A Day in the Life of a Project Engineer

Her choice of engineering as a career was never in doubt, with her mother, aunts and father all being engineers.

We spoke to Anamaria to find out what she loves about following in her parent’s footsteps, how she’s built her career to date and what it means to be a project engineer at SOCOTEC Monitoring.

Do you have a typical day?

I am responsible for organising and overseeing the installation of large, project specific geotechnical and structural monitoring systems across rail, road and building projects, assisting the project manager and delivery teams.

My day usually begins with checking my emails, spending some time organising and prioritising the day's to-do list. Depending on the phase of each project I’m working on, I handle different types of tasks, which could include document preparation, planning the installation works, site visits, liaison and meetings with clients and analysing and reviewing data in Calyx OMS™ – SOCOTEC Monitoring’s data visualisation software. It is this daily variety and being able to work on projects from the start right through to completion, which I find so enjoyable.

How did you become a project engineer?

Having studied geodetic engineering at university and obtained my master’s in processing and analysing geospatial data in Bucharest, working as a project engineer was the next natural step, putting into practice what I had studied.

To date, my roles have been varied and have included being a photovoltaic project engineer in Bucharest, a geodetic engineer in Passau and a design coordinator in Doha. I certainly never dreamed that, by the age of 27, I would be one of just five women in the State of Qatar working on the Doha Metro.

After two years on this high-profile project, I sought further international experience and on moving to London in 2016, I joined SOCOTEC Monitoring as a project engineer.

What type of projects do you work on? 

Some of the projects I’ve been working on include DAMAC Tower, K1 Development, Nova Phase 2 and Silvertown Tunnel, among others. This can change, however, depending on the need of other SOCOTEC Monitoring projects. I love getting to work on these kinds of major projects in my specialist field.

What does the future hold?

I believe that the things that you want in your life will show up when you stop chasing them so, at the moment, I am focused on carrying out my current role really well, delivering exceptional service for SOCOTEC Monitoring’s clients. My aim is to take on more responsibility, stepping up as a project manager when the time is right.

Any advice for those looking to become project engineers?

The main challenge of my role is meeting client deadlines and ensuring the best quality of work and practices. The core skills you need to succeed at this include an ability to work under pressure, prioritise, be confident in making decisions, as well as having excellent communication skills. I would say to anyone thinking about becoming a project engineer, make sure you have these skills and be prepared and open-minded to face all kinds of challenges. Yes, it can be demanding at times, but that’s part of the fun.