Self-employed Structural Engineer, Drafter and Explorer
Completing my year 12 certificate at TAFE (technical trade school) meant I could focus on the important topics and I succeeded with a high distinction in all my courses. Then straight into university at The University of Queensland where I began by enrolling in Architecture. But upon the advice of a good friend, and now fellow engineer, I realised engineering was where my passions lay. I had always excelled in mathematics, physics, computer studies and technical drawing. I was also fascinated with how computers, electronics and machines worked. From hardware to software and everything in between. It was obvious that I have a very technical and practical way of thinking and I likely wasn't going to be satisfied as an architect.
Achieving my Bachelor degree in Civil Engineering I quickly gained a role in a Telecommunications field as a Project Engineer. However, when the workload was low I spent my time reviewing my university calculations in structural engineering. My mentor noticed this keen interest and offered for me to apply internally as a structural engineer and join the small team of soon to be 3. I was extremely excited for this opportunity to really start my structural journey. We worked predominantly on supports for telecommunications equipment including panel antennas, parabolic antennas, remote radio units and other small boxes. I spent a lot of time in remote towns west of Brisbane to set up NBN towers and plenty of time in Brisbane city on rooftops assessing existing structures and preparing designs for antenna mounts.
But I always knew my passion was in the buildings themselves. My first experiences with structures were the good old days when I could spend my time on construction sites with my dad. He was a carpenter in the residential sector and I hit my thumb with a hammer more times than I can remember. I knew I had to move into buildings quickly as it was already 4 years into my career. I was given a fantastic opportunity at a company in Brisbane to begin my buildings experience while assisting in their telco projects. I will never look back on this decision even though it was a small step backwards in pay, being technically new to buildings, but it would reap many rewards in other ways!
I have a memory of before I started my move towards engineering. I was completing a vehical mechanics course at TAFE prior to finishing my year 12 certificate. I had realised being a mechanic was not going to interest me enough and that I would prefer to do a university degree in the field of construction of some sort (architecture). I spoke to my mechanics teacher and he said to me, no, don't waste time going to university, you can do a drafting course and get into buildings and construction that way. I was adamant that I wanted to attend university though, as I was still thinking that architecture was my calling. But in full circle, I am now so engaged when I'm working on a drafting task. In another full circle, I had received two satisyfing awards at high school. Two years in a row I had received the year level award for Computer Data Processing. And now I can use those skills in my drafting, and also in designing this website, and I am still furthering my education at UQ, studying a Graduate Certificate in Information Technology. It's fascinating how all these things tie in together to where I find myself professionally right now.
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