Rebecca Marsh

6.15 AM

I tell my google home to stop my alarm and tell it I’m awake. It turns on the lights, tells me the weather for today, any events on my calendar and then streams Triple J. I eventually roll out of bed once my eyes adjust to the brightness and get ready to go.

7.05 AM

I leave my apartment and walk to the station to get the train to the office.

7.45 AM

I arrive at work. I’m the first here from my team so I go to the kitchen to make a coffee while I wait for my computer to boot up. We have quite flexible hours so my team could arrive anywhere between 7.30 and 9.00 am. 

7.50 AM

My first action for the day is always to plan my actions for the day – check any emails remaining from the day before and any that may have come in overnight. I review for actions on myself and their due date, so I know exactly what I need to do today, tomorrow and next week. 

8.20 AM

I have a meeting with a subcontractor, so I go down to reception to greet them, sign them in to the building and bring them up to the meeting room.

8.30 AM

I sit down with the subcontractor and the project design manager to review the underground services (electrical, gas, water, etc.) found at a current project site where we will be doing a significant amount of earthworks. Due to the complexity and critical nature of these services, we had organised an in-person meeting to review the drawings and discuss any potential further investigation to ensure the construction goes smoothly and safely. The meeting goes for over an hour (as expected) as we are required to investigate deep into the details and analyse the consequences on our design. 

10.00 AM

Back to my desk and I’m exchanging messages with another graduate from our Brisbane office using Skype for business chat to organise transport for our 3D LIDAR scanner. We need to get it to our office for an upcoming project. All our projects are scanned before commencement to get a digital copy of the site, its existing buildings, and equipment. From here we can import our design directly into the “point cloud” produced to ensure everything can be installed smoothly. 

10.20 AM

One of my tasks due today is to update the project schedule and compare it to the baseline to prepare for my manager's project review. This is a new task that I have been assigned during this project to experience more of the project management side of an engineering design project. 

11.00 AM

I go through the project report with my manager and highlight the key points. We finalise the report together for the presentation. For next month's report, I should be able to produce the final outputs by myself. 

11.30 AM

I sit with the mechanical draftsperson to review the location of a new exhaust system. The existing building is very cramped for space so we import the model into the point cloud to view where the ducting can be run while keeping to the required clearances around the exiting equipment. 

11.50 AM 

An automated general arrangement drawing is produced showing our proposed design. I’ll review this drawing after lunch.

12.00 PM 

I usually always bring food from home as I enjoy cooking and try to prepare my own lunch as much as possible. However, today I’m meeting with another graduate from Downer NZ who is here as a facilitator for the Downer Hackathon that’s running this week. We had met as participants in a previous Downer Hackathon and have lots to catch up on.

1.00 PM

I quickly review the drawings from earlier for errors including spelling mistakes and PDF print errors. After my ‘red line’ mark-up, I instruct the draftsperson to remove the digital “checkprint” stamp in preparation for submitting to the client for their review and approval. 

1.20 PM

The rest of my afternoon is spent doing general project work including document and report preparation, updating the document register, responding to emails and following up with the subcontractor from this morning's meeting. So between calls, I am able to put my headphones in and listen to music.

3.00 PM

Today is biscuit Thursday. At 3.00 pm every Thursday, 2 volunteers – usually the Learning & Development Coordinator and the nearest graduate – walk around to everyone on the floor with a selection of biscuits. Today I shall be enjoying a Monte Carlo to tie me through until home time. 

4.30 PM

It’s now time to pack up my things, say goodbye to my colleagues and walk to the station. I often listen to podcasts or audiobooks on the train to keep me entertained and at the moment I’m about 20 episodes deep into a philosophy podcast series. 

5.40 PM
 
I’m usually home before 6.00 pm so I have plenty of time to cook dinner, play some VR or other games (#pcmasterrace) or catch up on Netflix. Depending on the day of the week, I am also doing dance classes to pick back up a hobby I had while at school.