Building bridges and a career in Engineering Management
Considering an MSc in Engineering with Management? Meet Yuyan Huang, a recent graduate who took the time to share her course experience.
Tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m Yuyan, a University of Bristol MSc graduate and Assistant engineer at WSP – a multinational engineering consultancy firm. I currently work within the Bridges team, and my day-to-day role includes designing bridges and carrying out assessment work.
Before embarking on the MSc, I completed a four-year Bachelor’s degree in Bridge Engineering in China. Having excelled academically and gained confidence in this specific area of civil engineering, I completed some technical competitions to put the things I’d learnt during my undergraduate studies into practice.
Shortly after graduating, I decided that I wanted to further my education, this time focussing on a programme that would help expand my understanding of management to complement my technical engineering expertise. That’s when I discovered the MSc in Engineering with Management.
What does a typical day in your role look like?
My day always starts with checking emails. I work on some very important projects for clients like Network Rail and Transport for London, which means efficient communication and responsiveness is an essential part of the job.
Having made my way through my emails, I would then focus on my design work. I am currently working on strengthening bridge piers that have experienced corrosion. This project involves reading lots of reports, inspecting drawings and assessing recent pictures of the structure to understand its current condition. When I’m designing, I have to adhere to the Eurocode – a set of European standards that provides a unified approach for the design of buildings and civil engineering structures like bridges. Taking the time to understand the various Eurocodes is a key part of my role.
Why attracted you to the MSc in Engineering with Management?
As a traditionally technical subject, my Civil Engineering undergraduate degree gave me a great foundation in mechanics and advanced mathematics. Through this, I gained an understanding of how things work and how to design them. However, I believe that strong management practices in engineering are just as important as the technical side of things.
The MSc in Engineering with Management was the perfect match for me, where I could learn the principles of good management and apply them in an engineering context. I saw this as a chance to develop an understanding of how these projects are managed, and in turn, I would gain career-advancing skills that would help bring me closer to leading engineering teams and projects.
I specifically chose the Infrastructure Systems pathway, because I am really interested in the concept of Smart Cities and all the good they can bring to communities and the wider world. The units covered on this pathway delved deeply into the concept of digitalised and sustainable infrastructure systems, which I found particularly interesting.
What sparked your interest in Bristol and what did you most enjoy about the programme?
What initially drew me to the University of Bristol was its Russell Group status. It is part of a specific group of UK Universities with a shared focus on research and breakthroughs. I was also interested in the professional backgrounds and expertise of the academics that I would be taught by, and the way the programme was structured, which involved working on real-world case studies.
One of the things I enjoyed the most was the different types of learning. Alongside in-class lectures, we also did a lot of team work. One fun exercise we did was using pasta twirls to measure the pasta length, to calculate the mean of all the batch sample means, it’s a very interesting way to learn statistics and data handling. This was a fun and creative way of learning something new.
What knowledge or skills from the MSc do you apply in your current role?
Risk management is something we covered during the course and is an important part of my current role, especially using the Eliminate, Reduce, Isolate, Control (ERIC) risk hierarchy framework. For example, our projects often involve contractors working at height, which can be risky. In these cases, we complete a design risk management schedule to help minimise the risks. Sometimes, we also visit sites to inspect real structures and gain a better understanding for both design and assessment work. Before these visits, we prepare a Risk Assessment & Method Statements (RAMS) report to highlight any potential risks we might face on-site and provide guidance on how to handle them if needed.
Do you have any advice for those considering the course?
If you have a specific background in engineering (see entry requirements), and want to gain managerial skills to apply in an engineering or technology setting, I highly recommend the Engineering with Management programme. With useful units and friendly professional tutors, I am sure you will enjoy your postgraduate year in Bristol!