Aaron Barbaro
OZ Minerals
Aaron works as a Medium Term Scheduling Engineer at Prominent Hill with OZ Minerals. He has a commitment and passion for supporting the safety and wellbeing of others.
By creating the Prominent Hill Underground (PHUG) Life Podcast, he has been empowered to learn more about safety and physical/mental wellbeing in mining and to find new ways to develop a culture of safety and making lives better on site. The podcast incorporates an opportunity to reach and connect with his workmates and create a space where they can share their experiences and life on site, whilst exploring opportunities to support, the safety and wellbeing of workers.
The podcast is now being used to deliver messages around safety and wellbeing, and Aaron continues to devise new ways to perpetuate a culture of safety, inclusivity and mental wellbeing, whilst continuing to grow as an engineer and challenge his knowledge and skillset.
Matthew Forrest
Founder and Managing Director , Economic Energy
Matthew grew up in Clare Valley before relocating to Adelaide to complete double degrees in Computer Science and Mechatronic Engineering with first class honours. He is also the Founder and Managing Director at Economical Energy and inventor of the VIPER energy storage technology.
Economical Energy is developing a cost effective, long duration energy storage technology to facilitate the rapid adoption of variable renewable energy. His team has grown to eight people and have raised funds from investors, including being selected for investment and participation in EnergyLab’s Climate Solutions Accelerator.
His role has incorporated R&D efforts of the VIPER technology, cost estimates, computer optimisation of mechanical design and working with patent applications, with the first for the VIPER technology receiving a clear report on patentability from IP Australia.
Fontae Franks
OZ Minerals
Fontae holds two degrees, a BEng (Mining) (Honours) and a BSc (Geology, Geophysics, Applied Geology) and has been working with OZ Minerals at its Carrapateena mine for four years. To date, she has worked at four mine sites in over eight different roles, and is passionate about strengthening the reputation of the industry and creating a clear pathway for future mining employees.
As a Scheduling Engineer, she is responsible for cross-departmental coordination to ensure the mine runs safely every day, and ensuring the mine meets its long-term targets and successfully transitions from sub-level caving to block caving.
Given her own experience as a young woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry like mining, Fontae wants to impress the importance of and encourage the industry to connect to new and diverse candidates, and drive positive promotion of the industry to new students and people who might not have considered a career in mining.
Matthew Musolino
OZ Minerals
Matthew is a Graduate Geotechnical Engineer with OZ Minerals, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Adelaide. His OZ Minerals role has him analysing rock mass and in situ stress data for numerical modelling, helping guide mining engineers on their designs. His university role has him investigating geotechnical hazards in cave mine operations.
His academic career has furnished him with the technical knowledge to impact the mining design and investment decisions within OZ Minerals. Leading collaborative research between the mining industry and universities, he is able to contribute to the industry’s overall capacity to manage geotechnical challenges, with this work having a global impact on how underground mining is conducted.
Following his post-doctorate, Matthew plans to stay in academia and with OZ Minerals to bring industry research and collaboration to the university and keep contributing to the mining sector and the state’s sustainability, community and economic development.
