Loading Events

« All Events

  • This event has passed.

Vic Webinar Event – What Systems Engineers need to know about Railway Signalling

March 23, 2020 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm UTC+10

Signalling engineering can be bewildering. It is known as the ‘dark art’ of rail or the ‘special discipline’ that doesn’t follow the same rules as other types of engineering. It might seem like there is a fundamental discordance or dispute over basic objectives between signalling engineers and others in the rail engineering and construction communities. Certainly there is a language gulf: we seem to speak acronym, not English; we apparently don’t translate operational requirements into prescriptive specifications without any kind of apparent consistency; we argue hardest over apparently low-value scope; and on commissioning night; and at the end of the day, it is us who determine whether there has been a project success or failure based on tiny observations or apparently incomprehensible or irrelevant criteria.

In the current project context, many project leaders worry about this relatively small project component that carries substantial (and perceived unmitigatable) project risk, with the words “safety critical”, “type approval” and “competency” being particular red flags. There is a reflex to cut off, disengage from the problem, move signalling scope out of a project or use the project organisational hierarchy to override a decision. In fact, the opposite approach is needed. We need to bridge that gap; we need more people who can translate between signalling engineers and their systems engineering or project management counterparts.

This event will explore this topic in detail, providing the tools for you to understand:

· The signalling engineer’s mindset
· The principles of railway signalling (without acronyms – but with enough robustness to engage in debate)
· Some particular challenges faced in signalling projects in Victoria
· Tips and tools for systems engineers who want to learn to work better with the signalling ‘dark magicians’ to de-risk rail project delivery and provide the best asset functionality at the end of the project.

Speaker: Alex McGrath, Program Director Rail Systems / Innovation Technology, VicTrack

Alex McGrath is a rail systems engineer with a background in signalling project delivery in Victoria, and an unconventional way of looking at engineering problems. She holds the role of Program Director, Rail Systems at VicTrack. Some time back, she realised that the most difficult engineering problems are rarely actually technical – so to solve them, she picks from a range of other disciplines including human factors, user experience (UX), digitalisation and automation, marketing and communications, social constructionism, organisational change, and most recently complex systems theory. She is a Member of Engineers Australia and a Member of the Institution of Railway Signalling Engineers. She is a regular rail industry presenter, repeat offender on panels, and occasionally takes on the chair role of technical meetings and conferences

(Note: This is an EA webinar event hosted by the ​Systems Engineering Society of Australia)

Click on the link below to register

Organiser

Systems Engineering Society of Australia