What inspired you to become an engineer?
I’ve always had a naturally inquisitive mind, wanting to know how things work or how they’re put together. Through school, maths, science and physics were always strengths of mine.
My father was a domestic builder and I recall he would always point out the various houses he had built as we drove past them and I would spend many school holidays as a child on building sites assisting him. I got an appreciation of the building trade and the satisfaction of seeing projects come out of the ground and reaching completion.
Studying engineering, and then establishing a career in building services engineering, was just a natural progression.
Why fire protection?
I was fortunate to secure a role in a risk management firm in my final year of engineering at university that exposed me to the world of fire safety in the built environment. To be honest, I was completely unaware of the fire safety industry as a young university student. My employer at that time encouraged me to do further postgraduate study in fire safety after my undergraduate degree.
I then secured a role with NDY in 2007 as a graduate in the fire protection team and haven’t looked back. I enjoy the problem solving, application of science and different engineering disciplines that come together when formulating fire safety solutions in the built environment.
What is your career highlight project?
Over my career to date, there have been many interesting and challenging projects I have been proud to be involved in. These have covered various different markets, including retail, commercial, health and aged care, industrial, transport, education, defence, residential and hotels.
One project that still sticks out for me and gave me great satisfaction in my early career was the redevelopment of the iconic Myer department store in Bourke Street, Melbourne, which commenced in 2007. This was my baptism of fire, so to speak.
The project involved:
- a complex demolition of numerous buildings which shared services across titles
- restoration of the heritage listed Bourke Street facade and Level 7 Mural Hall
- a detailed staged redevelopment
- continued trading throughout the works.
The redevelopment involved fire engineered performance solutions and a bespoke smoke hazard system to address the fire safety challenges of an atrium connecting the ground floor to level 7.
What fire expert has taught you the most?
The two people that shaped me the most in my early career would have to be Sam Aloi and Lee Cleghorn, both of whom are still with NDY. There are many facets to being a well rounded consulting engineer, including technical engineering capabilities, communication skills, managing client relationships, effective authority negotiation skills and being consistent in your approach, amongst others. I owe a lot to these two.
What professional relationships do you value the most?
All professional relationships are important. What I value is working in a collaborative team, all striving to achieve the same goal.
What does Making Spaces Work mean to you?
Making Spaces Work is our primary objective as building services consulting engineers. A building must be safe for occupants, enable effective evacuation and fire brigade intervention, providing suitable flexibility for building use and also meet building owner and occupant objectives.
Give us an overview of your team, areas of expertise and the range of projects you work on?
NDY has approximately 30 fire protection engineers across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Our global team expanded when we joined the Tetra Tech High Performance Buildings Group, with shared resources of over 80 fire protection engineers. This gives us a worldwide footprint and access to technical expertise around the world.
My role as Group Technical Director for Fire Protection sees me collaborating with our offices globally to manage design standards, documentation quality and provide technical input and training for staff. I’m supported by a team of talented engineers.
As a fire protection group, we provide a full consulting service for the design, documentation and construction phases of all fire safety systems. Our solutions achieve more than simple compliance with building codes. Our team of fire protection engineers offer both ‘deemed to satisfy’ and performance-based solutions that meet or exceed the performance requirements of relevant codes and provide cost effective and tailor-made strategies. As consulting engineers, our purpose is Making Spaces Work. Our approach centres on working closely with clients to develop the right solutions for their project.
