Give us an overview of your team and global reach?
As NDY’s Market Sector Lead for residential, build to rent and hotels, I have teams located in all NDY offices throughout Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada.
As a global team, we collaborate, sharing ideas, new technologies and lessons learnt from the projects we’re working on internationally to improve our offering for future projects.
Tell us how you work with other teams and disciplines at NDY?
NDY provides a great working environment and culture which promotes collaboration between indivduals and teams. We work closely with each engineering discipline to coordinate our services and ensure there are no gaps in the documentation we issue.
Why engineering?
Good question. Engineering was actually my fourth choice coming out of high school. The first 3 choices were architecture.
Alas, fate had a different view on my future and, instead, I completed a Bachelor of Building Engineering instead.
What drew me to that course, in particular, was the broad curriculum which covered all aspects of building and engineering and what, ultimately, led me into building services.
That course was very broad, covering subjects such as project management, building services, structural and civil engineering, construction management, AutoCAD (which was a new technology at the time), quantity surveying, geotechnical engineering, fluid dynamics, plus many more. It gave me a taste of everything.
What’s an engineering myth you’d like to debunk?
That all sprinkler heads go off together!
People in the industry know this, but if you watch any movie or TV show that has a sprinkler head discharge, then all sprinkler heads go off at the same time. This is not the case, as a sprinkler head will only activate individually when the temperature at the particular sprinkler head reaches a certain temperature.
So for multiple sprinkler heads to go off, a fire would need to spread and set off each one individually, over time.
What do you do outside of work that helps fuel your creativity and commitment to engineering?
I guess the usual things, I love spending quality time with my son, doing things that interest him. But individually, I love keeping fit. So, when time permits, I run and swim which helps me decompress from the rigours of the week and helps me focus when I need to.
Which engineer has taught you the most?
That’s a great question, and I’ll provide two separate answers for different parts of my career.
As a graduate – back in the days I worked at Connell Wagner (now Aurecon) – it would be Graham Jones. He was a great man who taught me a lot about work and engineering, in particular. He always had time and the patience to guide me. Without him, I doubt I would have remained in the industry.
Later in my career, it would be Ben White, a fellow Director at NDY. He has guided my career over many years – from aspiring project leader to focusing on clients and then market sectors. He has a great mind for thinking outside the box and has a manner that challenges you and brings out your best.
What professional relationships do you value the most?
That’s an easy one, where a client relationship coverts to a genuine friendship outside of work.
What does Making Spaces Work mean to you?
In simple terms, delivering a successful project where we’ve satisfied client and tenant expectations.
Tell us something that not many people know about you.
I’ll provide two answers to this.
I’m a mad NFL supporter and I’ve been a fan since I was a teenager. My team is the Green Bay Packers. Aside from the AFL Grand Final, my next favourite day of the year is the Super Bowl. Anytime I run or catch the train into work, I listen to podcasts on American sports talk shows (my favourite being a show called Get Up) to catch up daily on all the NFL news! Very sad, I know!
Second one – which anyone that knows me well will already know – is I have the worst sweet tooth in the world. I have no self control when there is any cake, lolly, dessert or sweet sitting in front of me. If I buy a pack of 6 donuts, I eat the entire 6 instead of eating just one. I try not to have these items in my house at all.
