My career inspiration

My grandfather was a mining surveyor who built working model steam locomotives, and I used to enjoy seeing him at work, and driving the engines!

I also had a great metalwork teacher who encouraged my interest, even when my maths teachers weren’t convinced engineering was for me.

What I love about being a civil engineer

The variety of people you can work with.

Engineers are surprisingly diverse, from the creative who use their engineering knowledge to drive projects forward to the deeply technical who focus on the detail that makes a complex project really work. There are also the people who enjoy the design office to people who love being outdoors creating new buildings and facilities.

We work with other professions too - architects, surveyors, builders and many others. Our teams need a broad set of talents to deliver the future.

I genuinely believe that diverse teams perform better than teams that aren’t diverse; and that engineering and engineers must be inclusive to build high performing teams that will solve the engineering projects of the future.

If the industry overlooks potentially talent individuals who might not think engineering is for them, then we’ll struggle to meet the challenges of the 21^st century.

The civil engineering myth I’d like to bust

That there’s any specific type of person who’ll be a good engineer.

The profession needs people with diverse skills; creative thinkers who can develop concepts to solve problems, highly analytical people who can dig into the detail, people in offices, on site, all over the world.

There’s a space in engineering for most inquisitive people.

I’d recommend a career in civil engineering because

You’ll make a difference. There are as many different types of engineer as you can imagine, but they’re all solving people’s problems. From ensuring the basics, like plenty of clean water in our taps, to designing and building the places we live, work and play in, all over the world.

The project, past or present, I wish I'd worked on

The Rideau Canal; over 200km long linking Ottawa to Kingston in Canada.

The route was surveyed by Royal Engineers in canoes exploring the wilderness, making their maps as they went,past waterfalls and rapids - quite the adventure!

The construction of its 45 locks was an amazing feat of engineering and is now recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

What gets me out of bed every morning?

Solving people’s problems with creative thinking. Engineers blend creative ideas with logical systems to develop solutions to problems, from the basics of life to those things that make life better.

Education

After school I studied for a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Civil and Coastal Engineering at the University of Plymouth, and qualified as a commercial scuba diver.

After working as an engineer on the railways, I joined the army and trained in leadership at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and passed the Royal Engineers Troop Commanders Course.

The Army also paid for me to study a master’s degree and specialist courses to understand how to design buildings that can survive explosions and other extreme events.

Engineers are always learning, and it gets more interesting at every stage.

The biggest thing I’ve made out of Lego

I wish I had a good answer to this, my Lego buildings were regularly demolished. I’m quite jealous of those who build ICE’s record breaking Lego bridge.