Our Civil Group Leader in Victoria, Australia, James is a highly motivated civil engineer who is driven by a desire to produce quality civil designs that enhance the lives of his clients and community. He has been involved in a range of large scale residential and industrial developments as well as major infrastructure projects.
Currently, James is responsible for the management of the civil team in NDY’s Melbourne office which includes resource allocation and technical guidance for young engineers.
From admiring his engineer grandfather’s knack for practical problem solving to making other people’s days better, James was born to be a civil engineer. A recent career highlight, he shares his thoughts on the civil design for urban renewal project Alphington Village.
What inspired you to become an engineer?
My grandfather was an engineer and I always looked up to him as he always came up with practical solutions to problems and never failed to amaze me. The feeling you get after solving a problem and making someone’s day better is very rewarding for me, so I decided to make it my career and it has been a great decision!
Why civil engineering?
Ever since I was young, I’ve had a passion for solving problems or accidentally creating problems so I can solve them myself. This meant it came down to being a carpenter or an engineer for me. Civil engineering has been the route (after first trying out IT and structural engineering) because I get to deal with a larger design footprint and it’s typically a completely different site with an entirely different set of challenges every time.
What’s your career highlight project?
Alphington Village is a newly created garden suburb 6.5 kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD. It revitalises the final lot within the former Amcor Paper Mill into a major new mixed-use development across 2.1 hectares.
The size of the site organically creates its own community within Alphington. It will boast integrated facilities such as a multipurpose court, community gardens and childcare facilities for the benefit of the surrounding neighbourhood.
Tell us about the civil engineering on this project.
The project’s civil design includes the adjacent roadways, Outer Circle Mews and lanes connecting Alphington Village to adjacent developments as well as main roads. One of the challenges faced by the civil engineering team was the involvement of various stakeholders in key design decisions.
To overcome this, our civil team’s preferred approach is always to get involved in the project as early as possible to help our client navigate through authorities’ requirements. We can be the interface piece between relevant stakeholders to help set up a good infrastructure strategy for the successful delivery of the project.
What innovative new approaches are you seeing when it comes to civil engineering?
I can see the use of 3D modelling software early in the concept design phase to help clients understand design impacts and provide a more accurate construction budget estimate early in the project. I also like the ability to automate repetitive modelling tasks that can help the client go through the optioneering process with less effort.
Where do you see the future of civil design heading?
More automation and optimisation of road and drainage design using artificial intelligence (AI). In my opinion, this does not mean it’s bad news for engineers, it means we have more tools at our disposal to assist our clients to overcome site design constraints.
What tech are you playing with at the moment?
I’m currently playing with LiDAR scanning as I go out on site, it helps me capture photos of site conditions and create point cloud files where I can upload to modelling software and take measurements and make modifications.
Also, I’m working with our design team to create a 3D rendered walk through video for our client during the concept design phase which is always exciting.
What is it like to be a young engineer in civil engineering?
Being a young engineer in the field of civil engineering can be both exciting and challenging. You get to deal with a lot of engineering problems on a day-to-day basis and see your projects coming to life. You get great insights into how things are done a certain way and start to appreciate the surroundings more.
If you feel comfortable to do so, tell us a bit about your background (culturally).
I’m born and raised in Vietnam. I left Vietnam when I was 15 and went to Singapore for high school education. I later went to Melbourne for university education (when I was 17) and have been calling Melbourne home ever since! It was definitely not the weather that got me to stay here but it’s more the people and the endless opportunities that this city has to offer.
How does diversity of background and thought influence how you deliver your projects?
Diversity of background definitely helps project delivery! I often see this shine through in a multidisciplinary project where team members come on board with different sets of skills that offer great perspectives to the design development phase.
