People Spotlight: Meet Elsie

WaterWastewater Collection, Treatment and DisposalWater Resource ManagementWater Supply and TreatmentSouth Australia

Tonkin's People Spotlight gives you behind the scenes insights about the technical specialists in our business.

Elsie is a Principal Engineer with more than 20 years' experience in the water industry. In her role as Clients and Growth Lead - Water, Elsie helps connect clients across Australia with Tonkin's wide range of expertise in water engineering.

How did you come to be working in Tonkin?

About six years ago, I was considering my future career path and potential roles with number of different companies. I ultimately chose to join the Tonkin team, attracted to the size of the company and being part of a company that has its headquarters in Adelaide, where I live. Working at Tonkin gives me the opportunity to work with a large, established team, and have an impact in my community in South Australia and across Australia.

What gets you motivated to come to work each day?

Relationships are key and so is building trust and respect – with colleagues and clients. When I come to work each day and can see what we’ve delivered and how we’ve gone about it has led to people valuing our work and our team, that motivates me. The way we work together and our culture at Tonkin makes this happen. Any time that I am able to see how the hard work that we've put in has resulted in building of trust and strong relationships with the clients that we work with, that keeps me coming back.

Water engineering is a broad field – how did you become a specialist in hydraulic modelling?

I would characterise my pathway into water engineering as “following my nose” - choosing to focus on things that interested me and that I was good at – maths and science. I enrolled in engineering with a view that it was a vocational application of my skills, and I have been drawn to and remained in the water industry, motivated to be part of delivering essential services and contributing to the development of sustainable and resilient communities.

My first role after university was with a specialised consultancy. I got to work on many complex and interesting network optimisation projects and the opportunity to work around the world, including six years based in Chicago. This experience laid the foundation for my technical skills which I have continued to leverage in subsequent roles including network planning, operational optimisation, asset management, as well as development of analytics and dashboards that inform decision making. Coming to Tonkin I have really valued the opportunity to broaden my experience in engineering design and construction, apply my skills in these projects, and build a team that supports this work.

What makes Tonkin different from other engineering consultancies?

Having worked at several other consultancies, one of the things I found refreshing when I came to Tonkin was how we really do acknowledge and recognise our staff’s contributions. It was something that I didn't know that I was missing, and that made me really feel welcome and valued here.

What gets you excited about the future at Tonkin?

We are in an exciting phase with a lot of growth and focus on water infrastructure. Cities around Australia need to ramp up delivery of their water infrastructure in order enable new housing developments to ease the housing crisis. Tonkin’s decades of experience designing trunk mains, storage tanks and pump stations makes us well placed to deliver the infrastructure needed to help make these new communities a reality. Our team has grown significantly in recent years, and our forward strategy has a focus on sustainability, which will be crucial to ensuring that the communities we build today are resilient and liveable into the future. We have built a strong and capable team, and we have a lot to offer to the market in the water space, but we also have exciting opportunities on the horizon across the whole business.

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