Women of Meridian - Ella Gilroy

Asked to recount an experience from a memorable day at work, Meridian Energy mechanical engineer Ella Gilroy doesn’t hesitate: “I really like climbing wind turbines!” “Going up one of the Te Āpiti wind turbines was so cool - it was an incredible view from the top.”

While some wind turbines have elevators to transport engineers and wind service technicians to the top, others - like the one Ella scaled recently - have only a ladder with a climb assist harness that bears some of the load during a 70m ascent.

“I didn’t think I was afraid of heights,” laughs Ella. “But I’d also never been up that high, so I was like ‘I guess we’ll find out’.

“I got up there and I was like ‘this is actually okay – I’m not afraid of heights, that’s good to know’.”

And, in fact, somewhat vital.

Ella’s work maintaining Meridian’s suite of power generation assets requires a ‘working at heights’ qualification, as well as proven competence operating in confined spaces – which does rather speak to the literal highs and lows of the job.

“I deal with anything that moves - from the turbines themselves to the supporting pipework and valves” is how Ella describes her role.

She works in both hydro and wind, splitting time between Christchurch and generation sites across the country.

While she enjoys the more hands-on aspects of working with teams on tasks like refurbishing and replacing bearing components, such as coolers, thrust springs and pipework, it’s the project management side of her role – planning and problem solving - that provides most satisfaction.

“I do enjoy it. I find it quite rewarding, particularly with the projects that begin with designing where we can see it through all the way to the end. That’s like: ‘cool, I did that thing’.

“Meridian is a great company to work for. The people here take a lot of pride in their stewardship of the assets. That’s important. And everyone has been really willing to help me learn, showing me things that might not be relevant to my role but are still learning opportunities regardless.

“It has been a really positive experience.”

It’s an experience that came about thanks, in part, to a less than positive encounter in the careers office at her Invercargill college near the end of her final year in school.

“My teachers were pushing me to go to university, while my parents were pushing me to the trades. We’re quite a working-class family and the financial commitment of a student loan was a little bit daunting.”

So, Ella pitched up at the careers office and expressed an interest in a carpentry apprenticeship.

“You’re too quiet, we don’t want you,” she was told.

It wasn’t the feedback she was hoping for. Ella scanned the posters on the office wall and clocked one promoting a career in engineering.

“I was like ‘I like maths and physics and chemistry and problem solving’. There are lots of job opportunities and a variety of careers you can end up in – so I’ll try engineering.”

Off to Canterbury University she went, majoring in mechanical engineering.

“I liked the fact that it was physical, you could see what was happening, and it was moving.”

At the completion of her degree, she landed a coveted graduate engineering placement with Meridian in Twizel, allowing her to move straight into the workforce.

“It was a bit challenging at first. I started when we were still in the Covid traffic light system so I couldn’t really go into the office, and I couldn’t go on site either. So, there was a lot of time spent trying to understand what was going on and understand Meridian’s processes.

“A university degree sets you up for R+D quite well but not so much asset maintenance. Some of things I learned in university didn’t apply so trying to re-learn and teach myself things quickly was definitely a challenge – but one I rose to in the end.”

In November Ella achieved her first major career goal when she was appointed to a full-time role with Meridian. While it is still too soon to think about what comes next, she’s keen to remain in the industry, blazing a trail for other young women to follow.

“Women working in engineering wasn’t really a thing when I was growing up,” she says.

“I think having that visibility that there are people who look like you [doing jobs like mine] is really important.

“That’s why I’ve done things like Girls with High Viz and the Wonder Project. I remember when people would come into school it was always 50-year-old blokes and I’d be like ‘I can’t see myself doing this’.”

Ella estimates that around half of the Meridian’s mechanical engineers are female, but across the entire engineering workforce the number drops significantly. Being in the minority, though, hasn’t been an issue.

“It’s less about gender and more about relatability. You can still relate to people if they are not the same gender as you. But it is nice to see female representation in the industry increasing.”

Meridian’s commitment to sustainability and environmental protection is a key factor in her job satisfaction.

“I think we are doing quite well with our commitment to the environment. We have a strong pipeline of renewable projects coming up, which is good to see.

“We are a business, and we do have to maintain our assets. It’s on us to manage the work in outages and manage our plant to ensure it is reliably performing - and I think we are doing a good job of that.”