Meet Sarah Claxton-VicarsA day in the life of a student structural engineer

7:00am

Hey everyone, let’s get this day started! As I am naturally a night owl, I start the morning off by squeezing in as much sleep as possible, then I enjoy a moka pot coffee and my favourite breakfast of scrambled eggs on toast with garlic, chilli, spinach and avocado.

8:15am

Once I’m dressed and ready for the day, I jump on the express train and head into Aurecon’s Melbourne office. It’s about a 30-minute commute so I often catch up on my text messages or listen to my favourite playlists (I have just switched to my Winter playlist, so there’s lots of music from Holy Holy and Flight Facilities).

8:45am

I always walk from the train station to the office to ensure I am getting some fresh air to start the day. The Melbourne office in Docklands has recently been renovated so it is now full of light and greenery making it a great place to work. As an intern, I work for two days each week while I balance my final year of university.

I try to go into the office as much as possible to see my mentor and mates. Although, Aurecon’s flexible working policy means I can work from home when I need to. Today, I am in the office and so I make my way to the desk I booked for the day. Aurecon has a hot-desking arrangement and today I am sitting close to the rest of the structural team.

9:00am

Once I have my workspace set up, I begin the work day by checking Microsoft Teams messages, emails and calendar invites to catch up on what has been happening with my projects, events in the office and any meetings I need to attend. Often, my mentor sends me new work the day beforehand to ensure that I have a task to get started on straight away, which is great so I can keep busy.

9:30am

Once everyone has arrived and settled in, my team often goes for coffee together. We currently have a barista in the office on Monday and Friday for complimentary coffee, however, my team has a café spreadsheet so we like to try different coffees in the area (although there are clear favourites). This is a great time for me to network with other emerging professionals in my team.

10:00am

At 10 am, once a week we have a technical session called Tech Time. This meeting is a collaborative session where the structural team including the senior engineers and associates jump on a call to discuss and support anyone with some design ideas or challenges that they might be facing. It is a great place for knowledge sharing between more experienced engineers and emerging professionals. The session allows me to absorb lots of new design problems and potential solutions which I do not usually work with.

11:00am

As I work part-time, each week is different as I am assigned new tasks by my mentor ranging across the projects he is leading or working on. I really enjoy this as an intern as it means I am exposed to lots of different structural designs and methods which allows me to continually develop and broaden my knowledge as a structural engineer. My favourite task has been working on the preliminary and concept design phases for a new educational facility, where one of the design options is a timber structure. Being part of the kick-off and design meetings with the architect and interfacing with clients and contractors in the early stages of a project was insightful and incredibly exciting to be a part of.

Currently, I am working on an entrance canopy design. This involves designing and modelling the entrance canopy and its supporting structure, then executing calculations to ensure that the design of the structure and the members all pass. Often in the mornings, I set up all the design conditions and checks, including the variables I will need to simulate.

12:30pm

After a productive project working session, it’s lunchtime! I often have lunch with my team at the park to soak up some sun and fresh air. If not, I use it as a chance to say hi to fellow interns and catch up with the work they are doing. Also, at the start of each month, we have a ‘Ladies Lunch’ where we go out with the female engineers in my team, which is a great chance to network and catch up with other like-minded women.

1:00pm

Now it’s back to work and I am currently in the middle of finalising the design of the entrance canopy and its structure in a software called SpaceGass. As the model is set up, I can now run the simulations and then cross-check the results with my pre-determined design requirements and begin to write up the final calculation package.

"I am lucky to be surrounded by helpful and passionate people who are always keen to answer my questions."

3:00pm

Often in the afternoon, after I have managed to make progress on the tasks that I have been allocated, I have a meeting with my mentor to check-in and discuss any queries or problems that I have encountered while working through my projects. Although we communicate regularly via Teams throughout the day when I have smaller queries, these meetings allow for a quick but productive conversation. I am lucky to be surrounded by helpful and passionate people who are always keen to answer my questions if my mentor is unavailable.

This usually sets me up for the rest of the afternoon to finish the task or progress to the next stage. Once my results have been discussed with my mentor, I do a PDF sketch of the design and pass it on to the structural drafters who will update the details in the master package. I also finalise my calculation package to send off for verification.

5:30pm

Before I know it, the work day is almost over! Prior to leaving, I like to have a quick check-in with my mentor and other colleagues that I might be working with to establish what the next stages are for my tasks. I then update my to-do list so I can reorient myself when I return to work.

As it’s a Friday, today I am heading out for drinks with other emerging professionals and then on to KBBQ for dinner.

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