Gabrielle
Price

Gabrielle graduated in 2021, and is now started her career as an Assistant Engineer. We caught up with her to reflect on her time at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), and see what she’s up to now.

Why did you choose to study at NTU?

I liked the look of the course and variety of subjects covered. I also liked the option to transfer from BSc up to MEng, as this gave me the opportunity to complete my masters. The feel of the city was also great.

What did you learn – both inside and outside of lectures?

NTU prepared me for my career with industry led projects and taught me how to approach new problems or situations. Although challenging, I really enjoyed the design projects because you needed to bring everything you have learnt so far together.

What does your current day involve? 

No day is the same! I work within the bridges and structures team; one week I could be out on site doing structural inspections or monitoring site work, and the next designing steel and FRP bridges. I’ve been lucky enough to have some great opportunities like working on a railway turntable or one of the oldest suspension bridges in the UK.

What attracted you to this field of work?

I have always wanted to work in the construction and built environment industry, I love the idea of being able change the world around you to make a difference to society, no matter how big or small! The world around us is the ultimate canvas to get creative with, and to be able to say ‘I helped build that’ is an amazing feeling!

What have been the highlights and biggest challenges of your career so far?

A highlight for me was working on the temporary works design for one of the UKs oldest surviving suspension bridges. This was very new territory for me as there were no specific design codes or procedures to follow, and the works we were doing were pretty unusual as we needed to separate the suspension elements while the bridge was still in situ. It was a really interesting project that I got to work on throughout and included site inspection, design and overseeing site works. This was a once in a lifetime project!

Working within a male-dominated industry can be quite challenging at times, especially starting out as a graduate, but my time at NTU has given me confidence in myself and my work to raise any issues to create a better working environment.

What are your plans for the future?

I’d like to get chartered that’s for sure. I’d also like to become a STEM Ambassador to help others get into engineering too.

If you had a time machine, what would you go back and tell yourself at uni?

Everyone’s on their own journey and don’t stress over things you can’t change