Profile

Photo:

Sophie Webber

My CV

  • Education:

    I went to Langley Primary School in Plymouth, before going to Secondary School at Devonport High School for Girls (a grammar school for girls only). I studied Civil Engineering at the University of Plymouth.

  • Qualifications:

    11 GCSES (A* – B grade)
    4 A-Levels in Maths, Physics, Chemistry and French
    A First Class Honours Masters Degree (MEng) in Civil and Coastal Engineering

  • Work History:

    My previous jobs have included:
    – Paper girl!
    – Waitress at my local football club
    – Lifeguard
    – Usher at a local theatre!

  • Current Job:

    I currently work as a Senior Engineer for WSP in the UK, in their Water Specialisms team. I am also the UK STEM Engagement Lead. I joined WSP as a Graduate in 2014.

  • About Me:

    Hi! I’m Sophie, 30, a Civil Engineer who lives in Hampshire! My friends would describe me as somebody who is very chatty and loves travelling! I have been to over 40 countries. When I am not working, you will find my cooking up a storm in the kitchen – I find cooking very relaxing!

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    My name is Sophie, I am 30 years young and I moved from Plymouth to Basingstoke, Hampshire to work as a Civil Engineer.

    I live with my fiance, James, who is also a Civil Engineer.  We don’t have any pets but I really want a cat!

    Outside of work, I love shopping (handbags are my favourite) and reading novels.  My favourite book is Confessions of a Shopaholic, which is about a girl who loves to shop! I also love watching football and support Plymouth Argyle!

    I love to travel the world and I go on a lot of holidays.  I have been to over 40 countries – my favourite country is Jordan, in the middle east.  The people were lovely and Petra is incredible!

    I love cooking and eating at posh restaurants.  My favourite meal was at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Paris, after we had just got engaged under the Eiffel Tower!  We try and make some of these recipes at home – although my fiance is a better cook than me!

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    I decided to be a Civil Engineer as I wanted to design shopping centres.  However, once starting at University, I decided that I wanted to do something that would help people and the planet, so took a job working in flood risk.

    I mainly work providing solutions to prevent flood risk for new developments and existing infrastructure i.e. roads, railways and flood defences.  Typically, I deal with minimising flood risk from rivers, the sea and rainfall.

    My favourite project was designing repairs to a railway line that had been built in the Victorian age, to make it more resilient for the future, particularly against climate change. I got to work with Network Rail and the contractor (responsible for building the repairs) to design the repairs and then seeing them being built!  It was really cool knowing that people were able to continue to use that railway because of me, and that it would be standing for sometime yet!

    I also lead STEM engagement at WSP by providing Work Experience placements and helping staff to attend events at local schools and colleges.

  • My Typical Day:

    I normally wake up at 7am and am lucky to be able to walk to work! Once in the office, I normally have a good chat with all of my colleagues about our evenings, before starting work! My typical day involves working on multiple different projects from my desk. I design structures to prevent flooding, write reports, have meetings with Clients and Project Managers, and send lots of e-mails! Sometimes I get to go on site too – the coolest site visit I went on was to an abandoned Power Station that was built in the 60s! It was like being on Star Trek!

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    7am – Wake up! Alarm goes off..

    8am – Arrive at work, have a catch-up and a coffee with my colleagues

    9am – Read and reply to e-mails

    10am – Design repairs to a coastal structure

    12pm – Lunchtime! I am always hungry!

    1pm – More e-mails and maybe a meeting to discuss a project

    2pm – Work on my STEM role, helping to find future engineers!

    5pm – Hometime..

    7pm – Dinner time with some TV thrown in for good measure!

  • My Interview

    • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

      Chatty, hard-working, travel-aholic

      What did you want to be after you left school?

      I wanted to design shopping centres.

      Were you ever in trouble at school?

      No - I was a goody two shoes and only got told off once.

      Who is your favourite singer or band?

      Taylor Swift

      What's your favourite food?

      Spaghetti Bolognese

      If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

      To stop worrying so much (!), to have enough money to buy loads of handbags, to own my own private plane so I could go on holiday all the time!

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