2013 USQ Faculty of Engineering & Surveying Alumnus of the Year
Life tends to throw you some curve balls. It is what you do with the curve balls that leave you caught out or scoring a home run! USQ Faculty of Engineering and Surveying Alumnus of the Year, Gerard Reiter has had a few curve balls thrown at him during his professional and personal life but has figuratively managed a home run every step of the way. A large part of his success is due to the attitude he has towards opportunities.
Gerard completed a Bachelor of Engineering Electrical/Electronic (Hons) at USQ in 1992 and since then has been employed in various Engineering positions throughout Queensland, other areas of Australia, as well as overseas in Germany and Switzerland. He currently holds the position of Executive General Manager of Capital Program Delivery for TransGrid; connecting generators, distributors and major end users in NSW and the ACT. Gerard has been a key contributor to the restructure of the TransGrid business unit from a traditional discipline based business into an Asset Manager, Service Provider Business. Gerard has also won several Powerlink Business Excellence achievement awards.
To discover the many avenues a degree in Electrical Engineering can take you, read on to learn more about USQ Alumnus, Gerard Reiter.
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| 2013 USQ Faculty of Engineering & Surveying Alumnus of the Year: Gerard Reiter |
1. What did you dream of doing as a career when you were a child?
Originally I wanted to be a Chef but an Aunt of mine convinced me that I had the school marks to take on engineering at University. This path actually made more sense as my father was an electrician and he and I worked together on small electronics projects and I also had a strong interest in all things electrical and electronic. I completed work experience in high school with what was, at the time, the SEQEB (South East Qld Electricity Board) and I enjoyed the work very much. This ultimately led me towards electrical engineering.
2. What subjects did you study in high school? Were you academically driven, sporting, arts etc?
I studied straight maths and science subjects at high school and I was also a good sportsman. I was an excellent swimmer and high jump champion in my region.
3. What was your first degree/course? Did you stick to this career path or interest? Why or why not?
My first degree was Electronic Engineering and at the time most of the electives I took were for microwave communication engineering. Unfortunately I have not ever really used the microwave part of my degree.
4. Why did you choose to study at USQ?
At the time USQ had, and still has, an excellent reputation for training engineers with a strong field work bias as opposed to purely theoretical engineers. As I was a more practical person I felt this would be a more appropriate university for me. As well as that I had a number of friends from school who were also going to go to USQ so I already had a friendship base to build on.
5. What was the next step for you after graduation? Did you have a plan or fall into something?
I had a scholarship with the Northern Territory Power And Water Corporation to be an Electrical Engineer. I was quite experienced as a graduate due to vacation employment opportunities during my degree. Unfortunately though, at the conclusion of my degree PAWA had no job opportunities, but the Queensland Electricity Commission did and I was fortunate enough to be one of the candidates selected, so I moved to Queensland from the Northern Territory.
6. What do you consider is the key to success?
Being prepared to travel where the opportunities are! I have lived and worked throughout the Northern Territory, Queensland and overseas in Europe and now I am based in NSW.
7. Why do you think you were nominated for an Alumnus of the Year Award?
I would like to think it is because of my diverse career that has resulted in me having a very senior position within the Australian Electricity Industry. I have worked hard to attain the success and appreciate the recognition.
8. Who has been the biggest influence in your life and why?
There have been many major influencers in my life and people who I have tried to model myself on. From an engineering point of view, I have been heavily influenced by my lecturers at USQ, Jim Ball and Jim Black. Also, a gentleman named Peter Wright in the QEC who I worked with in the very early part of my career in the electricity industry. I have been extremely lucky to work alongside many talented people during my career and nearly all of them have imparted useful information and work culture into my working life.
9. What advice do you have for others in your Faculty about how to attain success in your chosen work field?
You need to understand your base field of engineering well. You should be prepared to have a go at whatever challenges are put before you at work. You need to be prepared to operate outside of your comfort zone. And in my case I remind myself and those who work with me "that there is no substitute for good engineering".
10. Do you think that you have found your ideal job and what you were born to do or is there still some searching to do?
I really enjoy the work that I do; it is interesting and highly commercial whilst at the same time it is highly technical. The work I do enriches everyone’s lives and allows us all to enjoy the society that we have today. I think I was very lucky to have had the opportunities that were presented to me.
11. What are your plans for the future career wise and personally?
I still believe I have some way to go in my career in the Electricity Supply Industry and I would like to think that I could operate at a senior level helping to guide the industry for many years to come.
12. Is there anything else that you would like to share about yourself worth noting?
I have three young children aged 4, 5 and 9 the two youngest are boys and the eldest a girl. My 5 year old has Downs Syndrome and this adds some interesting challenges to our already busy lives as my wife and I both work full time.
