Aaliyah Jabbar

I’m Aaliyah, and this is my story.

For most of my life, I’ve been interested in construction and the evolving picture of engineering. Travelling around the world with my family when I was younger — places like Malaysia, South Korea, Dubai — I’d be fascinated by all the new buildings popping up, and how the built environment was constantly changing. I wanted to understand how these things actually worked from the ground up; how they came to be, and the impact they had on people’s lives.

But when I looked at the engineering sector, I couldn’t see anyone else who looked like me. It was very white and very male. People would tell me that I couldn’t do engineering, that it wasn’t possible without an A-level in maths (which turned out not to be true), and that it wasn’t the right fit for me. I’d often find myself wondering: ‘But why not?’

Too often, we build our own barriers. I heard a lot of opinions when I was at school and college, but I made it my business to gain my insights from actual industry professionals and through work experience opportunities.

I chose NTU because it was full of my people.

My three siblings had all attended NTU to do construction-related degrees, so in a lot of ways they were my inspiration. I wouldn’t have just blindly followed them, though. NTU still had to prove itself to me.

I knew the ‘Red Bricks’ had great reputations, but it was things like the University’s awards, its built environment facilities and its student satisfaction results that really swayed me. I was struck straight away by a sense of community: all these female lecturers, professors and graduates who’d gone out into the world and done amazing things in construction.

I can’t overstate just how much I developed at NTU. Yes, the course was fantastic, and the technical skills I developed were great — but it was about more than that. It was about being supported. It was about growing new perspectives, and learning to see things in a less binary, ‘right-or-wrong’ way. It was about all the extracurricular stuff: becoming a student mentor and a rep for the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, providing the same standard of support to others that I’d received myself, helping people to learn more about engineering, and really building my interpersonal skills. That natural ability to understand other people and their concerns is priceless once you’ve entered the world of work.

After graduating, I began putting my different skills to good use.

For the past few years, I’ve been working as an assistant engineer and project manager at Amey. I joined the company on a two-year grad programme, and I actually secured my place before I finished my degree. I think that proves the benefits of doing a placement — as I did — and getting yourself out there. I loved the programme, and progressing from it was, I think, my proudest moment so far.

My job at Amey has had a lot of variety, and I’ve worked with several major clients — organisations like the Ministry of Justice, National Highways, and local councils. From bridges over road networks to prisons, we’ve helped our customers understand how they can extend the lifespan of their buildings and infrastructure assets. Whilst doing this, I’ve been working with senior engineers in environments I never imagined I’d experience.

Whoever you’re working with as an engineer, and whatever the project is, communication is such a vital part of the job. You can’t just lean on your technical skills; you can make all the recommendations you want, but you’ve got to relay them in the right way, building a sense of rapport whether the news is good or bad. That’s as true of colleagues as it is of clients and stakeholders. All the time, I’ve got to understand the scope of the projects I’m involved in, ask the right questions, and ensure I know what’s being asked of me. With time, confidence and experience, you learn to be supportive and understanding of other people’s perspectives; to take on board what they have to say. As I learned at NTU, there’s never just one answer in engineering.

I’m now moving on to my next role as a Senior Consultant at one of engineering’s ‘Big Four’ firms, and I can’t wait to get started!

The best advice I could give is to avoid being defined by your background.

We can be our own worst enemies, labelling ourselves, deciding what we can and can’t do, what we are and aren’t good for, based on the things we heard once upon a time. You don’t always need to listen to what other people are saying.

People are amazing, and the world can be an incredible place — but it’s only as good as you make it. You’ve got to have that positive mindset, that desire to make life what you want it to be, because the opportunities are out there. The construction sector’s changing, and it doesn’t matter now what your background is in the way it used to. For any women worrying about joining a traditionally male-dominated industry, just ask yourself — why not you?

Because I did it!