Nhat-Minh Iakimov-Lam

6.10 AM

The dreaded sound of my alarm goes off as my barely sentient body somehow makes its way out of bed.  It’s time to rise and grind. A quick morning stretch and I am ready to get on with my morning routine. I quickly grab some clothes and then head to the shower to wake myself up. 

7.10 AM

I don’t know how it has taken me this long to get ready and in classic fashion, I am running late. I hurriedly throw all my stuff in my bag and rush out the door. 

7.55 AM

I pull into the work parking lot and scan my way into the office. We’ve made it!  I always make sure to “dap all the homies up” on the way in as I make my way to my desk. I pull all my stuff out of my bag and get my computer booted up. I have a quick chat with my desk neighbors while my computer logs in. Then I boot up all the software I need for the day and go to the lunchroom with my colleagues to obtain the magic juice that gives me life: coffee.

8.15 AM

I pop my mug into the coffee machine and punch in all my settings to make me a perfect cup of coffee: double size flat white, 160 ml of coffee, 16 seconds of milk and 4 seconds of foam. I perfected this combination over the first 2 months of being employed here, mug is perfectly filled every time. Yes it’s a very large cup of coffee. Do I have a caffeine problem? Probably. Am I going to do anything about it? No.

8.30 AM

Firstly, I scroll through my emails to make sure I’m up to date, then check my calendar to see if I have meetings or other commitments scheduled for the day. It’s also a great time to have a quick read of Defence News to see if any cool projects are happening elsewhere in the world.

9.00 AM

My Team Lead on Survivability and Lethality has assigned me a design task that I need to complete within the next month. After having a meeting to ensure I understand all the design requirements and constraints, I brainstorm some ideas with the team. We have some big power thoughts that I make sure to jot down so I don’t forget.

9.30 AM

I get back to my computer and prep myself for a design session. First I ensure my water bottle is filled with some nice chilled water, have to stay hydrated. Sometimes I’ll pop a green tea bag in if I’m feeling a bit adventurous. Then I pop the noise cancelling headphones on and blast some tunes to get in the zone. Open up Seimens NX and it’s time to put my head down and smash out some CAD models.

11.00 AM

A calendar notification pops up at the bottom of my screen that it’s almost time for my weekly catch up meeting with the Verification and Validation (V&V) team in Victoria. In this meeting we go over the progress we’ve made on our Acceptance Test Reports (ATRs), what tasks we’re stuck on and how to progress forward. This week I’ve been assigned to finish off an ATR on the BOXER vehicle platform.

12.00 PM

It is now officially lunch time and I am starving. All my co-workers group together at the front entrance of the engineering building before we make our way to the canteen, which we’ve affectionately nicknamed “Dinemetall”. On the menu for today: chicken caesar wrap and chips. 

12.20 PM

We have now made it back to the engineering building with our newly acquired sustenance. Lunch time is a prime opportunity for me to complete my “Magic: The Gathering” match for the week. Oh yeah, there’s a proper Magic office tournament. Nerdy, I know, but it has been surprisingly fun and you get to meet many people in the office that you wouldn’t normally.

1.00 PM

Lunch is over, time to get back to work. I get the ATR I’ve been assigned open on one monitor and get a blank document opened up on another. When tackling half-finished ATRs, I like to do a full read through of what’s already there and make a list of all the sections that need to be fixed / completed and all the information I need to source to make that happen. Using this list I can then go through all the referenced documents and piece together as much as possible to see how much of the information I’ll have to source myself. Normally I can get all the data I need from existing documentation, but it looks like I’ll have to do some of my own investigation work today. 

2.00 PM

One of my colleagues also needs to go and measure some items on a BOXER, so we decide to go for a walk together. Before that, have to make sure I switch into some steel caps, put on my hi-vis gear and grab some safety glasses, gotta have that PPE drip before entering the Production building. 

2.10 PM

It’s always fun getting to climb in and around a BOXER or a LYNX. I always learn new things and get to see how other engineers have solved different design problems. I’ve managed to track down the area discussed in my ATR and can start assessing it to find all the data I need. I make sure to talk to some of the production personnel about my issue as they always have some good knowledge.

3.00 PM

I get back to my desk and write down all my findings while they are all still fresh in my mind. While I’m in the zone I try to smash a couple of report sections on the ATR. 

4.00 PM

It’s now time for yet another meeting. This one is a big one, with people in attendance from both our Brisbane and Melbourne offices as well as some colleagues in Germany. This one usually goes over larger issues and tasks we need to deal with in the coming weeks.

5.00 PM

And that’s it! Day is over, time to pack everything up and go home.