Me&u December

Issue #2, December, 2007

tt e r ic e N e w s le S h a rj a h O ff

Sharjah sweep s ME

Excellence

s ard Aw

The four winners of the ME Excellence Awards (Technical) with Tim Askew, MD, Middle East & India

Page 10

Page 9

Rail Signalling - The Journey So Far

e d i s In me & environment photography competition

- 01

Aerospace away day

- 07

Cricket in the desert

- 08

new joinees

- 12

9Qs

- 13

Copyrights Atkins plc, unless stated otherwise.

edit The Sharjah office crossed 500 mark in terms of staff strength last month. We have not only grown number wise but if you will look closely we are growing in terms of quality as well. Last few months saw major turning points with so many new things being implemented. At the same time we were busy accommodating our new members as well as busy in adapting to new changes. The first turning point was the introduction of our very own newsletter - me&u, which gave us a platform to share our thoughts. We also saw major training sessions being organized in terms of technical knowledge, personal development as well as internal auditing skills. I was very happy to see that all the managers as well as staff members were keen on attending these sessions. The foremost challenge in front of us was to see our two more divisions - H&T and Aerospace - getting ISO certification. The audit went on really well and both the divisions have been recommended for certification.

editor speak

While all this was happening, the Green Initiative was kicked off courtesy Mr. Baljit Singh Modi (Manager-QSE) and we saw number of employees volunteering for the same. This shows that we always wanted to make a difference to our surrounding but were looking for a platform. At the same time we got our very own cricket team and I should not miss the chance to thank Mathew Varghese, Anil Nair, Baljit Singh Modi, and Rahul Susarla for organizing the selection process and all the members who volunteered for the same and participated actively. The very first match that our cricket team played was against Atkins Dubai and to our surprise we won without even proper practice. In the end how can we miss the four finalists of Middle East Excellence Awards from Sharjah Brijesh Vats, Neeraj Tamrakar, Biju Antony and Vinoth Joseph. They made us extremely proud by taking away all the first four prizes in Technical innovation. It was a great achievement when the staff strength in the region has gone up to 2700. All these achievements strengthen my belief that effort matters as much as the result and I wish to see increased number of participation from you all in the upcoming Excellence Awards 2008 as well as the Middle East Excellence Awards 2008.

ed i tori a l t e a m : Rahul Su s arl a There are still more development programmes in the pipeline and many more initiatives to be rahul .s usa r la @a t k ins g l o b a l .co m taken from our side as a member of the Atkins Sharjah family. Shalini R ai shal i n i .r a i@a t k insglo b a l .c o m To summarise, in the last few months we dealt with increased pressure, saw major initiatives and innovations and felt the joy and pride of achieving the desired results. Nare sh K u mar naresh. k um a r @a t k ins g l o b a l .co m Season’s Greetings and best wishes for the new year. Su j eet C ha ndr a suj eet.c ha ndr a @a t k in s g l o b a l .co m Shalini Rai

Sharjah

‘Me & Environment’ Photography Competition With an objective of spreading environmental awareness as a sustained effort, and to instill a more environment friendly attitude among all the Atkins Staff, the Green Initiative Team invites you to participate in the ‘ME & Environment’ Photography Competition. CATEGORIES Entries must be assigned to one of the categories below. There is a maximum of three images per entrant and entries can be in either just one category or in a combination of the categories given below. - Environmental Conservation - Climate Change & Global Warming - Environment under Threat - Human Attitudes & Behaviors - Environment Hazards & Human Health More details on judging, categories, submission dates and formats will follow through email.

1

news

What’s happening in the office? MIDDLE EAST Region

ATKINS at Cityscape 2007 in Dubai. Sustainability was the buzz word at this years Cityscape exhibition, the biggest property show in the world, and while the big Dirham deals took centre stage, Atkins was quietly setting the foundations for the continued growth of the Middle East business. Cityscape 2007 smashed all previous attendance records, with 45,000 participants from 120 countries across three days locked in real estate chat at Dubai’s International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Thousands of regional and international investors, property developers, governmental and development authorities, leading architects, designers, consultants and industry professionals from around the globe got up close and personal with some of the world’s most spectacular and sustainable residential and commercial property projects including Atkins designed Bahrain World Trade Centre, DIFC Lighthouse, Trump International Hotel and Tower the Palm Jumeirah and Iris Bay plus concepts including the solar station project. For the sixth consecutive year, the Atkins stand was manned by key senior staff who walked the walk and talked the talk when

extolling the virtues of our business to potential and existing clients, media and others, ensuring Cityscape not only served as an important marketing tool for our business, but also guarantees the successful and sustainable development of the Atkins business here in the Middle East. (See pictures below)

Atkins scoops four honours at MEP Middle East Awards Atkins blew away the competition at the 2007 MEP Middle East Awards, held on Wednesday 5th December 2007, scooping four honours including the coveted Supreme Judges Award. Of a possible 12 awards presented during a gala dinner at the inaugural event in Dubai, Atkins claimed the awards for Training, Innovation of the Year (for work on the Bahrain World Trade Center), MEP Consultancy of the Year (for work on the Dubai metro), and the Supreme Judges Award, beating off stiff competition from the likes of Hyder Consulting, Reem Emirates Aluminium and Al Habtoor Engineering. The MEP Awards are judged by an independent panel of industry experts, with particular focus on recognising achievements at project and company level. They were established to recognise the organisations that design and install the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, which are fundamental to development in the Middle East. They also honoured those companies that invest in their people by providing training and insisting on the highest health and safety standards. “This vote, by the industry, in our capability is very well received. With an impressive judging panel including past presidents from both CIBSE and ASHRAE, the quality of our submissions were properly recognised and won through , ” commented Richard Smith, Atkins Technical Director – Middle East & India. For more information of what’s happening in the region, email Rahul Susarla on [email protected]

Pictures from the Atkins stand at Cityscape, 2007 in Dubai.

2

2

news Quality, safety & Environment

‘Green Initiative’ Program Launched With the objective of making the Sharjah office a greener and a more environmentfriendly workplace, a new endeavour titled ‘Green Initiative’ was launched. With about 15 volunteers from within the Sharjah Sharjah office, this initiative will endeavour to conserve and use our environmental resources as efficiently as possible. The first meeting of this initiative was held on October 25, 2007 to discuss the environmental issues. The initiative kicked off with 10 volunteers in the first meeting. The number has since grown to 15 and we plan to include more people into this endeavor over the coming months. “As a first step towards this process, we will concentrate primarily on the environmental concerns within the Sharjah office. We aim to conserve the environment but this aspiration is not limited to our office premises, we have the zeal to take this journey from the office premise till our doorstep & to the public in general.”, said Baljit Singh Modi, Manager for QSE A second meeting was held on November 29, 2007 where the scope was finalized. It was decided that this initiative carry a six-pronged approach. Issues related to Environmental Health, Awareness, Environmental Resources/Carbon Footprint, Waste Management and Green Cover/Tree plantation. The following persons volunteered for this initiative. - Vijaya Atmakuri, H&T - Sharmili Jagdale, QSE - Syed Kaiser, H&T - Naresh Kumar, Aerospace - Prashant Sah, H&T - Ravi Sekhar, H&T - Shiv Mohan, Signalling - Jampana Varma, H&T - Rahul Susarla, Marketing Communications - Jayant Verma, H&T - Abhilash Bhushan, Northern Gulf - Sana Ullah, Northern Gulf - Byju Yesodharan, Northern Gulf - William Rosario, Northern Gulf - Rajeev Ampalakat, Northern Gulf Just before publishing this story, we also added four more volutneers to our initiative. This take the total number of Green Initiative team members to 19. - Satapathy Abani, H&T - Paresh Shah, O&G GDC - Kamlesh Dewangan, Aerospace - Amol Telang - Aerospace In an attempt to raise awareness amongst the staff regarding environmental issues, beginning with this issue, we will publish

bimonthly reports on consumption of electricity and water, also the carbon footprint of the Sharjah office. (See page 4)

Health, Safety and Environment Audits Conducted O&G, Signalling, H&T and Aerospace The Surveillance / Change to scope HSE audit by LRQA was successfully conducted from 15th – 17th of October’07 in our office. This audit was conducted by Mr. Andrzej Taczala from LRQA. We got recommendation that existing certification to the international standards for Environment, Health & safety ( ISO 14001 & OHSAS 18001) be continued for our Rail Signalling and Oil & gas divisions. At the same time, we also got recommendation from LRQA assessor for certification to the international standards for Environment, Health & safety ( ISO 14001 & OHSAS 18001) for our H&T and Aerospace divisions in the form of change to scope in existing certificate.

QMS Audits conducted for O&G, Signalling, H&T and Aerospace The Surveillance / Change to scope QMS audit by LRQA was successfully conducted from 11th – 13th of October’07 in our Oil & gas , H&T and Aerospace divisions. These Audits were conducted by Mr. Amitava Giri & Mr. Roy Calver from LRQA. These visits included the successful completion of surveillance audit in Oil & gas division and change to scope audit for our

Andrzej Taczala (extreme right) from LRQA conducting an audit with the Aerospace team.

H&T and Aerospace divisions. A Gap analysis audit against AS 9100 standards was also conducted for Aerospace division. For more information on what’s happening in QSE, email Baljit Singh Modi on [email protected]

Human ResourceS

Two divisions added to the Sharjah office Two new divisions Northern Gulf (Landscape) and Rail Signalling Testers have been added to the Sharjah office. Both these divisions are a part of the Sharjah Global Design Center.

3

3

news The Northern Gulf Landscape will support the Northern Gulf architecture teams. This new division is an addition to the Northern Gulf Building technologies which is also a part of the Sharjah GDC. This landscape division has only one member as of now but is expected to significantly expand its presence in the Sharjah office over the coming months.

Aerospace

Mike Daniel Rayburn, who joined us in early October, heads the Sharjah bit of Northern Gulf Building Technologies Division.

In a business management competition titled Prosper 2007 run across corporates of UK and Middle East, a team from Atkins aerospace were runners up. Sujeet Chandra from the Sharjah Aerospace team partnered with two engineers from the Bristol office - Nuno Gouveia and Charlotte Thomas and one engineer from Derby - Harris Mir - for this competition.

Signalling Testers division is a part of the UK GDC. Interestingly, though these testers will be on the Sharjah rolls, they will be permanently deputed to UK. The first batch of five testers has already reached UK and has begun training. A total of 24 testers will be working in the UK from the Birmingham office of Atkins. For more information on what’s happening in HR, email Mathews D. on [email protected]

‘Maverick and Geese’ runners up in ‘Prosper 2007’ business management competition

After 2 months of intense battle, the team, named Maverick and Geese, outsmarted rank 2 team from Mott Macdonald in the last period to snatch sweet second spot.

Trend Monitor

Energy and Resource consumption trends in the office. The organizational goal is to reduce consumption of energy and others

Sharjah

resources by at least 5% compared to the last financial year.

Electricity Consumption

Water Consumption

450.00

Electricity consumption per staff (07-08 ytd.) = 260 Kw

200.00 Water consumption per staff ( 06-07) = 153 gallon

160.00

139.92

391.46

120.00

238.17

274.53

279.41

126.47

80.00 60.00

165.18

161.67

40.00

50.00

20.00

0.00 Apr-07

May-07

Jun-07

Jul-07

Aug-07

Sep-07

Electricity consumption per staff (kw)

Oct-07

4.01

100.00

270.45

150.00

100.00 302.52

200.00

27.45 % Reduction

0.00

Nov-07

Permissible limit

Carbon Footprint * (for total energy consumed in office)

Apr-07

May-07

140.00

121.02 113.38 50208

56768

54536

55184

120.00 109.80

108.18

95.27

26296

43488

67488

50000

64.67

100.00 80.00

66.07

60.00

20000

40.00

10000

20.00

0

0.00 Apr-07

May-07

Jun-07

Jul-07

Aug-07

Sep-07

Oct-07

Nov-07

Total co2 consumed in kg/Mwh/staff

160.00

156.58

60000

24768

Total co2 consumed in kg/Mwh

Jul-07

180.00

70000

30000

Jun-07

Aug-07

Water consumption per staff (gallon)

80000

40000

124.20

140.00 250.00

102.96

300.00

Water consumption per staff ( 07-08 ytd.) = 111 gallon

115

180.00

93.82

8.12 % Reduction

350.00

181.77

Electricity consumption per staff (06-07) = 283 Kw

181.77

400.00

Sep-07

Oct-07

Nov-07

Permissible limit

*- Carbon footprint can be seen as the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases emitted over the full life cycle of a product or service. Normally a carbon footprint is usually expressed as a CO2 equivalent (usually in kilogrammes or tonnes), which accounts for the same global warming effects of different greenhouse gases (UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology POST, 2006). Carbon footprints can be calculated using a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method, or can be restricted to the immediately attributable emissions from energy use of fossil fuels.

Though the carbon consumption has increased in the office, the per employee carbon consumption is decreasing.

4

4

news A total of 66 teams from 21 companies across UK and Middle East took part in the competition. Eight Atkins team including two from aerospace also took part. The competition focused on delivering effective management training that enhances commercial awareness, decision-making skills, problem-solving and analytical skills, and team working through computer simulation and e-Learning.

In late October, the office called for nominations from within the office to form a team. We received close to 70 nominations (Note that most of us come from the cricket crazy nation called India) of which only 20 would be given a chance to play for Atkins. The selection committee had a pretty tough task of picking the creme-de-la-creme of the 70 enthusiastic cricketers. The selection sessions lasted for two days.

Sujeet Chanda, Engineer, Aerospace Sharjah

The Atkins team ‘Maverick and Geese’ was awarded cash prize of 500 GBP and certificate of participation. For more information on what’s happening in aerospace, email Prakash Gandhi on [email protected]

Rail Signalling

Mohankrishna returns from study tour of Swiss and Dutch State Railways S Mohanakrishnan our young engineer from Rail Signaling has just returned from a study tour of Swiss and Dutch State Railways.

The team thus formed played its first match against Atkins Dubai team. We, of course, did win thanks to a captain’s knock of 60 runs by Uma Shankar. A sulking Dubai team became so desperate toward the end of the match that the wicket keeper took of his gloves and came to bowl. But that unique feat didn’t help them either. The next two matches brought the ecstatic team back to earth. In matches played as part of the Ajman Cricket Council 20-20 Tournament, the team has lost two matches on trot. The third match is scheduled for the second week of December. “It’s too early to predict the fate of the team,” says the ever optimistic, captain Uma Shankar. “We still have a lot more matches to play and the I hope that we perform to our full potential in the upcoming matches.” (See pictures of the matches and selection sessions on page 8)

The IRSE Exam for 2007 was also held in mid October, the results for this are expected sometime in January, 2008.

Here’s the list of the twenty players selected for the team: Prashantsuresh S. Aerospace Amit Roy Metronet Sreejit Pillai Aerospace Rahul Jain ASDT Ramanantham Bhaskaran DLRT Mirza Baig DLRT Uma Shankar Information Systems Jahangir Akhtar ASDT Chandu Gowda DLRT Rajesh Bellana H&T Ajay Michael Metronet Devanand Shukla Signalling Roshan Rao H&T Sushil Tandel Northern Gulf Anurag Mahajan Signalling Vinay Kumar DLRT Mohammed Azim Northern Gulf Pradeep Kumar H&T Deepak Kumar DLRT Nitin Ubale Metronet Adarsh Nair Administration Anil Nair Information Systems

For more information of what’s happening in Rail Signalling, email Ramesh Rao on [email protected]

For details on the cricket team, match scorecards and other information email Rahul Susarla on [email protected]

OFFICE NEWS

Organization

Atkins Sharjah cricket team formed; wins first match; falters in the next two

European Aerospace Acquisition Positions Atkins For Growth

The tour, meant to study the European Train Control system, known as ETCS in professional circles, was jointly sponsored by the Institute of Railway Signal Engineers (London) S Mohanakrishnan on training in Switzerland. and Atkins Rail, as part of Thorrowgood Scholarship that he secured for topping IRSE examination- 2006. The Scholarship is funded from a combination of The Thorrowgood bequest fund, members’ donations and Institution funds. Thorrowgood Scholarship Award holders are required to give a talk to the Institution’s membership on completion of their study.

Imagine yourself, standing in the middle of nowhere, with nothing for miles but sand, away from all forms of civilization. That’s what eleven players of the Atkins Sharjah Cricket team have been doing every Friday since early November. No prizes for guessing, they were enthusiastically playing cricket.

WS Atkins plc (Atkins) announced the acquisition of Nedtech Engineering B.V. (Nedtech), a Dutch aerospace consultancy, from its founder. This acquisition is conditional, with completion expected by the end of December 2007. Nedtech recorded annual turnover of £3.5m in 2006 and had

5

5

news gross assets of £1.9m. Nedtech has particular expertise in civil and military aerospace structures, systems and engine design. It will complement Atkins’ existing skills in aerospace and defence system engineering. Ivor Catto, Managing Director of Atkins’ Design and Engineering Solutions business said: “This acquisition enhances Atkins’ capability to deliver high-end engineering and project management services to aerospace customers across Europe and positions us well for further growth in the sector. In particular it will enable us to respond to restructuring within Airbus.”

million in September 2006 to GBP 40.1 million in September this year. Share buyback Atkins also announced a share buyback program which was a result of significant cash reserves in the organization due to reduced exposure to Metronet and the sale of Lambert Smith Hampton. Keith Clarke also said that looking forward, the company would increase its client focus, continue to attract, recruit and retain new people and strengthen existing networks while creating new ones.

Wim van Beinum, founder and managing director of Nedtech, said: “We are delighted to be joining Atkins’ 300-strong team of people working on aerospace projects. I look forward to combining our skills to enhance the services we can provide to aerospace customers.”

Sustainability and CSR Policy A new policy on Sustainability defining the company’s approach to sustainability was also released. The policy defines the scope of sustainability and the objectives of this policy.

Half year results announced; New CSR policy and Sustainability policy released; Share buyback announced

Briefly, the objectives of this policy are “deliver sustainable solutions across our activities by evolving our multidisciplinary approach, developing our technical expertise and building on our track record of delivery.”

On 26 September, Atkins announced half year results for the period ending September 30, 2007. The new Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability policy were also released.

The organization will also - educate staffs in sustainability issues. - continue collaboration with academia to develop innovative and deliverable sustainable solutions. - aim to inspire and challenge our clients, employees and supply chain to deliver holistic sustainable solutions to concepts and projects. In addition to the Sustainability policy, a corporate social responsibility policy was also released. From writing paycheck for charity, the organization has decided to transition to become good neighbours and support communities. Atkins will also provide pro bono consultancy advice to charities.

Addressing the employees of the organization through an online presentation, Keith Clarke, Chief Executive Officer of Atkins, said that revenues were up 11% yoy with a 46% increase in pre-tax profit. The company also added about 1,000 employees in the first half of the year.

“We will support our people in their own communities around the world through local charitable donations, fund-raising, volunteering activities and sports and social events. This can be during the working day or in leisure time.”, the report said with regards to being good neighbours and supporting communities. Detailed Sustainability policy and CSR policy can be found on the bluepages Growth in almost all sectors was also reported with operating profit from continuing operations growing from GBP 27.3

For more information on the organization, visit bluepages or email Rahul Susarla on [email protected]

If you think. You can.

Email your inputs for the next issue and feedback to [email protected] by January 25, 2008

6

news

Team Aerospace Sharjah completes a successful year in flight. Spend a day away from office. By Sujeet Chandra, Engineer , Aerospace [email protected]

T

he Sharjah Aerospace Team had its first away-day at the hotel Kempinski, Ajman, on 30th October 2007. This was a welcome break for the team from their day-to-day technical challenges, and an opportunity to interact with Neil Kirk (Managing Director, Aerospace) and Ben Adams (Operations Director, Aerospace) who flew down from the UK for the event. The occasion also marked the celebration of the first anniversary of the Sharjah Aerospace Team.

The objective of the away day was to brainstorm any issues currently facing the Aerospace Team and to develop an associated action plan. Moreover, it was the ideal environment for the management and the employees to freely interact and gain an understanding of any cultural differences or work place issues. Neil’s opening speech set the tone for the day; discussing the aerospace business in general, but focussing on the Sharjah team and its ongoing development. He emphasized how crucial it is for the business for the Sharjah team to continue to grow, both in numbers and in technical expertise. The ground rules for the day were then outlined, with employees encouraged to come forward and speak freely about issues concerning them as long as they offered possible solutions too! The day was divided into three sessions: the take off, the climb and the cruise- very much similar to flight profile of an aircraft. Each session had two parallel discussions in separate breakout rooms. In the take off session, the group discussed at length the need to build relationships and the day to day operation of

5

1

2

6

3

4

(1) Aerospace celebrates an year of operations by cutting a cake (2) The aerospace team listens intently to a presentation being made by Neil Kirk, MD, Aerospace (3) Group photo of the Sharjah Aerospace team. (4) Ben Adam ( looking at the camera) in a discussion with some of the members of the aerospace team (5) Prakash Gandhi, Chief Engineer, Aerospace Sharjah making a presentation to the team. (6) Aerospace team in a group discussion.

7

news the division. The group discussed building relationships both within the team and among the different Atkins aerospace offices. Under day-to-day operation, the group discussed the challenges faced by employees in their ordinary working day and ways to overcome those challenges. The team discussed ways to make Atkins the best place possible to work. In the climb session, the group mainly discussed ways to develop technical and project management skills amongst the group. Development of these skills is very crucial for the success of the Sharjah team. In the cruise session, the group discussed long term cultural, recruitment and retention issues. The group discussed about ways to improve the working environment, bringing fun to the work place, improving the flow down of communication, and

ways to improve the team spirit. The day seemed long and tiring but fruitful nevertheless. However the day ended with a grand dinner at a restaurant within the resort, where the team got some time to socialize and start working on that team spirit. Needless to say, the mood of the team after the long day was very upbeat. The away day in a way marked the celebration of the strong beginning of the Sharjah Aerospace Team. The aim was for the away day to have a long lasting positive effect on the development of the team. In the coming weeks, the identified actions will be followed up and every effort will be directed to make the Sharjah Aerospace Team a well-recognized design and analysis team in the region.

Cricket in the Desert Pictures of the Atkins Sharjah Cricket Team in action. 1

2

3

5

4

7

9

10

6

8

11

13

12

14 1,2 & 3: Selection Sessions at the Sharjah Stadium Practice Nets 4,5,6 & 7: Match against Atkins, Dubai 8: Extreme fog delayed the first match against United Tariq, Sharjah team players seen practicing despite heavy fog. 9: Players getting ready for match against United Tariq, 10: United Tariq batted first 11: Second match against Khatri Cricket Club (Players from the rival team would go into a group hug everytime they took a wicket. 12 & 13: Match against Khatri Cricket Club. 14: The Atkins Sharjah team that defeated Atkins Dubai.

8

feature

Signalling The journey so far. by Manish Khanna, Sr. Planning Engineer, Signalling [email protected]

Key Achievements - First office set up under the Global Design Center - First office in the Middle East region to secure ISO certification - First recipient in the Middle East Region of the CEO’s special award for excellence - The largest office in terms of IRSE licensed designers within the control & systems domain.

It

was the year 2001 when Atkins decided to operate an overseas signalling design office in Middle East, paving the way for opening the Sharjah office. This office in Sharjah is an extension of control & system business of U.K operations. What started as a temporary office with a handful of Signal engineers borrowed from Indian Railways is now a permanent outfit with a size of 75 engineers. Most of the engineers here are permanent employees, while the rest of them are seconded from several organizations in India. Our headcount steadily increased, establishing a full fledged signal design office in a span of first six month of its formal opening, a remarkable feet to say a least. Production in the design office began with the TPWS (Train Protection and Warning System) designs. Following the head on collision of two Passenger trains at Ladbroke Grove station, where one of the train crossed the signal at danger, British Parliament passzed ‘Railway Safety Regulation 1999’ for TPWS fitments on signals. As a result of this regulation, we got the opportunity to work on this highly challenging programme. This was the highest priority programme for the rail signalling team in Sharjah and was completed in tight delivery schedules. Sharjah office significantly contributed in meeting the deadline of fitting 228 numbers of TPWS fitments in UK. Another challenge was thrown at us when Network Rail was about to introduce Computer Based Interlocking (CBI) under the SWIM project. Sharjah office prepared the scheme development and control tables to achieve the overall targets of commissioning. This project established Sharjah signalling division’s reputation as a ‘go-getter’. Working on many other key projects in the UK, like the Trent Valley Alliance line speed enhancement, Rugby Resignalling & Line speed enhancement, Sladelane, Stockport residual / renewal works and Route 7 Alliance works, the Sharjah team has accumulated more than 460,000 man hours of design work. The Sharjah office also played a key role in developing another signalling business unit in Beijing, China. We mentored the team in Beijing and also trained them in the business practices followed in Atkins. Today Sharjah office provides a wide range of design solutions ranging from mechanical/electromechanical to solid state interlocking including signalling scheme development and project management across various projects. Apart from signalling designs, Sharjah office developed in house software tools required for design automation and meeting the client requirements. These efforts have been recognised and awarded by both Atkins UK and Middle East excellence awards. These software tools have been adopted across the other Atkins offices as a quality tool for producing designs.

9

cover

Sharjah Sweeps the Excellence Awards By: Naresh Kumar, Engineer, Aerospace [email protected]

From Left to Right: Biju Antoney, Vinoth Josepth, Tim Askew, Neeraj Tamrakar and Brijesh Vats.

more, and it’s a real reward for hard work! Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe. There is no substitute for hard work” The ‘Excellence – Middle East: Rising Stars’ initiative culminated in Dubai on 12 November when 15 finalists attended an awards ceremony hosted by ME&I Managing Director, Tim Askew and Regional Director of Technology, Richard Smith. The scheme, intended to encourage individual staff members below grade 12 to develop themselves in an area of technical or business innovation brought together shortlisted candidates from seven regional offices. Sharjah office came out as a clear winner with four awards in its kitty. Vinoth Joseph, Biju Antony, Tamrakar Neeraj and Vats Brijesh sweeped the technical awards category. In the business category, the top prize went to Vishal Muralidhar from the Bangalore office. Vinoth Joseph, an engineer from Sharjah’s Rail Signalling office received the first prize in Innovation Category for a software that ‘prepares the material list from the design file soft copies’ especially useful for Rail Signaling Asset Management Team. His solution has helped reduce the manhours spent earlier in doing this task and has also significantly enhanced the accuracy of the output. Says Vinoth, “I feel proud and this achievement is a credit for Sharjah Office. I hope this will initiate and inspire me to do

Vinoth is a proud winner of the Excellence Award for the second time. In 2006, he won the CEO special award for excellence covering the whole organization. The second prize in the technical innvoation category went to Biju Antony, another engineer from our own Rail Signalling division. His “Auto Generation of Signaling Design” generates Design Sheets of Signaling Locations by giving inputs into a userfriendly Dialog box. This software helps make the generation of design sheets faster and error free. Biju developed this software in MicroStation Development Language (MDL) on the MicroStation Platform–J version. In Biju’s words, “I feel happy and greatly motivated and would try to keep my spirit of innovation up to help my division as well as the organization.” Our third winner, Neeraj Tamrakar also hails from the Signalling division and was rewarded for creating a “Cad Error Analyzing Software for Control Table”. His software analyses Cad error on the design sheet helping designers analyze the Control Tables with ease. This software significantly reduces the time taken to check the Errors present in the Design Sheet. A task that used to take hours to complete can now be completed in a matter of

10

cover seconds, thanks to the efforts of Neeraj. When asked how he felt, Neeraj said that he was elated when he heard his name being annoucned. “It was a moment I couldnt forget. This award has boosted my energy and motivated me to achieve more.” “The Award ceremony was very nice and well organized. Tim Askew, (Managing Director, Middle East & India Region) motivated us to put in more effort to achieve new success & meet future business development targets.”, he added. Our fourth winner, Brijesh Vats, is from the Highways and Transporation division. His software for preparing a ‘gully and kerb inlet design’ has helped engineers do cumbersome calculations with ease. In his own words: “I feel proud on this achievement. The credit

not only belongs to me but also to whole H&T department. The judges and Dubai Atkins staff were very supportive and interactive. I would say it was an unforgettable experience.” All the winners were grateful to Ramesh Rao, Gordon Bowles, Mathew Varghese, Mathews Danavumkal and Baljit Singh Modi for giving their important inputs and all the support. They also thanked Rahul, Shalini, Oscar, P. C. Menon and Mahesh for organizing the dry run, a day before the final presentation. The only regret which all winners shared among themselves was absence of the Sharjah management at the awards ceremony to boost their morale and to cheer them up. Hopefully, the management will take note of this and these awards will motivate others to achieve more, meeting Atkins commitment to providing value added services and solutions to our clients.

Above: The Sharjah Winners of the ME Excellence Awards with Ramesh Rao (Chief Engineer, Rail Signalling (third from left) Satish Grover Resident Director , Sharjah (fifth from left), Mathew Varghese, Manager, Admin & Accounts (second from right) and Mathews Danavumkal, HR Manager (Extreme left) Below: All the finalists of the Middle East Excellence Awards

11

staff

congrats!!

Aerospace Manelel Raman Santosh

Engineer (Stress)

Northern Gulf (Landscape) Paul Premnath A.



Sr. Engineer

Northern Gulf (Highways Design) Neha Kataria



Marwa Mohamed Gahalla

Transportation Planner



Sr.Transportation Planner

Kushal Pareek



Maged Khaleel

Design Engineer



Design Engineer

Highways & Transportation Sunil Padmanabhen (Document Controller, Northern Gulf (H&T) and his wife were blessed with a baby boy on October 15, 2007. They have decided to name him Gautam

Amit Roy

Design Engineer

Arpit Kalyaa

Design Engineer

Pavan Kumar P. M.

Graduate Engineer

Abani Kumar Satapathy

Design Engineer Design Engineer

Rail (Civil) Viswanadh Ponnuru

Design Engineer

Naveena P. C.

Sr.Design Engineer

Saritha Ajith

Ejas Valiyapurayil

Office Assistant

Ravindra Motagi

Admin Assistant



Graduate Engineer

Amol Humne

Design Engineer

Lakshmi Ganesh Kale

Design Engineer

Narayan Nikhare

Admin Assistant (DLRT)





Sr. Design Engineer

Sukhdeep Singh

Oil & Gas

Ajai Kumar Karnatakam

Structural Engineer

C V Unnikrishnan



Abhijeet Kumar Singh

Administration

Seyed Abbas M M

Graduate Engineer

Pankaj Khandelwal

our new colleagues Rupali Gopi Koirala



Sr. CAD Engineer



Design Engineer Sr.Design Engineer

Rail (Signalling) Jayant Puranik

Assistant Tester

Northern Gulf (Building Technologies)

Shaju Zacharia

Sunny Cherian

CAD Draughtsman

Yash Paul

Assistant Tester

Mike Daniel Rayburn

Building Practice Manager

Satyendra Patankar

Assistant Tester

Dennis Aragones



Ajay Pandit

Assistant Tester

CAD Designer

Lorela Aragones

CAD Designer

Sebastian Thomas V.

CAD Designer

Arnel Caburnay

Sr.Design Engineer

Noushad Cherukadath V.

CAD Draughtsman

Madhavaraman Srinivasan

Design Engineer

Khalid Zahir

Sr. Design Engineer

Albert Maduro

CAD Designer

Somakumar K .G.Pillai

CAD Designer

Roshan K. Xavier

CAD Designer

Hidalgo Edgar Dureza

Lead Architect

Jerick Ulep Calicdan Francisco Franco Joushua

Tester

d 007 an ber 1, 2 o t c O n betwee es are e in o j New 2007 ber 30, Novem

Jr. Design Engineer Design Engineer

Macaraeg Crisanto

CAD Draughtsman

Mohamed Dawood

Sr. Design Engineer

12

last page

9Qs

Answers to the previous quiz

Answer the questions below correctly and win two tickets to a movie of your choice. Picture 1 1. What is the ‘Ipod nano index’? Who publishes it? 2. Identify the logo in picture 1. Hint: This logo was created after the merger of two organisations in the financial services Industry in early 2007. 3. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Bonham and John Paul Jones. Identify the band. 4. Where would you find a sleeping policeman? 5. Google recently released a new tool which has been dubbed as the ‘Wikipedia killer’. What is this tool called? 6. In March 2007, to reduce the number of weapons in ithe city, police officers in Mexico City offered a personal computer for every high caliber gun that was surrendered and X for every low caliber gun that was surrendered. Identify X. 7. In 1998, IBM, Intel, Toshiba, Nokia, Ericsson, and Sony Ericsson formed a Special Interest Group which formalized the specifications for this technology, which is now very commonly used in mobile phones. What is

1. Apple Computers. 2. Carlos Slim Helu, He is a telecom magnate in Mexico. 3. J.K. Rowling, Her latest book was titled ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 4. David Beckham 5. Michael Moore, Sicko 6. They are the mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympics 7. Hotel California 8. Coca Cola 9. Doodles or Holiday Logos Answers that even remotely matched the above have been accepted.

All Correct Answers were given by the following people

Picture 2

- Kurian Thomas (Accounts), - Vineer Malhotra (O&G) - Sharmili Jagdale (QSE) - Aparna Jayadevan (Administrations) - Naina Dsouza (Administrations) - Javed Akhtar (O&G) - Dinesh Kodiyatt (SDT) - Vivian Robert (H&T) - Kamlesh Dewangan (Aerospace) - Amol Telang (Aerospace) - Bhushan Kapse (SDT) - Chiranjeevi Vijaykumar (Signalling) - Rajath Shenoy (Signalling) - Puneet Mehta (Aerospace) - Sujeet Chandra (Aerospace) - Prashant Sharma (O&G) - Kaiser Syed (H&T) - Gowthaman S. (Signalling)

this technology? 8. Identify the brand being advertised in the ad(picture 2). 9. Identify the man on the right. (Picture 3)

Picture 3 RULES - Contest open only to employees of Atkins, Sharjah. Winner will be decided based on the maximum number of correct answers. If there are more than one all correct entries, winner will be decided through a lucky draw. Correct answers and winner’s name will be published in the next issue. E-mail your answers to [email protected] with “Answers - 9Qs” in the subject line. Last date of submission - January 25, 2008. Best of Luck!!!

and th

e winn

ers are

...

Kamlesh Dewangan Aerospace & Vivian Robert Highways & Transporation (Each gets two tickets to a movie of their choice)

13