Simon
Senior Engineer, Rail & Metro
I graduated from the University of Abertay Dundee in July 1999 with an Honours Degree in Civil Engineering. After graduating I took a year out to travel across North America during which I spent some time looking for this job thing everyone went on about, in preparation for my return to the UK. So, from the comfort of an internet cafe half way round the world, I searched for the 'top 10 largest engineering consultancies' and a few companies I'd never heard of (including Atkins) came up. I sent my CV to them all and within 10 days of my return to the UK I went for three interviews and accepted an offer from Atkins Rail in Glasgow. This has proved to be a very worthwhile decision!
Like all Atkins graduates I was put through the very well structured Atkins Graduate Training Scheme and took full advantage of the mentoring system and training budget, learning new skills and developing existing ones along the way. The other advantage of being with Atkins as a graduate is that there are great opportunities to work on many different and challenging projects - locally, nationally and internationally - and this has contributed the most to my Initial Professional Development. With the ever increasing size and capability of Atkins in the technical consultancy services market these opportunities will continue to grow and it's up to the individual to take advantage. I have used this to streamline my career - I had all the ICE Core Objectives signed off within three years from joining, and by the end of my fourth year had successfully sat the ICE Members Professional Review and gained Chartered status.
I spent most of my time as a graduate working on design and assessment of bridges, gaining more responsibility as my experience, capability and confidence grew. The highlight of my graduate years was playing a key role in the Structures Design Team for the largest roads project in Scotland in recent years - the M77 / Glasgow Southern Orbital DBFO Contract. I served three distinct roles under the Contract as Bridge Design Engineer, Assistant Designer's Site Representative and Assistant Design Manager. This unique experience allowed me to see through the complete project life cycle of the bridge I designed - from optioneering, site investigation and detailed design to construction and, finally, driving over it!
As I became more senior and experienced in bridge design, I assumed a more professional and managerial role within the team, leading graduates and technicians and providing solutions to technical bridge design problems. Two years have passed since becoming Chartered and I have recently been promoted to Senior Engineer. I am currently an Engineering Manager for one of Scotland's prestigous rail projects, the Glasgow Airport Rail Link. I look forward to facing the new challenges ahead in this new role and look forward to whatever major projects Atkins can throw at me in the future.