I’m a fire safety engineer with Arup. I ‘found’ fire engineering studying as an undergraduate civil engineer at the University of Edinburgh. A PhD in structural fire engineering followed, which gave me so many wonderful opportunities – studying in Canterbury, New Zealand for 6 months, analysing structural data from the Dalmarnock Fire Safety tests, attempting to model the full building collapse of World Trade Center 7 and regular internships in Edinburgh and Leeds with my industrial sponsor Buro Happold.
Life as a consultant fire safety engineer has been equally varied and rewarding; developing fire safety strategy designs here in the UK and internationally, steering industry led research on everything from tunnel design to timber fire safety with our external research partners and working to remediate defective designs and construction in a broad range of existing buildings. Marrying research and design, has been one the most enjoyable aspects of my career and something I feel particularly empowered to do at Arup.
Principally I am a Project Director, leading fire safety teams across multiple design, construction, operational, or research projects at any one time. I also lead the fire safety skills network activities in the UK; in Arup our skills networks are how we drive technical excellence. As a leader in our skills network I also get to design and plan internally sponsored research often again pairing with other disciplines to address specific business needs or aspirations.
A typical day involves meeting my projects teams to work through the technical concepts of fire safety strategies, including identifying who and how we need to collaborate across a design team and client team to achieve those goals.
The role and scope of a fire safety engineer’s responsibility is undergoing a transformational shift, and discussion of this is a regular feature of my week. Working in a multi-disciplinary firm I have the opportunity to blend skills and expertise across disciplines in the delivery of our projects. I really enjoy the opportunities that the multi-disciplinary environment brings. One day I might be talking to an offshore wind engineer, the next someone from our laboratory logistics teams – that variety keeps each day novel.
I think any fire engineer reading this will agree that in the current climate, the pressure on fire engineers to take more responsibility for aspects of construction outside of their control and perhaps competence is substantial.
I feel fully supported in my working environment in clearly defining the boundaries our of responsibilities and expertise. This often requires holding others to account to meet their responsibilities and it’s fair to say this is challenging. Chartership and working within the boundaries of your own competence feels particularly crucial just now.
What engineer doesn’t love to see the culmination of years of design work come to fruition? I never tire of seeing the buildings and infrastructure projects I have worked on in operation, or better still supporting an owner/operator as the building evolves over its lifetime in form and function. I also bore my family and friends endlessly pointing out Arup projects – even the ones I have nothing to do with!
One of my favourite projects, not just for its stunning visuals, is the Macallan Distillery and Visitor Experience – it was a wonderfully collaborative experience. Being nominated by the IFE for and receiving the Karen Burt Memorial Award from the Women’s Engineering Society was also special.
The most humbling and transformative period of my career to date, was 5 years leading technical investigations for the Grenfell Tower Public Inquiry. The work was incredibly challenging; I will always feel proud of the team for what we produced and so I watch keenly as government and industry respond to the far-reaching recommendations made by the Chairman.
There wasn’t even a whisper of ‘engineering’ as a career in my all girls school – until someone pointed out that as I wasn’t studying physics I probably couldn’t apply to engineering. Just that little statement was enough to pique my interest to find a way to worm myself on to an engineering degree. Since then, I’ve honestly never wanted to do anything else.
I’m so glad that the traditional view of an engineer or what kind of person could be an engineer has been well and truly quashed. When I look around me now the professional landscape has changed so much. As engineers we shape our built environment not just with our technical knowledge but all out conscious and unconscious perceptions – so we still have a way to go to ensure that our engineering profession reflects the society it serves.
I had a brief start in consultancy as a civil engineer – where the presumption is that everyone works towards chartership; not doing so wasn’t even a question. So I think before I alighted on this discipline, chartership was synonymous with career progression and responsibility. At Arup the culture in the fire safety engineering team is the same, to hold senior responsibility you have to have demonstrated your competence through chartership.
Chartership sets you out as someone who takes their professional competence, ethics and continuing professional development seriously. I think good clients, design partners, and regulatory approvers value this. The process helps one to develop the skills to self assess and develop. I was recently selected for CPD sampling, I think it would be a positive step forward if the assessment aspect of Chartership continued following registration.
I have attended many IFE events and listened to the challenges facing the institution in capacity in this regard; valuing my own Chartership I have volunteered to act as a professional reviewer which I am very much looking forward to.
Yes, the IFE gives you access to a global community of professionals, it is uniquely placed to provide a home for the development and registration of fire safety engineers. Any membership organisation is a product of its membership, so I would encourage anyone considering a career in this field to take up membership and think about the various forms of registration open to them.
It’s never too early to start thinking about your objectives, some of my earliest projects which involved doing some very technical assessments first hand formed an integral part of demonstrating my technical knowledge. I would also urge engineers, to make the most of the time they have being an engineer – there will be plenty of time in your career to manage - having a robust technical grounding will open up so many more opportunities in your future.