What's your job about?
I work for Stantec Australia in their Melbourne office as a Structural Engineer for the buildings team. Stantec employs more than 25,000 people worldwide. We are a global delivery firm of designers, engineers, scientists and project managers working across the energy and resources, buildings, transportation, water and community development sectors.
I started working for Stantec as an Undergraduate Structural Engineer in December 2018, whilst still attending Monash University, and have been here ever since. Moving from Undergraduate to Graduate Structural Engineer in August 2020, then in December last year, I became a fully qualified Structural Engineer, having completed 3 years of work experience.
The structural team for buildings provides engineering solutions for commercial buildings such as hotels, apartments, hospitals, airports, aged care facilities, sporting clubs and educational facilities. My responsibilities vary day to day, from undertaking hand-design calculations, using powerful design software packages, engineering report writing, coordinating engineering drawings, as well as attending meetings with project managers and architects and site inspections. In simple terms, we provide the structural design drawings for new commercial developments in Victoria.
The vast scope of my role as a structural engineer keeps me motivated to continually develop and grow as an engineer. At Stantec, I get to work on some cool projects, that are ground-breaking in their approach and have been designed with community in mind, including the new Penguin Parade Visitor Center in Philip Island. This building was designed to resemble the flippers of a penguin, with large cantilever wings protruding from the building.
What's your background?
I grew up in one of the best cities in the world, Melbourne, and enjoyed taking part in many different sports throughout my childhood including, swimming, surfing and triathlon. I love the water - I used to be a surf lifesaver!
After attending St Bede’s College, where I excelled in STEM subjects, I completed a double degree at Monash University (Civil Engineering and Commerce). During the long university summer holidays, I used this time to travel overseas with two close friends, visiting countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Central America and Indonesia. These trips provided me with amazing life experiences and a more universal perspective about the world we live in.
During my penultimate year at Monash, I was fortunate to be offered an undergraduate role at Stantec after an interview process with the team manager. This naturally evolved into a graduate position once I had completed my university degree. It’s now been 1.5 years since graduating and I have since been promoted to Structural Engineer. There are so many opportunities available to people at Stantec due to the size of the company, so it’s pretty easy to move into other roles that might interest you, or relocate to one of their offices overseas.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
No, it is essential to have undertaken a civil or structural engineering degree to be able to work as a Structural Engineer. The theory and fundamentals I learned within this degree are relied on every day, without them I simply wouldn’t be able to do my job. Along with a strong technical knowledge, possessing soft skills such as communication, teamwork and management skills are also required to be successful.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
For me, the coolest aspect of my role as a structural engineer is being able to see my designs come to life! We spend a long-time formulating design drawings and calculations and then, finally, I get to go to the site and see those drawings turn into a real-life building. It’s awesome to see something you have worked on directly in front of you. It makes all the in-depth calculations and challenges along the way totally worth it.
What are the limitations of your job?
As a young engineer, it's impossible to know the solution to every problem, but that’s ok. The senior engineers who work alongside you are there to support and provide guidance whenever you need it.
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