water wise
Two young women who moved to Australia to study engineering now call Bendigo home, using their expertise to manage and maintain our community’s most precious resource. By Raelee Tuckerman - Photograph by Leon Schoots Annie Tu and Nathalie Lopez grew up worlds apart but share much in common. Vietnamese-born Annie and Colombian-raised Nathalie were both inspired to become engineers by a desire to help others; both left their homelands for Sydney to study at the University of New South Wales; both love spending their spare time outdoors.
Nathalie, who holds a double major in civil and mining engineering, also found the move to Central Victoria challenging at first, after the hustle and bustle of Sydney and her childhood home of Cali.
And both took a leap of faith in applying for a graduate program in a regional city they’d never heard of, landing roles with Coliban Water that have enhanced their careers.
“I was used to taking buses everywhere in Sydney and that was harder here, so transport was one thing I had to adjust to. Then there was the accent...” Do Bendigonians really sound any different to Sydneysiders? “Yes. In the beginning, I was like, ‘oh my god, I’m having trouble here!’.”
“I didn’t know anything about Bendigo until I got here,” laughs Annie, a chemical engineering graduate who learned about the scheme while scouting jobs on LinkedIn in 2018. “I’m originally from Ho Chi Minh City – a big city that’s very different to Bendigo, so I had to adapt to the quieter life. But it’s much greener here and I really enjoy the lifestyle I’m developing.”
But now, not only have Annie and Nathalie settled well into their new surroundings, they’re also making their mark in the local water industry. As part of Coliban Water’s graduate program, they have broadened their horizons working in different areas of the business and experienced the diverse opportunities available in the oftenmale-dominated engineering field.
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