“One of my fears when I first moved to Australia was racial discrimination because I came from Asia,” Buena Amor shares during our conversation. “My new boss, who was then a principal engineer, was Iranian. He showed me around the office, and he was so approachable. He told me not to worry because a lot of people at ACCIONA were from different nationalities. So my fear disappeared because I could see that all of these people understood how I felt as immigrants themselves.” She concludes: “That multicultural background was one of the reasons I really wanted to work for ACCIONA.”
Throughout the interview, topics such as racism, cultural differences, and achieving academic and professional goals in challenging circumstances emerge. But overarching it all is a more abstract question: the importance of finding one’s place in the world. After beginning her journey in 2022, when she moved from her native Philippines to Melbourne to work as a power systems engineer with ACCIONA, Buena Amor now feels at home.
In this article, we’ll explore the path she took to achieve it and other facets of her life that she has been able to discover thanks to this new chapter—including her budding career as a social media influencer.
Learning to love what you do
Each person’s life journey is shaped by their personality, upbringing, life experiences, and a healthy dose of chance. In past interviews with other ACCIONA employees, we have seen the role of vocation in shaping career paths—like Elena Navarro, who dreamed of building things as a child, or Michael Henning, who spoke about his career being guided by family needs. But what led Buena Amor to study electrical engineering?
She spent her childhood and early youth in a small town in the Batangas region of the Philippines. “I wanted to try everything. I don’t limit myself when it comes to trying new things. If something interests me, I will try it,” she says, summing up her motto as: “If others can, why can’t I?”.
Sociable and open, she initially thought about studying nursing or medicine, but her parents did not want her to move far from home. “My parents told me, ‘If you want to study, you have to take an engineering course because one of the best universities for engineering in the Philippines is in Batangas”. Initially, she considered telecommunications and electronics, but another limitation arose: there were no spots available in those programs. “Then the electrical engineering department started encouraging people to enrol because not many were applying for the course.” And so, one day, she found herself pursuing one of the most demanding fields of engineering.
The challenge of electrical engineering
Buena Amor did not back down from the challenges of her degree. With discipline, she passed all her courses, and thanks to a professor who inspired her early on, she learned to love physics. “At first, it wasn’t my favourite subject. But I had an instructor who used to give trivia for each topic, like, ‘Did you know the rainbow is a circle?’ I was so surprised, and I became really interested in the subjects he taught. I thought, physics isn’t bad at all because it also involves computations.”
“So I did take the exam, and I passed, and I was really crying at that time because I didn’t think that I would make it”
Despite adapting to the degree’s demands and even enjoying some subjects, she remembers hitting an apparently insurmountable obstacle. “I was passing all the subjects, but in my fifth year of electrical engineering, out of 30 students, 29 failed a subject, and only one passed. We graduated on time, but we had to take extra credit hours for that subject because it was so hard.” What was the subject? “It was the power systems course, which is what I’m working on now,” she says with a laugh. Eventually, she graduated and passed the toughest subject, which would later become the cornerstone of her career. But an even bigger challenge awaited.
An unexpected setback
In the Philippines, after completing her degree, which included a thesis on designing an electrical system for a church, Buena Amor faced the board exam—a test that determines who can access coveted positions in both the public and private sectors. Just then, she was hospitalized for a major operation. “I was just lying in bed. They told me not to read for three months and then I could travel. So, when the board exam came, I wasn’t feeling really confident in myself because I didn’t review, and it was hard.”
Without having studied much, Buena Amor considered giving up, but her mother convinced her otherwise: “My mom told me to just take it because she said if it’s for you, it’s for you. It’s going to happen, and if not, you can take it again next year, but don’t let your situation stop you from being an engineer.” With just two weeks, she reviewed all the materials her classmates had studied for months. “So I did take the exam, and I passed, and I was really crying at that time because I didn’t think that I would make it. Some of my classmates who were reviewing for six months didn’t make it, but I did. So I was very grateful.”
“My fear was that I might not get a job right away because I was a woman in the field of electrical engineering, which is very male dominated.”
Despite this success, the newly licensed engineer had another concern. Even during her studies, she was “the only woman in the morning session.” Reflecting on her mindset at the time, she says: “My fear was that I might not get a job right away because I was a woman in the field of electrical engineering, which is very male dominated. So I thought I wouldn’t be able to land a technical job immediately.” This fear led her to accept a position as a university professor, despite not having a passion for teaching.
A thriving career in the Philippines
Fortunately, Buena Amor’s concerns proved unfounded. After a semester of teaching at Batangas State University, one of the leading energy companies in the Philippines came knocking with an opportunity closer to what she was looking for: Meralco, the Manila Electric Company. “Although the pay was way lower than in my teaching role, I took it because it was going to be a technical one.”
At Meralco, she had the chance to work with the executive team, though her role wasn’t as technical as she had hoped. Instead of designing electrical systems, she focused on ensuring compliance with design standards. After three years, another significant opportunity arose. Her work at Meralco caught the attention of the National Grid Corporation, the crown jewel of the Philippine electrical system.
This company made her an offer that finally allowed her to apply her hard-earned knowledge from her power systems course. At the National Grid Corporation, she began working with PSS®E, a software used for calculating electrical system loads. There she contributed to massive projects like the Cebu Bohol Interconnection project, which was recently energized.
This is the perfect moment to ask Buena Amor about the specific content of her work. “Power systems is about the processes in an electrical grid. So you have the generation, the transmission, the distribution, and the residential houses, which are the customers. It’s basically about how power is being produced, how it’s transmitted, and the capacity of the lines, from generation to transmission.”
Australia calling
As we learn more about Buena Amor during our conversation, a recurring theme emerges: her refusal to settle and her constant search for new horizons—both professional and personal. “I really wanted to work abroad because it pays well, and at the time I was struggling with a personal issue. I really wanted a new place, a new environment. I needed a fresh start, and I felt the only way to regain my sanity was to leave the Philippines.”
She was offered to work at a consulting firm in Brisbane, Australia, when the global pandemic derailed her plans. Her working visa was cancelled even before she could fly to Australia, the idea of working abroad remained firmly in her mind. Soon, she would get another chance.
Building significant projects
“I got a message from LinkedIn, and they asked me if I would be interested in applying for a job at ACCIONA. I had three interviews with the managers, and then they told me I was in.” Buena Amor explains that the rapid growth of the renewable energy sector in Australia had driven up demand for engineers, and her prior experience in clean energy made her an attractive candidate. This was her long-awaited chance to start over.
“ACCIONA focuses on delivering significant projects in Australia, even if they require greater investment.”
She was soon struck by the ambitious vision of her new company. Used to calculating the maximum energy capacity an infrastructure could handle, she presented her estimates for a project, only to be sent back to the drawing board. “That’s the time when I learned that that ACCIONA focuses on delivering significant projects in Australia, even if they require greater investment, because we are connecting and adding capacity to the grid.” Indeed, it was not just about supplying energy; it was about strengthening the existing transmission systems.
“When my boss told me that ACCIONA is committed to building significant projects in terms of renewable energy, and when I saw that the people there shared the same vision, I realised that even as an individual, I could make a difference,” she reflects. One of the first impactful projects she worked on was the Tall Tree Wind Farm, a 342 MW wind farm in Central West Victoria.
And how does working in renewable energy transmission systems differ technically from working with fossil fuel systems? “Unlike conventional power plants, renewable energy sources like wind and solar can be intermittent and weather-dependent. This variability requires special consideration to manage fluctuations in supply,” she explains.
Feeling at ease in the workplace
We have already discussed how Buena Amor was struck by the multicultural atmosphere at ACCIONA, but it was not the only thing that caught her attention. While in her previous job there were only two women in her department, now the gender ratio is closer to 50/50.
This balance is not just a sign of workplace equality; it has practical implications for day-to-day interactions: “At the moment, we are four women in the department. I feel more comfortable knowing I’m not the only woman in the group and that I can relate to other engineers there.”
“When I arrived here, I was still working at 6:00 PM, and my boss messaged me to tell me to turn off my computer. I was like, ‘What am I going to do after five?’”
The representation of women made Buena Amor feel at ease from the start, though some aspects of Australian work culture took longer to adapt to. “When I arrived here, I was still working at 6:00 PM, and my boss messaged me to tell me to turn off my computer. I was like, ‘What am I going to do after five?’”
Fortunately, she gradually embraced her new reality. “My friends told me to adapt. It’s different here because work-life balance and mental health are very important,” she says.
Finding freedom
Much of this interview has focused on Buena Amor’s professional development and the challenges of her new life in Australia. But what about her hobbies? How has her leisure time evolved alongside her career transition? Her current lifestyle is deeply tied to the newfound work-life balance she has discovered in Australia, giving her more time to explore and understand herself. “Working with a company that values work-life balance has also made me aware of what I really want in life,” she explains.
These days, she enjoys long walks and discovering Australia’s breathtaking landscapes. And it is not just on foot: “I think I’m still in the process of discovering things for myself, so I had the chance to do skydiving,” she shares.
“I had my first bar-hopping experience in Australia. It was my first because, in the Philippines, it wasn’t normal for a girl to go to a bar.”
Subtler changes have also taken root, particularly in how she perceives her role as a woman. “I had my first bar-hopping experience in Australia. It was my first because, in the Philippines, it wasn’t normal for a girl to go to a bar unless you were very wealthy.” She adds, “I’ve been spending a lot of time with friends singing karaoke. Oh, and now I’m taking guitar lessons.”
Some of these activities—and the dances she enjoys—are reflected in another hobby she proudly shares. “I’m very active on social media. I have around 6,000 followers on Facebook. My friends told me I’m an influencer! I only started doing it because I was pretty bored in Australia at the time. But now, when I don’t upload videos, people ask me how I’m doing and when I’ll post a new one. I mainly do comedy skits, dancing, and singing.”
She concludes with a reflection on how much she has changed over the years: “I’ve always been like this, but I was more reserved when I was in the Philippines. I wouldn’t make a video or sing and dance in it because, you know, you’re a professional—you’re not supposed to do that. It had that stigma. But here, because people are all equal, I feel like I have the freedom to do what I want.”
She adds that, perhaps in the future, she might use her videos to share her journey of self-discovery—a journey that brought her to Australia in search of a job and an environment where she could truly be herself. In other words, a place she could call her own in the world.