January 03, 2021
Alcoa’s Christina Fahl is blazing a trail for women in resources
Alcoa’s Christina Fahl is a finalist in the inaugural ‘Technical Innovation’ category of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy’s Women in Resources Awards for 2021.
Having spent the last two decades blazing a trail for women in the resources sector, Christina’s selection in the awards reflects her deep commitment to innovation and continuous improvement.
Christina’s interest in non-traditional roles for women was piqued by a school excursion to Kalgoorlie in year 10. Inspired by the breadth of career options offered by the resources industry, 17-year-old Christina shocked family and friends by electing to study a degree in metallurgy at the School of Mines in Kalgoorlie.
Now based at Alcoa’s Kwinana refinery as a Research and Development Manager, Christina is an integral member of the company’s Continuous Improvement Centre of Excellence (CI CoE) where she works on ground-breaking solutions that benefit the global business.
Extremely passionate about her profession, Christina frequently plays a key role in leading technical and operations teams to trial and implement innovative technology solutions and process improvements for Alcoa’s global alumina refining system.
Christina said she was very proud to be recognised as a finalist in the awards and also paid tribute to her parents for their foresight and courage in allowing her to leave home and pursue a career in a male dominated field.
“It’s obviously a great honour to be recognised amongst such accomplished women. My parents deserve recognition for their role in my career which was the source of much discussion amongst family and friends at the time. I feel very grateful for their unwavering support and that which I have received from Alcoa over the past 18 years,” said Christina.
Vice President Continuous Improvement Eugenio Azevedo paid tribute to Christina’s contribution to his team and the broader business.
“One of Christina’s greatest achievements is as the Technical Lead for design, prototyping and successful commissioning of a sophisticated process to remove a chemical impurity from process liquor. This was on full production scale at Alcoa’s largest alumina refinery in Pinjarra. The project has realised approximately $20 million in benefits per year through hundreds of tonnes of additional alumina production per day, energy savings and raw materials efficiency improvements,” Eugenio said.
Alcoa’s Pinjarra Prospects Program has also been selected as a finalist in the Outstanding Company Initiative category. Award winners will be announced at a gala event to be held on 5 March 2021. Click here for more information.