The story of Nurisa

Ten years ago, I started at Witteveen+Bos Indonesia as a structural engineer. One of my first projects was the development of a land reclamation project at Kapuk Naga Indah. In 2014, I decided to increase my knowledge further by taking a six-month course at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen while continuing to work at Witteveen+Bos.

During this period, I worked on some international projects in the Netherlands and Kazakhstan. I was welcomed into colleague Hans Laagland’s group. Working on these Indonesian and international projects helped me to become more mature and grow both personally and professionally. Knowing many people from different offices and disciplines is one of the crucial elements of developing a network and learning new aspects of projects from different perspectives.

In 2015, I took a year leave to pursue my master degree at Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France.  My degree specialised in earthquake engineering and geostructural interaction. It brought me up to date on the newest research and developments in geotechnical and structural engineering.

After obtaining my degree, Witteveen+Bos offered me the position of group head of Design and Visualisations. I saw it as a very challenging opportunity, not only because I didn’t have a drafting or GIS background, but also because managing a group of people was something new for me. As time went by, I tried to share my knowledge as a (structural) engineer with my group while also learning from them. They taught me many things about visualisation and 3D modelling. My group’s work is very much concerned with international cooperation, namely with offices in Singapore, Dubai, Belgium, Kazakhstan and the Netherlands. Knowledge sharing is a continuous process, but I hope we can develop even further and meet the global challenge.

Beside my role as group head, I’ve also continued my work as a structural engineer and project manager, especially in port-related projects. I’m enjoying the mix of being an expert alongside performing my management tasks. It creates different points of view and perspectives. One of my goals is to contribute more in this international setting, working in an intercultural environment with mutual respect, knowledge sharing and learning from each other’s experience and mistakes. I’m glad that Witteveen+Bos is further highlighting sustainable development and green design, as my goal is to contribute more in the interest of our environment.