Celebrating Engineers Week at Wills Bros
From March 1st to March 7th, we celebrated Engineers Week by learning more about the incredible professionals who shape our company. Throughout the week, our engineers shared their journeys, challenges, and achievements, giving us a deeper insight into their careers. Here are some of the inspiring stories they told us.
What inspired you to pursue a career in civil engineering?
Ever since I was a child, I had a keen interest in construction. I remember being mesmerized by a massive road project in my area during my teenage years—seeing the colossal machinery and mountains of earth being moved was absolutely fascinating. My strengths in maths, science, and technical drawing naturally guided me towards civil and structural engineering. It felt like the perfect fit for me.
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career?
Throughout my career, I have encountered numerous challenges, but the realignment of the N15 Clar to Barnesmore road in Donegal stands out as the most significant and rewarding. We secured this contract in 1999, which was more than twice the scale of any previous project we had undertaken. Despite starting with a small team and concurrently managing several other contracts in Dublin and Mayo, we successfully completed the project within two years. This undertaking, in an area of outstanding natural beauty, proved to be a pivotal project for Wills Bros, enabling us to handle larger contracts in the future.
What do you like most about the company culture?
I appreciate the company’s emphasis on a familial atmosphere and its culture of internal career advancement. Our entire leadership and contract management team have either advanced from graduate positions or joined the company early in their careers.
How does the company support the professional development of engineers?
Junior engineers are mentored by senior staff and rotate through departments to gain broad experience. We support membership in professional bodies like Engineers Ireland, the Chartered Institute of Building, and RCIS, helping our technical staff attain chartered status. Annually, we offer training in skills from negotiation to basic Microsoft courses to develop our engineers at all levels.
How has technology impacted your work in engineering?
The influence of technology on our industry has been profound. Initially, we relied on a simple total station theodolite to set out the centre line of the road, with tapes and optical squares used for additional measurements. (I still retain that optical square in my office!). Horizontal and vertical control were managed using timber pegs, profiles, and batter rails, which are now rarely seen. At that time, there were no computers on site, and our most advanced piece of office technology was a busy fax machine that handled everything from time sheets to tenders. Project plans were drafted manually with a Tee square and looked quite basic compared to today’s standards.
Over time, total stations became robotic, enabling single-person surveying, and dumpy levels were replaced by electronic levels. These advancements eventually evolved into GPS base stations and rovers, which revolutionized the field. With the direct integration of this technology into machinery, visual signs of control such as profiles and batter rails have nearly vanished from sites. The advent of the internet has further transformed our methods of communication and work. Fax machines have been supplanted by laptops, emails, hard copies replaced with cloud storage, and various computer applications have obviated the need for manual calculations. These technological advancements have resulted in faster, more efficient construction processes and have enabled us to undertake highly complex projects.
If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring engineers, what would it be?
Mastering the fundamentals will provide a solid foundation for any endeavour you undertake. Maintain a spirit of curiosity and be open to learning from others continually. Some of the most valuable knowledge I have acquired has come from observing others.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
The most gratifying aspect is unquestionably the project’s public inauguration, which marks the culmination of an extensive process that frequently begins in undeveloped or challenging terrain several years prior.
In one word, how would you describe being an engineer?
Satisfying.
What inspired you to pursue a career in civil engineering?
As a child growing up in Birmingham, I always spent my holidays on the canals, it is said that ‘Birmingham had more canals than Venice’. Anyway, I was fascinated by the masonry bridges, aqueducts, tunnels and locks. The science and engineering behind canal locks inspired me to want to become a Civil Engineer when I was about 8 years old.
How has technology impacted your work in engineering?
Technology has impacted the speed at which we can complete calculations, drawings, produce specifications, edit documents and send new information. We are now also using drones to track progress, measure quantities, develop cross sections and determine surface water run-off. However in-spite of it all – a calculator, pencil, and paper are still essential tools in my armoury.
In one word, how would you describe being an engineer?
Stimulating!
What inspired you to pursue a career in civil engineering?
Ever since I was a kid, I had a fascination with construction toys, especially dumper trucks and JCBs. I would spend hours playing with them, filling them with sand, stones and mud, and imagining I was running a construction site. This fascination evolved as I started building structures with used batteries and blocks and other plastic toys. Also, I used to watch an animated/cartoon construction show called the ‘Bob the Builder’ as a kid. These toys and childhood memories created a sense of curiosity about Civil Engineering during my school days which ultimately inspired me to pursue Civil Engineering after my high school.
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career?
One of the most significant challenges I have faced in my career was leaving my career in India to start a new in the UK.
What do you like most about the company culture?
What I love most about the company culture is how everyone makes me feel genuinely welcome and part of a family. The support I receive is not just limited to my professional life, it extends to my personal life as well.
If you could give one piece of advice to aspiring engineers, what would it be?
If you are passionate about engineering, follow your heart and work towards it with dedication.
In one word, how would you describe being an engineer?
Transformative.
