This month in Canada, we’re celebrating National Engineering Month (NEM). We’ve caught up with our intern, Jack Lawrie, to get his news and views from his current role.
National Engineering Month is an annual campaign giving opportunities to parents, students, teachers, and aspiring engineers and engineers themselves to get involved in volunteering, and to discover the possibilities in engineering. Throughout the month, there are over 500 events which take place across the country, providing the opportunity to be involved in, and learn about all aspects of engineering in Canada – hopefully sparking inspiration into the next generation.
Jack (left) on site in Toronto
The theme for this year’s celebration is “There’s a place for you” and we thought this was a great opportunity to catch up with our intern, Jack Lawrie, who is currently working in Toronto for WJ Groundwater Canada as a Site Engineer.
Jack is a student at the University of Bath, studying Civil Engineering, and has previously worked at WJ UK as an undergraduate design engineer in the break between his first and second years at university. He says “Engineering is a thrilling discipline and can lead to so many exciting opportunities. It’s important for young people to be shown how exciting life as an engineer can be”.
The range of activities which are put on during the month-long celebration certainly rings true with the above statement. And since Jack begun his adventure into engineering, it’s opened his eyes to the whole process of what goes into the construction of buildings.
“When you think about all of the objects, buildings and processes that are around us every day, it can seem impossible that any of them have come to be.”
“Studying engineering, you learn the science behind the magic we see every day. Engineering makes the seemingly impossible become a reality. Structures such as the CN Tower are the product of many passionate engineers playing a small but vital part in a collaborative project which will outlast any of its creators”.
NEM is important to teach children about what it takes to become a professional engineer, and helps kids to understand the various things they can do as engineers. School may teach you the basics about shapes and structures, but it’s not in the curriculum to teach the ins and outs of the processes leading to the construction. “A professional engineer requires a passion and devotion to the field they’re in. It’s not achieved quickly or easily but is the result of a rich and exciting career.”
You don’t even need to necessarily have an absolute goal in the beginning about which part you’d like to play in your career. “Everybody has the ability within themselves to become a professional engineer, there are as many directions and specializations as can be imagined, for every inquisitive mind”.
Essentially, engineering is problem solving and is relevant in far more fields that people expect. Engineers are the people who are thinking and approaching whatever their work may be, in a creative, innovative way. Engineers shape the world around us and have a beneficial effect on every part of our lives. From our homes and our cars, to the satellites and space exploration.
Jack’s story gives any young aspiring engineer the inspiration to follow in his footsteps, and could eventually be involved in some mega-structures, or important road or rail links to leave their legacy in the future.
“I’ve been given so many opportunities with WJ, from my 12-week placement in the design office where I learnt a lot about the theory of groundwater management, and how important the role WJ plays in the construction industry, to working on-site for multiple major UK and Canadian projects in two of the most rapidly developing cities in the world”.
“Since working in Canada, I’ve taken more responsibility and control of projects than I ever expected I would. I’m able to design dewatering systems and oversee and guide the installation from start to finish. The work I’ve been a part of, and responsibilities that I’ve taken have had significant effect on all of my projects. I can now say that I played an important role in multiple large construction projects”.
Read more about Jack’s adventure through WJ, and how he’s got to where he is now in this article, here.
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