Meet Tom
And last but not least, meet Tom - our senior engineer and a director. Tom is a hardy, enthusiastic engineer with a strong work ethic and a commitment to getting the job done. He has provided specialist ESC support to numerous clients on a range of projects, ranging from small-scale residential developments projects to some of the largest infrastructure projects in Queensland.
We caught up with Tom for a few minutes to find out more about him - what’s his favourite project, how he became an environmental engineer at first place, and what’s his secret to work and life balance.
Tom, why did you choose environmental engineering as your career? What led you to it?
My dad worked for Forestry so I spent a lot of time living in the middle of nowhere. As a kid, I spent a lot of time in the bush and loved playing around in drains. I developed a keen interest in the natural world around me and particularly loved how water moves. As I got older I became aware of the need to protect both of those. However, weirdly, I also developed a love for big machines, bulldozers, skidders, excavators and the like. I don’t think I realised it at the time, but these two usually opposing interests became linked down the track. I can’t say I went through school saying “I want to be an environmental engineer”, but when it came to picking a degree out of a book, I guess the blurb just really resonated with me. My first professional job was as a site engineer, but it wasn’t long before I leaned back to the more environmental side.
What do you love about your current job?
I love getting out on site. I guess I never grew out of playing around in sandpits, they’re just a lot bigger now. I find most projects are very different, with a new set of constraints and challenges, and I love that feeling when a good plan comes together, or you manage to solve a complex problem. It also feels good to be at the pointy end of an area that is still very much under development, and helping people understand something that is very important.
On top of that, I’m very fortunate to work with a great group of people, including some really good clients. It makes a huge difference.
What is your favourite project you’ve worked on? Why is it your favourite?
I had a small role on a project some time ago within a defence training area. It involved constructing an urban operations training facility and explosive hazards training area, including a mock-up of everything from a small town with multi-storey buildings, marketplace, shanty town, palace and sportsgrounds to bridges, dams and even an orchard with a mudbrick walled convoy route. For a place riddled with UXOs, barbed wire and artillery craters, it was actually surrounded by some pretty beautiful, and environmentally sensitive country.
I also really enjoyed my time spent on Curtis Island up near Gladstone on an LNG project. To be part of something of that scale was pretty amazing. It gave a good insight on some of the intricacies of big dollar contracts.
Owning a business usually means a lot of hard work and long hours. How do you maintain work/life balance?
I usually get my partners to handle the hard work and long hours and I just manage the life part of that equation :) No, I find the workload usually dictates the balance at the moment unfortunately. Our clients really value how we handle tight time constraints, so I think it’s important to deliver on those commitments. That said, workloads can fluctuate quickly so I like to make the most of a quiet spell when it comes. Even if it’s a day or two here or there, or take a chunk of leave after a particularly hectic time. As a young company we’ve found out that there definitely comes a time to re-evaluate the balance and find help, however.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?
At the moment it seems we’ve just been going to weddings! And most of them aren’t local!
But normally I just like being outside, camping, fishing, hunting and getting down to the beach. Winter really turns on some great conditions here on the coast and there’s some good little spearfishing spots. Through the week I also find that a bit of Xbox really helps to switch the brain off. My wife and I just got a little Border Collie pup who needs constant exercise too, so that keeps us pretty busy.