The AusRAIL PLUS 2017 Gala Dinner brought together over 750 rail enthusiasts and saw Jamie Ross-Smith, Head of Asset Systems from UGL awarded the AusRAIL PLUS 2017 Young Rail Professionals Pitching Competition Winner.
Australasian Railway Association (ARA), Chief Executive Officer, Danny Broad welcomed the announcement and said Mr Ross-Smith has won an all-expenses paid trip to Innotrans 2018 to be held in Berlin in September 2018.
“I’d like to congratulate Jamie Ross-Smith for his well thought through and articulated pitch at AusRAIL PLUS 2017 and the other finalists for their professional presentations,” Mr Broad said.
“Our judges, Sue McCarrey, CEO of the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator; Emma Thomas, Director General of Transport Canberra; Damien White, CEO of TasRail; and Shaun Wilson, CEO of Shoal Engineering were overwhelmed by the high calibre of pitches presented by the five finalists.
“This was also evident by the overwhelming number of delegates at AusRAIL PLUS 2017 who participated in the pitching competition by voting for their favourite presentations on the AusRAIL App.”
Mr Ross-Smith’s pitch was to develop an Intelligent Asset Management System, which is designed specifically around asset sensorisation and complex internal and external system integration, utilising advanced data science and machine learning methodologies to develop comprehensive operational and maintenance-based predictive capabilities.
“Unlike current and emerging predictive maintenance platforms, Jamie’s solution would also consider passenger loading information, maintenance scheduling, resource demand, tooling, network availability, siding and depot equipment, and contract-specific parameters in determining the optimal response to a predicted asset issue,” Mr Broad said.
“The system would automate the scheduling, service order generation and maintenance request processes through direct integration to the network and operations control centres.”
Finalists at the AusRAIL PLUS 2017 Young Rail Professionals Pitching Competition Winners included:
- Ross Anderson, Frazer-Nash Consultancy – Topic: Undertaking an app-based approach to improving user experience in the rail industry
- Victoria Burke, Metro Trains Melbourne – Topic: Let’s allow our customers to pay for our energy bills and in turn create a more sustainable network for the future
- Oliver Lake, Sydney Trains – Topic: Augmented reality for optimised train maintenance
- Tyler Plowright, Pacific National – Topic: Dynamic brake battery
- Jamie Ross-Smith, UGL – Topic: Intelligent Asset Management System
