Melissa Burton
“I think the more we are able to engage with wider communities in which we live and operate the better we are at supporting a development of a built environment that listens to and reflects these communities. We shouldn’t be protective about our gained knowledge. The more that we share, the more we will all grow.”
#WomenWhoBuild, meet Melissa Burton!
Melissa is the Canada Consulting Practice Leader and Principal for Arup Toronto as well as the lead on Arup’s Americas Wind Skills Network. Her work with the firm focuses on climate modeling and wind engineering applications for some of the world’s tallest buildings. In addition to her work with Arup, Melissa serves on the Board of Directors at the Applied Technology Council, is on the Board of Trustees for the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation, and serves on the ASCE7-49 committee in setting standards for wind flow modeling.
We sat down with Melissa, virtually of course, to discuss her journey in engineering, her day to day, how traveling throughout her life has impacted the way she approaches each project, and what her advice is for someone considering a career in engineering.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey in engineering? What was your first introduction to the field?
The story of how I got into the field is funny.
I grew up in a small town just outside of Toronto, and when I was 7 years old a very impactful and life pivoting event occurred. My dad had just bought a new car, he was working in Toronto so he was typically commuting an hour back and forth to the city. That particular day he had picked me and my sister up from school. He didn’t typically do this as he wasn’t often home until after dinner, however, that day he showed up to school and drove us home. About an hour after we got home from school there was a massive storm that was rolling into the city. The power had gone out and my mother, who was sitting in the front room of our house, all of a sudden shouts “tornado, get in the basement”. The tornado effectively came over our neighbors house, dropped down, and decimated the entire street, totaling my elementary school, as well as my father’s new car.
I remember at the age of seven being overwhelmed with the power of weather. I think that if I were to rewind my life and think about the most impactful moments, I can’t help but think of that moment at the age of seven where we spent a number of days without power and with the Army coming to our neighborhood to deliver food. Living through that at such a very young age was a moment where I realized that I wanted to understand more about these kinds of events. Even though at the age of seven I didn’t know that this would lead to a profession in engineering. Over the course of the next number of years, with the help of a great guidance counselor I was put on a path which ended with me getting into the University of Waterloo and studying engineering.
Another pivot point for me was after I graduated from college. I wasn’t convinced, even though I studied mechanical engineering, that I actually wanted to be an engineer. I remember sitting in a class in my last year of university reading the student newspaper. I read an article at the end of the paper, and there was a question at the bottom of the article that said “Have you ever thought about teaching in Korea?” and I thought, “Gosh, no, I never thought about teaching in Korea, but what an interesting opportunity.” I decided that I was going to take a year off after university and find myself, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to do discover the same things if I stayed in Canada. So I packed my bags, and shipped myself off to South Korea. I ended up working very long hours, really enjoying myself in Asia, and teaching.
I had a really good friend who was working at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. While I was in Korea I had spent some time with him and was able to meet the professors there and see what they were working on. They had just recently invested in the construction of a wind tunnel which I had the opportunity to tour. It was like a light switch went off and I knew I wanted to be there, I wanted to do this. After I finished my year in Korea, I packed my bags and moved to Hong Kong and I started working in the consulting arm of the wind tunnel. I took on the Masters program and after two years decided that I wanted to carry on and obtain my PhD. That’s kind of my story of how I started in the field and where I am, it all draws back to that iconic moment at the age of seven.
“For a long time we have been naively constructing our built environment based on the today and the yesterday, but without really thinking about the implication that tomorrow might have, not just about the climate around us but also the densification of our urban environment and the socioeconomic conditions in our urban environments. ”
How has the recent focus on climate change impacted your work?
I actually think that we are now living in a time where we understand much more about our lack of resiliency to these very large-scale weather events. For a long time we have been naively constructing our built environment based on the today and the yesterday, but without really thinking about the implication that tomorrow might have, not just about the climate around us but also the densification of our urban environment and the socioeconomic conditions in our urban environments.
I think there is almost an awakening that has been happening. While a number of global locations have been thinking about climate change for a very long time, it is now the whole world listening. That has created an opportunity for us in engineering to be more thoughtful about the designs of the built environment and how we as builders of the built environment impact that. We need to think about how we can actively encourage the clients we work with to be building with a greater focus towards net zero. How can we be actively thinking about the geographical location in which we are positioning some of these buildings or what are some of those resilient strategies that we need to bring to the building?
I recently did some work for the Charles Pankow Foundation, where myself a number of other authors have written the pre-standard for performance-based wind design, published in the summer of 2019. These initiatives focus on how we design buildings for wind. They focus on areas of vulnerability that we have in the buildings we design; based on the climatological positioning or risk of where your building is going and how we can be more sustainable in our designs and not consider a good solution to be one where we just throw more concrete and steel into our buildings, but really be thoughtful about where we are investing materiality which will ultimately result in an improved performance and resilience.
Can you tell me a little bit about your process in doing that? How early in the design process do you get involved and what is that conversation like with the Developer and the architect?
We get involved quite early on in the design stage at Arup. We typically have a seat at the table right from the beginning, so right from the concept design or maybe even potentially earlier, when a developer is looking to make an acquisition of an asset or they are thinking about a development that could occur in multiple different locations. If we are involved right from the beginning, right from the concept, then we have an opportunity at that point to really think about the environmental loads that are going to come into our structure and how all of those environmental loads might change down the line as a result of the climate change that we are seeing.
King Power Mahanakhon (Bangkok, Thailand)
What does a day-to-day look like for you?
During a typical day-to-day you will find me attending or leading meetings, mentoring junior staff, giving presentations, and engaging with project teams. I also write research plans or business plans depending on which hat I have on that day. I really am passionate and love what I do so you will often find me with my sleaves rolled up working side by side with my team trying to crack the recent challenge put in front of us by our clients.
How do you make sure that you are constantly growing as an engineer and as a professional?
I sit on a number of boards and committees. This allows me to engage with a diverse group of people who all share the same passion for the work that we do and share a drive to create better design. I think the more we are able to engage with wider communities in which we live and operate the better we are at supporting a development of a built environment that listens to and reflects these communities. We shouldn’t be protective about our gained knowledge. The more that we share, the more we will all grow.
Additionally, one of the things that has been beneficial for my growth, and something I recommend to young engineers is to constantly challenge yourself and ask your mentors to pull you into opportunities that aren’t just around your day-to-day work. I think we often surprise ourselves in being able to succeed a challenge.
You sit on the board of directors of the Beverly Willis Foundation, can you tell us a little bit more about the foundation's goal and your role?
I currently sit as the Treasurer and a Trustee of the board. Our mission is about advocating for gender equity in leadership and recognition in the AEC industry. Beverly believes in leading a cultural revolution in the building industry by acknowledging and cultivating women's contributions and achievement. If you haven’t seen “Build By Women New York” I would encourage you to see it. Our organization is focused on a number of things but what we are most renowned for is about bringing women to a place in the history books.
Throughout your life you have traveled quite a bit. You lived in the UK, in Asia, in North America. How did living in those locations impact your career and your career trajectory?
I think what living in all those places helped me with is it taught me a lot about empathy and about seeing things from other people's perspective. You can go anywhere in the globe now and it's a cultural mixing pot. Most cities in the world have amazing cultural diversity and I think that the more that we can get out and experience culture, that is maybe beyond what we have experienced in our home life growing up, the more we can develop tolerance and empathy and respect. I actually would encourage everyone to get out of their comfort zone and throw themselves into a foreign culture and learn what it's like to live in shoes that are not your own.
King Power Mahanakhon (Bangkok, Thailand)
Working on projects globally, how do you approach a project in a city you have never been in or lived in? How do you ensure that you have all the adequate information to make a decision on a project and present a solution that is fitting for that area?
We have to be very careful as engineers and architects to ensure that we do understand community and cultural context. When we go into a place that is not our home environment, it is often helpful if the client who is bringing us on board is from the community. If the client is also absent from that community then it’s important to seek out local partners who have some level of knowledge on the cultural landscape and the social and economic landscape, everything that can help empower you to make the best decisions for that project. It’s never one and done. It’s important to keep that conversation going through the life of that project.
What has been the most interesting project you’ve worked on?
There really are many.
I have a couple of areas of expertise. One of those areas is in designing tall towers. This includes how the climate impacts the tall towers that we design, and how the performance of the tall tower impacts the people who reside and work in them. Since this is my niche area of expertise, I have had some really incredible opportunities to work on tall and iconic buildings around the globe.
I had gone back to Hong Kong after I had joined Arup, this was in 2009-2010, and that was a time where we were doing a substantial amount of development in China. While I was there I had the opportunity to work on the Guangzhou East tower in Guangzhou and the Mahanakhon tower in Bangkok. I think that being in Hong Kong and being part of those projects, which I knew were going to be icons when they came to life, was something that was very inspiring and very motivating for me.
What was a moment in your career where you went through your biggest challenge, or your biggest accomplishment?
COVID has been the biggest challenge.
Flipping a switch overnight and needing to change all of our operations to a home office was a challenge. I lead a team of 80-90 people and for me it is important to see people's body language and experience their energy. I want to be able to use my whole self, not just my facial expressions, but my hand gestures and how I move my body. In COVID everyone turned into a 2D figure on a 9 inch by 11 inch screen. How do we inspire, motivate, and enter into those engaging moments of collaboration and excitement when we can’t be in the room side by side creating together? It was amazing to see that the IT infrastructure didn’t skip a beat. There was no moment where something wasn’t available for us or in crisis mode of not working. However, for me there is no technology which can replace that feeling of being in a room with a group of individuals who are energized and inspired by the activity that is going on and being able to feel that collective aura.
What would your one piece of advice be to someone considering a career in engineering?
I have two things.
First off, find a solid mentor, someone who inspires you. It might not be someone you know well, just someone who’s journey and life you find to be interesting. Recognize that this may not be the exact path that you are going to take but challenge yourself in ways that you believe they do as well.
The second one. Take challenges when they come, even if they make you uncomfortable. Dive in, go head first. If someone is coming to you and giving you this challenge then they believe you will succeed. Trust them and take that challenge.