Our Belfast office is home to a team of water experts who offer knowhow in groundwater, hydro-ecology, hydrogeology, water and wastewater treatment, flood defence, sustainable drainage design and more. We interviewed four members of the water team based in Belfast; Elaine, Paul, Rosey and Chloe who offered insight into their roles and the industry.
How did you get into the water sector?
‘During my undergraduate degreewater resource engineering was my area of focus and my final year project topic where I graduated top of my class. As part of my Degree, I completed work experience in construction and project management of construction projects following in my Dad’s footsteps as he has achieved chartership and fellowship’
‘After a stint at his company, a year of National Service as well as a Masters and Doctorate degree program I ended up lecturing in the Water Resource Engineering group of the Civil Engineering Department of Rivers State University in Nigeria. Wanting to be more hands on in the industry, I took steps to get back into Civil Engineering and saw that Tetra Tech was recruiting, I have and still am learning a lot about the sector, I am happy to be doing what my younger self at university had imagined.’ – Rosey Orlu, Civil Engineer
What is your favourite project?
‘Having worked across many projects, base maintenance of potable water treatment sites is my favourite. People often forget that buildings or equipment require maintenance to sustain or even improve serviceability.’
‘Within water treatment sites this involves surveys, inspections, part refurbishment, or complete replacement of an asset. From civil work to mechanical and electrical works it is all encapsulated in base maintenance, proving a highly varied and interesting workload. One day I could be supervising electrical isolations, then the next supervising divers as they change penstocks in a contact tank.’ – Chloe McGrugan, Graduate Civil Engineer
What does the future of your industry look like?
‘I see smart technology and AI playing a major role. Often smart technology and AI are seen as a threat to an engineer’s job when really, it is engineers with the knowledge of smart technology and AI which is the real threat.’ – Elaine Bleakely, Project Manager
What sets our water capabilities apart from our competitors?
‘The global reach-back to experts from around the world is a key differentiator. We have seen this pay dividends as we have tackled the demands of a more sustainable approach to our industry, drawing on experts in hydrogen generation, AI and machine learning and sludge management.’ – Paul Cooke, Director – Water