Meet the Team: Newsha Roshani

At RVA, we’re building a close-knit community where professionals are empowered to bring their best selves to work, lead at every level in their careers, and form connections that last a lifetime. None of this would be possible without our people. That’s why, as part of our Employee Spotlight series, we’re giving you a chance to learn about the dedicated individuals who make it all happen – their careers, day to day life, and the passions and philosophies that inspire them.

In this interview, we’re thrilled to introduce you to one of our exceptional teammates: Newsha Roshani, our Mechanical Engineer and Project Manager in our Toronto office.

From an internship in a mom-and-pop consulting firm after graduating university to joining RVA as an engineer-in-training, Newsha has since grown to become a professionally recognized Mechanical Engineer with the additional progression of her roles as a Project Manager and an Associate of the firm. A transformation she now applies to supporting engineering interns as they begin their own path to evolution. A path made possible through the right leadership, support, teamwork, and desire. The importance of teamwork and non-stop learning has been essential to the growth of both Newsha’s career and the Mechanical team. Together, the team has worked hard to be a part of exciting and diverse opportunities. Opportunities that provide the pathway to non-stop learning and growth – a value that Newsha herself is passionate about.

Here’s what Newsha shared with us.

1. Tell us about a bit yourself and your role at RVA.

I graduated from the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) in Oshawa in 2014 with a Mechanical Engineering degree, which was a comprehensive program that allowed students to gain work experience in a vast array of industries, such as automation, robotics, aerospace, and consulting. After I did a short internship in a mom-and-pop consulting firm, I wanted to move onto a place that offered more opportunities to grow and learn. I got an interview at RVA and started my career as a Mechanical Engineer-in-Training (EIT) in 2015 in the Mechanical group of two. Our team essentially supported other teams working on building systems, such as HVAC design, heating and cooling analysis, dehumidification, plumbing, hydronic systems including boilers and chillers, air and noise assessments, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis, asset management, and other systems for new facilities or retrofit projects.

The Mechanical group was a small team at the time, but one of the biggest benefits of being in a smaller group is that you get to learn a lot more and be a part of everything. I came into RVA with the theoretical knowledge I gained from university, and I soon realized there was so much to learn on the job. For the most part, the Mechanical team did a lot of municipal (water and wastewater) projects and served as the support group doing HVAC and plumbing. But eventually we ended up bringing in projects with more extensive mechanical needs beyond that – projects that were different from what we had done before or required more involvement from our team. Within the first three years of my career, I had the chance to work on over 100 projects and I became the designer and drafter who was involved in every project under Bernardo’s supervision (the Mechanical group’s manager).

So, here we were, three years later after being hired, and I was still a part of the Mechanical group, but now we were six people instead of three. I eventually got my professional engineering license in 2019 and became an Associate and shareholder of the firm in 2020. I’ve continued my role as a Mechanical Engineer and Project Manager working in multidisciplinary projects. Our team has grown so much throughout the years, in the number of team members as well as our experience portfolio, and I can easily say we’re now well-known in the industrial and commercial industry with hundreds of projects showcasing our capabilities in HVAC, building automation, air and noise assessments, plumbing, and CFD. Beyond that, we’re also growing our capabilities in elements like energy modelling, especially now that decarbonization and energy efficiency is such a hot topic. We’re still very much a support group, but simultaneously, we run our own projects that are purely mechanical, and speak more boldly to our team’s capabilities. We’ve cemented our place in new markets and new industries, and we’re only going to keep growing from here.

2. Can you tell us more about your experiences when you started out as an EIT on the Mechanical team? What were some of the things that helped you grow and develop?

When I first started, I didn’t really have a vision of what the team would eventually become, but what I saw was opportunity: the opportunity to learn and grow. I had an amazing mentor – Bernardo, our team’s Manager and one of the Principals of the firm, who I could go to pretty much all the time every day to ask and analyze a question and come up with a solution. On top of that, there was a big business development aspect, because we were a small team thirsty for growth and we wanted to be that go-to group that can offer so much more, so we ended up learning so much more together as a result. When we started bringing in new and different projects, I worked with Bernardo on everything to learn every aspect of it. Yes, it was overwhelming and scary at times, but it was also a unique opportunity for me to help grow with the team and learn something new every day. If there was a new project coming through, we’d say: “We have not done this before. But can we do it?” and then we’d tell ourselves: “Yes, we can!” After that, we would get 10 or 15 more of the same type of projects, and our team started to expand from there. At the end of the day, an engineer is someone who can problem solve, and that’s what we did!

From where I am now, I feel like a mother hen a little bit, because every time I see someone new joining, I see myself in them, nine years ago. I see the EIT who joins and feels like they know nothing, or is completely lost, so I feel responsible for them and want to help them grow because I’ve been in their shoes. I’m proud of every member of our Mechanical team who has grown with us, and some have earned their P.Eng. using me as one of their mentors and their reference. I feel proud that we can give them the opportunity and the support. It’s a special feeling being able to share the knowledge that was given to me with someone else and seeing them flourish with it. For me, it feels like we’re all part of this little family, this team of 10 that’s ever-growing.

3. Can you tell us about a project you’ve participated in that you’re especially proud of?

Our team got involved in a stormwater management facility project in Downtown Toronto. It was the longest and most challenging project I have ever been involved in, but it is a one-of-a-kind project in the industry and very innovative. It wasn’t exactly a purely mechanical project, and if I was part of a bigger group, I may have just been overlooked because of the size of the project, but my manager and the project manager entrusted me to be a part of it as a contract administrator which meant very heavy involvement for me on the project during construction. I thought I may never be given this kind of chance ever again in my career, and it felt like the stars had aligned to give me this big opportunity, which I planned to take advantage of for my learning benefit.

Now why I am proud of it…When you’re a contract administrator, even as involved as you are, you’re still behind-the-scenes and you see a lot of the day-to-day from behind the computer, so you don’t always get to visit the site frequently. And when the pandemic hit, our construction meetings all went virtual. The first time I went to site after the pandemic, I remember driving in over the Gardiner Expressway looking over the site and being shocked at how much had been built since the last time I saw it. When I entered the building, I remember having this special feeling walking around and seeing so much of it built and ready, while thinking about all the documents that I dealt with, all the conversations with the contractor, and it all hit me…I was involved in this.

This was right before I was ready to go on maternity leave in a couple of months. I was pregnant with my son, walking around seeing what I had worked on for a few years of my career. That, on its own, was a proud moment for me. I was the one who was given the unique opportunity to be a part of this amazing project. Despite being in a male-dominant industry, I never looked at it as a barrier. Me being a woman, or being pregnant at the time, could be seen as an obstacle for career growth for some, but not for me: I was there, walking around proud of what was built with my involvement, an innovative project with so many creative aspects to it. I was proud of myself and proud of the project!

4. What advice would you offer to new grads or young professionals entering your field?

My advice is to never get comfortable, to never stop learning, to never want to stop learning.

The first and foremost element you learn in engineering is how to analyze and problem solve. That is the essence of engineering to me: I may have never done this before, but I know there is a way, and I can figure it out. Nothing will ever feel out of reach as long as you have trust in yourself as an engineer that you can figure this out. There’s power in trusting your own capabilities and knowing that you can find an answer to any problem you’ll face. And once you figure it out, you know just a little bit more.

A wise person at RVA once told me: “Be comfortable with being uncomfortable.” That means pushing past the limit to the unknown or problem, because that’s the instance in which you grow. We have to keep trying to learn beyond what we know today, like a little kid asking, “But why?” We as engineers should repeat that question every day because that “why” is what allows you to grow and become a better engineer and a better problem-solver. Regardless of what field you graduate in, wanting to learn is the most important thing. Then recognize that you may not know it today and that is uncomfortable, but if you push beyond this discomfort, you’ll know more tomorrow.

That’s what got me through even the hard days and the tiring days – never wanting to get too comfortable with where I am and what I know. Even after nine years of working as an engineer, I still feel like there’s still so much more for me to learn. Knowledge is never-ending. When we get too comfortable with what we know, we lose the essence of why we became engineers.

5. What’s your favourite thing about being part of #OneRVA?

It’s a family. It’s always been a family for me. You create lifelong friendships with your coworkers and become a part of their daily life and their journeys. It’s always been about teamwork, and that teamwork gets carried over into your work. That’s what got the Mechanical group to where it is now. We had that same goal of wanting to grow, and it was also the same feeling with the other disciplines we worked with to grow together. When I earned my professional engineering license, and we had a celebration in the Toronto office, and so many people showed up to surprise me. I was so overwhelmed in a good way because so many of the people that attended were the same people I’d worked with on a daily basis on different projects and they were there to celebrate my accomplishment. That meant so much to me. People here look at you as a member of their family, and whether they say it or not, it just becomes like that. When you say “#OneRVA,” that’s the first thing that comes to my head: being part of a team, that team being a family, and working towards the same goal.

Curious to learn more about the people behind the logo? Follow #RVAlife on our LinkedIn and Facebook as we continue to spotlight our team members, discover their stories, and follow their journeys.

If you’re already feeling the excitement, why wait? Take the next step in your career with us! Explore our current openings on our Careers page and join a team that is as diverse as the challenges we solve every day.