From Fleet Base West in WA to Western Europe’s largest naval dockyard: Ben Graham’s global defence engineering journey
Ben’s bringing his global defence experience to deliver local solutions for our clients. He’s passionate about the defence sector, a sector he was inspired by as a child, hearing his grandfather’s stories from serving in the Navy and his father’s work in submarine safety and quality at ASC. When the opportunity came to work on a defence project at AECOM, Ben jumped at it.
Ben started his defence journey designing upgrades at HMAS Stirling, a naval base near Perth, and then moved on to RAAF Learmonth, where he designed building foundations and structures, before taking his experience globally.
Strengthening ties and global collaboration between AECOM’s Australian and United Kingdom Defence teams, Ben was seconded to a major project in the UK, at Western Europe’s largest naval dockyard. After 12 months of learning from some of the best mentors in the world, Ben is back in Perth, bringing his international experience and highly specialised skills to major local projects.
Tell us about your career journey at AECOM, what projects have you been involved with?
I was lucky to be part of the Metronet project in Perth, working on the Thornlie-Cockburn Link and Yanchep Rail Extension. I designed some large elements for the additional stations; retaining walls, columns, shell beams, steel superstructures and canopies.
I also contributed to one of the biggest megaprojects in the world, NEOM in Saudi Arabia, which AECOM is involved with worldwide in many ways. I helped design the basement structure of The Line. It’s amazing to think that as a Mandurah, WA local, I was working on something of that global scale.
How did you get involved in Australian Defence work?
Defence has always been close to my heart because of my family. Due to my father’s work at ASC, I even toured Collins-class submarines. So, when the chance came to work on a project at HMAS Stirling, I jumped at it. We worked on a range of upgrades across the base, and I gained experience in defence operations and infrastructure.
Defence bases are like mini cities. They have all the services, facilities and master planning needs you’d expect, so you gain a wide range of skills and experience. I also worked at RAAF Learmonth, on the north-west coast of WA, designing foundations and structures for new buildings. This gave me deeper insight into the unique engineering challenges of remote and Defence infrastructure.
How did this lead to working in the UK?
AECOM was working on a submarine construction yard in South Australia, and there was an opportunity to strengthen ties with our UK team through a 12-month secondment in Plymouth. The role involved design engineering on a nuclear safety-rated structure, which was a whole new level of complexity, designing for seismic loads, meeting strict compliance standards, and understanding the intricacies of this specific infrastructure.
It’s a defence project of enormous scale and multiple components that must come together as a solution to meet a new capability. I learnt so much technically and professionally. Working under the UK Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) as the safety design authority, opened my eyes to new design approaches and guidelines, very different from what I was used to in Australia. The relationships I built with our UK colleagues will be invaluable as Australia ramps up its local programs. I’m excited to bring those skills back and help grow our local capabilities.
However, I’ll forever miss the history of the old structures that surrounded me in the Dockyards in the UK, which date back to the late 1600s, and have been operational for hundreds of years.
How will you apply your global defence experience to local projects?
I’m moving back to WA and will be working on projects that leverage my new highly specialised skills, applying everything I’ve learned over the past year, supporting future opportunities. I’ll be working with my colleagues to interpret and harmonise cross-regional nuclear submarine safety regulations.
The UK has been designing nuclear safety-related structures for decades, but this is an emerging area in Australia. I’ve learnt practical skills from those who have decades of experience in making sure these structures are safe for the community, effective and capable.
