Spotlight: Team Spotlight – Owen Leckie, Senior Consultant
In our next team spotlight session, we are extremely pleased to introduce Owen Leckie, a senior consultant based in our Belfast office. Owen is a chartered structural engineer with more than 15 years of professional experience in civil and structural engineering projects. Since joining the Fichtner team in 2023, he has contributed to numerous projects involving various technologies, providing technical advice, conducting due diligence, and overseeing site inspection quality monitoring.
Find out more about Owen’s career and experience below!
Q: How would you define Civil/Structural engineering?
Civil engineers connect people, places and things through the design and construction of the physical infrastructure around us. From the water delivered to your kitchen tap to the office you work from, civil / structural engineers were involved.
Q: As an integral part of Fichtner’s civil & structural team, can you give us some insight into what your role involves and the sectors/technologies you focus on?
My role within Fichtner as part of the wider team is to ensure our clients receive a quality product at completion. We are involved from start to finish, reviewing design, programme, identifying risk where applicable and being present on site to facilitate a smooth construction process.
Since joining Fichtner, I have had a superb opportunity to be involved in the green energy transition through solar, wind and battery storage energy projects. I’ve also had the opportunity to help deliver grid critical energy projects bringing older energy infrastructure to the latest and best available technologies.
Q: Our purpose at Fichtner is to support projects that drive the energy transition forwards, what influence can your work in civil engineering have on the sustainability of project development?
Sustainability is key to every engineer’s day to day work. We have an ever-increasing responsibility to ensure that what we build, doesn’t negatively impact our future generations. As a civil engineer, we seek out the most environmentally conscious designs and specified materials to be adopted on our projects. We look to ensure designs are efficient, waste is minimised, and risks are mitigated. At Fichtner, we constantly educate ourselves on emerging technologies with the goal of delivering world class environmentally friendly and sustainable projects.
Q: Can you tell us about a particular project/career highlight during your time at Fichtner?
I’ve had the opportunity to be involved in Data centres, OCGT / CCGT gas turbine power stations, solar fields, BESS and synchronised condenser projects and multi fuel power stations, so there’s a lot of highlights already. However, if I were to pick one I would say I enjoyed overseeing the site investigation works on behalf of our client for a new OCGT / CCGT gas turbine power station which recently went in for planning.
Q: What advice would you give to someone starting out in their engineering career?
Take every opportunity offered to you. Find your passion. Work hard and stay humble.
