DPTI Matters - 2 November 2018

Mo message

Movember officially started yesterday and DPTI is delighted to have one of its trams sporting a hairy lip to help raise awareness of men’s health issues.

It is hoped the moustachioed tram will serve as a rather large reminder of this event, which is run by the Movember Foundation to help change the face of men’s health by tackling prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention.

If you would like to show your support, consider donating to a Mo Bro or hosting a Movember morning tea, or if you are the proud owner of a growing mo, please send progress photos to DPTI.CommsAdmin@sa.gov.au to be featured here.

Find more information about the Movember cause here.

Graduate of the Year

Congratulations to DPTI Investigations Officer Rachael Kowald, who was named as Graduate of the Year Award at the 2017 Jobs4Youth Program graduation on Tuesday. The award recognises individuals who have excelled during their graduate year.

Well done also to DPTI’s other graduates who participated in the program: Roberta Camporeale, Daniel Zander, Domenic Barbaro, Grace Baker, Haki Singh, Kiara Hoste, Malika Hassan Ali, Muhammad Hussaini, Nicole Hughes, June Sui, Queen Anne Pham and former graduate employees Shane Martin, Anton De Leo and Jonathan Brohier.

The Jobs For Youth Program is now known as Flexibility for the Future and is aimed at increasing the employment of young South Australians and helping to kick start their careers in the SA Public Sector.

Leading the way

It has been a big week for the state and our department in the field of connected and autonomous vehicles. South Australia continues to lead the way in autonomous vehicle trials, as proven with another three events in the past week, all funded by DPTI’s Future Mobility Lab Fund.

I was delighted to attend Sunday’s demonstration by Cohda Wireless of their collision avoidance technology. By using “smart cars, smart cities” technology, the driverless car was able to see around a corner to sense a car driven by a person who was running a red light, stop and avoid a collision. It is impressive technology and another example of how autonomous cars can make our streets safer.

We also launched two EasyMile shuttle projects – one at Elizabeth and another in Renmark – that will help move people around those areas.

Well done to all involved in seeing these projects come to fruition.

From left: Jo Murray, Jeremy Conway, Tony Braxton-Smith and Disha Nayak.

Quiz night

Staff working on the Darlington Project had a fun night out for a cause last Friday when project partner Gateway South hosted a quiz night. More than 200 people attended and over $13,000 was raised for the Make-a-Wish foundation.

Congratulations to all involved on putting in to help others.

World champ

DPTI’s own cycling world champion, Unit Manager Planning Gemma Kernich, has returned from the UCI Masters Track World Championships  in Los Angeles with the gold medal she won in the F35-44 5km Scratch event.

And Gemma was gracious enough to share her victory with her colleagues, giving them the chance to get their hands on the prized medal.

“It’s been an exciting time and is a huge honour after mixed results competing here in Australia,” Gemma said. “It’s rare that my crazy race tactics pay off, so I’m really happy to have had such a great result.”

Good deed

Well done to Andrew Dudzinski and Leanne McDougall from Traffic Operations, who went out of their way to help a truck driver struggling with heat stroke while they were conducting a site inspection at Kangaroo Flat. Andrew and Leanne made sure he was kept cool in their vehicle while one of the driver’s colleagues came to pick him up.

Friday Flashback

With attention turning to the Melbourne Cup next week, today’s Flashback Friday looks at how well-dressed travellers from Mount Gambier made the trip to the big event back in 1966.

SLSA BRG 347/1303