MEMBER PROFILE
Matthew Yin Principal Engineer (construction and maintenance) Toowoomba Regional Council
Matthew was born and raised in Zimbabwe before moving to Australia mid2000s and started his career as a soil technician. He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Civil) from USQ in 2012 and has spent most of his career delivering road infrastructure projects in various capacities from site engineer to construction manager then in a senior engineering role in road maintenance to his current position.
Griffiths St Upgrade 2018/2019 (The infamous roundabout)
How did you begin your career and what inspired you to become an engineer? I didn’t have a clear idea of what career I wanted to pursue coming out of high school. I applied for a few traineeships and apprenticeships in search of some direction. I landed a traineeship in soil testing and spent the next 18 months or so completing a certificate in materials testing. It was this traineeship that exposed me to the world of civil engineering. The technical nature of the work and the idea of having a hand in the construction of the built environment appealed to me. I took the plunge and haven’t looked back since. What skills – technical and/ or soft skills – have enabled your contributions in your role, to team members and to projects? I think an ability to combine my technical knowledge and
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Pierces Creek Road Realignment 2016/2017
experience in road construction with a collaborative approach to problem solving has enabled teams that I have been apart of to successfully deliver several road infrastructure projects over the course of my career.
civil designers were able to work their magic to save what could have been a very expensive mistake.
Which mistake, if any, provided you with the most valuable learnings?
The challenges I face are certainly not unique. Maintaining a road network several thousand kilometres in length while balancing community expectations, defect management and limited resources is no mean feat. I take my hat off to all those who work or have worked in the road maintenance space.
The words “measure twice, cut once” hadn’t really sunk in until a roundabout my team was constructing had to be redesigned halfway through when we realised we’d misinterpreted the levels for the concrete apron. Fortunately for me, some very understanding
What are the challenges, if any of working in regional Queensland?
ENGINEERING FOR PUBLIC WORKS | MARCH 2022
