Interview: Student Structural Engineer – Emmanuel Oke

From a young age, I have always loved playing with Lego, using my imagination to construct houses, ‘skyscrapers,’ airports, and bridges. I grew up eager to learn and understand how our built environment becomes ‘built.’ After being accepted into Imperial College London’s Civil Engineering program, I found my Structural Engineering module the most compelling. I experienced an uncanny satisfaction from our structural design modules. Hence, during my gap year, I found LSY on LinkedIn and messaged Sean asking for a role for a few months.

Being a Structural Engineer at LSY is an extremely satisfying job. I was given significant responsibility, running projects from start to finish with minimal support. Applying concepts I learned at university to real-world scenarios and designing structures gave me a lot of satisfaction. This came with pressure to perform, but the culture at LSY made it constructive. It exposed weaknesses I wouldn’t have otherwise known. Discovering and addressing them under pressure wasn’t easy but fostered growth I couldn’t have achieved otherwise.

Being a Civil Engineer at Imperial College London meant I wasn’t fazed by the intensity at LSY. Working under pressure will now make university feel easier. What I learned at university, especially in my structural modules, was highly applicable in the real world. However, I do believe civil engineering degrees should prioritise software like AutoCAD and Revit, which I learned only through internships.

Looking at Structural Engineering as an industry, it is, of course, a vital part of our world, as we build structures that support every single part of any economy. London’s construction sector is one of the biggest in the world. Such a vibrant and historic city provides numerous projects, all with different constraints, big and small. However, I do feel that a lot of talent is drawn towards finance and tech, especially in London, due to higher pay (which is a result of the shape of the UK economy), and this means the industry lacks the talent it needs. The UK needs to build now more than ever, and therefore Structural Engineers will be in high demand.

As for the wider construction industry in the UK, it is clearly broken. On a macro scale, government policies do not incentivise high-quality, well-managed construction projects in the right places to serve the people who really need them. On a micro scale, I saw the detrimental effects that poor management can have on projects. The quality of managers and the competency of those making big decisions on projects could really be improved in the UK. All this industry knowledge I saw, experienced, and learned during my time at LSY, something I am grateful to have had the opportunity to do at such a young age.