Future Energy Specialist Job Kit

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CAREERS JOB KIT

FUTURE ENERGY SPECIALIST

Insights and information on careers in renewable energy, battery innovation & data

Deanna Hood

QUT Engineering graduate and Engineers Australia Young Professional Engineer of the Year

I was the only girl in my Year 11 physics class, but I’m glad that I never let that stop me. You only have to be curious and motivated to learn. No one starts out an expert. As well as providing a top-notch industryfocused engineering education, QUT has a fantastic support group for women and gender-diverse students that seems to never stop growing.

Study engineering

Sustainability engineering is among the top 25 emerging occupations in Australia (National Skills Commission, 2021) .

Become a future leader

The future is now!

Relying on fossil fuels for our energy resources has created big challenges for our planet.

We’re now focusing on sustainable, renewable, and clean energy resources, but we need new ways to find, extract, store and recycle that energy. The job of a future energy specialist is to find those solutions. And there is no limit as to where we can extract energy: solar, body motions, sea waves, sound, anything that builds heat — whatever we are doing every day that can be converted into some kind of electricity can become an energy source.

For example, we can extract energy from solar – but then we need to find an efficient and safe way to store that energy. The Australian Energy Update* says solar energy generation increased by 31% in 2021 alone. We have to develop systems which can store this amount of energy so we can use it whenever it is needed. Future energy specialists, like material scientists, design or electrical engineers, chemists and physicists, are the people who will work together to solve the energy problem.

If you’re interested in working in the energy sector, core science and engineering subjects like physics, chemistry and electrical engineering are all great study pathways.

Future energy specialists work as a team. Everybody needs to have the proper understanding of the energy, how a material is going to convert and store energy, and how it is going to distribute the energy.

Australia is at the forefront with sustainable energy resources and progressing quickly. In Western Australia

we spend billions of dollars mining the many resources to deliver batteries, which will be very important in powering our future. Think electric cars, mobile phones, computers… they’re all powered by batteries.

QUT is one of the core participants in the Australian Government’s Future Batteries Industries Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), an initiative set up to encourage exploration and development for sustainable energy between industry, researchers, government and the community.

Our postgraduates and PhD students get to work on projects for the CRC on campus while developing the technology for industry.

Energy is the cornerstone for everything. Not only are we thinking about staying on a renewable, sustainable Earth but also heading to Mars and the Moon! That is the dream.

Professor Deepak Dubal Future Fellow, Faculty of Science, QUT

Deepak Dubal Professor

It’s an exciting time to be thinking about how we make energy, and at QUT there’s plenty of opportunities to be involved

There is no limit from where we can extract energy”

What does tomorrow look like?

Future energy specialists are planning how we’ll sustainably power the world for years, decades and even centuries to come…

skills sesh

Master these talents for a fab future in the energy world…

✔ Organisational skills

✔ Time management

✔ Teamwork

✔ Problem solving

✔ Analytical thinking

✔ Creative mindset

Combine the Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) with a specialised Master’s degree

QUT offers a vertical degree in Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)/ Master in Renewable Energy. Join an exclusive group of high achievers in engineering. Make yourself more employable with skills that are in high demand by the world’s leading engineering corporations.

dream big when thinking where energy could come from

Send resumeyourto…

There are plenty of career ops for research- savvy peeps who are ready to develop alternative energy sources. Keep an eye on the job ads for roles on offer in these fields:

• Solar energy

• Mining

• Government

• Manufacturing

• Space sector

Did you know...

In the next five years we will be ready to holistically manufacture batteries right here on Aussie soil. Batteries are super important to how future energy specialists work out how to use energy. Supermarkets like Aldi are even offering free recycling bins at all stores to encourage full-circle, regenerative use. The lifespan of every battery — from your at-home AAs to the mighty Tesla “Big Battery” in South Australia (the world’s largest!) — plays a big role in how specialists of today develop ideas for tomorrow. Now that’s powering the future! –

Pippa Duffy

a circular economy for batteries

qut’s banyo pilot plant is a testing ground for research

Daily grind

Wanna know what you’d be doing from 9-to-5 as a future energy specialist? Take a peek at your job description right here…

• Fuelling the world without destroying it!

• Mining resources so that a little can power a lot. Think nano materials. They’re little — like teeny — but designed and manufactured correctly they can be super powerful. Not joking. Graphene is a nano material that’s stronger than steel and it won two physicists a Nobel Peace Prize!

Pay cheque

Wanna work in the future energy sector? You can budget on this kind of earning potential…

Chemist: $53K–$85K

Civil engineer: $59K–$114K

Energy consultant: $52K–$90K

Energy engineer: $62K–$114K

Manufacturing engineer: $58K–$101K

Materials scientist: $61K–$114K*

*SOURCE: SALARIES ACCORDING TO PAYSCALE.COM

• Turning the lights on on infrastructure, so when cities are being built the right energy is powering them.

• Helping countries go carbon neutral. Hungary is one of seven European countries with the target of being carbon neutral by 2025.

• Ensuring the efficient recycling of batteries for power and sustainability.

• Making solar materials work harder. Currently we only extract 30% of power from solar!

Working together

battery creation is one project at the banyo PILOT plant

Being a future energy specialist means you’re part of a bigger picture. Plenty of roles are required to come together to consider what creates energy, tapping into that and then figuring out exactly what to do with it. There are many careers that all need to work together to create a more sustainable energy future.

• materials engineers

• physicists

• civil engineers

• process engineers

• electrical engineers

• battery manufacturers

• chemists

• mathematicians

how energy will change will take new perspectives

Building a renewable future

From working out the sustainability of hydrogen vehicles to helping organisations reduce their carbon emissions, there’s no such thing as a typical day for Steven Bondio, a senior advisor in future energy at Aurecon.

“The only typical part is working on lots of different projects that change rapidly,” says Steven. “There is a lot of engaging with stakeholders, figuring out costs, and working out what things might look like in the future.”

Steven’s undergraduate degree at QUT was in civil engineering, and his thesis on carbon pricing and climate change sparked his interest in using his skills to solve big problems.

Shortly after graduating, Steven worked as a volunteer structural engineer through Engineers Without Borders where he worked on coastal seawalls in the Torres Strait Islands. While he found the project rewarding, Steven realised he wanted to make a different kind of impact.

“I wanted to work in an area where I could influence decision-making that could impact the environment rather than working on structures to manage the repercussions,” says Steven.

Steven’s interest in the strategic side of developing green solutions led him to pursue a Masters in energy and resource

management at University College London in the United Kingdom. His background in engineering gave him the analytical knowhow to solve problems, while his masters broadened his knowledge of economics, policy, and energy markets.

“My technical background comes in handy when developing solutions and projects with large engineering teams,” says Steven. “Making the complex simple is also really important. There are a lot of reports and presentations to clients to communicate what you are finding.”

Steven says that there’s no one way to move into a career in future energy, though studying mechanical or electrical engineering is a good place to start. But the most important thing is to let your passion be your driving force.

“You need to be happy with the work, the content that you are covering, and the impact you are making.” – Gemma

Conroy

i wanted to work where i could decision-makinginfluence that impacts the environment”

Steven Bondio is using his engineering knowhow to find green energy solutions for organisations

steven bondio senior advisor in future energy

A day in the life of an… FUTURE ENERGY SPECIALIST

Caitlin has always been a fan of maths, crediting the units she did in high school to kick-starting her study path at uni. “It’s led me all the way up to my current role,” she says.

After school, Caitlin chose a double degree at QUT to diversify her skill-set by studying both engineering and mathematics.

As her maths major she chose statistical science, and used the electrical engineering part of her pathway to get skilled up in innovation energy production.

Day in the life...

6am

Check emails, look through my calendar and plan my work for the day

7am

Coffee time! Catch up with colleagues and learn about what they’re working on

8am

Get stuck into coding –fix bugs, develop new algorithms and review progress

11am

Now I concentrate on current projects. At the moment I’m forecasting power flows to support the energy transition

1pm

Meet with my supervisor to discuss progress and any hurdles I’ve encountered

4pm

Relax and unwind with a game of netball or a yoga/ pilates session

“When I started uni I didn’t know what I wanted to do!” Caitlin says. “However a scholarship opportunity came up and I loved the work so much that I never looked back!”

Fresh energy

Scoring a scholarship and 12 weeks work experience at Energex during her second year was a serious milestone. It opened the undergrad’s eyes to a career she hadn’t considered, that married both her love of maths and engineering perfectly.

Caitlin learnt how to use data analytics and predictive modelling in the energy industry –future-proof skills that are a huge asset in the

increasingly data-driven energy sector.

And the best bit? With the support of QUT, the part-time work experience gig turned into a full-time role after her final year.

Rewarding career

A master’s degree and several roles in data and energy later, Caitlin has climbed the ranks to become a Senior Forecasting Systems Analyst at Energy Queensland. She’s currently working on forecasting power flows to support the energy transition – improving lives, and the planet, in the process. “I love serving the community,” she says. “I keep this front of mind and always strive to do my best to improve network safety, security and reliability.” – CassieSteel

i always strive to do my best to improve network safety, security and reliability”

Cailtlin Nicholas Forecasting Systems Analyst

Caitlin Nicholas’s advanced data smarts landed her a gig in Australia’s booming energy industry. Here’s what her day job looks like SHUTTERSTOCK

Student Engineer, Energex

Data Analyst, Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority

Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Honours)/ Bachelor of Mathematics (Statistical Science), QUT Graduate Electrical Engineer, Energy Queensland Senior Forecasting Systems Analyst, Energy Queensland

Master of Science (Applied Data Science), University of Southern Queensland