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From self-doubt to shaping an industry

When Hannah Norris first started her studies, she was enrolled in a liberal arts degree, yet somewhere in the background, engineering kept pulling at her attention. But so did a hefty dose of self-doubt about whether she actually had what it took.

21 July 2026

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When Hannah Norris first started her studies at the University, she was enrolled in a liberal arts degree that allowed her to major in both arts and science subjects. Science and maths had always come naturally to her, and somewhere in the background engineering kept pulling at her attention. But so did a hefty dose of self-doubt about whether she actually had what it took.

Just a handful of years later, Hannah found herself working in a leadership role through the worst flooding Sydney’s water industry had ever seen – making split-second decisions that would go on to influence and inform how the local water industry prepares for large-scale climate events.

After her first year of studying, Hannah quickly realised a change of pace was needed. “I had already done chemistry and first year maths at that point, and was keen to do something environmental and outdoorsy-ish,” she explains. “Once I realised that chemical engineering could be very environmentally focused, that's when I made the change.” This decision and shift changed everything for Hannah.

Sometimes people worry that with uni, you learn theory, but the actual practical application isn't something you'd get until you're out in the real world. I had the opposite experience.

Hannah Norris, University of Sydney alumna

During her engineering degree, she found a part-time role through her VAC work experience, which saw Hannah complete her final year of studies in a part-time capacity, while beginning her professional career. “I got approval from the Dean and split my design and thesis over two years,” she explains. “The company didn't want a student for 12 weeks, they wanted a student for a year and a half.”

By the time Hannah graduated in 2014, she already had more than a year’s worth of work experience under her belt within her chosen industry. This helped her get a foot in the door, and establish her career. ”It allowed me to reach out to other companies and actually have something behind me, rather than going to an organisation and saying, ‘I don't know anything’” she adds. "Sometimes people worry that with uni, you learn theory, but the actual practical application isn't something you'd get until you're out in the real world," she says. "I had the opposite experience."

Hannah now works for Veolia, a global organisation with up to 5000 employees in Australia alone, as a senior Project Engineer. “I’ve taken on a bit of a mentor role within the company because I’m very keen to help get students through and to help companies find the right students,” she says. “I’ve sort of built a cadet program within our local area, which has worked really well.” 

A time for learning and leadership

One of Hannah’s biggest accomplishments however came during her time as Operations Supervisor at Veolia, where her team was responsible for running the drinking water plants for Woronora, the Illawarra, and the sewage treatment plant in Gerringong.

“We provided the drinking water for everyone from basically Cronulla to Kiama,” she explains. “When we had the 2022 floods, it flipped the entire water industry on its head and across Sydney Basin, we were dealing with water qualities we’d never seen before.” 

As plants were operating two times outside their design capacities, Hannah was also at the beginning of her transition into a leadership role. “I was wearing two hats – I was the process engineer and the plant manager, and we were still at all home with COVID-19,” she explains. “All of that combined with the technical challenges, the compliance challenges – that year was absolutely nuts – but we managed to get through it.” 

The plants Hannah and her team were working on have since gone on to become case studies within the industry, and examples of what you do when the traditional playbook doesn’t apply. “We had so many learnings and investigations that we just had to work out on the fly,” she adds. “I felt really strongly that we had to capture these learnings because climate change isn’t going away – and these events are only going to get more and more severe.”

With this in mind, Hannah’s organisation created a role centred on optimisation and performance improvement to capture her experience and knowledge during this time. This has also informed current studies across 50-year-long upgrades of how these scenarios can be managed in the future.

Hannah Norris Onsite at Woronora Dam. Image: provided

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I like using that engineering mentality and structure to solve problems from an analytical, logical perspective – it’s just really satisfying.

Hannah Norris, University of Sydney alumna

The satisfaction in new challenges

Whether it’s during large-scale weather events or general day-to-day outcomes of her work, Hannah is happiest with fixing things – whether it’s a physical asset, a compliance system, or being able to deliver something no one else has been able to achieve.

“I like when something lands in my lap and I’ve got to work out what to do,” she says. “I like using that engineering mentality and structure to solve problems from an analytical, logical perspective – it’s just really satisfying.”

For someone who wasn’t sure they were up to the engineering challenge, Hannah continues to prove it’s not about being the smartest in the room, but the one able to solve problems both creatively and analytically. 

Header image: provided.

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