26 Jun 2018
Young Engineer of the Year 2018 Jenny Chu is a civil engineer with an impressive track record in community involvement. She describes her win as “an honour and a privilege” and plans to build on her success to keep creating opportunities for others.
Jenny Chu CMEngNZ CPEng, 29, knew from a young age she wanted to be an engineer and follow in the footsteps of her father.
“Hearing about all the exciting work that he did, how it helped millions of people, and seeing the cool toys that he got to play with planted a seed in my mind at an early age to grow up to be just as cool as him.”
She studied engineering and law at the University of Auckland and was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand, but chose to focus on engineering.
“It’s a personal, creative and innovative endeavour that creates opportunities for people, especially through the very infrastructure work that enhances communities and will last for many generations.”
Jenny says her legal background allows her to look at issues with a broad lens.
“Being able to leverage on this diversity of thinking and mix of skill sets has allowed me to solve problems more effectively and creatively.”
To date, her career has centred around transport. She is Senior Civil Project Engineer at City Rail Link Ltd (CRL), working on the huge transformation of Auckland’s rail network (see March EG for a full feature on the CRL).
I wanted to create opportunities for people, as well as to continuously learn and challenge myself.
“It’s a project that has been discussed for over 100 years. It’s an honour to be part of the team that is turning this idea into a real legacy for Auckland and the New Zealand engineering industry.”
Engineering New Zealand’s Young Engineer of the Year award recognises an engineer who is a model of excellence for other engineers, demonstrating excellence in their career, leadership qualities and contribution to their community.
Jenny Chu
Jenny says the win is a great reminder of the projects she has worked on and the people she has worked with, and a reminder of why she chose engineering.
“I wanted to create opportunities for people, as well as to continuously learn and challenge myself.”
Her community involvement includes being UNICEF New Zealand Executive Board Trustee, Aotearoa Youth Leadership Institute Board Chair and a member of the Asia New Zealand Foundation and Infrastructure New Zealand. In addition, she has been selected for high-profile international delegations including being New Zealand Youth Delegate for a UN Climate Change Summit. She also helped establish the New Zealand Tunnelling Society as a platform to promote best practice for people involved in the tunnelling community.
“It is a very exciting time for tunnelling in New Zealand as there is a resurgence in major tunnelling and underground work,” she says.
So, of her many and varied achievements, what makes her most proud?
“Establishing Engineers Without Borders New Zealand with my friends 10 years ago. This was to build a network of socially minded engineers and provide equal access to engineering knowledge in New Zealand and the South Pacific to enable communities to live a life of opportunities.”
Jenny speaks English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese, and as an Asian female she knows she’s helping break down stereotypes about engineers.
“This reflects the changing fabric of the society we are living in and our industry. I’m looking forward to supporting further work to embrace and celebrate the diversity we have in engineering, such as the Diversity Agenda.”
Jenny is happy to reveal the secret to her success – it’s putting up her hand to try a variety of things. “And I have been very fortunate to have had people who support, challenge and guide me along the way to give different things a go.”
As for a 10-year plan, Jenny’s is still broad.
“I look forward to continuing to build on my experience to plan and deliver infrastructure projects for our communities, which will facilitate an exchange of knowledge between different disciplines and industries, and different parts of the world.”
