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This week we profile Matthew Lundy, capital efficiency project manager with Northern Ireland Water and one of the Institute of water’s Rising Stars of 2016.
What was your first job?
Graduate Civil Engineer assisting the CDMC at RPS, Belfast.
How did you come to join your company?
After one year working for a Melbourne water specialist subcontractor, I made the decision to return home to Northern Ireland and put some of my skills back into the local economy. After completing a lengthy application process including aptitude test, interview and presentation I got accepted on to the Northern Ireland graduate programme along with five others.
How long have you been with them?
I have been with NI Water for three years.
What has been your best achievement since joining?
Graduating (December 2014) from the MSc Construction and Project Management, which I studied part-time and was part-funded by NI Water.
What preconception about your company did you find was most wrong?
They carried out very little in-house design.
Who would play you in the film of your life?
Ewan McGregor.
What’s your favourite film and TV programme?
Film is True Romance; TV is The Sopranos.
What would you do if you ruled the world?
Tax the 62 richest people more and ensure sanitation and clean drinking water for all.
What’s your favourite joke?
A man walks into a bar with a roll of tarmac under his arm, and says to the barman: “A pint please, and one for the road.”
Do you have a message for the industry?
As an industry we need to do a lot more to manage stormwater at source, if we are to move forward sustainably and reduce the likelihood of flooding in the future, features such as green roofs, permeable surfaces and water butts need to become the standard instead of the exception.
This applies to rural areas too and the government needs to do more to incentivise customers, compensating farmers for allowing their fields to flood could save the economy millions as a result of reduced urban flooding in downstream catchments. The full implementation of sustainable drainage principles is long overdue.
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