Alumna of the month - December 2011

Angela Malynn
MSc Building Services Engineering, 2011

After achieving a distinction in her master’s degree, LSBU alumna Angela Malynn has worked as a member of Arup’s team on the Kings Cross redevelopment programme, has been named CIBSE/ ASHRAE Graduate of the Year and has acted as a Stemnet and IMechE ambassador, helping to promote engineering to young people.

Angela always had a keen interest in engineering, this interest stemmed from having a friend who was an engineer on Concorde. Before embarking on her undergraduate degree course she worked a nine month placement in Arup. After graduating Angela returned to Arup to work as a project manager. Although she found this side of the business very enjoyable Angela felt she was moving away from her engineering background, so after some discussion with her manager she moved across to one of the engineering groups and subsequently agreed it would be very beneficial for her to study for a master’s degree in Building Services Engineering to aid and enhance the skills she had obtained in order to progress.

Having returned to engineering Angela spent most of her time overseeing the large Kings Cross redevelopment: A new concourse, new roof and new light on old faces. It was imperative the team keep on track in order to ensure the station was fully operational for passengers before the 2012 Olympics. The most noticeable feature will be the new roof, the huge steel structure supported by 16 steel ‘tree’ columns and one central ‘latticework’ funnel column. The large uninterrupted concourse will allow passengers to circulate freely and the new panelled roof will allow natural light to filter in.

As Angela was working throughout her MSc she needed to study within a close proximity, “London South Bank University has a strong reputation for courses in this industry and is the only London University offering Building Services degrees as a lectured course”. After being asked about her time at LSBU Angela says; “The lectures were fantastic, the lecturers knew in depth what they were teaching and had relevant experience. It was also a great opportunity to build up contacts and network as there are lots of people in the industry on the course”.

The CIBSE/ASHRAE Graduate of the Year Awards invites graduate engineers from all over the world in a building services related discipline to enter their presentation on a chosen topic. The award scheme is now in its 16th year, and is sponsored by Baxi Commercial. Angela was selected as this year’s Graduate of the Year for her presentation “How can young engineers lead the profession to ensure we deliver a sustainable future?” and faced some fierce competition. Angela has won a trip to the ASHRAE Winter Conference in the USA. This year the venue is Chicago where the fortunate graduate engineer will be a guest of honour.

Alongside work and study Angela also acts as a Stemnet and IMeche ambassador, helping to promote engineering to young people. As a member of the institution of mechanical engineers and an employee at Arup, Angela often gets contacted to present in local schools and organisations to talk about the industry, studying and working in engineering and to run workshops. 

Although Angela experienced the pressure and difficulties of studying with a half day release from her job, she is extremely happy she chose to complete her master’s. “It gave me a much better grounding in my discipline of engineering; you don’t always get to run a single job from start to finish at work due to other project demands, so this has given me the opportunity to practice most aspects have a much better understanding of the entire design process”.

Top tip….
“When trying to find your work/study balance you have to really put your foot down, find a balance and choose what takes priority week to week”.

Plans for the future….
Design management has always been an area of interest for Angela. In the future she would like to get involved with multi collaborative projects. 

We congratulate Angela on being awarded Graduate of the Year and wish her every success in the future.