Profile
April Redford
Curriculum Vitae
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Education:
Menzieshill High School. Then the University of Dundee to study Civil Engineering Design & Management
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Qualifications:
GCSEs (1s / 2s), Highers (Mixed As/Bs/Cs), Masters in Engineering, CEng Chartered Engineer
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Work History:
WHSmith, Th VU Nightclub, Dundee City Council, Atkins Global, Scottish Water, WSP UK
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Current Job:
Senior Engineer
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Employer:
WSP UK
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About Me
Chartered Engineer - Highways
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I live in Edinburgh with my 3 mini lop bunnies, all adopted to give them a better life! When I’m not chilling with the bunnies, I like to practice my photography skills and travel when I can. Sometimes I can combine work with travel, which is really cool. I worked over in India for 3 months in 2017 on a UK Highways project.
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My Work
I work on the design on new roads, footways and cycleways and I also find ways to improve existing ones.
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I have worked in both Structures (bridges) and Highways (roads, footways and cycleways). During my work life I have design a highways bridge in Aberdeen which has now been constructed! I have worked on a roads construction sight for 1 year which was really fun and interesting. I have also worked over in India for 3 months which was an amazing experience. After this I settled down in Edinburgh where I work in a large open plan office. There is about 20 people in my team.
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My Typical Day: I get to the office around 8am and check my emails as we deal with lots of other teams (structures and landscape etc.) then I make my to-do list for the day. I then usually open some design software and work on designs and maybe later in the day I will look at some other work which is more administrative or project management based.
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I work in an open plan office with lots of different teams. We have highways, bridges, transport planning, pavements, water environment, ground engineering, buildings, mechanical and electrical, landscaping and ecology (wildlife and nature).
The design programmes I use, such as AutoCAD, can produce design drawings. Using the other design programmes I can design roads. I might check things like whether the road allows the cars to see enough in front of them to give them time to break if they need to. Once I am happy with my design I can pass this to the other teams so they can input their work into the design.
As well as doing design, I also get involved in meetings, presentations, pricing up jobs and writing construction contracts. It’s a really varied job which means I nearly ever get bored!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Chatty, Curious and Approachable
What's the best thing you've done in your career?
Worked overseas in India for 3 months
What or who inspired you to follow your career?
My flair for design and my curiousity for how things worked.
What was your favourite subject at school?
Graphic Communication
What did you want to be after you left school?
I went to University to study Civil Engineering
Were you ever in trouble at school?
On occassion
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Not entirely sure but something travel/creative related.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
AC/DC
What's your favourite food?
Chinese Curry
What is the most fun thing you've done?
Road trip around Iceland
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Health, happieness and wealth.
Tell us a joke.
The optimist says: “The glass is half full.” The pessimist says: “The glass is half empty.” The engineer says: “The glass is twice as big as it needs to be.”
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