A brief profile of Tom Glass

Tom & Gill - 1
Tom and Gill Glass

Tom’s maternal great-grandparents retired to a substantial holding over-looking Ricketts Point in 1919.  Consequently, the family roots were set in Beaumaris.  Tom was born at home in Beaumaris, much to the excitement of the neighbours.  He attended initially Black Rock Primary then Beaumaris North in its inaugural year, while parent work bees eliminated the snakes and scrub from the school grounds. His education continued at Haileybury and RMIT, graduating in Civil Engineering in 1975.  

He joined Johns & Waygood Structural Division in Sandringham, reputedly the biggest steel fabricator in the southern hemisphere, and gained substantial experience in the design and construction of a wide range of large steel structures including power stations, petro-chem plants, gantry cranes, radio & TV towers, telecommunication structures, industrial buildings and warehousing. 

In this period Tom and his wife Gill, settled in Black Rock, where they have remained for 42 years.

A downturn in the construction industry resulted in Tom moving into the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria, focusing on the design and installation of infrastructure associated with the upgrading and raising of large water storage dams around Victoria. 

However, as a result of his past experience with large tower structures, Tom was drawn into Telstra Broadcasting. Here he spent 10 years taking in the unique vistas from the tops of 100-200m high broadcasting towers on mountain tops around the country, while devising methods of upgrading a large number of these towers and guyed masts for the ever-increasing antenna loads.  As a result of this work, Tom also served on the Standards Australia Wind Loading committee.

A career highlight was an engineering excellence award for the design and construction of the fully enclosed 131m national broadcasting tower in the hostile environment on Mt Wellington, Hobart.  Tom also project managed the demolition of a couple of large redundant towers by induced collapse, a guaranteed adrenaline rush!

A subsequent move into a small structural and civil engineering consultancy firm has capped off a long and enjoyable Chartered Professional Engineering career.

Spending his formative years in the 1st Beaumaris Sea Scouts, Tom gained a life-long passion for outdoor pursuits including sailing, which lead him ultimately to ocean racing in Bass Strait and down the west coast of Tasmania to Hobart on numerous occasions.  He still sails regularly out of St Kilda.   

Tom has a well-equipped workshop and regularly engages in DIY projects.

He and Gill have pursued all forms of snow skiing for 45+ years and continue to enjoy skiing both in Victoria and internationally when conditions are favourable!  They both also enjoy gardening, cycling and touring to remote parts of the country.  They have 2 daughters and two grandchildren, all residing in Gippsland.