Having carved out a successful career in the male-dominated world of engineering in the rail industry, Charlotte Moss knows from first-hand experience exactly what it takes to succeed.
The superintendent with Anglo-Australian multinational miner Rio Tinto is in charge of delivering a technical, complex and safety-critical multi-million-dollar portfolio including one of Australia’s biggest and most complex rail automation projects.
Recognised by WA’s branch of the United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA WA) for her work in gender diversity and by Women in Technology Western Australia Award (WiTWA) for her impact on the industry and her community, Moss is determined to create awareness of existing issues and make a change.
“I stumbled into rail. While studying electrical engineering, I started working as a part-time administration assistant at a rail signaling company. Once they found out I was studying engineering, they provided me with exposure in rail design and testing and I then joined the team as undergraduate engineer,” she said.
“The biggest highlights in my career are not only working on some great and complex projects but the people that I have met within my career. It’s such a small industry that even moving between projects, you still end up working with the same people. They become family.
“In addition to this, the experiences I have had travelling with work and being exposed to different cultures overseas and new perspectives are definitely highpoints.”
Moss said the rail industry priorities for the next five years were safety (always), diversity and inclusion, net zero emissions, innovation and the workforce.
Moss will be sharing more of her experiences at the Heavy Haul Rail 2023 conference as part of an industry panel discussion looking at ‘How to deliver successful mega projects through team culture’. She will also be the MC for the conference dinner.
The 12th annual Heavy Haul Rail event will be held in Australia’s heavy haul capital of Perth on March 29-30.
The Australian heavy haul rail industry, boasting some the heaviest and longest trains, continues to lead the world in operations and innovation, and the meeting will bring together key industry decision makers and showcase the best in local and international project expertise.
It will give attendees an understanding of the strategic directions of major industry players together with updates on approaches to decarbonisation, trends and innovations, developments in equipment, technology and maintenance to ensure efficient, safe and reliable operations.
Topics to be addressed include:
- The power of transformation: Setting the stage for the next generation of railroading
- Race to real zero
- Strategies for sustainable technology solutions supporting heavy haul decarbonisation
- What global forces are affecting heavy haul rail?
- Driving network performance and infrastructure resilience across the supply chain
- What does ‘good’ look like in a sustainable global supply chain?
- Pacific National’s decarbonisation pathway and current thinking around ESG
- Transforming a large-scale capital project business case into reality – The BHP experience
- Decarbonisation: Driving for Efficiency
- Resilience-Preparedness for external factors impacting heavy haul rail
- System safety in focus: The investigation into the Devonport cement train runaway and derailment
- Digital transformation in the rail industry – Asset management information digitisation strategy
- What can be done at an industry level to increase rail technology personal skills in an ever increasing level of technical complexity
- What is the role of HHR into the future? Where does the heavy haul rail industry need to go?
- Rethinking emissions reduction fund methods for transport and hydrogen
- Update from ONRSR
The event is organised by Informa Australia.