Engineering & Manufacturing recently heard from Annie Scott about her life as a Structural Engineer based in the Netherlands with Holmes Consulting.
After spending just over three years with Holmes Consulting in Auckland (joining as a Graduate Structural Engineer in 2015), I was given the opportunity to expand on my career with a transfer to the Group’s office in the Netherlands. So, I packed my bags and arrived in Utrecht in October 2018.
A typical day in the Netherlands looks quite different to my routine in
New Zealand.
Before joining the team in Utrecht, my days used to be filled with meetings with contractors, consultants, clients and site visits. I worked on Commercial Bay almost full-time for four years, so in addition to regular liaison and problem solving with the other consultants involved in the project, I had the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the business about steel buildings, concrete buildings, facade structures and transfer structures. I was also able to gain significant experience in precast floor systems.
Now that I’m in the Netherlands, my role has changed to be focused mainly on technical project design which means much of my day is usually spent in the office, but there’s never a dull moment that’s for sure. Over here, we have teamed up with two local companies to assess a large amount of commercial and residential buildings for seismic loads utilising many of the skills I learnt in New Zealand. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, we travel two and a half hours north to the local office (near Groningen) and work with the wider team on a series of projects. It’s a long commute, but I like the variety of seeing another city and working with a different team.
The move has been hugely influential in both my professional and personal growth. On the technical side, I’ve learnt a lot about masonry, non-linear behaviour and analysis of existing buildings. Personally, the experience has helped me improve my Dutch, gain a better acceptance of other cultures and understand first-hand some of the struggles associated with being an expat and moving somewhere culturally and linguistically different.
However, I’ve been very fortunate to have the support of Holmes Consulting throughout this journey and that has been invaluable.
One of the most rewarding aspects of my job as a structural engineer is solving a problem that I’ve been working on for days or weeks. It’s hard to get bored here as there’s always a technical challenge to solve.
To others this might sound tedious, but I really relish moments where I have a break-through, like when I have a barn roof analysis model running or a masonry wall pushover model converging. In the course of my career so far, I’ve found that demanding tasks are often the most rewarding.
But what about life outside of work? Utrecht is a fantastic city for cycling, and I haven’t once thought about needing a car. I certainly can’t complain about the lifestyle. Every second Saturday, I cycle to the market to buy cheese (it’s incredible here), and my partner and I often escape to other cities in Europe to explore. The proximity to so much beauty and history has been a highlight of my time in the Netherlands.
It has been a fantastic experience so far and I’d thoroughly recommend other young engineers make the most of an opportunity to take up a transfer position overseas. New skills, new challenges, new country and new cultural experiences – there’s a lot to like!
