Marium Hamnawa, 24, is a civil engineer working on the Campbelltown Hospital redevelopment project. She is the only female engineer on site.
Her role within CPB Contractors is to manage quality assurance and risk mitigation for the Cancer Therapy Centre (CTC) extension project, worth around $15 million.
Marium’s primary focus is on the successful delivery of the CTC program and the Linear Accelerator (LINAC), which is a machine designed to administer radiation therapy to cancer patients.
The LINAC bunker is currently under construction with proposed completion in early 2021.
Once complete, the CTC extension will have used 150 tonnes of steel reinforcement and 860 cubic metres of concrete.
The LINAC bunker alone contains 100 tonnes of steel reinforcement and 520 cubic metres of concrete.
This includes 1.2 metre thick reinforced concrete walls and a one metre thick roof, which includes a two metre thick primary beam radiation barrier.
Once delivered, Campbelltown Hospital will offer the highest level of publicly accessed cancer therapy in the region.
The centre has already been voted the best in the state for three consecutive years.
The CTC currently sees up to 220 patients a day and manages 1,600 newly diagnosed adolescent and adult patients each year.
Ms Hamnawa said being a part of the construction team has changed her understanding of project delivery.
“It’s different to what you imagine,” she said. “It looks easy on paper and what you study is completely different to what you see on site.”
“Being exposed to the construction site and knowing where everything fits into the program helps me to identify and mitigate risks before they become an unmanageable issue.”
Ms Hamnawa said she would love to continue her career with CPB Contractors and aspires to become a site engineer.
“CPB is really supportive of women in the industry. I’ve never felt like my gender disadvantaged me. It’s an approachable work environment and everyone is really supportive and will not hesitate to help.”
“I do believe that if there were more women in the industry, the project would benefit from that perspective. Women think differently to men and can solve a problem from a different perspective.”
Marium encourages more to women to enter the engineering field and construction industry. Interested aspiring engineers can apply for CPB’s Graduate Engineering Program at: www.cpbcon.com.au/en/working-with-us/graduates