Rustum Degal

At the moment, I am still employed by Metro Trains Melbourne, although upon the completion and delivery of the Caulfield to Dandenong project, have moved onto the Metro Tunnel Project. Throughout my time in this project, I have undertaken several different roles summarized below:

Systems Engineer

As a systems engineer I was multi-disciplinary expert for:

o Creating engineering waivers to standards

o Ensuring new products introduced to Melbourne’s Train network was type approved by rail operator.

o Ensuring Request for Information’s posed by clients were addressed.

o Ensuring close-out of design comments in collaboration with design reviewers.

Engineering Interface Manager

During this time, I continued to work on the tasks mentioned above with some additional scope. This included:

• Baseline development of project procedures and practices for resolving engineering issues related to design.
• Formalization of the projects Type Approval & Waiver procedures.
• Engineering Change management.

Network Engineer

(Current Role) - My role as a network engineer at Metro Trains Melbourne has greatly improved my technical skills in the field. Some skills gained include:

• Ability to configure and problem solve using the EXOS CLI command line.
• Ability to configure and problem solve using the Juniper command line.
• Developed understanding of Firewalls and ability to configure.
• Experience in configuring and debugging Cisco devices.
• Understanding of Layer 3 networking protocols especially including OSPF.

A high-level summary of achievements and tasks include:

• Completion of patching to ensure network wide connectivity for the Metro Tunnel Project.
• Configuration of all Extreme Switches commissioned on Metro Tunnel Project.
• Commissioning of multiple segments of the Operational Control Systems for Metro Tunnel project.
• Management of networking and end of line devices after commissioning
• Defect management
• Management of the Laboratory test environment.
• On-call assistance with network related faults both in the field and in the test environment.

• Manage accounts and provide business analytic insight to Mesnoy Injera Bakery
• Tasks include dynamic generation of invoices, categorization of sales data, and courier responsibilities.

• Worked on the Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal project as an Undergraduate Communications Engineer
• Role involved design, testing, and implementation of network infrastructure.

As an employer of Metro Trains Melbourne, for two and a half years I was employed as an Undergraduate Communications Engineer to work on the Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal project. My role centred around the design, testing and implementation of the required network infrastructure required for Train to Wayside communication. This role is done in close collaboration with VicTrack to help run the required fibre for the Train Signalling network. I would also interface closely with Siemens who would assist in the various aspects of the design process.

In addition to the technical knowledge gained in this role, I was also afforded the opportunity to manage workgroups in delivering wide ranges of scopes. Therefore, I gained insight into the skills needed to properly organise work groups to understand and help implement network designs they may not have been previously familiar with. Being pushed into these more leadership roles gave me insight into what it means to be an effective leader. I was forced to foster industry ties I keep to this day, encourage collaboration and helped guide all individual members to a common goal.

A key achievement worth highlighting in this role, was assisting in the deployment of a tool known as RDAS. This is a tool which is connected to a network and poles its end devices with a networking protocol known as SNMP. The tool will spam alarms to a designated HMI tailored to specific maintenance staff for them to respond to.

Within this role I experienced my first industry brush with the networking fundamentals including:

- Layer 2/ Layer 3 network implementation

- Implementation of Spanning Tree topology

- IP Addressing / subnetting

- Basics of fibre management in industrial areas.

• Internship with UGL Limited, gaining hands-on experience with Train Control equipment.

• Worked with UGL Limited as part of the finance team on the Regional Rail Project.