Interview Graduate engineers
efficiency and renewable technologies is the perfect
opportunity for the industry to engage with the public
and make ourselves known.’
The recession initially made it difficult for O’Brien
to find employment earlier this year: ‘Most of my
graduating class have now found employment here
in Northern Ireland but are finding the work slow
and there is a lot of uncertainty over how long they
can stay in their positions. These are tough times for
everyone.’
Matt Gitsham, mechanical building services
consultant at Arup, Bristol
Green issues and the love of maths and
physics are what drove Matt Gitsham
‘The daily challenge
into building services engineering. His
faced is not just to
aspiration is to ‘move my career
educate architects
‘I think that the
gradually towards a more sustainable
and engineers alike,
current popularity
focus – I’m desperate to make a lasting difference’, he
but also to educate
of energy efficiency
says. ‘In my personal life I do all I can to reduce my
building occupants
and renewable
impact – from eating meat only once a week to leaving
about the operation
technologies is the
the plug in when I shower so I can use the water to
of the building they
perfect opportunity
flush the toilet! I would love further opportunities to
live and work in’
for the industry to
show the same commitment in my work.’
Liam Buckley
engage with the
Currently he is heavily involved with the Building
public and make
Schools for the Future programme in Bristol, which
ourselves known’
has had a profound effect on his ideals: ‘I’ve found it
Vincent O’Brien
humbling how quickly the realities of a construction
budget have begun to knock some of the sustainable
naiveties out of me.’
In the future, he believes, engineers need to become
much more determined during the design stage: ‘As
dynamic industry and to help in creating a sustainable, the service engineer’s role continues to widen and
energy-efficient future for the built environment’. building regulation becomes stricter, I’d like to see
He believes one of the biggest challenges facing the us become much more resolute during the design
profession is its low profile among the general public: process.
‘The engineers working in our sector do a tough and ‘If we are to reach the government’s legally-binding
increasingly challenging job, yet only a very small CO2 targets, our designs are going to have to become
percentage of people know what a building services much more important to a project, and we cannot
engineer does. let them be eroded by an overly precious architect or
‘After I’ve explained to someone what it is we do, and the value-engineering process. I also see a large shift
once their inevitable glazed expression has passed, the towards renovating and drastically improving existing
usual response is: “Isn’t that what an architect does?” buildings, which is usually a more cost-effective and
‘I think that the current popularity of energy sustainable option than rebuilding.’ l
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