Veronica Flint, principal civil engineer, MWH

I am the programme manager for more than 350 wastewater projects across south Yorkshire. I’m in charge of the delivery of the programme of work: I oversee seven project managers and a team of 55 engineers. My role is 50 per cent people management; the rest involves the technical side. The projects encompass maintenance and upgrades to wastewater treatment plants, sewerage networks and their associated structures. Work may involve upgrading equipment, increasing the size of sewers to prevent flooding, or screening a combined sewer overflow to prevent litter from getting into a river.

Energy efficient solutions

We have solved problems using a range of technologies with particular focus on keeping solutions energy efficient. High technology solutions include using real-time control to reduce the amount of equipment that has to be built, and using alternative sources of power generation. The converse is to use sustainable sewage treatment methods such as reed-bed treatment. Low-technology solutions keep the carbon footprint lower, but the water industry tends to use high technology processes to meet regulations, so it’s important to communicate the advantages well to the client. We think very much in terms of money as the key measure but, in the future, the same level of emphasis may be placed on the carbon footprint.

Industry insights

20 years in the industry
The projects that have had the most impact on me were not the biggest, most technically challenging ones, but those where I made a real difference. I was involved in an internal property flooding scheme: removing the threat of flooding freed residents from a problem that had blighted their lives for 30 years.

Future developments
The future will involve reducing the carbon footprint of projects; my organisation has developed tools and is actively working to tackle climate change. Fuel and power sources will be a major influencing factor. Innovative technology has helped us deliver value and sustainability in our solutions. Advances in modelling and real-time control systems have enabled us to build less, but still solve the problems.

Top tips

• The ability to listen is a key skill – you have to get to the heart of what people are saying.
• When managing multiple projects, identify what needs dealing with now and what can wait. It is easy to get sucked into crisis management so you have to look ahead to see what might arise.
• The industry needs bright engineers willing to learn new skills in an ever-changing environment. It’s an exciting time: just like Telford and Smeaton, we have the opportunity to shape and improve our world.

Veronica's career milestones

1988 Graduate engineer at Yorkshire Water, subsequently Earth Tech
1997 Project engineer at MWH
1999 Project manager at MWH
2005 Programme manager at MWH

Veronica Flint, CEng MICE MAPM, is a principal civil engineer at MWH. She has a BEng in civil engineering from the University of Leeds, 1988.