Women in HVACR
lesson , which was that in every kind of work you enter , you need to prove yourself for people to respect and notice you . My strong desire to learn and a commanding desire to grow as person kept me going .
I forged on through my work force making ways for myself when there was seemingly none . I was unfortunate to never have a formal mentor , however , from as far back as my university days and throughout my career , I have had people I admire that I built relationships with . They were and are the people I would turn to for advice . I think having a formal mentor would have been great , and looking back , I have probably had to learn the ‘ long ’ way .
There are a number of things that , if I ’ d had a mentor to guide me , would not have taken me so long to figure out . These include the following :
• I spent a lot of time doing drawing work , which actually derailed my career . Initially this was part of my training and the office was transitioning from using HVAC software to using Rivet MEP software . I was fascinated at how I could clearly present all building services in one model and how easy it was to pick up clashes , produce a BOQ , calculate energy use and cost , and so on . Without realising it , a year had passed and I had not been exposed that much to the technical side of my work . It was not easy to stop doing drawing work because there weren ’ t many people who were skilled in using Revit MEP .
• It was not necessary to consult a senior engineer in every design decision I made . It took me some time to realise that for every problem there are many options and solutions and there will also be many opinions , sometimes too many . What I do now is I take time to consult with the client , understand and interpret the scope of work , then do my research . I would bounce ideas with fellow colleagues and make a decision , possess it and stand by my decision . I am no longer bothered by some engineers questioning my designs , I own my decision . In the early days of my career I would change my design many times trying to do things in a certain way , which was unnecessary .
• Being an engineer is not about completing one project after the other , it is important to take time to seek personal development . Having taken 18 months to travel and broaden my world view , I picked up some attributes which were transferable to my work . I came back to South Africa a better person . I embraced diversity . It excites me to work with a diverse group . A diverse group comes with diverse ideas and better solutions at the end of the day .
To dispel another stereotype , there are in fact many men in many industries who are welcoming to female colleagues and eagerly wait on their contributions . From my own experience however , the most difficult challenges I have faced were related , in one way or another , to inequality . Still today I am often expected to do admin work , to organise functions , and sometimes even do interior design for the office .
I ’ m definitely not endorsing the fatc that if I had the time that I would not gladly do these tasks , but too often standing up for oneself if you have ‘ real ’ work to do results in awkward moments that are actually emotionally exhausting and unnecessary . If I could get anything out of my experiences to share with other companies or seniors – I would urge these people to eliminate these ‘ awkward moments ’, for all young engineers . Equality , in the real world today , goes much further than people perceiving which tasks are associated with being either male or female .
Fortunately for me , nothing has taken away my passion for the design of building services . It is extremely fulfilling for me to be involved in amazing buildings that I can point at when passing by and say , “ I was part of that project .”
Whenever I work on commercial office space and occupants get a chance to interact with me , the most common thing they comment about is thermal comfort . Occupants want to have more control in the comfort of their space . They want HVAC systems that can respond quickly to their needs . They want air-conditioning unit controllers to be simple to understand , operate and maintain .
It is a good time for young mechanical engineers to get involved and be part of these new innovations . If someone has an interest in engineering , no form of existing dimensions of inequality ( no matter the type ) should prevent them from following their career path to success . RACA
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I am now involved in mentoring learners and the interns at work . I like to help young people in need of career guidance and assist them in figuring out the best way of tackling their careers . Being able to share my knowledge and experiences is extremely satisfying to me and more senior engineers should have this approach in my view .
As I accumulated experience in the field , I realised the regular ‘ demeaning attitudes ’ I get are not personal attacks as we too easily assume . People ( especially engineers ) are generally just not comfortable with what is different to their own perspectives , be it age , skin colour , gender or methodologies .
N Moleejane
For over 10 years , Neziwe Moleejane has worked as an HVAC design engineer on various projects including shopping centres , offices , residential buildings , education facilities and utilities . With her work she has always loved the opportunity to be creative , to make decisions and to lead . Her path has not always been easy , but brings so much fulfillment for her to pass by a building knowing she was the HVAC design engineer on it .
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RACA Journal I March 2021 www . hvacronline . co . za