How do you feel about climate change and how it affects your job?
Simultaneously really bummed out about the terrible conditions people have/are going to have to live through and deeply grateful that I get to work on improving those shitty conditions
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Is it really all math, all day, every day?
Lol nope. A lot of what I do is using computer programs to model soil conditions (dirt) so it’s more about understanding what soil is out there and how it acts when we build things on it/with it. The most I use is algebra
Civil is a pretty broad category, what do you focus on/ specialize in?
I’m a geotechnical engineer. A lot of industrial/commercial work, lately more flood protection/coastal
What software do you use
I’m a geotechnical engineer, so Apile, slope/w, settle3, unipile etc
Cool, thanks!
How does it make you feel when people in my industry call themselves “software engineers”?
😂 a little annoyed, tbh. But really only because I think there should be licensing for software engineers too. It’s more important than ever to have a duty to protect the public when it comes to tech imo
I want to see it, if only to see how many of us fail licensure due to gross incompetence.
What’s your favourite ice cream flavour?
Aztec chocolate
What makes a good and useful CAD drafter? Asking as a cad drafter.
Sorry, I’m a geotechnical engineer so I haven’t worked with drafters too much. When I have worked with drafters, I really appreciated getting a call if my notes were confusing instead of the drafter making an assumption and getting it wrong
What’s it like driving a train?
Fabulous 🚂 💅
What is a civil engineer really?
It’s someone who designs infrastructure, so roads, buildings, bridges, sewer systems, etc. Basically if you think about anything a construction worker builds, a civil engineer/team of engineers designed it. There are different categories of civil engineers. Structural engineers make sure a building can handle the weight of everything on/in it. Transportation engineers design highways. I’m a geotechnical engineer, so I deal with soils (dirt) and make sure the ground can support whatever is being built.
I’m soon going to study as a software engineer, but in my country that’s also called a “civil engineer”, is that true in English, as well?
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Wow, that must’ve been a struggle 😓
Only for some time. Job boards in their early days were simplistic in their capture of information, you either pasted or attached a cover letter & CV but they would quickly become much more granular in gathering a lot more information about your skills, even if this made the application process a lot longer than before. It had the benefit of your skillset defining your ability rather than the title of your degree obscuring it. Also, OCR & language translation advanced really quickly there after.
What is your favorite dinosaur?
Any advice for cities facing the increasing threat of floods? I live on the floodplain in my city, and it has given me a tinge of anxiety whenever it rains rather hard in my neighbourhood.
Buy flood insurance and if it gets too expensive, it might make more sense to move. I live in an area where flood insurance just skyrocketed and I think people are still hoping prices will go down somehow but I don’t think it’ll happen.
If you’re handy, maybe look into how to gut a house after a flood. Mold can do a lot of damage.
I don’t know if you’re in an area where flooding could be a safety issue but always follow local warnings/official’s advice. Property can be replaced, people can’t.
I think as humans we can engineer our way out of increasingly hostile weather but it takes an investment of time and money and our governments aren’t usually great at either.
