This story was originally published in the April edition of inspire magazine. 

inspire had a chat to IPWEA member Rob Sharp about why he chose engineering, the opportunities available for young engineers and the best career choice he ever made. 

Sharp is an Asset Engineer with the Tararua Alliance, an unincorporated joint venture alliance contract between Tararua District Council and Downer.

inspire: Rob, why did you decide to pursue a career in engineering?

Sharp: As a typical school leaver I had no idea what to do. Otago University was the furthest I could get from home in the North Island, and I had some good mates going there so I decided to give it a crack. I knew nothing about engineering, or the real world for that matter, but realised I enjoyed problem solving and being practical. Also, there’s lots of toys to play with in engineering! In 2010 I graduated with a degree focused towards the consulting world in resource planning and land development engineering. So, naturally, I went straight into contracting. I started with field surveying and later construction project management. I soon learned the industry was crying out for young professionals and I could really choose the career path I wanted. Within a couple of years I was a maintenance contract manager, managing multi-million dollar contracts in all sorts of infrastructure streams. My focus towards asset management came later on when I realised I could be the one deciding where to spend the money, not doing the work, and that there was an even greater industry need for expertise in asset management.

inspire: Describe a ‘day in the life’ in your current role

Sharp: When I’m not doing my ‘day job’ (developing maintenance and inspection programs or long-term forward works programs, analysing asset data or condition information), I could be:

• Liaising with elected councilors and council staff about key issues or problems
• Writing asset management plans and contributing towards strategy documents
• Training inspectors
• Developing processes or driving improvements around asset systems or job management.

inspire: What has made the largest positive impact on your career so far?

Sharp: I quit. I found myself working too hard, caring too much, unhealthily so, and taking on too much responsibility. So, I quit and took a year off to travel and chill out. I ended up coming back with a clear sense of where I wanted to focus my career and energy. More technical, more making improvements and getting things done rather than dealing with the challenges of being a manager.

inspire: From your perspective as a young engineer, what do you think the industry’s biggest challenges are?

Sharp: Succession, profession and confession. Clearly, there are issues with the ageing workforce and the loss of expertise and skills in our industry. We need to be training more young professionals and investing in the future of infrastructure management.

An ‘engineer’ has become such a broad term used to describe every man and his dog. We need to promote all the other roles within public works that exist.

There are a number of ‘old boys’ in the industry – excuse the sexist reference – who need to be mentoring young professionals, but aren’t. When that wave of experience retires, we will have some serious, industry-wide issues.

inspire: What opportunities within the profession are you particularly excited by?

Sharp: Technology – how can we use new technology to make things easier and cheaper, and explore new concepts, challenging the way we’ve always done it.

GIS is such an underutilised tool in our industry that has so many applications. As our society gets more spatial, so do the expectations around how to use spatial systems and what conclusions we can derive.

inspire: How has being an IPWEA member benefitted you?

Sharp: Networking would be a key benefit. Also, the regular presentations and communications keep you in touch with what is happening in the industry.

This story was originally published in the April edition of inspire magazine. Read the original and many more industry stories here.