In our national tour of BSE we’re already back in Canberra!
In honour of International Women in Engineering Day, we have been sitting on this profile until today! We are speaking to Siti Mustaffa. Siti has been with BSE for less than 2 years and already feels like she has been with us forever, in the best way possible. Siti brings dedication, passion and fun to our teams and is an incredible presence for the women involved design and engineering in Canberra!
With over 5 years of experience, Siti’s mechanical services knowledge and commitment to provide an exceptional level of service to our clients and project partners makes her an incredible asset to our delivery team. With the added commitment to promote diversity and equality within the property and construction sectors, Siti is on our “to watch” list for the years ahead!
Q&A –
1. What excites you about your area of engineering?
A wise person once said to me “there are a hundred ways to skin a cat”. What I enjoy about my area of engineering (HVAC) is that there are usually more than half a dozen ways to design the HVAC systems in buildings – sometimes a single building may even have multiple different systems to suit the different needs of different sections of the building (e.g. a critical control room requiring close control computer room air conditioning within an office building with a central chilled water system serving the base building). That in itself is interesting and exciting. I really enjoy working with my team in Canberra. Being a smaller office, we’re pretty closely knit, look out for each other and genuinely care about each other’s wellbeing. So it’s almost like being with a second family. That and also. we enable each other (chocolates, mostly. And sometimes cake).
2. How do services engineers add value to projects?
We look out for the most relevant technology related to each of our fields and guide our clients in making decisions that positively impact the buildings and their surrounds. It is imperative to talk to services engineers at the beginning of projects so that clients and designers are made aware early on, what requirements are needed to make your new building operate the way you intend it to.
3. Did you choose the property/ construction industry as an intentional career choice, or did it choose you?
A little bit of column A, a little bit of column B. I enrolled in an Advanced Air Conditioning elective course in my final year of uni, thought it was alright, then went on to make hip and knee replacements for a while. When I got offered a graduate mechanical engineer role out of the blue, I knew it was an opportunity I had to seize, and I am so grateful for it and have never looked back!
To end on a lighter note, we’re asking all our team the most controversial question of recent time:
4. Pineapple on pizza?
YES! Pineapples in and on everything! Piña coladas, barbequed pineapples rolled in cinnamon at the Brazilian churrasco……………….. but yes, definitely on pizza!