Construcciones Yamaro: Saji Srivelan: Making an impact

Saji Srivelan has an unwavering drive to have a positive impact on the world – a drive that has seen her deliver sustainable innovations and infrastructure that will leave a legacy for years to come.

Quite left field to the role she’s in today, Saji Srivelan studied a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and Pharmaceutical Science at university before discovering her passion for sustainability.

As she neared completion of her university degree, Srivelan made the decision to take a new career path, steering away from chemical engineering after discovering its strong focus on the oil and gas industries. She had also worked at a pharmacy during her studies, again realising it wasn’t a field she wanted to pursue.

“I wanted to feel good about my career and what I was putting into to the world, and working in the oil and gas industries didn’t seem to align with this,” says Srivelan. “Similarly, working in the pharmaceutical field wasn’t allowing me to make the large impact on society that I hoped to make.”

“So, I started putting in applications everywhere I could, particularly targeting the energy sector – I viewed renewable energy as a path where I could use my degree, that I would enjoy and feel good about – and that’s when I came across John Holland’s graduate program.”

Srivelan applied for the program, made it through all interview stages and was asked if, having studied chemical engineering, she was sure civil construction was what she wanted to do. But she says she was excited to give it a go and saw sustainability as a great pathway that aligned with her strong interest in making a significant difference in the world and joined the John Holland team.

“I ended up working in sustainability on the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project for two years, which ignited my love for sustainability and the scale of impact I could have through my role,” Srivelan says.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing. Before starting her role as sustainability graduate on the Melbourne Metro Tunnel project, Srivelan met the manager at the time who spoke to her about the industry and the challenges that come with it, but says nothing could have prepared her for her first day or even first few months onsite. Srivelan spent the first six months of her role discovering what sustainability in construction is and what she could bring to the table with a chemical engineering background, while also learning the lingo and acronyms used within the industry.

“Coming from chemical engineering rather than civil engineering, it took me the longest time to work out that a pile was actually a column in the ground, rather than a literal pile of dirt,” says Srivelan. “It was very much trial by fire – a massive learning curve.”

“While it was daunting starting in an industry that I knew nothing about, I found that I was able to quickly find my feet regardless of my educational background.”

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In 2022, Srivelan moved across to the Pakenham Level Crossing Removal Project, joining the North Western Program Alliance (NWPA) as a coordinator to lead the sustainability deliverables on the project. It’s the biggest Level Crossing Removal Project the NWPA has delivered to date, which involves the removal of three level crossings and the building of two new train stations.

On this project, the NWPA is targeting an Infrastructure Sustainability Council as-built rating as one of its key deliverables, which involves the project meeting certain sustainability criteria, while also addressing the Level Crossing Removal Project’s client requirements.

“Something that I love about the alliance is that we have specific targets around energy reduction and the reduction of emissions from materials used on the project,” says Srivelan. “These targets really put sustainability on the agenda for our entire alliance.”

As part of the NWPA, Srivelan embraced the opportunity to be part of both the design and delivery phases of the project. Srivelan started on the project during design in February 2022, and the project is scheduled for completion towards the end of 2024.

During Srivelan’s time with the NWPA, she has been given opportunities to step into complementary roles to increase her skills in both depth and breadth. In May of this year, Srivelan had the opportunity to work as the acting sustainability development lead, providing her with exposure to the tender process. She also put her hand up to step into a lead role for the Knowledge and Innovation Team to help drive innovation culture on all projects alliance-wide.

“These senior roles have enabled me to deliver more for the Pakenham project, because they’ve given me that background knowledge of what innovations we can implement,” says Srivelan. “For instance, one of our innovations, a permeable kerb product, recently went into the ground.”

The Waste Tyre Permeable Kerbs; Design, Testing and Field Monitoring project is supported by the Circular Economy Markets Fund, delivered by Sustainability Victoria under the Victorian Government’s circular economy policy – Recycling Victoria: a new economy. The project involves the NWPA partnering with Porous Lane and the University of Melbourne to develop a permeable kerb product, which allows water to flow through it to mitigate flooding risks and additionally support passive irrigation of landscaping minimising potable water use. To be able to support step changes like this, says Srivelan, is what’s so exciting about her role.

“It’s been rewarding being able to deliver positive environmental outcomes, but also key social outcomes,” she says.

Throughout her time with John Holland, Srivelan says the company has provided many opportunities for professional growth. For instance, John Holland has recently given Srivelan the opportunity to work across both the Pakenham Level Crossing Removal Project as well as Sydney Water’s Advanced Water Recycling Centre (AWRC) project.

“The AWRC project is giving me the opportunity to develop my technical skills in the lifecycle analysis and materials modelling space, which are both areas I’m passionate about,” she says. “John Holland cares about its employees’ career journeys and consistently offers new opportunities for professional development.”

In 2021, Srivelan was nominated by the Melbourne Metro Tunnel team as employee of the month. Last year, as part of the NWPA, she was again nominated as employee of the month for managing the NWPA’s emissions submission in relation to the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act.

“I’m also proud to have stepped up as co-chair of John Holland’s Celebrate Women Committee – a group focused on showcasing women’s achievements, promoting gender equality and driving a cultural shift,” says Srivelan. “But what I feel most proud of are the initiatives that probably often go under the radar, because they happen in the day-to-day life of a project.”

“For instance, school programs we seek to run can impact many young people, and while we don’t necessarily get to see the results of the initiative, I know the impact on them and their families will be huge.”

In her role at John Holland, Saji Srivelan hopes to continue making an impact to society through the delivery of sustainable infrastructure and solutions.

The post Saji Srivelan: Making an impact appeared first on Inside Construction.

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