Thang is a respected Associate CAD Designer, responsible for the design and documentation of electrical services.

His experience includes CAD design, design compliance with rules, regulations and technical standards and documentation of electrical services.

Here, Thang talks about his transition from hydraulics to electrical drafting, his love of learning and one of his career highlights, the award winning New Bendigo Hospital.

What inspired you to work in electrical drafting?

When I came to NDY, I had worked in the hydraulic discipline for 4 and half years and I moved to the electrical team wanting to learn more about other building services, as I have a degree in building services. I knew it would help to deepen my understanding of coordination and design of other services.

I also wanted to learn how electrical elements were installed, such as how cable trays run in a ceiling space, or the equipment required to support a facility’s power supply. Or how electrical conduits run inground and interact with other services.

The electrical team in NDY’s Melbourne office was very encouraging and helpful in my transition.

What’s your career highlight project?

The New Bendigo Hospital in Victoria is a highlight, on which NDY delivered the design for all building services, which were informed by extensive 3D modelling.

The outcome for the community was fantastic, and expanded capacity including an integrated cancer centre and new psychiatric inpatient facility. The new Hospital equips Bendigo Health to provide for future health needs and the increasing demands of a growing population in Bendigo and the surrounding region.

I worked closely with the architectural team to achieve a high level of 3D coordination, which benefited the construction team and resulted in the great facility it is now.

Tell us about the electrical engineering on this project.

In addition to the electrical engineering, we designed the lighting, power, communications and security for all levels of the new Hospital (which comprises 6 levels and a plant room level).

It was my responsibility to model the project in 3D and fully coordinate with other services, with elements such as:

  • Cable tray layout: coordinate services in the ceiling space.
  • Power and communications layout: provide power and communications to match the architectural equipment layout – in elevation view and plan view.
  • Lighting layout: coordinate the reflection ceiling plan (RCP) with other services (particularly mechanical and fire).

The corridor ceiling spaces were the big challenge for us on this project, due to restrictions on building services running across patient rooms (all services had to run in the corridor and branch into patient rooms).

To ensure the electrical engineering and other services were well coordinated, every 2 weeks we ensured the modelling was clash free.

What innovative new approaches are you seeing when it comes to electrical engineering?

There are a few new technology products out there that are related to electrical, such as LED lights which give us more light and less energy consumption, or solar power to give you free energy and help the environment. I want to know and learn about everything, because today’s technologies are often part of our daily lives and beneficial in our own homes.

As a 3D modeller, there is constant learning with new collaboration tools and software. NDY is at the forefront of embracing these new technologies and provides me with continual opportunities to expand my knowledge and skills.