Adriana Gargulio has been working in a laboratory at our train building factory in Naples for over 10 years. Since university, she has been working with the technology that fascinated her when studying as an academic.

Her role at Hitachi Rail gives her the opportunity to develop her passion for electromagnetics and work on meaningful projects across the business.

Hear from Adriana, as she discusses her career as a Senior Development Engineer.

What was your journey from academic study to your career at Hitachi Rail?

As a forerunner to by career with Hitachi Rail, I completed a degree in Telecommunications Engineering at the Federico II University in Naples. At university, I chose to study subjects related to electromagnetic propagation and electrical measurements. Then, when I started working as Electromagnetic Test Engineer, I got exposure to different standards, which were applicable to rail. I gained an academic basis of knowledge that was ready to be utilised on-site.

After university, I secured contract roles at Hitachi Rail. In 2012, I secured a permanent position as a Junior Electromagnetic Engineer.

After a few years, I got promoted to Senior Engineer, within the same Electromagnetic Compatibility laboratory. Last year, I became the EMC specialist across all products. With so much experience in the sector, I take pride in being a member of the team who has expert knowledge.

Which aspects of your role do you enjoy most?

In my opinion, the traction converter is the most interesting engineering system to work with because it has the biggest electromagnetic noise source. It can be a challenge to work with traction converters, but when executed the right way, it can really improve compatibility on projects.

I loved working on the Caravaggio train, which is a regional train with TSI compliancy. The converter was developed collaboratively in departments based in both Japan and Italy. For this project, it was my job to ensure that the train car was certified to run on tracks safely. It was a challenging learning curve for me, I am grateful for the experience because it helped me grow as an Engineer.

What works well within your team?

My team is built with a group of experts who specialise on different topics. We work well together because every specialist has autonomy over their technical decisions, we coordinate well over different project priorities.

Roles in engineering require a first class understanding of the product, my specialist knowledge is in electromagnetic propagation. It’s also essential to have good communication and collaborative skills, as its constantly necessary work with different departments on projects.

Though I did learn a lot of technical skills at university, my professional experience in laboratories at Hitachi Rail really solidified my expertise in this field.