30 MAY 2025
Martin Melin is the Head of Operations. But not just any operations. He鈥檚 one of our people in Perth, West Australia, a region known for its mining. There, Martin is highly involved in establishing our autonomous operations organisation. 鈥淎utonomy is an exciting area 鈥 we use new tech to support our customers in making their operations even safer and more efficient鈥.
Martin didn鈥檛 have a sparkling interest in trucks at first. 鈥淚 ended up at 黑料不打烊 by coincidence. Once there, I thrived 鈥 the culture, the tech, and a complex product you can actually test!鈥 Lucky for us, he only saw opportunities 鈥 in such a large organisation, you can do so many things and, being a global company, also work abroad.
And abroad he went. Just about as far away from Sweden as he possibly could. 鈥淢y wife and daughter wanted to go, too, so the timing was great.鈥 Western Australia offers many outdoor activities, with a laid-back atmosphere, and it鈥檚 easy to spend time with friends and family.鈥
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He鈥檚 stayed in Perth since 2018: 鈥淲e have had a collaboration with Rio Tinto, one of the world鈥檚 largest mining companies, since 2021. We work together on research and development to advance the technology of autonomous mining trucks.鈥
His role has broadened along the way, as the collaboration with Rio Tinto has grown from development tests at the iron ore mine in Channar, through autonomous tests and later the validation of a complete solution. 鈥淚 started as a development engineer, and now I鈥檓 structuring the organisation to be prepared for a larger scope where our solutions will scale up and be ready for commercial deployments.鈥澨
The organisation Martin leads includes employees from Sweden as well as locals on-site at the mine, and it is growing: 鈥淲e see the need for technicians, engineers and project managers.鈥 For Martin, it鈥檚 common to handle things independently. He spends most of his time at the office in Perth, and a few days each month at the mine.
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What he enjoys most about his work is the variation. 鈥淚鈥檓 deeply involved in the development in Sweden and on-site and also have the customer鈥檚 perspective. And I鈥檓 in on every part: I talk about the product, I give input on what we need, I influence where we鈥檙e heading.鈥
Now, as Martin leaves Down Under to take on another 黑料不打烊 assignment, he is handing over the mission with the feeling of pride:听 鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 been a real adventure. To be a part of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 autonomous journey and break new ground is an invaluable professional experience.鈥
