The Emergent Group team has recently expanded, with many new additions who are bilingual or even multilingual. Having a bilingual work team provides many benefits to the organisation. Not only does it allow for effective communication with a wider range of clients and customers, but it also fosters cultural diversity and inclusion within the workplace. By having employees who can speak different languages and come from a variety of backgrounds, Emergent Group benefits from a range of perspectives and ideas that can help drive innovation and creativity.
Find out more about our diverse team:
Lilly Großstück
Lilly is an Experienced Structural/ Civil Engineer from Germany who has lived in Australia for around 4 years. She learnt English and French in school and studied Italian and Mandarin in her spare time. Her husband is from Colombia, so Lilly has also been learning Spanish on Duolingo (with a very impressive 1,582-day streak) and online classes. She now speaks fluent German and English, and Spanish at an advanced level. Lilly always had a keen interest in other languages, though admits she hated learning new vocabulary and speaking while in school. She believes language is the key to understanding other cultures and a door opener to explore the world. Lilly enjoys the diversity of projects and the friendly work environment provided at Advitech.
Brian Kosgei
Electrical and Electronic Engineer, Brian, speaks fluent English and Swahili. Growing up in Kenya, Brian moved to Newcastle in 2019 to pursue an Honours degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. Brian loves designing power systems and working on electronic projects with the Novecom team.
“The team are very easy going and welcoming,” said Brian. “My colleagues always have a positive attitude and are happy to help.” Although Brian misses his family back home and visits as often as he can, he has found a small group of Swahili speakers in Newcastle and enjoys getting involved in the local community. He enjoys playing team sports, such as soccer and basketball, and exploring new places.
Öleg Fina
Öleg is an Undergraduate Renewable Energy Engineer and was born in the beautiful Veneto region of Italy. He is fluent in Italian and can switch to his regional dialect when needed. He also speaks a bit of French but would need to refresh his skills before diving into a full French conversation.
Öleg moved to Newcastle a few years ago to pursue a Bachelor of Renewable Energy Engineering and enjoys collaborating with many of Advitech’s highly skilled team members. As a junior engineer, Öleg says, “Being surrounded by experts is a fantastic way to learn and aspire for more. I also enjoy the fast-paced nature of the work and the variety of projects offered.”
Rong Li
Rong grew up in Xinjiang (新疆维吾尔自治区), an autonomous territory in Northwest China, and learnt both Mandarin and English in school. She is an accredited translator of English to Chinese. Rong moved to Sydney to study a Master of Environmental Engineering and Master of Water, Wastewater and Waste Engineering at the University of New South Wales. Upon graduating, Rong applied for Advitech’s graduate program, accepted a role as Graduate Acoustic Engineer and made the move to Newcastle.
“Newcastle is such a friendly place; everyone is happy to have a chat and share their culture with me. The team at Advitech have been very welcoming and even gave me my first taste of Vegemite. Plus, the beaches are better in Newcastle, not too crowded,” said Rong.
Rong revealed that while she misses her family back home (most of all her mum’s cooking) and tries to visit every two or three years, she has found a great community in Newcastle. She enjoys working alongside experienced staff and receiving mentorship through the graduate program. Rong strongly encourages other students to join the team, as there are many great opportunities for young people through our graduate programs and internships, as well as travel opportunities and mentorship from experienced staff.
Alex Mtonga
Lead Mechanical Engineer, Alex, was born and raised in the Copperbelt region of Zambia. He pursued his interest in glass technology and manufacturing in London and Bulgaria respectively. While studying at the Higher Institue of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in Bulgaria, he met his wife, Anna. Alex followed Anna to her native Poland and learnt to speak Polish.
In addition to five Zambian languages, Alex can speak English, Polish, Bulgarian and basic Swedish. After connecting with some Australians while in Germany, Alex and his family packed up and made the move to Australia. Now settled in Newcastle, Alex continues to practice Polish with his wife and children at home. He enjoys the complexity of work offered at Advitech and thrives on finding ‘out of the box’ solutions to challenges.
Brian O’Donnell
Systems Engineer, Brian, met his Italian wife on a gap year while studying Mechanical Engineering at RMIT. Upon graduating, he returned to Milan and was fortunate enough to find work with an engineering consulting company where knowing Italian was not a prerequisite.
“For the first few years I was living there, I often felt the frustration of not being able to communicate properly,” said Brian. “I now consider myself bilingual and apparently have a Milanese accent. In one of the places I worked, there was a man who volunteered part-time for a radio station that transmitted only in Milanese dialect, and he taught me a few phrases.”
30 years later, Brian moved back to Australia with his wife. He has three children, all married and living in Milan, six grandchildren and travels back to Italy once a year to visit. He misses being able to ‘pop across’ to Ireland and the UK but is happy to see his father and siblings a few times a year in Melbourne.
Sam Monfared
Sam is a recent addition to the Advitech team, taking on the role of Electrical Engineer (Risk and Functional Safety). He was born in Tehran, the bustling capital city of Iran, and is fluent in Farsi (also known as Persian), Azerbaijani and English. Despite being born in the heart of the nation, his family’s roots trace back to the northwest of Iran, where the local inhabitants are known as Azeri people. Sam is passionate about sharing the beautiful customs of Iran, particularly the Persian culture boasting a tapestry woven with art, poetry, literature, and delectable cuisine.
Sam is currently working remotely from Sydney and aims to bring his expertise in Functional Safety Engineering to contribute to the success of Advitech’s projects.
Jemima Jackson
Senior Engineer (Risk and Functional Safety), Jemima lived in Germany for five years, despite knowing very little German. Jemima immersed herself in the local culture and found ways to overcome the language barrier.
“When I first moved to Germany, I decided to order at random off the menu in a small pub because I eat almost everything. I ended up ordering Matjes in Sahnesoße, which is herring in cream sauce – worst meal of my life,” Jemima recounted.
Since moving back to Australia a few years ago, Jemima acknowledged her fluency is fading and she is keen to maintain her language skills, so is planning a trip back to visit friends and brush up on her German.
Jemima loves the diversity of tasks in her role with Advitech, in that it is not just maths-focused or English-focused, but a combination of the two. She enjoys getting hands-on with the challenging technical components and processing this information for reports.
Ramesh Ramamurthy
Lead Structural Engineer, Ramesh was born and raised in Bangalore, South India, before migrating to Sydney to study his Master’s in Structural Engineering. During Covid, Ramesh was looking to take his career in a new direction and joined Advitech, to continue challenging and expanding his skills in a multidisciplinary and diversified company. In addition to English, he can speak, read, and write in the following Indian languages: Sanskrit (proficient), Hindi (proficient), Kannada (proficient), Telugu (basic) and Tamil (basic).
Emergent Group is proud to have an amazing team with diverse backgrounds and talents. Having a bilingual team provides many advantages including better communication, increased business opportunities and greater inclusion within the workplace.
Do you want to join a dynamic team of professionals who are passionate about their work?
