Tulasidas Inavolu was working in industries such as pulp and paper and oil and gas at ABB India when extraordinary circumstances led him to learn about mine hoists “from the ground up”.
Today, one year into his new role as applications engineer at ABB Hoisting in Australia, Tulasidas is already locally renowned as a problem solver in underground mining, with a knack for bringing legacy systems up to speed, and for applying the latest version of ABB 800xA to new installs.
With job offers from ABB Canada and Sweden, Tulasidas and his young family might have been playing lacrosse and eating poutine (potato chips topped with cheese curd and hot gravy); or winning at ice hockey and scoffing Swedish meatballs.
Instead they’re soaking in north Brisbane sunshine and cycling along the banks of Kedron Creek. His new colleagues and customers call Tulasidas “Das” because, he says, “In Australia you can only have a maximum of three letters”. He’s becoming conversant with the Australian way of communicating; and proficient in Australian mine safety regulations.
The move has been a win-win for Das and for hoisting clients like Evolution Mining’s Ernest Henry operation, BHP’s Olympic Dam project and Glencore’s Mount Isa Mines.
“Mount Isa Mines has a legacy hoist control system that had become obsolete in terms of ABB’s product life-cycle plan,” ,” Das said. “But when I went there for another project, I helped them to solve a problem with their older hoist, because I’m familiar with those systems from my work in India.”
Mt Isa Mines seized Das with both hands, and he’s been their primary contact for legacy control systems ever since.
To find out more about Das’ story, head here.
