• Question: When did you want to become this sort of enigineer

    Asked by alex to Pete, Matthew, Neil, Paula, Philippa on 6 Mar 2015. This question was also asked by megannewman, Rach & Jemz.
    • Photo: Pete Symons

      Pete Symons answered on 6 Mar 2015:

      I didn’t grow up wanting to be a safety engineer (all safety engineers I know didn’t really plan on it!). When I did my first degree, one of the modules was Risk Assessment which I found really interesting, I did my dissertation on hazard assessment on rock crushing equipment, I got a good mark and applied for safety engineer jobs when I left university, the rest, as they say, is history.

    • Photo: Philippa Jefferis

      Philippa Jefferis answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      When I fully learnt what engineering was, that was when I realised that civil engineering was what I wanted to do. Civil engineers build big things: tall buildings; long bridges and deep tunnels. It’s also a discipline of engineering that we use every day and I really wanted to make a difference to people’s lives.

      However, I still haven’t decided what speciality within engineering I want to do. I have done lots of different placements in different aspects of civil engineering, and enjoyed them all. In time I will try to specialise in one particular area though.

    • Photo: Neil Taylor

      Neil Taylor answered on 9 Mar 2015:

      I originally studies Mechanical Engineering because many view it as the “broadest” course – that is, you have a lot of career paths open to you once you graduate. Because I was a mechanical engineer, I got assigned a Thesis topic that used software called “Finite Element Analysis” to investigate insulation on pipes.

      Later that summer, I applied for a summer placement at a company that also did similar analysis. I loved working there, and that’s where I ended up working after university and where I have been ever since!

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