Case studies: Building services engineer: Hannah

Hannah is a recent building services engineering graduate working for the multidisciplinary sustainable design engineering consultancy Cundall. Her specialisation is electrical engineering services but her career path has taken some interesting twists along the way.

I had always had an interest in maths, particularly applied maths, but hadn’t really decided how best to use that interest within a career. So when I left school I didn’t initially identify building services as my future career. However, I was given a unique opportunity by being selected to appear on a Channel 4 television show where, working in a team of ten, we had to turn an empty shell into a luxury apartment, learning all the trades along the way - plumbing, carpentry, painting and decorating.

After six months, I was fortunate enough to be offered an electrical professional traineeship with AMEC. This wasn’t site based or practical, but I had to make various arrangements to ensure work could run on site. Here, I was involved with the award-winning New Street Square project. At this point I decided that building services was my career aim so enrolled on a part-time building services engineering degree. I am glad I chose this discipline because it gave me a chance to solve problems using critical and strategic thinking.

After two years with AMEC I was seconded to engineering design consultancy Cundall, who were prepared to continue supporting me on my degree. I worked there for three months before being offered a permanent position. My degree studies are now successfully completed and I am working in electrical engineering.

The degree taught me about how mechanical and electrical systems work, including the operation of individual pieces of equipment used for design in the workplace. Some modules were theoretical; however, there were more that could be applied to real life examples, which helps in understanding the day-to-day problems faced in the workplace. Alongside the technical knowledge, I also learned organisational, time-management and communication skills from my degree.

During my time at Cundall, as my knowledge and skills have developed, my role has changed and I now play a more active part in projects. I have been given more responsibility and have taken on aspects of some jobs on my own. Also, I have found I am working on more than one project at a time, which at first is hard to manage. However, it teaches you about managing your time and capacity planning. Currently I am designing services for data centres in blue-chip companies.

I enjoy the variety in the job: no two projects are the same because of different clients, different buildings, which present different challenges, and also because you get to work with different people. The job presents a nice mix of being in the office as well as getting on site to see what you have designed. It’s a nice feeling, as well as professionally satisfying, to see a building on paper and then seeing it built and working!