This is what sustainability really looks like: Athena Cheng's story

An inside look at how sustainability goes beyond data. Bringing inclusion, empathy, and real community impact into infrastructure projects.

Athena Cheng brings a personal sense of purpose to sustainability work. Based in Hong Kong, she combines technical insight with a strong commitment to community impact, shaping how she approaches every challenge. Whether she is helping teams reduce environmental impacts on infrastructure projects or supporting inclusion through volunteering, Athena shows how meaningful work can stretch your skills and your perspective at the same time.

As an Assistant Environmental Consultant in the Hong Kong office, she supports sustainable infrastructure projects through environmental impact assessments, with a focus on air and noise modelling.

Turning analysis into better decisions

Her work matters early in the project lifecycle. She helps teams understand potential environmental effects before construction begins because early decisions shape long term outcomes for communities and ecosystems.

She explains, “My role allows me to influence projects at an early stage by translating environmental data into clear, actionable insights.” That means the work is not only about analysis. It is about helping project teams make better design choices from the start.

Solving complex challenges with practical outcomes

In a dense city like Hong Kong, infrastructure projects need to balance development needs with environmental protection. That creates technical challenges with real consequences. Athena works through those challenges by using environmental modelling to test what could happen under different conditions.

“One meaningful aspect of my work is supporting environmental impact assessments where we use modelling to predict how projects will affect surrounding communities,” she says. In air quality assessments, that can include simulating pollutant dispersion in extreme weather situations and worst-case traffic scenarios.

The goal is not to add complexity for its own sake. The goal is to turn evidence into action. By identifying risks early, Athena and her colleagues can recommend practical mitigation measures such as optimized layouts or emission controls. This helps teams reduce environmental impact while also protecting public health.

Impact that reaches beyond the project

For Athena, sustainability is not limited to technical delivery. It also shapes how she contributes to people and communities alongside project work.

She recently took part in hosting the firm’s first Global Sustainability Day, where she shared a personal “value moment” that reshaped her perspective on sustainability. Through the Emerging Professionals Network (Asia Young Professionals network), she helped organize a workshop where colleagues learned basic Hong Kong Sign Language from deaf instructors.

“It was a simple session of learning greetings and everyday phrases, but what made it truly meaningful was hearing the instructors share their experiences and the barriers they face in society,” she recalls.

The experience prompted a broader reflection. “By the end of the session, many of us realized that sustainability is not just about waste reduction and energy efficiency. It is also about inclusion, accessibility, and creating communities where everyone can participate and feel valued.”

This perspective connects closely to building more inclusive and resilient cities. It also complements her technical work, which focuses on protecting both people and the environment.

Beyond this, Athena continues to support initiatives through the Emerging Professionals Network, from community volunteering such as a cat shelter visit to organizing inclusive workshops and delivering technical sharing sessions at universities. These efforts help inspire future engineers while reinforcing the importance of purpose driven work.

Building a better future together

Athena feels optimistic about what this work can achieve. “It’s not treated as a checklist, but as a core driver of decision making,” she says about sustainability at AtkinsRéalis.

For her, engineering a better future means combining technical expertise with empathy, collaboration, and shared responsibility.

“Sometimes, the smallest actions like learning a new way to communicate can have the biggest impact,” she reflects. “Whether it is through engineering solutions, volunteering, or simply taking the time to better understand different communities, every action contributes to a more sustainable and inclusive future.”

Looking ahead, she wants to keep building that impact through greater collaboration, stronger community initiatives, and more sustainable outcomes. If you want work that challenges you and helps create positive change, explore opportunities with us at AtkinsRéalis careers.