ENGINEERING DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION STUDENT TESTIMONIALS AND STORIES

After completing the course at Acknowledge Education in 2023, Urszula has been working as a Trainee Civil Draftsperson at McDowall Affleck, an Engineering Company, in Midland, WA. Her role involves drawing, planning, and organizing residential and commercial projects, creating detailed engineering plans, explaining and adjusting drawings, and ensuring compliance with Australian standards. Additionally, she conducts site visits, test construction materials, and analyze technical aspects of designs.

Urszula’s family has been instrumental in shaping her values, instilling in her the importance of hard work, perseverance, and integrity. They emphasized education and the belief that dedication leads to success. Her extensive travels before settling in Australia taught her adaptability and resilience.

Two achievements Urszula is proud of include: transforming my life to pursue a new career I had long been interested in and securing a job in this new field while still completing my course, despite having no prior experience.

To aspiring students, she wants to advise maintaining a positive and curious attitude. This mindset makes challenges less daunting and helps overcome obstacles, facilitating continuous development and success in their chosen fields.

Living and studying in Australia has provided numerous benefits, including personal growth, professional development, and a high standard of living. The supportive environment allowed her to start afresh at 37 without facing penalties. Australia's multicultural society also offers opportunities to interact with diverse backgrounds, fostering cultural understanding and global perspectives.

Urszula aims to transition into a role as a Trainee Civil Designer within a year, with the long-term goal of becoming a Civil Designer.

The field of Construction, Design and Engineering has always been close to my heart. Growing up, I was fascinated and intrigued by the many construction designs and architectural styles. This passion led me to choose this course at Acknowledge Education.

I enjoy studying this course as it gives me a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of how to manage a project, how to manage people in a project and also how to lead a project to successful completion. I enjoy studying at AE because the team of lecturers are professional, friendly, approachable, helpful and very knowledgeable in their fields of expertise. I also enjoy the diverse cultures and different nationalities among the students and lecturers here. I am looking forward to learning more, interacting more and exchanging ideas with the AE family.

With five years’ experience as a Mechanical Engineer, studying Civil Construction Design opened a new horizon for me and made me realise that construction is a lot more complex, especially here in Australia.

I have grown a lot since I began studying my course at Acknowledge Education. I currently work for a mechanical contractor in Queensland. Using advanced software such as AutoCAD and Revit (skills I was taught at AE), I am able to produce accurate and competitive quotations for our specific trade. Applying techniques and methods provided by our instructor, I can easily navigate any tasks given to me. The familiarity with NCC, QBCC, and other industry standards that I developed at AE helped me a lot with liaising and coordinating with the local construction industry.

I am a civil engineer of infrastructure graduated from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil.

I chose the Civil Construction course as I wanted to expand my perspective and understand the unique approach Australians have to the construction field. I believed that by entering this field, I could unlock the secrets behind its practices and methods. Furthermore, the opportunity to deepen my knowledge of technical standards and interpretation of drawings represented an additional attraction.

During the course, I improved my AutoCAD skills, although I already had prior knowledge of this tool. However, my Revit skills were limited before starting the course. Throughout the classes, I dedicated myself to deeply understanding how Revit works, exploring its features and improving my practical skills. The course provided a practical foundation, allowing me to significantly expand my Revit knowledge.

Currently, in my workplace, I utilize a diverse set of skills to navigate and contribute effectively to the demands of my role. These encompass both technical proficiencies and soft skills. On the technical front, I employ my expertise in areas such as technical drawings, project management, and software proficiency to streamline processes and enhance productivity. Additionally, strong communication skills are crucial in my daily interactions with colleagues and stakeholders, enabling effective collaboration and the exchange of ideas. Adaptability and problem-solving skills are also integral as they empower me to tackle unforeseen challenges and contribute to the overall success of the team.

After three years of rigorous study and training in the aviation sector, Daniel was one of the hundreds of others who could not find his dream job due to COVID impact. In the last two years, he had worked in a variety of positions such as customer support, sales assistant, and civil cadet engineer to make ends meet.

“Change can be frightening, but you know what’s scarier? Allowing fear to stop you from growing, evolving, and progressing.”

In late 2021, Daniel decided to enhance his knowledge in the civil and construction industries by enrolling in the Advanced Diploma of Civil Construction Design at Acknowledge Education. He again found interest in how computer-aided design (CAD) software is used to construct bridges, roads, buildings and many other infrastructures. With this certificate, he hopes to become an experienced civil drafter for a well-known civil design company.

In August 2022, he was offered a cadet drafter position at BG&E – demonstrating that a drastic career change is not as daunting as it may appear.

- Written by Reema Muneer (Trainer)

The Civil Construction Design Course at Stott’s College, so far, has been extremely eye- opening in regard to the career opportunities that will be available to me on competition of the course. With the modules including a variety of technical, business and project management content, the range of skills and knowledge we are learning can be applied to so many different job roles, projects and opportunities which is really exciting!

Abbas, our course leader encourages us to not only succeed but to really excel in what we decide to do following the course and has even opened up his personal network to help each of us achieve what we are striving for. During our lectures and sessions, Abbas is always extremely thorough in his explanations and always gives examples of how everything we are learning can be used in real-life scenario’s which is very useful when it comes to us applying the knowledge we have learnt in the real world.

The level of assistance, support and guidance that is available to us is amazing and I can safely say I am truly excited to apply everything I am learning to the new career path I am creating for myself in the building industry.

I started my Advanced Diploma of Civil Construction Design 6 months ago as an opportunity to extend my stay in Australia. I was excited to start a new course that, in addition to helping my residency status, would give me extra skills in a high-demand industry. This course is ideal for me as it gives plenty of options to pursue my career. It will not only give me a qualification, but also, with the useful modules we are completing, it will help with any job in the future. Now half a year later, I can tell that I still have the same enthusiasm about the course as I did at the beginning.

Its learning platform and friendly tutors have made this experience a smooth one. They give you a platform which is simple to use, and you can keep track of everything there is to do with your course. As for the teachers, I have had 3 different teachers so far and all 3 have been very welcoming and friendly. They ask the right amount of questions and are willing to help you out in anything you need. I have previously asked questions in an email (out of hours) and I have had all the help I needed. If you feel uncomfortable or need to discuss something in private, they will put you into a private room where you can have a face-to-face discussion.

Due to the current lockdown restrictions, we are mainly having online classes, so I’ve yet to meet my classmates in person. However, despite this, the college has managed the online classes well and has developed some team activities that help us to connect with each other through the computer.

I graduated from the college in December 2022, and had my graduate work visa granted in January 2023. I was employed in March 2023. I got the chance of interview from my friend’s reference, I showed the graduate certificate and some previous work I did before, then I got three months internship. Now I’m a full time Contact Administrator in this commercial interiors company, it’s not a difficult job since some knowledge I learned from the college helped me to handle it easily.

I am a civil engineer from India after moving to Australia with my partner. As a dependent. I was looking for a job as a site engineer based on my previous experience. I could not get any jobs due to my of lack of knowledge about Australian standard rules and regulation in construction industry.

After a while of being in this country, I found out construction designing course for my future growth in construction industry. Consequently, I got Advanced Diploma of Civil Construction Designing at Acknowledge Education, Sydney.

After enrolling this course, I am getting information about rules, regulation and resources to understand Australian rules and construction industry. Staff of the college are very helpful. Teachers provide information not only for educational purposes but also regarding the real world. LAWAND MAIKARI is my teacher and he got lots of experience in construction industry, he provides information from his real experience and knowledge that helped me a lot to understand so many things easily.

Studying Advanced Diploma in Civil and Construction at Acknowledge Education has been truly amazing. The course is well structured and well-paced, with an open and friendly atmosphere making learning enjoyable. Our trainer Abbas Haydous is confident, welcoming, enthusiastic, and engaging. He is one of those experts who knows very well how to link theoretical concepts to practical engineering and construction situations. It not only helps us understand things better but also leads to a development of an innovative approach to every concept learnt. His teaching method and approach are outstanding. He puts lots of extra effort to bring the best out of us during our assessments and provides enough support and guidance whenever required. He does everything he can to instill professional skills pertaining to this course. His creative approach and experience sharing in every learning area have given me a vision of how we should be working on-site professionally. Additionally, he is always preparing and guiding us on how we can successfully crack the interviews and handle complex situations with patience at work in the future. He is one of the best educators and if given an opportunity to even pursue the bachelor’s degree under his guidance, I will grab it. He is highly recommended.