Nick Avery

I came from the UK.  I was working as a Traffic Engineer for four and a half years before I came out to Australia to work for DTEI.  I did an original degree in Industrial Product Design, which is engineering related but not related in terms of the discipline I am working in now.  Whilst working as a Traffic Engineer in the UK, I did a Masters in Transport Engineering and Planning.  Then I decided to, four and a half years into my career, to make a move, career change, a sort of lifestyle change, and looked at my options. So here I am now, enjoying myself, enjoying my work, enjoying my life.  Yep, big transition, but it was well worth the move.  Well, I've worked on three projects over the past six months since I've been with DTEI, working on freight assessment projects throughout the whole of South Australia, which is good.  The other two projects that I've worked on have been more design related in terms of highway design.  And more recently the latest project I'm working on is a large roundabout design out in the Barossa Valley.
What I like most about my job is the knowledge that eventually what I'm designing, whether it be at concept stages or whether it's at detail stages, that hopefully it has the intention to actually be built out on street.  You feel a sort of attachment to the work you're doing and you know it's going to be put out there and it's going to be adding to South Australia's infrastructure.  And really sort of, you feel like you're making a difference, and whether it be in terms of road safety improvement or efficiencies, or just improving the efficiencies of South Australia.  It's quite a good knowledge to know you're doing something like that.

Nina Hydbom

I came to Australia about four years ago from Sweden and I did my engineering degree here.  I applied for a job with the department after a friend of mine was telling me about her work experience she'd done with the department and the type of projects she'd got to work on and I found it interesting, so I applied for a job.  I was recruited as a graduate engineer as part of the DTEI intake of graduates they do every year.  I went on the website and just filled in a form and got offered an interview and got a job.  Since I started I've been working mainly on the level crossing enhancement program which involves upgrading level crossings around South Australia, mainly to try and strop queuing across the rail levels and upgrading just simple things like signs and line markings.  And there's also another project that's been sort of incorporated on the side into this which is the Glenelg to Adelaide bike path, and as part of that we're building pedestrian crossings along the tramlines.  Where I want to be in the future, I'm not quite sure at the moment, but I'm hoping that as part of this rotation and my future rotations, I'll have more of an idea what I want to do.

Paul Bates

My background so far has been that I completed year 12 at Sacred Heart College and then straight after that I went and did my undergraduate degree at University of Adelaide in Commerce, majoring in Accounting.  During that time I found out about the Cadetship at the department.  So I did that, after my first year.  That sort of helped me through university, a lot.  It really benefited me, it has given me a bit of financial stability during university and it's also given me that experience during the Christmas holidays.  Which has really, really helped me when I started doing my actual post graduate work with the department.  I wanted to work for the department because it really gave me an experience and a platform to be able to further myself within the government sector and also within the accounting profession.  I thought that would give me the best diversity in roles and experience.
The main work that I do at the moment is with Budget Management Process ensuring we keep towards our budget goals and keep within the section, which is Transport Services budget strategy.  Probably within the next five years is probably starting my CPA really and then maybe going overseas, using the experience that I've gained within the department and then taking that with me and working overseas.

Paul Herzich

I come from Port Pirie, moved down here when I was about sixteen, started landscaping for Pioneer Homes, Fairmont Homes, etc.  So I've been in the game for about fifteen years before I went to university and did a degree in Design Studies, and then a degree in Landscape Architecture.  And then I started to work for Taylor Cullity Lethlean, the landscape architects here.  Just did North Terrace and then I started here at the department to expand on my landscape architecture career in Contract Management.  This place provided a perfect opportunity to get into that area.  It's a good place to sort of push the boundaries of landscape architecture a bit more and actually push the actual design approach.  Some rural projects that have come up are rest areas.  The main aim or objective there is to reduce the number of vehicle related crashes on rural highways.  So, to encourage people to have a break from the road we've included some art work and this particular one I've started with is the Bindjarli rest area which is in between Keith and Bordertown.  So we've put in some art works to encouraged people to have a break from the road and some interps to give people a sense of place.  I'm an advocate for Aboriginal heritage issues within the department, being my background, I???m a descendent of the Ramindjeri/Kaurna people.  That's local people around here.  Plans for the future are to stay at the Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure.  They're a great organization to work for, they're very family orientated, which I've started a young family recently and it's a great working environment.

Peter Tan

Well my background is in Civil Engineering and I've completed a degree at the University of Adelaide in 2002.  One of the main reasons for working in the department is because the department has a lot of opportunities to allow me to grow professionally as an engineer.  At the same time it also has a group rotation program in place which ensures young engineers like myself have the opportunities to try different functions and disciplines of engineering within the whole department.  I started off by doing Traffic Investigation stuff, learning about the road network and slowly I got the opportunity to act at a higher level when someone took leave.  What I enjoy most about working in the department is the flexibility that the department imposes on its staff.  Obviously there are benefits like the flexitime.  There are also flexible working arrangements in the department as well.  But the most important aspects of working in this department is obviously the importance and how the department actually values training in its staff.  The department actually spends effort and money in training a young engineer like myself so I can grow professionally and personally at a professional level.  In five or ten years time I hope to be a good manager as well that looks after a particular function within the department.