drive past and it says ‘Made in Melbourne,’ I make sure I let my family know, I built that.

In the future, personally I'd like to see a lot more women in our leadership roles at the refinery, and, maybe me?

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