It is an unwritten rule that every office needs someone who will bring in food to share. Some workplaces have a pro scone baker, others have a sausage roll specialist. At BCI, we have Thomas Huckstadt, a BBQ king who can always be relied on to cook up a scrumptious storm should the need arise.
Tom started at BCI in March 2022 in a Specialist Applications role. He is a fantastic asset to the BCI team who is always there to help and never makes us feel silly for our IT questions. We’re proud to tell you a little bit more about him.
Question: What does your role at BCI involve?
Answer: I help the business build capability by listening to their wants and needs and helping them to design and implement technology solutions. My day-to-day tasks include finding, designing, and assessing solutions that meet business requirements, ensuring that they are scalable, fit for purpose and secure by design. I also work with internal and external stakeholders to implement new solutions or upgrade existing ones, as well as create and document policy and best practice for technology and its use at BCI.
Q: What was your career journey to get here?
A: Before BCI, I was working in mining and professional services. My time in mining gave me an appreciation of what BCI was trying to achieve and my time in professional services allowed me to realise the opportunities for growth at BCI and the areas where I could add value at a greenfield operation. Combining these two was a rare opportunity that BCI presented, which led me to apply for the role.
Q: What do you like about your job at BCI?
A: Being a greenfield, everything needs designing from the ground up to meet both current and future requirements. This enables flexibility and creativity in technology design, whilst also offering a unique challenge.
Q: What’s something interesting about you?
A: I like to BBQ, specifically smoking meats. I share a small YouTube channel, called Smoke & Dagger Aussie BBQ, with another mate, and we participate in BBQ competitions. Cooking over fire is always better, adding smoke to something is the cherry on top.
Q: How did you get into BBQ?
A: One of my earliest memories of smoking meat was when an old housemate brought a metal barrel home and said he was cooking ribs. Despite the rough appearance of the barrel and the dodgy modifications, it made delicious ribs and opened my mind to a world of possibilities.
Q: What was your highlight for 2023?
A: We won 3rd place pork at this year’s Smokin’ in the Valley, a BBQ competition held in the Swan Valley every year. A lot of people do backyard BBQ, but competition BBQ is on a whole different level, it has a governing body (KCBS) and global competitions. This competition had people from across Australia, some of whom had been doing it for more than 20 years, so it was pretty validating to get a result.
Tom’s YouTube channel can be found at www.youtube.com/@smokeanddaggerbbq
“Salt of the Earth” is a fortnightly series where we get to know our dedicated team members.
To see the current opportunities at BCI Minerals, please visit our careers page: https://www.bciminerals.com.au/careers.html