One of UGL’s apprentices, Ella Hodgson, had the opportunity to successfully fault-find and correct a shunting locomotive traction motor interpole.
Ella is an Apprentice Electrical Fitter, undertaking a Certificate in Electrical Fitting, based out of UGL’s Bassendean facility in Western Australia. To meet the challenge, Ella applied knowledge she had gained from a TAFE Magnetism course.
UGL employs and supports new to industry recruits through our apprenticeship and traineeship program. The multi-discipline program helps to build in-demand capabilities and strengthen the pipeline of future talent. Apprentices at UGL are provided opportunities to apply on-the job training and real-world applications, like Ella.
While assessing the motor, Ella identified a fault in the interpole circuit and was able to apply her direct current volt drop knowledge to correctly identify the turn-to-turn short in the coil. She then completed the rebuild process from start to finish.
Ella said, “Over the past 12 months in the Traction Motor section, I have replaced lots of complete interpoles, but this is the first time I was able to pull a coil apart and see how it was made, how it failed and most importantly how to rebuild it.”
“It was great to be able to link the course content to parts that I could physically touch and see.”
In addition to her TAFE knowledge, Ella also leveraged guidance and direction from experienced winder Gary Prince.
Happy to share his 20+ years of heavy industrial winding experience, Gary worked with Ella, helping to develop the skills of the next generation of employees.