Profile

I live in Aberdeen and enjoy being outdoors. I like hiking and exploring nature when I can. I’m lucky to live in Scotland as there are a lot of Munros to climb.

I also enjoy knitting and reading at home, as they help me relax. Some of my favourite books are Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and the series about detective Rebus by Ian Rankin.

Spending time with friends and family is very important to me. However it always involves a lot of organisation since we are spread out all over the UK and Europe.

English is my second language. I also know Bulgarian and German. I really want to learn Spanish in the future.

A career as a structural and civil engineer involves designing, building, and looking after the structures and systems that make everyday life possible. I help create things like bridges, buildings, roads, schools, homes, tunnels, and flood defences.

I use science and maths to make sure structures are safe, strong, and long-lasting. For example, I calculate forces, which are pushes and pulls acting on a structure, such as the weight of people, cars, wind, or snow. I also study materials like concrete, steel, timber, and brick to understand how strong they are and how they behave under pressure. Gravity, which pulls everything towards the ground, is another key factor I must consider when designing buildings and bridges.

When I’m doing structural engineering I focus mainly on the strength and stability of structures. This means making sure buildings and bridges do not collapse, bend too much, or crack over time. As a civil engineer, I often work on larger projects like roads, railways, drainage systems, and water supplies, making sure they are practical, efficient, and safe for the public to use.

In my career, I work closely with architects, who design how buildings look, and construction workers, who build them. I create drawings, run calculations, and use computer software to test their designs before anything is built. I also visit construction sites to check that the work is being done correctly.

Overall, being a structural or civil engineer is about solving real-world problems using science and creativity. It is a career where the knowledge learned in school—especially maths and science is used every day to shape the world around us and improve people’s lives.

I arrive at the office at 8:30am and start the day by checking my emails and looking at the plans for my projects. During the morning, I work on a computer doing maths and drawings to design buildings, bridges, or roads. This helps make sure they are strong and safe.

At 1pm, I stop for lunch and take a break with my colleagues.

In the afternoon, I go back to my desk to solve problems, update designs, and sometimes talk to other engineers or architects about the work. Some days I may visit a construction site to see how the building work is going. I finish work at 5pm and head home.