For Graduate Engineer Joy Tanios being a Site Engineer at Ventia has provided an opportunity to cultivate her passion while learning and growing. 

"This graduate position is a time to learn and grow in my work and my passion. I am being supported to do that by everyone around me"

Her passion for engineering began during high school where she hoped to pursue a career that would channel her interest in STEM-related subjects. 

"When I started to look into a career in engineering, I thought what could be better than to be involved in something so innovative, that allows you to be creative, that helps the community and lets you contribute to making a better world."

Joy says she was aware that engineering was a male-dominated industry but through the guidance and advice of other women in the industry she decided that it was the right path for her.

"I saw and heard the industry was growing from other women."

Everyone said that it's a great industry to work in and just because it's not overflowing with women doesn't mean that women can't do it.

Joy started working on the Sydney Roads Asset Performance (SRAP) Contract as a Graduate Site Engineer in July 2021. She says it was a fantastic opportunity to join a completely new contract. 

"It was so great that I was able to start from the beginning because I felt like I was there from the get-go, and we were all learning together,' Joy says. 

Working as a Graduate Site Engineer has enabled Joy to expand her skill set, continually learning and growing increasingly comfortable in her role. 

"The great thing about the team which, I didn't realise I would be doing but love now - is that you are liaising with everyone. You get to learn a lot, not just about what is going on in your team but the entire contract." 

^{Pictured above: Joy Tanios, Graduate Engineer and Mia Kornfield, Graduate Engineer.} 
 

Joy says she has been able to gain immersive engineering experience by being out on-site and engaging with various stakeholders across the contract. 

"I felt like I was very supported on-site, it was a learning environment. I've noticed a massive growth in my confidence from when I started going out on-site till now."

Joy hopes that anyone with a passion and interest in engineering considers it as a career option regardless of conceptions about the industry. She says she is optimistic about the future of the industry and the direction it is heading in.  

"Just because it has been a male-dominated industry doesn't mean that it can't change - it is changing. I think that it's such a great career path for people with a passion or interest in STEM."
 

^{Pictured at top: Graduate Engineer Joy Tanios (SRAP Contract)}