To mark International Women in Engineering Day on 23rd June, we are celebrating the achievements of the women engineers in the Smartroof team. Weronika Niznik, Technical Design Manager at Timber Innovations/ Smartroof explains how from a young age she wanted to follow in her dad’s footsteps and embark on a career in engineering. She shares what a normal working day is like for a design engineer and how she gets great satisfaction from seeing her designs become a reality.

What made you want to develop a career in engineering?

Engineering has always been a big part of my life. My dad is as a civil engineer so ever since I can remember my dad was taking me on to sites to show me huge constructions with big cranes and machinery. I was fascinated with how something that looks so small on paper can be transformed in real life to create massive buildings.

I studied Civil and Structural Engineering at university. Also, I have always had a passion for travelling and visiting historic places which inspired me to specialise in the renovation of historic buildings. After gaining experience in the engineering and design industry in Poland and the UK, I was ready to take the next step in my career and was looking for new challenges and a place where I can develop and learn new things. This is when I joined the Timber Innovations/ Smartroof team as it seemed like the perfect fit for me, offering great career progression.

Describe your normal working day?

To be honest each day is different and every project is special which makes the design process very interesting. I enjoy working on different projects with different teams each day including clients, contractors and developers. I enjoy taking projects through the journey of engineering from the beginning where it is just a 2D drawing on paper right through to the end where we can see the building completed. First we meet with the client to get a good understanding of what their needs are, then we go through the process of modelling it in 3D software. Next it goes through the manufacturing process where all the elements are created like individual Lego pieces. It is very satisfying to see the project erected on site when all small elements from your screen come together to create full real life structure. As I said before, each project is different and has different challenges to solve so I never know what my day will hold.

What is your favourite thing about your job?

I think what I enjoy most about my job is getting to help other people. I love helping one of our customers to make their dream house become a reality and helping contractors to make process of design and erection smooth and easy. I enjoy solving problems for our installation and production teams and helping my colleagues and junior designers to understand structures and instil in them a strong passion for construction.

What has been your career highlight to date?

Every project I work on is different and every project brings its own opportunities and challenges. The highlight of every project is always standing back and seeing the design developed on a computer screen become a real life structure in front of you and knowing that building will be there for years to come.

What advice would you give to women considering a career in engineering?

I will say that it may not look from the start like an easy journey. Some people still have a stereotype in their head that engineering is only for men but after many years in construction industry, I can say that it is not true. Its all about believing in yourself. There will be moments you will have to have thick skin but the world is changing and many doors will be open too. If construction is where you can see your development don’t be afraid to do take a step into the industry. Construction needs more of us.