What I love about being a civil engineer (that I didn’t know before I became one)
I originally thought that civil engineering was just about buildings and structures; that you had to be interested in how structures were made and be good at doing complicated mathematics.
It was only when I started working in industry that I learnt civil engineering is so much wider that just structures. I was really glad of this because, I was OK at complicated mathematics, but definitely not the best, and I really wasn’t that interested in structures.
So, it was great to find out that civil engineers can decide to become a specialist in many areas; such as water, power, roads and railways, or decide not to specialise in anything and become knowledgeable in as many areas as they wish.
In fact, history will show you that many of the historically famous civil engineers were not only civil engineers but mechanical engineers, too.
The civil engineering myth I’d like to bust
A civil engineering myth I’d like to bust is the idea that it’s a masculine career path.
Yes, it’s a very male-dominated industry, but this is purely a result of how our society had historically been arranged.
Over the last 10 years, the way our society views engineering has changed, and we now understand that diverse teams produce better results. So now, we see much more women and younger people entering industry. And no, they don’t have to all wear high-visibility clothing to be engineers.
You can now work in the civil engineering industry and be part of teams that have a 50:50 split male to female, and never have to wear high-visibility clothing your entire career!
I’d recommend a career in civil engineering because
I would highly recommend a career a civil engineering because it’s just so much fun.
Every civil engineer that you meet will almost always say they enjoy working in engineering. This is because the majority of the work we do is challenging; and it brings an immense feeling of satisfaction, achievement and pride when you finally complete it or figure out the solution to the problem.
We also know that everything we design, and build will not just benefit society now, but will improve the lives of people for many years into the future.
The civil engineering industry is built on team spirit and collaboration. We encourage each other to achieve more and challenge ourselves; and when we work together well, we get things done safer, faster and cheaper.
In civil engineering you get to work with a diverse range of people from all over the world; and before you know it you have a contact list of international friends that can offer you technical engineering advice but also help you plan your next holiday if you plan to visit their home country!
The project, past or present, I wish I'd worked on
The Olympic Park in Stratford, East London.
At the time of construction, it was one of the biggest, most expensive and technical challenging engineering projects in Europe. The project brought together the best minds of the engineering and architectural worlds to design and build an Olympic Park worthy of hosting the London 2012 Games.
They were not short of challenges on this project, the main one being that the entire location was heavily contaminated from years of dumping industrial waste.
The project pushed the boundaries on sustainability and collaboration, cleaning, recycling and reusing 95% of the previously contaminated land in construction and rallying all the contractors to make sure everything was ready for the opening ceremony!
They managed to not only build an amazing location for the Olympics but also left a lasting legacy of sport and opportunity for investment, which has in recent years really taken off.
What gets me out of bed every morning?
I get out of bed every morning feeling energised because I know that the work I’m doing every day is developing me as an individual, delivering an objective for my organisation and positively effecting the communities and society that I work in.
I know that my job aligns with my moral compass and it makes me feel good when I’ve done something to benefit others. I also know that almost every other day I’m likely to encounter something new, that I either need to understand, overcome or contribute to. This keeps me on my toes and is definitely something all other civil engineers can relate to.