Graduate Member Profiles Name: Fat-Kee Leung Age: 27 Qualifications: MEng Structural Engineering and Architecture, MPhil Engineering for Sustainable Development Why did you choose the profession?  I chose to become a civil engineer because I was always passionate about the built environment. As a child I was very inquisitive and liked structures a lot. My dad's best friend was a contractor and I used to go on site with him, some of the sites he worked on were wonderful villas and I have always dreamt of one day designing one of these. Why do you think other people should become a civil engineer?  It is intellectually stimulating, I have found out that there is no such thing as routine work. You learn something new every day. I know some of my friends working in other industries complain that they get bored with doing the same thing, but so far in my job I've learned something new every day. What attributes do you need to be a civil engineer? It really depends what you want to do. Civil engineering is such a broad subject, if you are thinking about becoming a structural engineer for instance, then being good at maths and physics would certainly help. If you are thinking about going into contracting, then time management and man management skills become more important. However I believe that all aspiring engineers, whether they plan to go into consultancy, project management or contracting, should have an appreciation of how things are put together. What is a typical day for you? There is no such thing as routine in the job I do. I am currently working on 3 refurbishment projects on site, and designing something new within the constraints of existing historic buildings poses new challenges every day. On some days I'll spend hours doing calculations, sketching and marking up drawings whilst on others I'll spend the whole day out of the office visiting all 3 sites and resolving matters which need to be urgently addressed. Name: Jenny Morrison Age: 25 Qualifications: MEng (Hons) Civil Engineering Why did you choose the profession? I wanted to have a career where I wouldn´t have to do the same thing all the time and there would always be something new to learn.  I was particularly attracted to Civil Engineering because it has such a wide range of possibilities, I liked the idea that I could look out of any window in the world and know that I have the skills to get involved in whatever happens to be there. What attributes do you need to be a civil engineer? Being a Civil Engineer has as much to do with common sense, good communication skills and being a team player, as it has to do with having technical skills.  Civil Engineering work, no matter if it is office or site based cannot be carried out without the support of a team of people with different knowledge, experience and backgrounds. From my experience so far, a low percentage of our work is completely technically based.  A lot of the work which we deal with involves a common sense approach, and passing information to various parties, ensuring that they have the same interpretation as each other. Greatest achievement/project? The Assessment of Key Hill underpass was the first bridge assessment I was involved in and completed.  I did not have any experience of the assessment of bridges, so I was learning new skills all the time, and learning a new way to visualize a bridge.  I worked on the same project for several months, assessing the various beams and supports, and once I have finished I felt that I was well equipped to carry out further assessments, perhaps planning the method to be used the next time, and taking a greater part in the management of the project.  The experience gave me much more confidence in my technical abilities, and opened my eyes to the possibilities available to me in this career. What are your aspirations? My short term aspirations are to become a competent designer and project manager.  I want to run my own projects and have some freedom to choose more of what I am involved in.  Long term, I´d like to be involved in shaping the future of engineering, whether that is as a high level manager or director of a company, or from another perspective, we´ll see!     Name: Kieran Owens Age: 26 Qualifications: BEng Civil Engineering, PhD Civil Engineering Why did you choose the profession?      Civil engineering was a bit of a `no-brainer´ for me really. My family owns a quarry and construction business. Ever since I was born I have been surrounded by construction of some sort. In 1993 the business started supplying ready-mix concrete and my Dad often got me to strip and clean concrete cube moulds. I really enjoyed doing this sort of work and since then I spent all my holidays working at the works or out on site. When I was about 14 I decided civil engineering was definitely for me and I decided to steer my subjects in school so as to suit civil engineering. I was very interested in materials like wood and metal, construction studies, technical drawing and geography; all ideal subjects for civil engineering. Personally, I considered myself to be a bit of a `thinker´ and enjoyed solving problems. I enjoyed dealing with issues that were unpredictable and required experience of similar situations to overcome problems. All of these traits lead me to believe that civil engineering was the only discipline for me. What attributes do you need to be a civil engineer? In order to be a good civil engineer you need to have certain qualities. I regard civil engineering more as a way of life rather that a 9 to 5 job. For example, a psychologist will always know when their speaking to a civil engineer. A civil engineer always thinks outside `the box´. You get a problem, you look at all the options and analyse the risk attached to each option. You then make a decision based on your previous experiences. This approach can be applied to all aspects of life. It is this appreciation of risk and method of problem solving that makes civil engineers an attractive option for buying and selling on the stock exchange. As well as qualities like these you also need to have the ability to work on your own, be motivated, extremely flexible to work on many projects and the same time, be very organised and also be a very hard worker.  Are there any Civil Engineering projects you would have liked to have been involved in and why? There are many construction jobs that I would have liked to have been involved with. Almost every week in NCE there are projects that just make you go `gush I would love to be project manager on that job´. The work ongoing in the Gulf regions at the moment is unbelievable. Currently there are £92 billion worth of construction projects ongoing there at the moment with some of the tallest buildings in the world being constructed and even better news for engineers in that there is a shortage of consultants and engineers in the regions! What do you do in free time? Any hobbies or interesting trips you have been on? Away from the office I am a massive Volkswagen enthusiast. I have two VW´s at the moment with one currently being completely refurbished. I enjoy working on the cars and am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to detailing and finishing. When not in the garage I travel around to various car shows and meets with my friends. During the week, in any free time I have, I try and get down to the gym. I like playing soccer, squash and badminton whenever I can squeeze a game in.