My name is Alan Wilson, and I am an Associate Principal with Arup based in Sydney. I have Chartered status through both the IFE and Engineers Australia.
I graduated from the University of Leeds with a fire engineering degree in 2001, and after a year off backpacking around the world I joined Arup as a graduate in their Leeds office. Over the next few years, I worked in various Arup offices in the UK and Ireland. I have been based in Sydney since 2016.
Over my 23 years working as a fire engineer, I have had the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects across the world. While I continue to work across a range of sectors, my primary role is now leading the fire engineering design on large road and rail infrastructure projects.
My current role is primarily focused on major project delivery. There is no ‘typical day’ with activities ranging from development of technical solutions, managing stakeholder engagement, meeting with clients and project teams.
As a project director I hold full responsibility in ensuring all aspects of the projects are running smoothly, but another key part of my role is providing support, guidance and mentoring to the wider fire engineering team, making sure they have everything they need in order to fulfil their responsibilities.
I am also fortunate in my role and the projects I work on, to be able to spend a large portion of my time on site doing inspections to confirm the correct implementation of our fire engineering designs – this is an aspect I really enjoy, where you can see the finished product of what is often years of design work.
I can be working on a number of projects at any one time, so there are always challenges around competing demands and priorities, and every project has its own unique challenges. The key to overcoming these challenges in my experience has always been to implement good communication as well as striving for full multidisciplinary co-ordination and a holistic design mindset. It’s the challenging times that often result in the most satisfying outcomes, which you can (eventually) look back on fondly.
The people, the variety and the challenge. I love to share knowledge and help others develop, and I also love to continue to learn myself, and every day brings a new learning opportunity.
There are a huge number of projects which I am immensely proud of, most recently seeing the new Metro Martin Place Station in Sydney open, marking the end of years of design work and almost a year of onsite inspections, testing and commissioning, I feel very proud every time I use the station, knowing that the fire engineering design contributed significantly not only to the safety of the building, but was also instrumental in achieving many of the other broader project objectives. Seeing the completion of the new Adelaide Street tunnel which formed part of the Brisbane Metro project was another memorable moment, representing a project which I had led the fire engineering on from concept through to completion.
I have also been made a Fellow of Engineers Australia, which was a proud moment for me personally in recognition of my contribution to the profession.
My route to engineering was in many ways an accident. At school I never had any clear career aspirations, but I did enjoy science and maths. I chose to do a fire engineering degree at the last minute after deciding that I no longer wanted to do a chemistry degree. But while it may not have been a career path I had originally aspired to, I haven’t looked back since starting and would strongly recommend this career to others.
Becoming professionally registered is important, it represents a benchmark for competency and the way in which we conduct ourselves at work. On a personal level there is also great satisfaction on being recognised as a professional engineer.
As well as the professional recognition aspects, the key benefit is access to the wider fire engineering community, promoting ongoing development, sharing of knowledge and advocating for our industry.
While I am not directly involved with any IFE branch, I am the Chair of the NSW Branch of the Society of Fire Safety (part of Engineers Australia), as part of this role we do continually look for opportunities to collaborate with the IFE and other related institutions.
Most definitely, and in addition I would recommend others to volunteer and get involved. Taking an active role in institutions such as the IFE provides opportunity for growth and development beyond day-to-day project work and can continue to help steer our profession in the right direction.