Last year as part of our marketing theme 2020, The Year of The Designer, we interviewed structural engineers of our own, who are working at Peikko units all over the world. The Designers are still in focus for us in 2021.
This time we introduce Scott Graham from Peikko Australia.
Why have you chosen to study civil engineering?
After travelling for 6 years after finishing High School I decided it was time to actually do something constructive with my working career. I had no idea what I wanted to do for a career, so I asked my girlfriend (now my wife) what she thought I should do, she knew I had a very analytical mind with a strength in Math so she suggested Engineering… and the rest is history.
When did you start in Peikko and what is your job in Peikko about?
I started in Peikko in October 2014 as the second employee in the Peikko Australia business. I then had the exciting opportunity to travel to Finland at the start of 2015 for training, which was an amazing and very informative experience.
My role has varied over the years based on starting when we were such a small team, doing anything from DELTABEAM® design, through to forklift driving and warehouse management. Now, since the company has expanded in Australia I have been much more focused on the Structural Design element of the business, predominantly with DELTABEAM®, however the use of PSB®, Column Shoes and Anchor bolts and ADJUSTA products have grown in popularity so has the need to work on the design of these products.
What do you like most about your job?
I like the variety of projects that I have had the opportunity of working on over the years and the people you get to meet. The most rewarding part is seeing a project that I have worked on be successfully constructed and seeing the finished product.
What projects that you did in Peikko are you most proud of?
The Linked Apartments in Adelaide is possibly the project I am most proud of, mainly because it was Peikko Australia's first (technically second, the first project had 1 beam…) DELTABEAM® project. This was a 5 storey apartment block in South Australia (3hr flight from Sydney) I worked on this as the sole Structural Engineer in Peikko Australia so it was quite challenging, but I was lucky to have some amazing support from the Peikko USA team for checking my work.
What is the strangest/craziest thing you have had in your work or were asked by a customer?
I can't think of anything particularly crazy that stands out, although Architects tend to come up with some pretty crazy designs with very little thought about buildability, so trying to utilize our products with some pretty outlandish designs is about as crazy as I've encountered.
What are your biggest interests outside working life?
Spending time with my growing family is always a highlight, our 2 year old son is quite a handful but great fun and a 2nd child on the way in March.
My sporting interests outside of work vary from year to year. I'm quite serious about my Downhill and Enduro mountain bike racing, which I have represented Australia at the World Cup before. I train CrossFit most days, and since Covid started I have started to play Golf, a very different tempo to downhill mountain biking but, damn Golf is hard, so that got me hooked! Surfing in Summer and skiing in Winter.
You can read more employee stories at News & Stories