We continue our #PeopleFirst series with Turnover Engineer Cova Fernandez. Speaking from her home office in Dublin, she enthuses about BIM 360 and the transformation it has delivered to the industry over the last 10 years and discusses flexible working as a mum of two. Joining Kirby in 2015 as Technical Bid Lead, she’s now part of the team responsible for the testing and commissioning of a large data centre project in Sweden.

“I was incredibly lucky to start my journey with Kirby in the preconstruction team working on tenders, collaborating with quality, operations, planning and health and safety to deliver new project proposals, often to long-standing clients,” says Cova who originally graduated from Universitat Politècnica de València in Spain and then went on to do a postgraduate diploma in Sustainable Energy at the Trinity College, Dublin.

“Kirby has an enviable portfolio of clients that trust us to deliver, repeatedly. As a company we have rigorous systems and training in place to ensure that each of our projects delivers to our industry-leading and exacting quality standards. BIM 360 plays a role in that. Every piece of equipment that is installed, tested and commissioned on site is loaded into the software. It’s a stark contrast to the way commissioning and testing certificates were delivered 10 years ago, and it supports our drive to cut wastage, innovate and be a responsible partner to our clients and the planet.”

Prior to joining Kirby, Cova spent five years at Spanish energy provider Iberdrola, working on a nuclear power plant project in Mexico, and subsequently as part of the engineering team in Madrid, before moving to Ireland. Energy, energy reduction and sustainability are a personal passion.

“As a family we challenge ourselves to reduce our impact on the environment. Shopping locally, cutting plastic waste and we have even started growing our own food, with a very enthusiastic three-year-old helper,” adds Cova, who welcomed a second daughter to her family in 2020.

“Engineering is often seen as a career at odds with being a mum. That’s not what I have found working at Kirby. Engineering is an incredibly rewarding career, and one that I would strongly recommend to young women considering their career choices. You have the opportunity to travel, and work with some of the world’s biggest brands to bring their business solutions to life.”

To find out more about careers in engineering go to careers.kirbygroup.com.