Patrizia Carpentieri

principal engineer, Arup

Expertise

Project Management, Structural

Location

United Kingdom

My highlights

Won a full scholarship to study a master’s in earthquake engineering in 2015

Became a Chartered Engineer in Italy in 2015 and the UK in 2018

Selected among the WES Top 50 Women in Engineering in 2023

A day in my life

I go to work in the office twice a week to catch up with colleagues.

When I work from home, I try to work efficiently so I can spend the evening doing some of my hobbies (planning my next trip, going to the gym with friends, painting, etc.).

I have recently been juggling between two very different roles: design manager and principal blast consultant.

As design manager for data centres, I coordinate the different disciplines and discuss any technical solutions that might have an impact on others. I clarify processes or create new ones to facilitate collaboration.

As principal blast consultant my focus is the blast structural and façade design for residential, infrastructure, and government projects.

In order to create a safe environment, my team and I design structures able to withstand a malicious explosion while minimising fragmentation risks caused by fragile materials like glazing.

Having a team with people with different personalities is one of the keys to success.

Which individual project or person inspired you to become a civil engineer?

In general, I’ve always been fascinated by art, architecture, and buildings.

Technical drawings were something I always enjoyed doing, and my mother taught me how to bring them to the next level.

Also, I love solving problems, fixing broken things and making new things, exactly as my father.

We asked Patrizia…

I would recommend a career in civil engineering because…

Engineering offers a great deal of flexibility that seems to increase by time.

It allows you to move to another country easily or change sectors. For example, you could be a structural engineer today, and a blast engineer or project manager tomorrow.

Finally, engineers and architects are the only jobs where drawing something you like can become a reality in front of your eyes, leaving you with an unbearable sense of pride.

Complete this phrase: I’m a civil engineer, but I’m also…

…a travel lover. It's impossible for me to stay long without taking a flight somewhere warm where I can swim, and my snorkelling mask is never missing from my luggage.

What’s the biggest/most complex thing you’ve made out of Lego? How long did it take you?

It was a castle from the cartoon ‘Frozen’. As you can guess, I've never stopped playing with Lego and now that the family is growing, it's nice to have an excuse to keep playing.

What about being a civil engineer gets you out of bed each morning?

That I’m going to have some fun with my colleagues working all together on very cool projects, trying our best and always supporting each other.

What’s one great thing that you love about civil engineering that you didn’t know until you started working in the industry?

I love diversity in a work place which isn't always present in every sector and company; working in a diverse team is simply great.

By working in such a great environment, you can create very effective and creative solutions together not only by acquiring different technical skills, but also by learning different ideas, cultures, and traditions.

Which civil engineering project (past or present) do you wish you’d worked on?

My dream is to have worked with civil engineers like Luigi Nervi, Gaudi, or Eiffel to create structures like the ‘Palazzetto dello Sport e Stadio Flaminio’, the ‘Casa Mila’’ and the ‘Eiffel Tower’.

I wish I could have observed with my own eyes what different techniques these amazing engineers were employing to create masterpieces without the use of any software.

I’m astonished by the history of these amazing engineers.

Name one civil engineering myth you’d like to bust.

Civil engineers are all introverted people. Civil engineers can be very extroverted people and having a team with people with different personalities is one of the keys to success.

Anything else?

I am volunteer with the Braking Barriers charity, assisting refugees with engineering backgrounds in finding employment in the UK.

Also, as a chartered delegate engineer, I assist young engineers in developing their careers through the ICE chartership.

Patrizia's career path

Qualifications/study:

BSc (Hons) in Construction Engineering and Building Recover, 2010 in Italy (Univerista’ Politecnica delle Marche)
MEng in Building Engineering, 2013 in Italy (Univerista’ Politecnica delle Marche)
MSc in Earthquake Engineering and Seismology, 2015, international master across four universities:
Universite’ Joseph Fourier Grenoble, France
University of Patras in Greece
Middle East Technical University Ankara, Turkey
Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori di Pavia, Italy
Project Management qualification (APM-PMQ) equivalent to Prince 2 in 2022
Chartered Engineer in Italy, 2015
Chartered Engineer CEng MICE, 2018

Career:

Transportation engineer at the Municipality of Granada, Spain (Apr 2013 – Aug 2013)
Structural engineer at Prota, Istanbul, Turkey (Sep 2014-April 2016)
Graduate structural engineer at Aecom, Basingstoke, UK (May 2016-Dec 2017)
Structural engineer at Mott MacDonald, Croydon, UK (Jan 2018-Oct 2018)
Chartered structural engineer at Mott MacDonald, Croydon, UK (Nov 2018 – May 2019)
Senior consultant at Arup, London, UK (Jun 2019 - March 2023)
Principal consultant at Arup, London, UK (from April 2023)