Congratulations Moemedi Goitsemang (Moe), Technical Executive in the Rail team at WSP, for receiving the Signalling and Systems Engineering Excellence Award. Moe was presented with the award at the Australasian Rail Industry (ARI) Awards which recognise and celebrate the achievements, innovation, and successes of those working in the rail industry.
Stuart Allabush, Regional Executive – Transport - Rail, NSW, says, “Moe has played vital leading roles in projects across Australia and New Zealand and his work has helped to leave a lasting impact on communities. Moe is a great role model and a pleasure to work with. Congratulations Moe, this recognition is fully deserved!”
Moe’s award highlights the breadth of projects he has worked on, his involvement and positive impact on the broader industry and strong commitment to mentoring young people – ultimately leaving a lasting legacy on rail systems and communities.
An early and fortunate career re-think
When Moe was finishing high school, his ideal career was to be a medical doctor. However, “in Botswana when you complete high school, at the time you had to go through national service where you are placed into work experience in your line of interest. I was placed in a hospital and unfortunately, but fortunately, I didn’t like the environment, so medicine was not for me.”
The next thing Moe was interested in was engineering, so he trained as a telecommunications engineer. “I later worked in a signalling and telecommunications organisation as a Telecoms Engineer and during that time was curious about what railway signalling was about. My manager at the time allowed me to go find out for six months, and I am still trying to find out more than 17 years later.”
Transforming rail projects across Australia and New Zealand
Moe began as a signal designer and project engineer initially working to upgrade freight lines in the Hunter Valley region. He went on to lead the signalling design that paved the way for Sydney Metro's pioneering driverless train system. Moe then managed signalling design for the first skyrail project and level crossing removals in Victoria and New Zealand's City Rail Link tunnel project.
“The Sydney Metro project was huge, transformative and it was not business-as-usual technology-wise… it was a massive change for a risk-averse industry in which safety is paramount,” says Moe. The project introduced driverless passenger trains to Australia in which the signalling system manages the movements of the train, monitoring the speed and stopping at platforms, rather than a train driver.
The technology eliminated the chance of human error, but the discussion around safety became different. “There was a focus on changing the mindset of passengers and their perception of safety as well as assuring them,” Moe says.
Moe was involved in the first two stages of the project from Sydney metro to Chatswood and Chatswood through the city to Bankstown.
Broader industry engagement and mentoring for impact
The recent award win also recognised Moe’s profound impact on people and industry. Now based in Melbourne, he mentors young engineers that are coming into the field of signalling as well as young people that work within the broader industry. “I’m part of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE) national (Australia and New Zealand) committee arranging technical meetings and conferences and hold the role of the Treasurer.”
As Treasurer, Moe looks at ways that young people can be encouraged to be part of the IRSE and includes bursaries to attend technical meetings. Further, Moe is part of the organising committee for the IRSE International Convention coming to Melbourne in November this year. “I’m passionate about ideas and innovation and believe that inclusion of young people in the running of the IRSE contributes better to our industry and helps with skills development.”
A change agent with a focus on continuous improvement
Moe has challenged existing standards and introduced innovative solutions, championing safety in design and changing client engagement practices. An example of this was introducing more innovative ways of communicating with stakeholders so before a design phase commences all parties agree on initial project feedback and ideas. Moe says, “As a result, this led to a more efficient process and more satisfied stakeholders.”
“I’m an advisor to the Department of Transport and Planning in Victoria for various projects in which I provide some options that can be implemented as solutions to current network issues, looking at required signalling system upgrades to cater for future growth. Some of the solutions that we propose are novel however our main objective is to move people safely and efficiently, to travel with peace of mind that they will get to their destinations. The fact that the government is open these conversations is something that that keeps me motivated” says Moe.
Australia