THE STEEL INGENØRD
Jens Bro Ross
Structural Engineer, graduated in 2023
Steel allows your creativity to run wild
”Working with load-bearing structures is nerve-wracking and thrilling at the same time. It’s a massive responsibility because it’s a matter of life and death if your construction isn’t solid. But that’s also where my love for steel stems from: Every building around us is founded on the existence of steel. We reinforce our concrete with steel, we structure our buildings around steel, and steel can be cut and assembled in ways that no other material can.
That’s interesting in itself, but what makes steel truly exciting is that it allows your creativity to run wild. As a student assistant and now graduate engineer, I’ve been deliberately exposed to many different projects with a lot of experienced colleagues. Seeing how they problem-solve with steel by letting their creative minds loose on problems is really inspiring.
As a young engineer, you do a lot of calculations to solve problems. And a key learning is that just because you can calculate or design something doesn’t mean it’s buildable in real life. Working at COWI while studying has given me a far better understanding of what is feasible and what isn’t, which is something that I couldn’t get from university alone. Getting your hands dirty and learning from people around you are the whole point of having a student job, and not turning down any of the tasks that come your way is the best way of building the experience that’ll help you think up buildable solutions yourself.”
THE HVAC INGENØRD
Taliya Nabi
HVAC Engineer, graduated in 2023
To me, HVAC is easy – that can be difficult to understand for some.
"I've focused on HVAC ever since my first semester at university. At first, it was more by coincidence, but when we started working in Revit, I decided that HVAC was what I wanted to do. Seriously, I love Revit; I can work in it 24/7.
To me, HVAC is easy. That can be difficult to understand for some because HVAC can be pretty complicated. But to me, it's simple. Whether for heating, ventilation or air conditioning systems, you're dealing with pipes! I spend my days handling pipe sizing and insulation, creating schematic diagrams, and doing clash detection, design and document control. I like the problem-solving and finding the optimal solution in terms of efficiency and sustainability. Even more so, I like the discussions with my colleagues that get us there.
I've seized every opportunity to learn at COWI. But that also means I've had to leave my comfort zone sometimes: When I started as an intern, I thought ventilation would be too complex at this scale. But when I dived deeper into it, I realised it wasn't as complicated as I thought. Stepping into new territories has led me to work with heating and cooling for large industrial buildings, both in the pharmaceutical industry and for airports. And I guess that is my best advice for other students and graduates: Don't discourage yourself; you're here to learn. Just go for it!"
THE DATA INGENØRD
Oskar Schneekloth KellerStudent Assistant in Roads, Airports and Digitization
I make the unmeasurable measurable.
"I'm fascinated by making sense of information where the connections aren't apparent at first. I'm studying computer science and economics and spend my time analysing datasets. But when I come to work at COWI, I take a step back from all that and work with what makes it possible to have the data set in the first place: I gather data about things that aren't usually easy to measure. I make the unmeasurable measurable, so to speak.
I work with reality capture and scan the interiors of buildings to make 3D models so we and the customer can work remotely on redesigns. I also gather GPS data of publicly managed green areas and vegetation, enabling municipalities to make accurate maintenance tenders and control their spending. Doing that work, I get to go to many places I wouldn't usually visit, and when I show up at schools and kindergartens with my back-mounted GPS tracker, the kids often ask if I'm a ghostbuster.
I really like that my job at COWI is so varied. I switch between working at the office – looking at aerial scans of municipal areas or adjusting the data I've collected – and working on sites, gathering data ‘in the wild’ or placing 50 markers in a field to map out a bike path. Marrying the theoretical work I do at university and the hands-on things I do at COWI gives me a lot of energy and balance for my studies. I think that variety is really valuable when choosing a student job."