It’s never easy when you make a big leap and move to a new city, let alone a different country. Originally hailing from Ukraine, Lina Klinger moved to Israel, where she spent most of young adult life. Inspired by her engineer mother, Lina studied at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology where she later graduated also with an engineering degree. After moving to Canada, Lina decided to take a few courses at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in Vancouver. In one of those courses, a tour of WhiteWater was part of the curriculum. After walking through the halls and seeing all the small details that go into creating a water park product, Lina grew a deep appreciation for the intricacies of building water park products. Seven years later, Lina is now the AquaPlay Engineering Manager at the world’s largest water slide manufacturer, creating fun for everyone.

What drew you to WhiteWater?

I came from a machinery and automotive industry back in Israel. When I moved to Canada looking for work, I discovered WhiteWater during a tour from my course at BCIT. I developed a great interest in WhiteWater because of how incredibly different and unique this industry is. In addition, I had a friend that worked at WhiteWater. He connected me to the company and now I’ve been working here for seven years.

How did you become an Engineering Manager for AquaPlay Structures?

When I first joined WhiteWater as AquaPlay designer, I worked on product lifecycle management (PLM) implementation for AquaPlay products. Afterwards, my role changed, and I became an AquaPlay Product Engineer Specialist, which led me to become the Engineering Manager for AquaPlay in 2015.

Describe what a typical day looks like for you

At WhiteWater there’s never a day that is the same. I work on so many different things everyday and it’s always different—that’s what makes my job so interesting. But primarily, my day consists of managing projects, leading and empowering my team to ensure quality and safety designs are delivered on time and within budget. I assist pre-contract team with preparing of engineering estimate and schedule. Along with the team supervisors, I review and resolve issues during manufacturing and installation phase. It’s a juggling act for sure, but I have a great team that I can always depend on to help with all of this.

I truly feel like I have the best team. We all work well with each other and in a very positive and supportive environment—I find that is a common thing across everyone in the company.

What has been your favourite project?

My favourite project that I’ve worked on is Morgan’s Inspiration Island. The project was incredibly different and unique from any water park WhiteWater has built. Because of this, we were faced with a lot of challenges. But knowing the importance of creating an all-inclusive water park so that no child should ever feel left out turned these challenges into a passion project of ours. In the end, the project came together beautifully, and we created a waterpark that is being enjoyed by anyone and everyone. Working on Morgan’s Inspiration Island has been incredibly rewarding and reminds us of the importance of creating play experiences for all abilities.

What’s your favourite thing about working at WhiteWater?

My favourite part about working at WhiteWater are the people I work with. We all bring a different skillset to the table to create something amazing. Everyone at WhiteWater has a high commitment to quality and service. In addition, we work in such a unique and niche industry—it’s an industry of fun.

Whenever I’m at the playground with my children I find myself looking at the play structures, seeing how they’re built, but also whether they comply with playground codes (laughs). It’s quite funny that I’m still in work mode when I’m not actually working.

If you could switch your job with anyone from the company, who would it be?

To be honest, I wouldn’t switch my job with anyone at WhiteWater because I love what I’m currently doing.

What’s something people might not know about you?

Something that people might not know about me is that I love belly dancing. I took some classes when I lived in Israel and got hooked on the art. I love the art of expressing oneself through the art of dance.