People Spotlight: Meet Katie Berry
Our People Spotlight series gives you an inside look at our technical experts around the world. This week, we are highlighting a chemical and process engineer from our Energy Transition team and providing an insight into their inspiration and work.
Katie Berry joined AECOM in 2021 as a graduate engineer based in our Glasgow office. She is now a chemical and process engineer with our Energy Transition team in our Bristol office. Her work mostly focuses on carbon capture on power generation and Power-to-X projects, such as solar photovoltaic projects with green hydrogen production.
What inspired you to join the industry?
The aspect of the energy industry that appealed to me the most was the level of innovation involved in the energy transition to address the climate crisis. I enjoy learning new things and, in this industry, there are infinite opportunities to learn. Additionally, due to the nature of our work, many of our projects will be first-of-their-kind. I feel empowered to play a part in shifting the world’s energy system in a new direction and contributing to tackling the climate crisis firsthand.
The aspect of the energy industry that appealed to me the most was the level of innovation involved in the energy transition to address the climate crisis. Due to the nature of our work, many of our projects will be first-of-their-kind.”
What is your favorite AECOM project that you’ve worked on and why?
One of my favourite AECOM projects I’ve worked on so far is a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study completed in collaboration with our U.S. process engineering team for Avnos Inc. for a hybrid direct air capture (HDAC) system — a type of carbon capture technology. Avnos recently started up a pilot unit in Bakersfield, California, removing up to 30 metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year. It is a first-of-its-kind technology. AECOM’s role was to design a larger demonstration unit building based on the lessons learned from the pilot plant. One of the learnings from the pilot plant was the importance of keeping the design of the absorber bed simple and not overcomplicate its operation. I am so happy to have had the opportunity to work on this project that removes CO2 from the atmosphere, making it a negative emissions technology. Most of our carbon capture work to date has been on a point source of emissions rather than drawing directly from the atmosphere, so these would be classed as carbon mitigation technologies rather than removal.
One of my favourite AECOM projects I’ve worked on so far is a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study completed in collaboration with our U.S. process engineering team for Avnos Inc. for a hybrid direct air capture (HDAC) system — a first-of-its-kind carbon capture technology. I am so happy to have had the opportunity to work on this project that removes CO2 from the atmosphere, making it a negative emissions technology.”
Tell us a story of how your work positively impacted the community.
I recently used my AECOM social value hours to carry out a project in Peru with WindAid. Every employee at AECOM is allocated 2 days (16 hours) per year to use on a social value project of their choice. I worked with a team of other volunteers and interns to construct a 500-watt wind turbine for a local family. Many communities in Peru live in rural areas, where 37 percent of households do not have access to electricity. This limits their communication with other households and communities and keeps them from carrying out tasks such as completing homework after daylight hours. Our installation of the wind turbine provided this family (including two young children) with light and an electricity supply to charge their phones. In addition to providing renewable electricity, WindAid engaged with the local university on projects and provided internships to students from the university.
I recently used my AECOM social value hours to work with a team of other volunteers and interns to construct a 500-watt wind turbine for a local family in Peru. Our installation of the wind turbine provided this family (including two young children) with light and an electricity supply to charge their phones.”
Share a piece of career advice.
Always make decisions for yourself and try not to be too easily influenced by others. Don’t worry if it takes time to work out what exactly it is you want to do with your career and life — it’s better to take your time rather than rush into something which is inevitably unfulfilling. I think it’s easy to get pulled in certain directions because of the expectations of other people around you, or because it seems like the quickest route to being ‘successful’. But ultimately, it’s your career and your life, and it is not a competition or a race.