A Life-Changing Journey

In this month’s journal post, we wanted to provide the opportunity for you to hear directly from Dilara Omur, Project Coordinator at HiH, to demonstrate the incredible journey of a Turkish Geological Engineering graduate who ended up on the other side of the world, working in the field of energy engineering. We are delighted to have her on the team!

I was born in Antalya, in the South of Turkey, a coastal city with a lot of history. Growing up, I travelled and lived in many cities across Turkey due to my father’s occupation. I spent many years living in Ankara, which is the capital of Turkey, and it is here, at Hacettepe University that I studied to become a Geological Engineer. I worked on a diverse range of projects in Turkey, including high speed rail, bridges and buildings.

Although I enjoyed the technical nature of my work, I was more interested in buildings projects and putting pen to paper to create concept designs. I moved to Vancouver in 2018 to experience living in another country and to learn the English language. I took this opportunity to return to school to study Project Management at Douglas College.

In 2019 I joined HiH Energy as an intern. I was attracted to the company due to their approachability and focus on innovative building engineering projects. I have learned a lot since joining, and find every day brings new and exciting challenges.

I have been able to express my passion for technical design in producing project drawings to support our engineering team. I have also used my Project Management training to support the operations side of the business, including project setup, marketing and financial reporting.

There is always a positive atmosphere in the office and we support each other to ensure continuous improvement in our process. As a lover of Turkish Coffee, I have also introduced this to the team, which has led to ever greater productivity!

My aim for the future is to continue to work with our team to learn more about the buildings industry and to focus on project delivery, including my passion for technical drawing and project management.

I am proud to be a woman in engineering and want to thank everyone for their kind words as I have established myself in Canada. I look forward to working together more closely in the future.

Feel free to reach out or come by our office to learn more about our work and to try our now famous Turkish Coffee!

Dilara Omur.