Profile

I’m 17 and live in Huddersfield with my parents and siblings. We live on a smallholding and currently have chickens, sheep and 3 dogs. I like to spend my weekends going to the gym, hanging out with friends and learning to drive. One fun fact about myself is I’m an identical twin, which tends to be very confusing for a lot of people!

A career in civil engineering offers a wide choice of roles which you can undertake. It maybe designing the structure, physically building it or even inspecting what has been built to make sure it is correct and to a high quality. I’m currently training to be a Civil Engineer on Allerton Waste Recovery Park. Once it is built, it will turn your dustbin waste into electricity for your homes. My role on site is to help the engineers within their daily tasks on site. Which could be marking out the dimensions and details of parts of the building which will be followed to construct the Energy from Waste Plant.

Everyday is different when working as a site engineer on a project. You will be faced with different problems and have different tasks to do each day due to the structure constantly changing and being a work in progress.  As an apprenticeship, you’ll be involved in many aspects of civil engineering on site to improve your knowledge in the field. This maybe the quality side, setting out, designing, managing, environmental etc.

I’m currently working within the engineering team which deals with the steelwork sections of the energy from waste plant. Within this team, I help within the handover phases of the steelwork. This involves more of the quality side of the steelwork which has been constructed. To ensue the quality of the steelwork, it needs to be surveyed to make sure it is to the specifications set by the designer and client as well as it complying with building legislation. A typical survey would be:

Using specialised instruments to check that the steel is in the tolerance range of the drawings.
 Checking the installation of the steel; the dimension of the steelwork is correct, it has been bolted together by the correct method, aesthetics etc.
Collecting all the documentation together in order to give to the client once the structure is required to be handed over and all problems have been resolved. The documentation will show that what has been built complies with their requirements, drawings, legislations etc.

If any problems are found with the steelwork it is our job to ensure that a solution is found to solve the problem and the problem is corrected. Two of my most favourite things about being an engineer is the achievement of physically building a structure which will benefit many people and being able to work outside.

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The Prince’s trust are a charity which help transform young peoples lives. One of the things the Prince’s trust do to help achieve this is run a STEM program for teenagers all over the UK. Their program helps equip teenagers with the skills within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. They help provide workshops, work experience and employment for individuals within the STEM field. I would donate the money to help fund the program which benefits many individuals. I hope by donating the money it will encourage and give teenagers an opportunity to work within such an interesting and challenging career.