Looking Back - 1939 to 2011 - the Autobiography of Robert V. J. Padula, OAM

1965 - Professional Employment with PMG/Telstra

Home
1941 - Bikes and Cars
1943 - Hiking - Hills and Coasts
1944 - Growing up in the War Years - Part 1
1944 - Growing up in the War Years - Part 2
1944 - Growing up in the War Years - Part 3
1945 - Auburn schooldays - Part One
1945 - Auburn Schooldays - Part Two
1945 - Auburn Schooldays - Part Three
1945 - Upwey and the Puffing Billy
1945 - Gramaphones and Record Players
1946 - Flinders St Station
1946 - Astronomy
1946 - Beach and Swimming Adventures
1946 - Going to the Pictures
1947 - Adventures at the Altona Bungalow
1947 -The Listener-In Magazine
1947 - Balwyn WIldlife Sanctuary
1948 - Fishermen's Bend Aerodrome
1948 - Radio Australia QSL cards
1948 - Excursions
1949 - Australian Rules Football
1949 - Radio Monitoring at Auburn
1950 -Trains and Ships
1950 - Radios for Communications
1950 - Radio Listening Clubs in Australia
1950 - World Radio TV Handbook
1950 - Shortwave Radio Propagation Research
1950 - Medium Wave Radio Propagation Research
1950 - Radio and Hobbies Magazines
1950 - Discovering shortwave radio at Auburn
1951 - Photography
1951 - Competitions on local radio stations
1952 - Camp Buxton - YMCA Shoreham
1952 Tennis and Ten Pin Bowling
1953 - Stamp Collectiong
1953 Camberwell High School
1954 - Royal Visit to Melbourne
1954 - Shortwave Radio reception at Auburn
1956 - Melbourne's Olympic Games
1956 - Trainee Telecommunications' Technician
1957 - Trainee Technician - field work
1957 - National Service Registration
1958 - Laverton Air Show
1958 - MOOMBA Parade
1958 - Trainee Technician - field work
1959 - The move to Mont Albert
1960 - Working at Deepdene Telephone Exchange
1963 - Trade Unions, Staff Associations, Industrial Relations
1964 - Senior Technician work in the Melbourne CBD
1964 - Project support for Radio Australia
1964 - Project support for Radio Australia
1964 - Amateur Radio
1964 - Media Writing
1964 -Travels
1964 - Engineering Support for International Broadcasters
1965 - Professional Employment with PMG/Telstra
1967 - Professional Qualifications - Institution of Engineers Australia
1967 - Australian Radio DX Club Photo Gallery (to 1979)
1972 - Wireless Institute of Australia
1972 - Natural disasters in Melbourne
1980 - Australian Radio DX Club Gallery (to 1995)
1981 - Award of the Medal of the Order of Australia
1995 - Padula Books
EPILOGUE
LINKS TO AUTHOR'S PERSONAL WEBSITES
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEPENDENT BIOGRAPHIES
SPECIAL CHAPTER - Oldtime Australian Radio Drama from the 1930s
SPECIAL CHAPTER - Radio Monitoring Clubs in Australia - 1920 to 1949
SPECIAL CHAPTER - Melbourne Picture Theatres - History - 1906 to 1970

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2005 - 40 years Service Award

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2005 - 40 Years Service Certificate

THE YEARS 1965 TO 1997 - PROFESSIONAL WORK
 
In January 1965 I commenced the first of two years full time study at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), in Communications Engineering.
 
I had been selected as a Trainee Engineer, PMG;'s Dept, having been accepted by rigorous competitive assessment late in 1964, and had already completed half of of the four year course by part time study in 1963 and 1964.
 
In those years, RMIT did not have Degree courses, and the course I was undertaking was endorsed by the Institution of Engineers (Australia)
 
Positions of Trainee Engineer were only available to PMG staff, and  I was one of eight trainees. The other Trainees were senior to me in terms of their ages, employment hstories and designationss
 
I graduated with the Associate Diploma in January 1967, and was appointed to the grade of Engineer Class1.

My first appointment as a base grade Engineer was to the large Telecommunications Workshops in South Melbourne,
 
This was not my preferred placement, as I had sought a position in the Radio Section, but there were no vacancies.
 
My formal qualfiications in Communicatons Engineering and my extensive backgound in the Network Management and Analysis were of limited value to the operations of the Workshops,
 
I made the most of this posting, and considered resigning at one stage and moving to another Telco.
 
One of the most challenging projects I was involved with was at Engineer Class 1 level, where I was giv emn the rfesppnosbilotyh of setting uip a new work area known as the "Development and Prototype Shop"
 
One of the assigmenst was leading a team of technical and trade staff on the development and construction of a new service which the Company was introducing, known as the "PABX Extension and Traffic Route Analyser"  ("PETRA").
 
This was designed to monitor and analyse employee-generated unauthoriized calls made from PABX extensions on high-cost trunk circuits, and was state-of-the-art at the time.
 
It involved close liaison  with people in Telecom's Research Laboratories, on issues of design, cnsuiction, planning, testing, operations, and maintenance.
 
As things turned out, I moved upwards at a very fast pace, gaining promotions to the grades of Engineer Class 2, 3, and 4, the youngest person ever to have reached those levels in the Company's Victorian State Administration.
 
I  transferred out of the Workshops on 1978 to a new position in the Company's Professional Engineering Training area, where I became the State Manager, which also looked after base level Engineer recruitment and undergraduate employment.
 
I continued with that work until 1995 when I took up a new position of National Manager, Professional Engineer Traniing and Development.
 
I left Telstra on September 17, 1997, after 41 years of service, having accepted a voluntary redundancy and early retirement package, as did thousands of other employees at the time.
 
 

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1997 Retirement from Telstra Medal

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1997 Retirement from Telstra Medal (converse)

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