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A Day in the Life of a TMR Engineer

Engineering needs people with different experiences, ideas, and perspectives so that we can respond with the best and most innovative solutions to the problems our world is facing.

Through a career in engineering, you can do work that tangibly impacts society and the environment – helping to shape a better tomorrow. You can be proud of and passionate about your work.

Transport and Main Roads Graduate Civil Engineer, Kethmi, is making strides in developing innovative solutions for enhancing road safety and infrastructure efficiency. In her role, Kethmi is involved in preparing sections of key documents of planning projects such as: business cases, option analysis, participating in tender panels for major infrastructure projects, responding to property search enquiries and website enquiries for South Coast Road projects, and keeping track of all South Coast planning projects in terms of their planning protection category level.

Kethmi cites her pathway into engineering started with her passion for STEM subjects, but also because she knew engineering would enable her to pursue other creative passions. An interest in science, maths and how things work are important, but you don’t necessarily need to be at the top of your class in order to be a great engineer. One of an engineer’s most important tools is their own creativity!

Kethmi has been involved in the fashion industry as a fashion and runway model since 2018 and in 2023 she had an opportunity to participate in Miss World Australia as a National Finalist proudly representing Queensland (as one of the eight Queensland finalists). When asked how she balances both, Kethmi said ‘I still do balance my work as an engineer on weekdays full time and as a model on weekends (or on my own time) as I believe that we need to balance both left (logical) and right (creative) hemispheres of our brains to function effectively.’

Kethmi has shared some insight into her daily life as an engineer, and her pathway into the industry – hoping to inspire other young women to pursue a career in engineering.

What does your workday look like? I start my day with early morning Pilates, come to work at around 8:30 am, check my emails while sipping my coffee, do my tasks, attend required meetings, have lunch and go for a nice jog during my break if it’s sunny, and perform more work/meetings before heading home.

What is the most fulfilling part of your role? Knowing that I get to contribute to create Gold Coast’s (my city’s) major infrastructure projects for the next 50 years.

What subjects did you take in high school and how did this assist you in pursuing engineering at university? I took maths, physics, and chemistry. Being an international student, I started university in my home country, Sri Lanka, during the pandemic, and then transferred to Griffith University, Gold Coast. I would say the basic knowledge of the three key subjects definitely helped me during university. However, since university offers lots of self-learning and opportunities to learn from peers, this helped me a lot.

What advice do you have for girls thinking of pursuing engineering? It’s worth the effort you put in while you’re studying for engineering, at the end of the day, you get to learn what you are supposed to do at work all over again which is not that hard, it’s very interesting and over time, you can be good at it!

At Transport and Main Roads we are committed to creating a more inclusive and equitable world where all individuals, regardless of gender, have the opportunity to pursue their passions and achieve their full potential.