No-one can under estimate the importance of having a well-trained plumbing engineering sector, but when put to the test around the world, it appears very disjointed with little, if any, in the way of global co-operation, reciprocity of qualifications and a lack of forward planning.

Industry training is an issue that World Plumbing Review is very committed to, as we are concerned by the lack of any formal process to assess, let alone solve, issues of insufficient qualified and competent plumbing engineers/designers to serve the growing needs of industry, government and the public the world over.

It is obvious that even in the most developed of countries, the industry is struggling to attract, let alone properly educate/train, enough students.

The fact that the general public doesn’t readily understand what a plumbing engineer/designer does makes it more difficult to attract students to the sector.

In this first report we decided to interview some up and coming plumbing engineers from various parts of the world to compare the different ways in which they made a start in this industry.

We have some wrap-up comments at the end of this article that are important for you to read and act upon.

Engineering in the family

Based in Beijing, China, Yi Jing Zhang is regarded as a high achiever. She is one of a growing number of female plumbing designers.

In fact, in her office of more than 1,000 people, more than half are women.

Zhang thrives on the challenge that plumbing design engineering brings, and from an early age she was destined to be involved in the engineering field in some way.

“My mother is a civil engineer and my father works as a mechanical engineer,” she says. “I also have a sister who is majoring in architecture. People joke that my family can virtually build a city between them.”

Zhang says entering a plumbing design career in China is quite specific. After completing 12 years of junior and senior schooling, she enrolled in a civil and industrial engineering degree course at Harbin University of Civil Engineering and Architecture in China’s north-east.

“I was 22 when I completed my degree and returned to Beijing to accept a job at the Institute of Project Planning and Research (IPPR), which provides design and consulting services for government facilities all over China. These include hospitals, schools, administrative, buildings, factories and hotels.”

Most Chinese design professionals are committed to their employers, and Zhang has been with IPPR for a decade. In that time she has worked her way up to more senior tasks. A recent highlight of her career was being asked to design the services for China’s first biologically safe infectious diseases facility, designed to BSL-4 Standard.

To ensure the plan met ‘world best practice’ standards, Zhang visited a similar facility in Geelong, Australia, before completing her design.

IPPR is committed to sustainable development in all its projects, and Zhang is a team member working on an enormous project at Dalian that covers 26km² (10 square miles). Dalian is the main port for China's north-east and is a magnet for foreign investors.

“I’m responsible for the water supply and drainage design tasks, including all the design of water supply engineering, drainage engineering, mid-water engineering and rainfall water engineering.

“We plan to build a new water supply factory with a capacity of 140,000m3 (37 million gallons). There are also three sewage treatment plants in this project to deal with 100,000m3 (26 million gallons), 42,000m3 (11 million gallons) and 36,000m3 (9.5 million gallons) of waste. After treatment, the water can be used on plants, to wash cars, for cooling applications in the industrial area, and so on.