BY MICHAEL BRESLIN
It was a phone call from the Institution of Civil Engineers that headed us in the direction of Ballinamallard Primary School where two civil engineers, both female, spent the morning showing enthusiastic youngsters the ins and outs of bridge building, in the literal sense.
For Stephanie Fallis (26), who was sharing duties with her leader, Emer Murnaghan and two colleagues, it was back to school, literally for it was there she early education before moving on to the Enniskillen High and then, Jordanstown.
She was asked rightaway, aren't female civil engineers a rarity? - "Not any more. They're getting more and more popular as time goes on. It was about third year in High School that I first thought about it as a career, thanks to my mum and dad.
"We were trying to pick a career for me and they gathered up as many leaflets and as much information as they could, and it was actually my mother who came across a leaflet about an Open Day at Fermanagh College, about a BTEC National Diploma in Construction and Building Environment".
So, Stephanie moved on to the College and, having secured her BTEC, she moved upstairs to secure a HND in Civil Engineering at the Belfast Institute. By now, she had completed four years of study, two each at Fermanagh College and Belfast Institute, but there were four more still to be gone through, one of which was a year's placement.
Those three study years she spent at the University of Ulster at Jordanstown and, for her 'sandwich year', she secured a placement with Graham Construction, Dromore, County Down, and, for all of that time, she was involved in the construction of a water treatment plant at Carrickfergus, followed by four months with Ferguson-McIlveen, now Scott Wilson, Belfast by whom she is now employed.
So, what of her firm? - "We're design and consultancy, and I work as a member of a team. The company is split into divisions and I'm in the Highway Section. At the moment, I'm working on the Newry By-Pass and the A2 Shore Road, Belfast.
How do her male colleagues treat her? - "Fine. I had absolutely no problems on site at all. When I was on placement, me being a young female student, and the only female on site, there would have been a certain amount of, 'who is this young thing telling us what to do' kind of attention, but that's only my perception.
"I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Ferguson-McIlveen, and the experience I got was absolutely invaluable, to see how things come together on site. Instead of being in the classroom, you're actually getting to doing it yourself and see how everything works".
Being part of the Highway Section team, Stephanie works alongside six male engineers and three environmental scientists whose role is to ensure that wildlife and wildlife trails along new roadways are protected.
It's obvious that Stephanie is in love with her job, so who better to ask how one of those pupils in her old school, say, could get to where she has got to.
"To start with, I had no trouble getting a job. None at all. I started work last June and I had several job offers, so things seem to be very good at the moment, and that'd part of this whole thing of getting the schools involved".
Indeed, Stephanie and her three colleagues going around the schools are called, 'ambassadors', and she reported a favourable response: "It's basically introducing engineering to the children because there is a shortage. Most children know their career paths, but maybe this is one they didn't know about".
So, what are the academic requirements to become a civil engineer?
In Stephanie's case, she was armed with GCSE's before she did her two-year BTEC course at Fermanagh College. They included maths, science and English.
"Absolutely no regrets", she said. "I thoroughly enjoy it".
Stephanie is a daughter of Gillian and Noel, Ballinamallard and has a sister, Suzie who is in her final year of Architecture in Queen's.
