As a Principal Consultant, Infrastructure & Sustainability at AECOM, Emily Loquidis enjoys an exciting international career with this global engineering firm.

"I help to integrate sustainability principles and best practice into the built environment by working with all members of the project team throughout the lifecycle of a project," says Emily. "I had a circuitous route to where I am now in my career. It wasn’t always immediately apparent - for a long time I was certain I would become a lawyer. I studied policy and international affairs in university and became more interested in environmental policy and economics, which gradually segued into more technical topics that related to sustainability and buildings."

"Well, I am not an engineer! But I do like that I get to work with many different types of subject matter experts. Working in sustainability stresses integrated processes and understanding synergies between disciplines and having technical fluency and knowledge around each of the teams you work with. That there isn’t one right approach or definition for sustainability."

Sustainability through education

"I had the opportunity to work on The GSK Carbon Neutral Laboratories for Sustainable Chemistry, which was designed for Nottingham University in the UK, as the sustainability consultant for the project. The development was intended to act as a catalyst for industry collaborations to create world-leading ‘clean and green’ research into sustainable chemistry. I enjoyed working on the project because the whole team was focused on delivering a building with low environmental impact and we were able to achieve BREEAM Outstanding and LEED Platinum - the highest certification categories for each of those respective rating systems. The intent to promote sustainability through education and larger market engagement with industry will also have lasting impact."

Choosing to work for AECOM

"I chose to work at AECOM because of the opportunity it afforded to work with many different companies and clients to promote sustainability," comments Emily.

An interesting background

"After university I served in the Peace Corps in Armenia for two years. It was a unique opportunity to learn about the environmental challenges faced by the developing world and had a definite impact on my world view and career path. I like to be challenged, try new things and am a bit adventurous."

Changing the perception of engineering

"Perception is subjective, but I suppose in general that engineering is not just about constructing or fixing things but requires a lot of design, creativity, innovation and problem solving. Early exposure to engineering roles and mentoring from an earlier age would definitely help. Engineering itself covers so many disciplines and it can be hard to contextualise exactly what it means to be an engineer and understand what your job looks like on a day to day basis. Providing insight into actual application would help to understand how women can see themselves in future roles. There is a lot of opportunity in our field and I think identifying ways to promote new services and innovation and highlight that work will help to get support around your initiative and role. Generally I think building a strong network both external and internal to the workplace and building strong relationships with your team and senior leadership is key."

Stay hungry. Stay foolish

"There is a lot of sage advice about fear of failure being the barrier to achieve or accomplish dreams. That sentiment resonates with me. As Steve Jobs famously noted in a commencement speech to Stanford Graduates, ‘Stay hungry. Stay foolish’ - this is key" says Emily. 

Women like Emily truly thrive in their careers at AECOM so review where you might fit and explor what's on offer via their current vacancies.

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