Four months in Iceland
'Flexibility and a sense of adventure'
Kate Woolley
Job: Tunnel engineer
Employer: Mott MacDonald
Qualifications: MEng civil engineering,
University of Manchester, 2004.
My employer gives graduates the opportunity
to request time abroad. Generally you are
given a month's notice to make any necessary
arrangements but it was different for me: I
was told the week before I left!
Collecting glacier water
I worked in Iceland for four months on a threeweeks-
on, one-week-off basis. The project
involved digging a 50km long, 9m diameter
tunnel for a hydroelectric power plant. We
also built a dam and created a reservoir to
collect glacier water for the tunnel. I had a
hands-on role supervising the finishing works
to ensure the walls were thick enough and
would not collapse. I have also worked on
a wastewater project in Brighton, tunnels at
Heathrow and the design stage of the Thames
Tideway scheme.
Flexibility and a sense of adventure
Working abroad has its benefits and I would
definitely do it again but it's not for everyone
and not all specialisms involve travel. It can
be isolating - in Iceland I saw the same 20
people for 24 hours a day. An international
engineer needs a capsule wardrobe, flexibility
and a sense of adventure. If you are going to
a remote location, take a laptop so you can
watch DVDs, play games and chat online.
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