Reflecting back on my very first job as a professional engineer, I have tremendous gratitude to Mr. Daniel Herbert, who gave me the opportunity to start my career as a Grad Engineer.
At BCE Design, I started as a structural engineer and drafter, working on projects ranging from single dwellings, townhouses, to house extensions. My responsibilities included completing the structural and drainage design, ensuring all designs complied with relevant codes and standards. I also liaised with the council engineering department to develop appropriate stormwater solutions, making sure efficient drainage systems were designed as per their requirements.
My role also involved performing structural analysis on steel and timber structures and one-way spanning slabs, utilising software such as SpaceGASS, Toolkit, and RAPT. Also, I helped the team develop Excel VBA scripts to automate the design procedures of structural beams. In addition to design work, I draughted drawings using AutoCAD.
We were a small team of five engineers. Sometimes, the work could be very intense and stressful, and I just felt like I needed to work on so many different things, including design, draughting, phone calling, meeting clients, and sometimes even administration. The most challenging was the first six months, when it was not only just the amount of learning I needed to do to get the work completed but also adjusting my mindset. I used to have this mindset of being a student who expected someone to tell me what to do. However, after I started working, I realised that I needed to take the initiative to do things to help my team. The self-driven and self-learning mindset was trained during that time. Moreover, my command of English was also drastically improved using my time at BCE; at Uni, I was only exposed to discussing schoolwork-related topics. However, in the industry, the discussion could be related to everything. My colleagues were quite talkative, and they were always happy to share what they did on the weekends, which really broadened my knowledge as an international student.
Below are some photos highlighting my moments:
Inspecting projects on sites:
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| Detecting defects in the as-built | Measuring structural beam |
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| Inspecting the basement walls | Leaking basement shortcrete wall |
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| Inspecting detention system | Measuring pit depth |
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| Cracked wall on a dwelling | Roof truss of a project |
Other moments:
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| Burgers with Farris and Danial after a meeting | Monday morning routine, coffee at CIBI collingwood |
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| My messy desk | Daniel showing us how to do things properly |
My experience at BCE Design was a foundational in my career. I am grateful for the support and mentorship I received. Thank you Daniel, Jenn, Farris, Emma and Brad!