It’s been a while since we sat down with Peter to chat about how he found himself on sites flying drones and assessing old mine shafts!
Remind us – what is your role, and how long have you been keeping busy with MineLiDAR (MLD) projects?
It always surprises me to think how long MineLiDAR has been running – we are over 6 years old now! I am one of the Directors of MineLiDAR and run it on a day-to-day basis including still being a key part of the field-work team.
Before looking after the MLD branch, what role were you solely focused on at our sister company MineGeoTech?
I have been a geotechnical engineer with MineGeoTech for around 11 years since returning to Australia. I was working on many projects and have continued to be involved in a few of these for key clients over the last few years.
What sparked your interest in the geotech field?
I had an interest in mining during high school from travels around Australia with my family as well as stories from my father working on drill rigs out near Meekatharra. My path to geotechnical engineering was fortunate as I was on a path to being a mining engineer but starting the geotechnical engineering course I found a vocation I enjoyed.
What is a memorable MLD project story from the last few years?
They are all memorable, but perhaps to mention some of our work in the carbon farming space. Memorable from a number of perspectives. Firstly the places that it has taken us across Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia. Secondly, that it has been a strong partnership with our client with respect to building the work flows and data processing capabilities to deliver a product that our client has returned to us to deliver.
What is a quote that has stuck with you?
Don’t think I really have one.
What advice would you give to aspiring geotechnical engineers and/or lidar technicians?
I guess I am still a proponent of human experience counts for something. So seeing more rocks, good and bad ground support installation, being involved in ground support installation, scanning different environments gives us knowledge to take forward into whatever we do.
What changes in this space have you observed over the last few years?
There are a lot. The cost of hardware has reduced significantly as well as the software capabilities have increased significantly. It is a very interesting space to be in.
What industry do you think would greatly benefit from LiDAR scanning and data processing to help achieve their goals?
Anyone who is interested in finding out how lidar scanning can provide another, deeper data, layer to their projects. I think we like to be able to approach a problem from the angle of what is the appropriate technology to achieve the clients outcome. If we can’t provide that then we let them know, but I often find the interesting part is to figure out how to solve the problem.
In the field!
Rapid-fire questions
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
All the typical things I guess – pilot, train driver, doctor 👨✈️
How do you take your coffee? Or are you a tea person?
Depends on the time of day 🍵
What is one (or more) of your favourite hobbies?
I run quite a lot 🏃