As part of our marketing theme 2020, The Year of The Designer, we have also interviewed our own employees, structural engineers who are working at Peikko units all over the world.
Read a new story and meet Bin Zhu from Peikko China.
Why have you chosen to study civil engineering?
Actually, it didn't take too much time to decide, I still remember that I completed my application in the KFC with my classmates. Civil engineering was the most popular subject at that time in China, but of course, it was also my big personal interest.
When did you start in Peikko and what is your job in Peikko about?
I started in May 2014 as a technical engineer in Peikko China. After 4 years in 2018 I was promoted to Senior project engineer and my duties are to build and manage our Chinese engineering team, mainly responsible for technical promotion and support, connection design and consulting in precast concrete projects. I cooperate with a well-known university and research institutes for our connection experiments and testing. Also participate in legal institutions' discussions to establish important industry specifications.
What do you like most about your job?
Creative work and Challenge!
Тhe precasting industry became more and more popular in the past 5 years in China, we can see great potential in the market. On the other hand, the market has also very strict requirements on our connection technology. Here we have own national structure/construction/seismic design code, and different project design/construction process rules. So, we must do some research and modifications for our connection design process or details to adapt to the market, these works are creative and challenging. New things and challenges really keep me motivated all the time. Meanwhile, I also enjoy the business trips to visit different customers, see different cities' culture, food.
What projects that you did in Peikko are you most proud of?
As I mentioned above, we are doing many "first times" in China, I'm really proud of the time that we are changing the prefabricated building industry in China, luckily I attended all these important moments here. When we provided PD tie design and installation guidance for the first sandwich wall project in Anhui, Shanghai, Beijing. When we successfully completed the first full bolted connection pilot project in Shanghai, which got big external attention in the market. When we got the first bolted connection project in Mariana islands, which is a revolutionary change of the building mode on the island. In addition, I also took part in several national or local precast concrete design /application/ product standards writing or revision on behalf of Peikko China. Meanwhile, some important argumentative testing got very good results, which help sales to get the key to new market.
What is the strangest/craziest thing you have had in your work or were asked by a customer?
Haha, strange thing is very normal here because some of our customers are really new about the precasting and often have strange requirements. I want to share one of my current tasks which is significant and sounds like a little bit "crazy". We are cooperating with a Nuclear Power Plant customer for the precasting research for NPP structure in China, - imagine that huge and thick element with full of reinforcement and the highest possible nuclear safety requirements…
What are your biggest interests outside working life?
I like playing basketball and watching NBA on TV, playing competitive computer games such as DOTA. In the recent years I like to travel and be in the nature: China has various landscapes and cultures, I hope can travel to most of them in future, such as Tibet, Xinjiang, Xian and so on. I also like to organize small parties with my friends and families, make BBQ, play Chinese Mahjong, and drink some Chinese Bai Jiu.
You can read more employee stories at News & Stories