Graduation Day at Monash University's Gippsland Campus

In March 2007 I received a Graduate Certificate in Reliability Engineering in a graduation ceremony at Monash University, Gippsland campus in Victoria, Australia. The visit was enjoyable for several reasons. First, it had been over 25 years since I had received a bachelor’s degree in Engineering, so it was fun to be back in school after all that time. It was also the first time to be in Australia so it was exciting to visit Gippsland and other places in the beautiful State of Victoria. The visit was also memorable since I was able to travel with a younger brother who stays way too busy with consulting work in the petroleum industry. This was a good opportunity for him to cash in some of those frequent flyer miles and take some time off from work. In addition to visiting some of the towns in Gippsland, we were able to visit Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula, and the Great Ocean Road areas. These are sights not to be missed on any trip to Australia.

The Graduate Certificate in Reliability Engineering has already been put to good use in my current job at the Alcoa Warrick Operations plant in southern Indiana. As part of GEG7144N, Reliability Applications, a reliability study was conducted on the plant’s compressed air system. Based on the results of that study, the plant is now pursuing a plan of capital and non-capital solutions to improve the reliability of the compressed air system. I plan to continue my studies through the Monash-MRC program working on a Master of Maintenance and Reliability Engineering degree.