What was your pathway from high school to getting your degree? 

My pathway to getting my degree was not a straight line. Right after high school I went into my first year of general engineering at UVic. At the end of the first year, I made the decision to take some time off school to figure out what I wanted to do with my career and to work and save money. Two years later I went into the Civil Engineering Technology program at Camosun College (which is a two-year program) to get my Civil Technologist diploma. After getting my technologist diploma, I chose to continue on to get my Bachelor of Applied Science in Civil Engineering. This involved taking the “bridge” program at Camosun to get my advanced diploma so that I could transfer into third-year at UBC. After two years of studying at UBC I graduated with my Bachelor of Applied Science degree with distinction! In total (including my time at UVic) I was in school for 6 years and had completed 4 different 4-month co-ops.

What was your university experience like, and how did UBC compare to Camosun College and UVic? 

At UVic I was active in lots of extracurriculars. I participated in lots of social events for engineering students and I signed up for an engineering competition with some of my classmates through the university and then competing against other western Canada engineering students. The student society at UVic provided lots of these opportunities. It took time to figure out good study habits. I was naturally pretty good at school in high school and didn’t need to study hard to do well. In University I found you really had to do all the recommended readings and homework and practice.

When I went into Camosun I was a little bit more of a mature student and really tried to understand the concepts rather than just memorizing how to solve a problem. The demographic of students at Camosun ranged in ages and backgrounds and most of the professors had worked in the industry for some time. This brought a lot of real world experience which was great. The class room sizes were also a lot smaller so we got more one on one time with professors.  I made a lot of great friends that I still talk to today and even work with!

I entered UBC in third year classes at the Okanagan campus. The Okanagan campus is smaller compared to the Vancouver campus which also meant smaller class room sizes. Camosun set me up to do well at University. I had a solid background in many of the concepts so when I got to my third year I had a basic understanding and then University just added more of the theory and principles to it.

How did you know that you wanted to go into engineering, specifically civil?

I knew that I liked math and science. I was also very intrigued by Architecture which led me to taking drafting and art electives in high school. My physics teacher in grade 12 recommended that I look into engineering. I was interested in pursuing either electrical engineering or civil engineering. I chose civil because I still wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to do but I knew with civil I could figure out if I wanted to go the environmental, geotechnical, surveying, structural, or municipal route. I’ve ended up going the municipal/land development/project management route because I like working with people, and I like working on projects that build our communities.

What were some challenges you faced going into university from highschool?

The amount of studying required was new to me. Like I said above, you really needed to do all the homework, readings, practice tests that you can. Juggling that with a social life was the most difficult thing. The second most difficult thing was still being unsure of who I was and what I wanted to do with my future coming out of high school.

What were some challenges you faced going into the workspace?

As a young female working alongside a lot of older male colleagues, I was nervous to admit at times that I didn’t know or understand what was being asked of me. I wanted to make a good impression to fit in and prove that I belonged in the engineering world. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do well. Eventually, I figured out that coming out of school people don’t expect you to know everything. They want you to ask questions and they are also very understanding because they’ve been there too.

How would you describe your daily schedule?

In my current stage of my career, I do a mix of design work and project management work. I typically work on subdivision projects with private clients. These projects usually have a team of consultants from other firms. Typically, there is an architect, landscape architect, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, structural engineer, transportation consultant and geotechnical engineer. I have to put together civil designs for roads and storm, sanitary and water utilities and I will have to coordinate all these other consultants to make sure we don’t have any conflicts in our designs. After we have our design complete, we submit to the municipality to get their comments since they have specific guidelines and standards that we need to follow. After our drawings are approved then the developer will get someone to construct it, and we oversee the installation to confirm they are installing it as per our designs. Some typical things I might do in a day are:

• Answering emails from the project team, municipalities, or contractors.

• Mentoring junior staff and reviewing coworkers designs or calculations.

• Online meetings to coordinate designs or solve problems.

• Using Civil 3D software to do road and utility designs.

• Go to job sites to review installations.

• Write proposals to get new work.

• Touch base with clients to understand their needs.

• Provide project updates and invoicing for work.

Any advice for any aspiring civil engineers?

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and try as many different specialties within civil engineering  as you can. Think about what you are passionate about and see if there’s a way you can incorporate that into your career. For example, at the company I work for there is a Trails division. These people will hike and ride mountain bikes for work and then design new trails. There’s also a sustainability division, and they research ways to make projects more sustainable so they have a smaller environmental footprint.