Hugh Dugdale graduated from the building environment engineering degree at Nottingham University in 2001 and took up a position at Hoare Lea last September. He won the consultancy's bursary award for the course entrant with the best A-level results, which at the end of his first year was converted to a full sponsorship and brought the opportunity of paid placements at the practice during summer holidays: "The placements aided the practical aspects of the job, and the course started to make more sense as to how the theory applies in reality. The supervisor leads you through the jobs that they're working on and you get out on site as well. Seeing the installation going in provided a lot of benefit."
The progression from placement student to being recruited as a graduate engineer was a smooth one for Dugdale, 21, having been associated with the firm from his early days at university. But what was it that attracted him to the sector in the first place? "I was always interested in design and originally looked at architecture, but when I went to look around Nottingham, I found out about the building and environmental engineering course. I didn't know a great deal about this sector of the industry at the time or what the course entailed, but when they explained it to me it seemed a bit more appealing than architecture. I did A-level physics, maths, geography and graphical communication, and the course used the physics and maths more. There was more science behind it with all the calculations, but it retained the design aspect that I was looking for. The degree was very theoretical and some of the designs we did at university worked well in theory but it was a different story when it came to installing them. But the content of the course was very much linked to the job I'm doing now."
Dugdale sees the training scheme at Hoare Lea as a big draw for graduates and feels able to apply what he learns in the programme to his every day job: "It is structured in such a way that I can look at what I have to achieve on modules and they are the things that will come up on projects. It seems to me very much that the work carried out on projects can be put into our training and the two go hand in hand."
Having secured a position in his studied field and enjoying his job, what does Dugdale see as the reason for the lack of newcomers to building services? "As building services engineers, our most successful systems are when people don't even know they are there. From an architecture viewpoint the building is there and it's quite obvious what's been designed, but the publicity behind what we do isn't as big. It's a lack of knowledge really, but I'd imagine that's changing now with the environmental issues that are coming to the fore like climate change. Our industry can have a big impact on that and the more people that become aware of that, the more they'll understand about the industry. I didn't know what we do before I applied for university."
"I also think it's because building services is not directly linked to a subject studied at school. There isn't really an A-level where you calculate something, and design it with the scientific aspect thrown in, so less people are aware of it because you generally follow on from what you've done at school. Having never done anything like that it's harder for people to realise the industry is there."
As far as personal career aspirations go, Dugdale has clear ambitions: "I think there's every opportunity to achieve what I want at Hoare Lea. The training structure makes it appear very attainable to become a competent chartered engineer and it was a big influence to me. I have three monthly reviews so I know where I'm headed and I know I'm going to get somewhere."
Steven Lam is a 21-year-old graduate engineer at Buro Happold. He finished his degree in July 2001 and joined the firm in the same month. "I took a building design engineering degree at Strathclyde University. It was one of the new hybrid courses – part engineering, part architecture. I specialised in environmental engineering because I enjoyed doing energy systems and also liked architecture. I wanted to design a building really, but I thought with building services you could make more of an impact than the other disciplines."
It was building services on this environmental level that drew Lam to the sector: "I've always had a fascination with energy and physics – it's just the way we live. It was amazing to me that you could create a whole internal environment." The highly publicised Millennium dome project was what brought the name of Buro Happold to Lam's attention: "I was also flicking through the Building Services Journal and Buro Happold always seemed to do quite well at the awards!"
But when it came to considering his professional development, it was the investment in graduates that really sold the practice to Lam: "They seemed to take great pride in development and they were one of the few companies in their adverts that specified that they wanted to get people chartered. When I was interviewed that was one of the things that I was really keen on. I wanted to be chartered and wanted to join a company that was as keen as I was to get me professionally qualified."
The Buro Happold programme, like CIBSE itself, requires graduates to meet standards expected through the jobs they're working on, combined with various training days. Lam says this gives him a wider appreciation of the industry. "I've just finished a training secondment in our Bath office finding out what quantity surveyors do. You learn what tender returns are and how to put together pre-tender estimates and so on. It helps you realise what they do and how much you can actually get out of each other. It gives you a different viewpoint of the industry and you can go along to meetings as a trainee quantity surveyor rather than just a services engineer so you're more equipped with a wider knowledge of what's going on."
A mentoring system is also employed to ensure that the graduates have a direct point of contact should they need to discuss anything about their training: "The mentor is usually in quite an elevated position and he or she can make things happen for you if you need something to complete part of your training. If there's an internal training course that's happening but you're too busy, you can speak to your mentor and they can make sure you get onto it at some point."
Lam aims to complete training to reach chartered status and become a fully accredited engineer. But he too acknowledges the problems of getting new people into the sector: "I think a lot of the trouble building services has attracting young people is to do with self promotion. Companies need to make more of an effort to get into universities, especially after the second year of courses. They should all make the effort to go in and hold talks and lunchtime seminars so the students can talk to them about what they do. A lot of students don't actually know what they can do with their degrees in the industry. It needs to be made clear that building services gives you a certain creative licence rather than it just being a desk job where you churn out figures. You get to do a lot of fun things. It has been painted unglamorous and not seen as fun, but I think the title has a lot to do with it. It is sometimes called environmental engineering, which is a far more attractive title and sounds a lot better than building services. I just think it needs a big image overhaul to appeal to more people."
Twenty three year old Jennie Morley joined Hoare Lea last year after completing an electrical engineering degree at Warwick University. Having studied maths and science at A-level, she realised that she wanted an end product – to have something to show for the theoretical side of study: "I needed something practical and a reason to do something with what I learned. I started looking into engineering careers and electronics caught my interest. I did an AS-level electronics course to get a feel for it and I went on to do an electronics degree at university. Again, it was a lot of theory and the end product wasn't tangible; you couldn't see what you were producing. Then I turned to electrical engineering because I could see that as a bridge between electronics and mechanical engineering, and I still had the interest in the electrical side."
As well as being sponsored by Hoare Lea during her time at Warwick, Morley also received a scholarship from the IEE, given to women who demonstrate an interest in engineering at an early age. After settling on her chosen course, Morley decided it was time to get to grips with the practical side: "I wanted a year out so that I could get some experience and graduate knowing what I wanted to do. I applied to several companies and ended up at Hoare Lea. I started not knowing what building services was and by the end of the year I realised that was what I wanted to do. I wanted something physical that I could say that I've been involved in, and with every job being so different, it is much more diverse. You also bring the theory into practice. But that's only half of working in a consultancy. The other half is communication and getting across what you're trying to do."
Morley is also focused on the initial goal of attaining her chartership and believes the training programme will help her to do that: "It is challenging because I can see the targets I need to reach and I know it's going to take me four years to get there. If you laid out the experience you're supposed to have in four years time it is challenging when that's in front of you. But because Hoare Lea knows what we have to achieve, they will give us the opportunity to reach those targets. Subject to maintaining progress, I hope to achieve chartered engineer status with the IEE by the age of 27."
Morley believes that building services needs to promote it's role as part of the whole end product in order to attract more people into the sector: "People don't see the whole picture. If they are just thinking of a piece of cable, of course it's going to sound boring. They need to think of the whole building with all its services, and see the importance of our role. We need to show them the end product and what can be achieved. It's so diverse. They can be out every day at meetings or on site. There is a lot of variation and that's what makes it interesting. It can be a fun environment to be in as well, because the people are cooperative."
Ruth Kelly joined Max Fordham after studying a preliminary engineering course in Ireland, and going on to study a building services engineering degree and the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT). "It was one of the only courses in the country that specialised at that level. There was a lot of emphasis on hands on learning and we got an appreciation of the trades and skills that are involved in the construction industry. After doing the first year at DIT, I could see through building services that I could have an effect on the environment and that was one of the main drivers that got me interested in the discipline."
After graduating, she joined Amec as a mechanical building services engineer but was keen to explore other areas of the discipline. While studying, Kelly became a student member of CIBSE and quickly became aware of the name of Max Fordham. "I would see his name mentioned regularly and as I became more focused on what I wanted to do and found out about what the practice does, I decided to move to London and Max Fordham was my first choice." Being a building services graduate, Kelly was aware that she would be rare among Max Fordham employees: "When someone comes in with a degree in general sciences they have a fresh approach to design and they have a fundamental, first principle approach. To a certain extent I have found that I have needed to 'un-learn' some things. In order to really understand the processes you have to strip everything back. I wouldn't say the degree was a waste, but I find sometimes that I have to put it to one side and approach it from another angle to do it the Max Fordham way."
The holistic approach at the practice is something that Kelly feels is beneficial to her development, gaining experience in all areas of building services: "I have been able to do some electrical stuff, which is new to me even though I had studied it. I am still on a really steep learning curve." In her quest for chartership, Kelly believes it's very much up to the individual to achieve their goals. "I don't think it's the role of the company to do that. In the first two years they should encourage the person to record their training but after that period it's up to the individual. I know I have to record what I do and formulate it into the application that they need to prove that I've reached the required level. I know that working here is going to help me do that."
As for future ambitions, Kelly hopes to become more involved in the links Max Fordham has with the various bodies in the industry and have a hand in research and development. But for now: "When I've run my first job from beginning to end I know I'll have achieved something and that's what most people look forward to. It takes a long time to see the rewards of what you're doing, but when I can look back and say 'that's my job and it's finished now' that's when I'll have achieved something."
It's apparent that the leading building services consultancies are attracting exactly the kind of people the sector needs: intelligent, focused, ambitious. They certainly indicate a bright future for the construction industry.
But it's also equally obvious that the building services industry as a whole lacks a coordinated approach to encouraging more people to join its ranks. Those who think people who want to be engineers are only interested in pure science, in sitting at a desk doing drawings or working on cfd modelling are entirely wrong. The graduates BSJ spoke to are well qualified in scientific and engineering theory – but they're driven by a need to put this into practice in an exciting, diverse and influential industry. They believe that building services meets those needs. All we need to do now is demonstrate this to other young people. These building services engineers could and should be the best advertisement for a career in engineering.
Experience counts
If you think the door to professional engineering is closed to you because you don’t have the relevant professional qualifications, think again. For over a year now CIBSE has been running the Senior Candidate Route to registration with the Engineering Council. This gives those in the industry who are over 45 and have relevant experience the opportunity to become chartered engineers and Fellows of CIBSE. One of the first people to take this route is Richard Hilsden, a director with building services consultants Jaros Baum & Bolles. Hilsden, who has 40 years experience in the industry, left school at 15 before serving a trade apprenticeship with a firm of electrical contractors. “I spent 12 months as an electrician and was then offered a job by the company as a junior engineer.” After a period with a design and build company, Hilsden moved into full consultancy in the late 70s. During this time he started an Open University course and became an associate member of the IEE. “In the early days I aimed to become chartered but when I was doing my studies it was the time when the institutions seemed to be moving the goalposts every two years and I was going to need a degree or nothing.” With a responsible job and a busy schedule the opportunity of taking a day a week out of work and three evenings to study part time for a degree wasn’t practicable.”After joining Jaros Baum & Bolles, Hilsden became aware of the Senior Candidate Route offered by CIBSE and the Engineering Council. “Until then there didn’t seem to be a lot of credence given to 40 years experience. I applied, sat the interview and passed.” Hilsden recommends the route to others: “It’s an opportunity for people like myself who were unable to get the full academic qualifications, it’s been very satisfying.”
For more information on the Senior Candidate Route to registration visit the CIBSE website: www.cibse.org.uk
Source
Building Sustainable Design
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