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Dad migrated from Slovenia to Australia in 1955, arriving in Darwin where he worked initially in a uranium mine near the town of Batchelor in the Northern Territory.
Being a very social person, Dad loved the camaraderie among the hundreds of New Australians working on the Snowy project and the chance to meet people from many walks of life. He never considered language to be a barrier and always tried his best to communicate with others.
Dad worked on the Scheme for 18 months before moving to Melbourne where he met my Mum, who was working at the Mercy Hospital in East Melbourne. They married and bought a house out in the ‘suburban wilderness’ of Mount Waverley where they raised a family of three boys, including me.
Dad always looked back fondly on his Snowy days and would often tell us stories of the towns he visited -– Cooma, Eucumbene, Old Adaminaby (before the dam was filled), Cabramurra and so on. When we were kids he took us on a family trip where he proudly showed us the massive scale of the works.
One of the things that attracted me to work at SMEC is its position as a major multidisciplinary international consultancy, offering its employees the opportunity to be involved in some exciting projects in Australia and overseas. One of these is Snowy 2.0, the recently approved expansion of the original Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme. Perhaps I may have a chance to be involved in this project in some capacity. It’d be a great experience and something I would have loved to tell my Dad about.
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Trevor Ferris knows better than most what it means to come full circle. He is currently employed with SMEC as Technical Principal, Road Design and is actively involved in the expansion of the iconic Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme, also known as Snowy 2.0.
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As we kick-off 2022 we are looking to the future. Australia is experiencing unprecedented investment in infrastructure and to successfully deliver these projects with innovation and foresight for integrated sustainability there is one thing which is at the core – OUR PEOPLE.