Five minutes with Deena Tapara

Name: Deena Tapara
Job title: Project Manager | Pou Tikanga
Organisation: Stellar Projects
Location: Taumarunui
Engineering Envy: Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway
Favourite chip flavour: Delisio – Greek Tzatziki (discontinued ☹️)

What first sparked your interest in engineering?

During 7th form at college, I went with a friend to a talk by the University of Auckland (UoA) Engineering Faculty, who were promoting engineering. I went because she didn’t want to go alone. From that evening, I was hooked. I thought I'd wanted to be a scientist – but hearing about engineering's more practical applications, I knew that’s what I wanted to do. I also remember researching that engineers earn more money than scientists – so that helped too.

My friend went on to be a teacher 😊. My whānau is full of civil machinery operators, diesel mechanics and more, working in the industry. My Grandad and I used to always talk about what projects I was working on and he'd give me the best old school civil advice.

What piece of work are you most proud of?

My career highlight to date has been moving into the Papakāinga space and helping our whānau to navigate funding, consultants, investigations, services, infrastructure and the whole process to get started and progress through to construction. While I’m still in the early phases of this mahi, it is so very rewarding, and I want to keep building the skillset and repertoire to help whānau realise their Papakāinga dreams. It’s more of the project management and advisory space for me at the moment, but I love being able to receive the information and process it in a way that our whānau can digest. I’m grateful to have the background and skillset to be able to help them find the best path to utilise any funding to its full delivery potential.

What does a regular working week look like to you?

I'm based 30 minutes out of Taumarunui (with no phone reception for a 25-minute drive!), so I’m fortunate that my employer has afforded me the opportunity to work from home. During the construction season I’m on the road a lot, going from site to site, undertaking site inspections or construction monitoring. I'll meet clients in town, attend meetings and when I’m lucky, I get a couple of home/office days to catch up on all the emails and reporting. During the winter months, it's QA review, project planning for the construction season ahead and getting done all the things I need to catch up on – and training! I head up to the Cambridge office from time to time, which is a nice opportunity to catch up with the team. Working remotely can be lonely!

Who's someone in the profession you look up to?

I look up to all of my Māori colleagues who are doing amazing things for our people in engineering. I admire their career moves, their personal development and am envious of all the international projects and travel – that's a goal for me, one day when my kids are a bit older. I draw inspiration from them to further my own career.

If you had to choose another engineering discipline, what would it be and why?

Back in my first year of uni when I was choosing which area to pursue, it was a hard choice between civil, and chemical and materials engineering. If I could go back, I'd likely still choose civil – but I would've explored ChemMat too, for that chemistry and processes side of things. Civil won because of the outdoors and site-based nature of work and end projects.

What would your 10-year-old self think about your current job?

I think she would think that it’s hard! But she would think it was cool and probably would wonder how she even got there.

If you could sit down with the engineers of the past, what would you ask them?

"How?!"

The pyramids, the colosseums, the mo'ai and all those amazing engineering icons. How were they constructed and moved and engineered? I’m a fan of documentaries about engineering feats.

What advice would you give to the next generation of engineers in Aotearoa?

Engineering is cool! It’s challenging and it’s a place where you can make moves, be part of really awesome projects and make a difference. It can take you all over the world, or it can be used to make your own community better. It’s not easy, but it's very rewarding. Kia kaha, kia māia, kia manawanui!

What do you do to unwind from work?

I love my maara kai (vegetable gardens). My gardens are my place of zen and unwinding – put the mahi in and reap the rewards when it’s all ready. I don’t have to think too much and it's good exercise! Spring and summer are my favourite seasons as my gardens are in full flourish. I love to grow kai and give it to all our whānau who visit, and I love teaching my children about our maara kai. Last year, I planted 500 corn seeds, lots of rockmelons, watermelons, chillies, capsicum, kamokamo, kumara, potatoes, pumpkin and whole lot more. Food sovereignty is key!

What's the best advice you've ever received?

“The world goes round. Keep going – or you’ll fall off!”

Georgina Kingi, my college principal, would often drum this one into us. It was funny at the time (or scary if it was directed at you!) but I still think of it now when some days get hard or tough – keep going, keep pushing through. Tough love wasn’t always appreciated back then, but now I know it builds resilience and character.