I’m from Cracow, Poland, where I finished my master’s degree in civil engineering at Cracow Technical University. To be honest, at the end of high school I wasn’t sure what path I should pursue. At some point, I considered film school, but at the last moment applied for civil engineering as a practical choice. Again, being honest, I didn’t particularly enjoy my time at the university, but it opened the doors for my quite satisfying career path. I remember two months into my first job, I’m on the plane to the Bahamas for a project for the Marine Defense Forces thinking, “I’m the first person from my family to cross the Atlantic!”  

A fun fact about me is that I’m doing a post graduate study in yoga and relaxation at Warsaw University of Physical Education, preparing for my retirement career path change in 30 years.

My first years after graduation, I worked with a general contractor on marine projects around the world, from port construction in beautiful Costa Rica to island construction in Dubai. I returned to Poland and currently work in a planning consultant capacity on construction projects in the pharmaceutical and high-tech industry.  

What I like the most about construction is that you see in the physical world the result of your work. You can open google maps, zoom in and say – hey, this was my job. As a project planner, I enjoy having a holistic overview of the project, from contractual, commercial aspects required for the schedule, through execution sequencing, dependencies between phases and systems, etc. That also means that I get to talk with numerous project stakeholders, which I enjoy.

As the project controls are in initial development stages in Poland, I want to participate in development of these standards and methods which hopefully will result in the more efficient execution of the strategic project (i.e., building the country’s energy security).

My biggest career challenge was a project in Dubai where I needed to step up into the lead role, as well as develop new skills in a very short time that included data visualization and 4D planning. It was a very intensive time but extremely satisfying, especially that I could see ‘my project’ literally growing next to the Dubai shoreline.

In December 2022, I joined AACE as a member to relaunch the Poland and Ukraine Section of AACE and to contribute to the improvement of the project controls standards in my home country. I hope to get to know like-minded colleagues, learn from their experience, as well as share my experience with others. Locally, I hope to build a community of project controls engineers who can grow professionally using the AACE materials, standards, and network.

What I like the most about AACE is that it is so easy to connect with someone from a selected field area of interest and ask for advice.