Eirene

6.00 AM

My day starts early, giving myself about half an hour to get ready and have my first cup of coffee and breakfast before making my commute into Garden Island, north of the Sydney CBD. 

7.30 AM 

As Defence has flexibility with start and finish times, my preferred working hours can be any time from 0700 - 1630. I typically choose to start and finish earlier as I feel that I am more productive during this time, and also gives me the opportunity to enjoy my time after work.
Working in the Signature Analysis and Ranges team, I typically start my day by having a quick morning chat with the team before logging in and checking my emails to organise how the rest of my day will run. Emails will usually include any notices of upcoming Royal Navy Ship acoustic or magnetic trials that we will need to prepare for, or even any invitations to tour RAN ships currently docked at Garden Island, which is definitely one of the great benefits of the work location.

8.00 AM

Last week, I was involved in an acoustic ranging trial of an LHD at our sound range. An acoustic ranging trial will usually entail an entire day of liaising with the ship’s crew via radio as they conduct several trials while we record their acoustic signatures. For the rest of the morning, I will begin analysing the collected data to be collated into a report for the ship using acoustic analysis programs. While this was initially a difficult task, my supervisors were great in organising acoustic analysis courses. 

9.00 AM

By this time, most of my colleagues will be in the office and we will go for a quick coffee break. This has proved to be a great opportunity to network with other CEDP alumni or other to get a better idea of the other projects happening in Defence and our branch, or even get some new point of contacts for future graduate rotations.

12.00 PM

Another great benefit of working at Garden Island is the amazing view of the city that we get to enjoy during our lunch breaks, right on the harbour water!

12.30 PM

After chipping away at acoustic analysis all morning, I also have the opportunity to vary my tasks throughout the day to break up any heavy tasking. Today I have the choice of getting back into continuing my coding tasks to improve our acoustic analysis and collection software, or continuing my soldering tasks to upgrade our sonar testing equipment. 
Today, I’ve decided to continue with my electronics and circuits tasking. This task has involved designing the circuit and testing box, and soldering the components together, which will also include a final testing procedure before being implemented within future sonar assessments. 

3.30 PM

I spend a bit of time at the end of the day going through any last emails and see if anything has come up for me to do the next day to write a quick ‘to do’ list for the next day, as well as a list of tasks I’ve completed throughout the day for my own accountability. 
This usually marks the end of my day, where I typically head to the gym after work or sometimes meet up with friends in the city.

7.00 PM

After a busy day I’m beginning to wind down now and fix up some dinner before relaxing for the rest of the night.