NDY
SPONSORED FEATURE: WOMEN IN ENGINEERING
HOW AN IRISH
TOOTHBRUSH LED THIS
ENGINEER TO SPARKLE
THIS IS NOT THE OPENING LINE OF A JOKE. BUT IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN
BEGUILING STORIES, THEN AISLING COUGHLAN IS AN EASY PERSON TO TALK
TO. SHE HAS A GLIMMER IN HER EYES AND A GENUINE ABILITY TO CONNECT TO
PEOPLE THROUGH CONVERSATION. “I JUST REALLY LIKE PEOPLE”, SHE SAYS
WITH A REFRESHING AUTHENTICITY.
N
DY Melbourne office manager Joseph Steele
was “thrilled” to announce Coughlan’s
appointment to the company’s Melbourne
executive. “While extremely competent
in the existing buildings market, Coughlan has an
exceptional set of skills outside the traditional ability
of an engineer. Aisling complements the existing
expertise of our current executive and brings with
her a breath of fresh air into our perspective,” says
an ebullient Steele.
A native of Limerick City in Ireland, Coughlan
didn’t take the conventional path to her chosen
profession. She was educated in all-girls schools and
remembers being told by a teacher at age 10 that she
had the ability to do whatever she wanted with her
life. It’s this statement that has resonated with her
ever since. She credits much of her life choices to
“being open” to possibilities.
Coughlan was introduced to engineering
through a female friend of the family who was
studying mechanical engineering and undertaking
work experience for a company designing
electric toothbrushes.
“It was the realisation that engineers design things
we take for granted in everyday life, from toothbrushes
to tanks, and from beer to buildings,” Coughlan says.
But it was during her graduate year, while working for
a contractor on a luxury resort in County Clare called
Doonbeg Lodge, that she discovered building services.
“This project exposed me to consultancy work and
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PROPERTY AUSTRALIA
SPRING 2015
I found a real passion for having an influence on
design and working closely with clients,” she says.
Arriving in Australia as a backpacker in 2008,
Coughlan came to NDY via three months picking
cherry tomatoes in Bundaberg. She says this
experience, which involved her working in 38-degree
temperatures, was “the worst ever”.
Coughlan started working for NDY in its Melbourne
office in 2009. In 2012 she relocated to the firm’s
Brisbane office. She speaks fondly of her time there,
laughing when she recalls a dress-up Christmas party
she attended as Katy Perry.
Coughlan became an Australian citizen last year
with her partner, Murph, who works as a civil engineer
for John Holland. The citizenship ceremony in
Brisbane was very special to them both. “Technically,
that makes us Queenslanders,” she quips.
She returned to the Melbourne office in 2015 and
enjoys every opportunity to work with people to
achieve the best-possible technical outcomes. This
is reflected in her open-minded approach and her
resolute belief that “no one person has all the answers”.
Coughlan lists being genuine and vulnerable and
having integrity and humility as core leadership
strengths, although she recognises that “leadership
means different things to everyone”.
On the subject of diversity, Coughlan believes it
is “broader than gender” and lists age, nationality,
experience, religion, background and community as
factors that contribute to overall true workplace
diversity. She is proud to be a woman in leadership,
but doesn’t want to be defined by that. Asked about
the difficulties she has encountered as a female
engineer, she is pragmatic.
“If anything, being female in a male-dominated
environment has been a real positive. I often have
a different way of thinking and approaching
challenges,” she says. She would like to think her
appointment to the NDY Melbourne executive will
motivate other women graduates to reassess the
trajectory of their careers, but thinks there is more
work to be done to progress women in the workplace
and particularly within engineering.
Coughlan is clearly motivated by her work. Steele
recently paid tribute to her. “You put your heart into
your projects and our clients clearly appreciate that.”
Find out more at ndy.com
COUGHLAN LISTS
BEING GENUINE
AND HAVING ...
INTEGRITY AND
HUMILITY AS CORE
LEADERSHIP
STRENGTHS.
AISLING
COUGHLAN
NDY, Melbourne
SPRING 2015
PROPERTY AUSTRALIA
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