Anthony O’Connor first heard about ROD as a fourth-year engineering student at University College Dublin (UCD). It was October 2023, and he was listening to one of our directors deliver a lunchtime presentation to students. The presentation sparked his interest, and after doing a little research, he discovered ROD was the lead designer on the Waterford City Public Infrastructure Project, a major urban regeneration project just 20 minutes from his family home. In that moment, Anthony decided that when the opportunity arose, he would apply for a student placement at ROD.
Three weeks later, Anthony was speaking to prospective employers at a careers fair organised by UCD’s Civil Engineering Society. Seeing the ROD stand at the event, he approached one our directors, Eoin Ó Catháin, and enquired about the possibility of securing a seven-month student placement onsite in Waterford. Anthony explained that he wanted to be involved in a project that was changing the landscape of his home city and the opportunity to see all the infrastructure improvements it was delivering ‘from the inside’ would be a gamechanger for a young engineer.
Persistence pays off
Placing a student on a project site was not something ROD had done before but impressed by Anthony’s level of interest in both the company and the project, Eoin took the request back to the office. Over the next few months, Anthony kept in touch, sending emails, making phone calls and laying out his previous work experience, which included working as a labourer for a company that built and erected farm sheds in 2021, spending the summer of 2022 in the design office of Malone O’Regan in Waterford, and shadowing one of Malone O’Regan’s site engineers for two weeks in the summer of 2023. His persistence paid off and, following appropriate health and safety training and an induction, Anthony became the first student at ROD to spend his entire placement onsite.
The value of site experience
Anthony started with ROD in early June and is due to finish his placement in December. Over the past six months, he says his confidence has grown enormously: “I have a better understanding of how roads, bridges and buildings are built; the sequencing of construction works; and the roles and responsibilities of the people working on a site including, for example, the Employer’s Representative on a Public Works Contract (one of the roles ROD is fulfilling on the scheme). Anthony knew little about engineering contracts prior to his placement, but he now understands their significance, describing them as the ‘first point of reference’ when questions arise on a project site.
One of the highlights of the placement for Anthony was seeing the workers on the River Suir Sustainable Transport Bridge in the cofferdam, within the river, fixing substantial amounts of steel to form the bridge piers.
Every day brought a new learning opportunity, from seeing the structural shell of the transport hub come together and watching road bridges being constructed on the access infrastructure scheme to monitoring ground investigations for the flood defence scheme and seeing firsthand the practical implications moving a line on a drawing in a design office has for workers onsite.
Key takeaways
The importance of seeing problems before they arise so they don’t impact the programme was one of the key takeaways from the experience for Anthony. He was also impressed by the skills demonstrated by our clerk of works, resident engineers and senior resident engineers in developing a good working relationship with the contractor and ensuring the work conducted onsite met the required standards in terms of quality.
A place on our graduate programme 2025
Anthony is heading back to UCD in January to complete an ME in Civil Engineering with Business. He won’t be gone for long, however, as he has already secured a place on our 2025 graduate programme. Anthony has his heart set on rotations within our buildings, transportation, bridges and geotechnical groups, but the real prize he says would be another site rotation in Waterford, as he would love to be part of the team that brings the scheme to a successful completion.
