Eduardo Egurrola

NAME Eduardo Egurrola
JOB Graduate civil engineer
AREA OF WORK Buildings
EMPLOYER Kier Build
QUALIFICATIONS MEng civil engineering, Nottingham University

While growing up in Central America we moved into a brand new housing estate that was still in the process of being finished. Seeing how the buildings came to being inspired me to go into civil engineering.

Gaining responsibility

I chose to work on major buildings because of their aesthetic wow factor – each building has its own character. This meant I could work on projects as diverse as commercial premises and prisons.

’I’m the only site engineer on site at the moment. With fewer than two years’ experience, this has been a great opportunity to develop my skills.’

On my current project (offices in Milton Keynes) I’m responsible for the external ground works. I manage the subcontractors, set out works and complete quality assurance checks. I also liaise with consultants and deal with aspects requiring technical expertise, such as drainage. Currently, I’m the only site engineer present, as my colleagues have been called to other projects. With fewer than two years’ experience, this has been a steep learning curve but a great opportunity to develop my skills.

Having the right mentality

You have to like being active and being outdoors to work for a contractor. You’ll be out in all weathers and put in long hours, but it’s an unbeatable feeling when you hand over a completed building or part of a building to a client.