ROD Design Engineer, Laura Fernandez.
My name is Laura Fernandez. I am a design engineer at Roughan & O’Donovan (ROD).
I studied building engineering at Universidad Politecnica de Madrid. In my final year, I moved to Copenhagen where, as part of an Erasmus scholarship, I completed my final project. After graduating, I decided to stay in Denmark to undertake a two-year Master of Science in Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), where I specialised in structures.
Denmark was one of early adopters of Building Information Modelling (BIM) processes, so I got an early insight into the application of BIM and digital technologies for building projects.
While I was studying for my master’s degree, I got a job working on building digitalisation tasks in the Facility Management Department (CAS) at the University of Copenhagen. Between my studies and my work, I gained a lot of experience in the use of digital technologies, which proved beneficial when it came to writing my master’s thesis on structural parametric design.
In 2017, I moved to Ireland to join ROD’s buildings team. Since then, I have worked on a wide range of office, residential and healthcare projects, including the detailed design of an extension to Transport Infrastructure Ireland’s (TII) motorway operations control centre and the refurbishment of the existing building. Phase one of the construction stage of the project has just been completed, which is very satisfying to see.
I also worked on the detailed design of the South Donegal Community Nursing Unit (CNU) project, and, more recently, the preliminary stages of the Mountmellick CNU project. Being involved in the various stages of project development – from concept and planning through to detailed design – has been a great learning opportunity for me.
My previous experience in Denmark has been put to good use at ROD. I am part of the BIM implementation team, and our role is to standardise and implement BIM processes within the company. Our team led the integration of BIM with our quality management system and, following an audit by the British Standards Institute (BSI) in 2019, our BIM systems and capabilities were certified to the ISO 19650 standard.
Last February, I attended a Europengineers workshop in Paris, where I met fellow engineers from across Europe to discuss design circularity in building structures. It was a good learning experience for me.
The ‘international’ perspective is important to ROD, and that is reflected in the great mix of nationalities, cultures and personalities within the team. It certainly makes for an exciting work environment. My Irish colleagues are very welcoming and easy to chat to – notwithstanding the many different accents! I really appreciate the effort our social committee makes to integrate new recruits into the company and help them feel more at home here. Personally, I found the sports and social activities on a Friday evening a great way to get to know people.
By living, working and studying in Denmark, Spain and Ireland, I have been exposed me to different cultures, societies and ways of doing business. It has helped me to develop my expertise in various design and construction methodologies and, as a result, I have become more open-minded and innovative in the way that I work.
I would encourage anyone thinking about moving abroad to do it. In my case, it has been really beneficial for both my professional and personal development. An international perspective is a great advantage in work and in life in general!
