My engineering story began in kindergarten, where I remember wanting to be a bulldozer driver (this will make a bit more sense as my story goes on). 

As I got older, with my mother being an occupational therapist and my father a microbiologist, I realised I had a strong natural (or nurture-al!) background in maths and science, so these were the subjects that I did in high school.

I don’t remember having a passion or desire for engineering at that stage but poring over the university entrance booklet for UWA (which is where I knew I wanted to go!) I saw my subjects were prerequisites for engineering as well as law and medicine, among others.

I knew that I was good at debating, but I wouldn’t want to be responsible for potentially sending an innocent person to jail or letting a guilty person go free either (quite a simplified view of law, but that was what I had garnered from Law & Order!). Similarly, I realised I didn’t have the stomach for broken bones and blood (again, a simplified view of medicine thanks to E.R.).

So seemingly by process of elimination I chose Engineering, and I combined this with Commerce (as the one extra year for one extra degree resonated with my desire for efficiency).

In hindsight, however, my decision to choose engineering was because it aligned to my interests in problem solving and my willingness to help others and contribute to the wider society. 

Choosing my engineering major seemed to follow a similar process of elimination; the extra layer of dynamic equations meant mechanical engineering wasn’t for me, I didn’t have an intuition for electrical engineering, and I didn’t think I was passionate enough about the environment to be an environment engineer.

So, I chose civil engineering. However, again in hindsight, civil engineering definitely aligned best with my childhood dream of being involved in moving dirt and building infrastructure to help create and sustain cities. 

My final year thesis project was focussed on geomechanics, and my vacation student employment was with a boutique geotechnical engineering consultancy, which resulted in me identifying as a Geotechnical Engineer at the end of my degree.  

Graduating with this background into one of the mining booms in Perth, with a relatively small graduating class, was an exciting experience! I started working with Golder Associates (now part of WSP) and was very fortunate to be exposed to a variety of projects at all scales, which provided excellent development opportunities.

I didn’t fully appreciate the safe and supportive culture of my workplace at the time - I was given opportunities without having to ask for them, and I was supported, mentored, and guided by technical experts and encouraged by leaders to take on new responsibility and roles quickly.

Thank you very much to Marisa Barbaro, Ian Smith, Betsy Merry and the two formidable Dr Dougs, Doug Stewart, and Doug McInnes, among a team of other selfless mentors.

I look back fondly on my time at Golder - it exposed me to my first professional workplace and nurtured me for 12 years from vacation student to geotechnical engineer to senior project manager and a team leader. 

Working as a geotechnical engineer and project manager of ground engineering projects has given me exposure to many engineering disciplines (environmental, water and mining) across many sectors (government, mining, oil and gas, energy, land development).

Being involved in significant projects in Perth, the Pilbara, the Southwest of WA and in Melbourne – all of which provided infrastructure to help people get around, live, and enjoy their lives – has been a great privilege.  

An added bonus has been having the chance to teach my nephew about deep soil mixed columns as we drive over the Whiteman Bridge, and the chance to point out the pink pier to my nieces on the bridge over the Mitchell Freeway. I have also enjoyed explaining to my son how an award-winning stadium was built over an old rubbish tip. 

For the next (more deliberate) step in my journey I decided to move across to the Public Transport Authority of Western Australia as one of the project managers for the planning phase of Metronet, a program of projects investing in Perth’s public transport network to deliver a more connected city.

This role provided me with a client-side perspective to project management and piqued my interest in strategic planning, seeing my transition into strategic rail planning within the Infrastructure Planning and Land Services division.

I get to draw daily on my engineering background, problem solving skills and experience working with diverse groups, whilst also gaining a broader understanding of transport and land use planning from my generous and talented colleagues, both at the PTA and across the State planning agencies.  

Working to help shape the city in which we live and provide a service to the public is interesting, challenging and rewarding. I have also more recently taken on additional responsibility to guide teams within our Sustainability, and Engagement and Communication functions, both of which are key to round out effective strategic planning.

I am really looking forward to this latest opportunity and to continuing my career as a civil engineer working on vital infrastructure projects.