In celebration of INWED’s 2022; International Women in Engineering Day, we have asked our female colleagues about their career in Fire Engineering and an insight from our Business Support function team:

• What inspired you to become a Fire Engineer?
• What’s it like working with Fire Engineers?
• A day in the life of Fire Engineer

Parina Patel, Associate Fire Engineer:

What inspired you to become a Fire Engineer?

“I didn’t have much knowledge of engineering before becoming an engineer and had absolutely no idea what fire engineering was. I was fascinated by fire growing up and stumbled across fire engineering by accident in my first year of university when I took an elective: ‘Introduction to Fire Engineering’. I quickly realised that fire engineering was much more interesting than the other modules I was studying and I couldn’t quite believe that there was an opportunity to get paid for thinking about things being on fire! I spent my remaining time at university electing as many fire engineering modules as I could and undertaking work experience in a fire engineering consultancy setting. The combination of theory and practical application was perfect for me as I loved getting lost in the detail but also the concept of solving real-life problems.”

Kirstie Davies, Commercial and Contracts Compliance Officer:

What’s it like working with Fire Engineers?

“After obtaining my Bachelor of Laws, I thought I had mastered the art of being mind blown whilst reciting quotes from Lord Denning and Lady Hale, but I was wrong… so wrong… working with a fire engineer, leaves me truly mind blown 99% of the time.

I am often astonished by the intelligence, knowledge, and competence held by a fire engineer and I think they should be recognised as a valuable asset to society. I am grateful for our fire engineers as they are always on hand to answer any queries I may have, no matter how busy they are. This allows me to be fully prepared for a contractual negotiation, as I can use the knowledge and opinion provided by our fire engineers on their interpretation of a risk, alongside my legal expertise and background.  

I would say, having the opportunity to work with our fabulous team of fire engineers has got to be the best part of my job!”

Anna Powell, Business Support:

What’s it like working with Fire Engineers? 

“With 15 years’ support role service in the Building and Fire Engineering industry, I have learnt many things: that a tall building could be ‘tall’ or ‘very tall’ or even ‘super tall’; that fire engineering can be done innovatively to meet both building regulations and client aspirations; and that fire engineers are a sociable bunch of caffeine obsessives. 

 I have seen many changes – RIBA’s new plan of work (2013), insurance challenges since the Grenfell tragedy (2017), ongoing legislative amendments and code of practice updates, all sparking discussion and debate. Apart from fire engineering being a niche industry, the main constant I have noticed is that it remains an afterthought on some development schemes, rather than the intrinsic cog it should be from the very beginning. Progress is being made and long may my colleagues’ voices remain loud and passionate in promoting the benefits and importance of fire engineering, as a career choice and life-safety necessity.”

Mary Button, Fire Engineer:

A day in the life of Fire Engineer

“No two days as a fire engineer are the same. Some days are spent in meetings contributing to the design of buildings and learning about the impact of our specifications on other aspects of the design. Some are spent writing reports, some doing research (including experiments with fire) and some on building sites or looking at existing buildings. This is one of the things I love about Fire Engineering; there is so much variety and there’s something to interest everybody.”