Meet the Team – Calvin Kirk

Calvin Kirk joined the team as Principal Civil Engineer, relocating to Brisbane from WA. We caught up with him to find out a little bit more about our newest team member.

Why did you become an engineer?

I’d hoped for a career where I would be mentally challenged every day and had continued learning and development. After realising early on that I was both good at and enjoyed problem solving, I looked at where those skills could take me. The more I looked into engineering the more I realised this was where my passion and path lay.

What do you love about engineering?

Finding solutions to problems when there doesn’t appear to be any answers. I also love seeing machines in action creating designs I’ve been part of shaping.

What are you working on at the moment?

I won the civil engineering lead for Wave Park Group for the design of their first wave park in Melbourne. The lagoon will be 22,000m2 and will pump out 1000 x 2 metre waves every hour. It’s an incredible piece of engineering.

What has been your greatest professional achievement to date?

Obtaining my Bachelor of Engineering with Honours followed by becoming chartered and then gaining my RPEQ. I still have a lot more I would like to achieve.

What’s the best project you have worked on?

Hard to say the best one but close to the start of my career I worked on the ‘Bridge Team’ as design representative for 7 rail bridges on FMG’s iron ore line to Cloudbreak minesite.

What’s the most useful thing you’ve learned throughout your career?

Never assume you know more than someone else.

When we look at the innovators in our industry and the use of new technologies and materials we can’t afford to assume we are the experts because the world changes so quickly. For us to stay at the top of our profession we have to keep learning – and learning from any source we can.

And if you are in a room where you can assume you know more than everyone else, you are in the wrong room, be challenged.

What would your last meal be?

I’d just need the first course to start with oysters and crayfish!

How much is a 2-litre bottle of milk?

Whatever price that makes it substantially and economically viable for the diary farmer.

What’s the last movie you watched?

Dunkirk

Who’s the greatest engineer of all time and why?

I’m blown away by what Elon Musk has done and is doing.