Stephanie Stanovic 34

Civil Engineer

I wanted to be a civil engineer because I loved math at school and I was very good at it and because I wanted be in a career where I could build things that matter.  There is a tremendous satisfaction in designing things, and solving problems, that improve our way of life.  Right after university I had a lot of options about what part of the field I wanted to work in.  If you’re a civil engineer you can go just about any direction you want in the construction industry.  You can specialize and you can go into construction management, corporate management, computer design, consulting – almost anything. I could have gone after a career at a government agency or a municipality but I wanted to be in the field involved in my projects.  I had a couple of jobs in the first few years and they were all pretty good jobs.  For a while I worked with a consulting firm doing highway designs and writing specifications.  I found that pretty interesting but I really found my niche when I started with my current company.  We build sewage and water treatment plants and I’m not so much actually designing installations as much now as I am working with clients on solutions to their problems and doing research to determine a project’s requirements.  Next spring we’ll be doing a treatment plant in the Eastern part of the province and I’m really excited because it will be the first time I’ll be the project manager and be responsible for the construction work.