Acoustic Engineer
Name: Tracy Gowen
Career stage: Senior - 10+ years' experience
Working: Office
High School Subjects: Maths, English (adv), Physics, Geography (ext)
Favourite: Geography, because it explained how the world worked
Further study: University
where and what: Bachelor of Engineering (Geomatic) at UNSW
"I get to see a broad range of construction projects and I contribute to the making of some pretty cool infrastructure. It's very satisfying to catch the Metro from Chatswood to Rouse Hill knowing that I helped to build it."
the inside scoop…
What does a Acoustic Engineer actually do? We work out how much noise and vibration a major construction project (such as Sydney Metro) is likely to make for different stages of the work and design ways to reduce the noise or manage it. We use computer software to build 3D models that help us calculate the noise and vibration levels, design things like massive acoustic sheds that allow work to be done at night and provide information to assist with community consultation.
What does a day in your life at work look like? I work in an office off site most of the time because I work for an independent consultancy that supports the construction contractors. From time to time we will attend meetings at the construction site office, but these days a lot of meetings are done on Teams to cut down on travel time. We go out on site a lot to measure noise and vibration during construction. This helps to show that our calculations are correct, or where they are not we can adjust the calculations to give a more realistic result.
What's the best part of your job? I get to see a broad range of construction projects and I contribute to the making of some pretty cool infrastructure. Very satisfying to catch the Metro from Chatswood to Rouse Hill knowing that I helped to build it.
What made you realise construction could be for you? I wanted to do something with maths, maps and outdoors. I got some of those things, but less outdoors as I got more experience. That works out well anyway. I got great experience helping out on a road construction project while I was at university, doing everything from getting lunches through to surveying in stormwater pits. Great experience that I still lean on even now many years later.
Tell us about a favourite project you're working on. Sydney Metro City and South West has been one of my projects since around 2016. We started working on the tunnelling stage of the project, working out what noise and vibration mitigation measures were required to allow the tunnelling to be carried out 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We design sheds, noise barriers and enclosures for the surface worksites and predicted who was going to be noise affected by the giant tunnel boring machines tunnelling away deep underground between Chatswood and Marrickville. When the tunnelling was completed, we started working on the next stage of the project, which included fitout of the rail tunnels and stations. It's almost finished now and I am excited about taking a ride on a driverless train underneath Sydney Harbour next year.
Tell us about balancing work with your other interests, or family. Before I had kids work was important, but my down time was always important to me too. With my work, weekends were usually free unless there was noise or vibration monitoring to do, so I always made the most of them by enjoying my sport (sailing, mountain biking, bushwalking). Time in nature being active always clears my mind sets me up for the week ahead. After kids, I was fortunate to be able to work flexible hours, with some days from home. This allowed me to juggle my career and family. It can be tiring at times, but it is also extremely rewarding. And I still make time for my sport on weekends, because I still need me-time.
What's the best thing about working in construction? Working in construction is never dull. Things are always changing and as consultants we need to keep up with the program. This needs fast decision making and design, which often needs collaboration between different teams to be able to find the best solution. Working in construction you are part of one big team all working towards the same goal, to build the project.
Tracy is open to engaging further via: Speaking at a high school.
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