In her final year of study at the University of Queensland, Louise is undertaking a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (honours) degree and completing a thesis reviewing the Australian Standards for Mechanical Ventilation in Car Parks.
Louise says, “The decision to complete my thesis whilst interning at WSP was twofold. Firstly, it gave me the chance to complete it in six months as opposed to the usual one year through university.
“Secondly, it was a great opportunity to develop some qualified experience on an awesome project that I could use in my career, post-study. When working on the Queen’s Wharf project, we noticed that outdated design standards for car park ventilation were being used. Together with Jonathan, my mentor, we decided that this could be a great topic for my thesis.
"By doing my thesis on the job, I was able to conduct legitimate research for the benefit of the client, industry and WSP as well as myself.”
Jonathan Ramajoo, Associate for Buildings in our Brisbane office says, “Since starting at WSP, Louise’s professional development has been excellent. She has received on the job training from a full team of engineers who have helped her to develop the tangible and intangibles skills you can only get through experience. Louise has demonstrated strong technical understanding and keen interest in what we do in the mechanical team at WSP. Her commitment to take on this type of project and provide the research and development required is a credit to her. She has recently submitted her thesis and I am extremely happy with the result and are confident this will assist us in providing more sustainable and innovative designs in the future.”
Louise values the supportive, dynamic and exciting culture at WSP as a key part of her development. She recognises that some of her best experiences have come in the way of intangible skills such as communication and the knowledge that it is ok to ask questions. Other skills developed include the use of key engineering applications such as REVVIT, Autodesk CFD and AutoCAD as well as increased technical abilities across a variety of projects. She has also displayed exceptional communications skills with the various industry experts and organisations she has collaborated with on the project.
At WSP, we make extraordinary efforts to attract, develop, engage and retain the best professionals in our fields of expertise because this is what makes us great. We value the contribution of our people and think that personal development is a key part of our success.
Our dedicated Learning and Development team provides a range of programs and tools that help to develop our people from undergraduates right up to our most senior people. We encourage and provide technical, business and project management development courses, and offer mentoring opportunities and training workshops for our newest graduates.