Meet Our People: Gary Meyer, Senior Technical Officer, Johannesburg

What is your name?

Gary Neal Meyer

What is your position at GroundProbe?

I am the Senior Technical Officer based in the Johannesburg Office.

How long have you been working for GroundProbe?

19 years and counting!

What makes your job unique and what does a ‘normal’ day look like?

What I do and where I work make my job unique. A “normal” day for me can be spent mentoring our field technicians, supporting my office colleagues, solving solutions for our clients, completing job cards, building Wi-Fi networks for new deployments, and operating the forklift. In a nutshell, I do everything and anything that the company requires me to do. And I really enjoy it.

Why do you love what you do?

I am very technically minded; I enjoy building and fixing things with my hands. I like to find out how things work. I have never had a bad or dull day at GroundProbe. I love all the connections and new acquaintances I have made in the past 19 years. Knowing that what I am part of, in the broader aspect of what our systems do, comes down to saving human life; just one life makes a difference.

Can you please tell us a little about yourself?

I was born in Durban, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa and grew up in a small town called Mandini. My father and mother worked for SAPPI. I went to boarding school at Pietermaritzburg Linpark Technical High School, followed by two years of military service. I then worked at the Post and Telecommunications department, my first employment (later to be called Telekom) for 18 years, where I obtained the position of Chief Technical Officer (Operations Manager).

Due to changes in South Africa and just before my contract with Telekom ended, I answered an advert for a new Australian company called GroundProbe searching for a technician. I was interviewed by David Noon (current CEO and Founder) and Michael Holmstrom (Founder); the rest is history! I have the distinction of having employment number GPSA 001 – our office in Johannesburg even has a board room with my name on it!

I have been happily married to Vanessa for 36 years and we have two daughters, Chenney, 30, and Savannah, 27. I am 60 years young.

Anything else you would like to add?

My life at GroundProbe has been quite a journey so far. I have travelled to places most people only dream about, including Australia, throughout Africa and the diamond mines of Lesotho, as well as Norway, Finland, and the UAE. Luckily my trip to Ukraine was called off just weeks before the war began.

I am privileged to have such a unique job.

– Gary

Where: Boliden’s Kevitsa open pit mine in Sodankylä, Lapland, Finland	What: GroundProbe 2005 Series 1 Small Dish	What: The “Gary Meyer Conference Room” – presented by Cliff Walsh (L) to Gary (R)
Photo credit: Gary Meyer	Photo credit: Gary Meyer	Photo credit: Gary Meyer