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

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

ard
s Page 10

Page 9

Rail Signalling
- The Journey

In s i d e So Far

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 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

speak
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
ed i tori a l t e a m : as well as the Middle East Excellence Awards 2008.
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
Nare sh K u mar and innovations and felt the joy and pride of achieving the desired results.
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
Pictures from the Atkins stand at Cityscape, 2007 in Dubai.
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 rahul.susarla@atkinsglobal.com
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news
Quality, safety & Environment bimonthly reports on consumption of electricity and water,
also the carbon footprint of the Sharjah office.
‘Green Initiative’ Program Launched (See page 4)

With the objective of Health, Safety and Environment

making the Sharjah
office a greener and
Audits Conducted O&G, Signalling,
a more environment- H&T and Aerospace
friendly workplace, a new
endeavour titled ‘Green The Surveillance / Change to scope HSE audit by LRQA was
Initiative’ was launched. successfully conducted from 15th – 17th of October’07 in our
office. This audit was conducted by Mr. Andrzej Taczala from
With about 15 volunteers LRQA. We got recommendation that existing certification to
from within the Sharjah the international standards for Environment, Health & safety (
Sharjah
office, this initiative will ISO 14001 & OHSAS 18001) be continued for our Rail Signalling
endeavour to conserve and Oil & gas divisions.
and use our environmental resources as efficiently as possible.
At the same time, we also got recommendation from LRQA
The first meeting of this initiative was held on October 25, 2007 assessor for certification to the international standards for
to discuss the environmental issues. The initiative kicked off with Environment, Health & safety ( ISO 14001 & OHSAS 18001)
10 volunteers in the first meeting. The number has since grown for our H&T and Aerospace divisions in the form of change to
to 15 and we plan to include more people into this endeavor scope in existing certificate.
over the coming months.
QMS Audits conducted for O&G,
“As a first step towards this process, we will concentrate
primarily on the environmental concerns within the Sharjah
Signalling, H&T and Aerospace
office. We aim to conserve the environment but this aspiration is
The Surveillance / Change to scope QMS audit by LRQA was
not limited to our office premises, we have the zeal to take this
successfully conducted from 11th – 13th of October’07 in our
journey from the office premise till our doorstep & to the public
Oil & gas , H&T and Aerospace divisions. These Audits were
in general.”, said Baljit Singh Modi, Manager for QSE
conducted by Mr. Amitava Giri & Mr. Roy Calver from LRQA.
A second meeting was held on November 29, 2007 where the
These visits included the successful completion of surveillance
scope was finalized. It was decided that this initiative carry a
audit in Oil & gas division and change to scope audit for our
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
Andrzej Taczala (extreme right) from LRQA conducting an audit
- Jayant Verma, H&T with the Aerospace team.
- Abhilash Bhushan, Northern Gulf
- Sana Ullah, Northern Gulf
H&T and Aerospace divisions. A Gap analysis audit against AS
- Byju Yesodharan, Northern Gulf
9100 standards was also conducted for Aerospace division.
- William Rosario, Northern Gulf
- Rajeev Ampalakat, Northern Gulf For more information on what’s happening in QSE, email Baljit Singh
Modi on Baljit.Modi@atkinsglobal.com
Just before publishing this story, we also added four more
volutneers to our initiative. This take the total number of Green Human ResourceS
Initiative team members to 19.
Two divisions added to the Sharjah
- Satapathy Abani, H&T office
- Paresh Shah, O&G GDC
- Kamlesh Dewangan, Aerospace Two new divisions Northern Gulf (Landscape) and Rail
- Amol Telang - Aerospace Signalling Testers have been added to the Sharjah office. Both
these divisions are a part of the Sharjah Global Design Center.
In an attempt to raise awareness amongst the staff regarding
environmental issues, beginning with this issue, we will publish

3
3
news
The Northern Gulf Landscape will support the Northern Aerospace
Gulf architecture teams. This new division is an addition to the
Northern Gulf Building technologies which is also a part of the ‘Maverick and Geese’ runners up in
Sharjah GDC. This landscape division has only one member as of
now but is expected to significantly expand its presence in the
‘Prosper 2007’ business management
Sharjah office over the coming months. competition
Mike Daniel Rayburn, who joined us in early October, heads the In a business management competition titled Prosper 2007 run
Sharjah bit of Northern Gulf Building Technologies Division. across corporates of UK and Middle East, a team from Atkins
aerospace were runners up. Sujeet Chandra from the Sharjah
Signalling Testers division is a part of the UK GDC. Interestingly, Aerospace team partnered with two engineers from the Bristol
though these testers will be on the Sharjah rolls, they will be office - Nuno Gouveia and Charlotte Thomas and one engineer
permanently deputed to UK. The first batch of five testers has from Derby - Harris Mir - for this competition.
already reached UK and has begun training. A total of 24 testers
will be working in the UK from the Birmingham office of Atkins. After 2 months of intense battle, the team, named Maverick and
Geese, outsmarted rank 2 team from Mott Macdonald in the last
For more information on what’s happening in HR, email Mathews D. on period to snatch sweet second spot.
Mathews.Danavumkal@atkinsglobal.com

Trend
Monitor Energy and Resource consumption
trends in the office. Sharjah

The organizational goal is to reduce consumption of energy and others

resources by at least 5% compared to the last financial year.
Electricity Consumption 450.00
Water Consumption
Electricity consumption Electricity consumption per
per staff (06-07) staff (07-08 ytd.)
400.00 = 283 Kw = 260 Kw
200.00

Water consumption
350.00 8.12 % Reduction 180.00 per staff ( 06-07)
= 153 gallon Water consumption
per staff ( 07-08 ytd.)
181.77

160.00 = 111 gallon

300.00
181.77

140.00
139.92

250.00
27.45 %
Reduction
120.00
391.46

200.00
100.00

124.20
102.96
126.47

93.82

115
302.52

150.00 80.00
279.41

274.53
270.45

238.17

60.00
100.00
165.18
161.67

40.00

50.00
20.00
4.01

0.00 0.00
Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07 Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07 Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07

Electricity consumption per staff (kw) Permissible limit Water consumption per staff (gallon) Permissible limit
Carbon Footprint * (for total energy consumed in office) *- Carbon footprint can be
80000 180.00 seen as the total amount of
carbon dioxide (CO2) and other
70000 156.58 160.00 greenhouse gases emitted over
the full life cycle of a product or
Total co2 consumed in kg/Mwh/staff

140.00
Total co2 consumed in kg/Mwh

60000 121.02 service. Normally a carbon footprint

113.38 120.00 is usually expressed as a CO2
50000 108.18 109.80 equivalent (usually in kilogrammes
67488

100.00 or tonnes), which accounts for the

56768
55184

54536

50208
43488

40000 95.27
same global warming effects of
26296
24768

80.00
64.67 different greenhouse gases (UK
30000 66.07
60.00 Parliamentary Office of Science and
Technology POST, 2006). Carbon
20000
40.00 footprints can be calculated using
a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
10000 20.00
method, or can be restricted to the
0 0.00
immediately attributable emissions
Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07 Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 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.
Sujeet Chanda, Engineer,
Aerospace Sharjah
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.
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 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 Prakash.Gandhi@atkinsglobal.com
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
Rail Signalling optimistic, captain Uma Shankar. “We still have a lot more
matches to play and the I hope that we perform to our full
Mohankrishna returns from study tour potential in the upcoming matches.”
of Swiss and Dutch State Railways
(See pictures of the matches and selection sessions on page 8)
S Mohanakrishnan our young engineer from Rail Signaling has
just returned from a study Here’s the list of the twenty players selected for the team:
tour of Swiss and Dutch Prashantsuresh S. Aerospace
State Railways. Amit Roy Metronet
Sreejit Pillai Aerospace
The tour, meant to study Rahul Jain ASDT
the European Train Control Ramanantham Bhaskaran DLRT
system, known as ETCS Mirza Baig DLRT
in professional circles, Uma Shankar Information Systems
was jointly sponsored by Jahangir Akhtar ASDT
the Institute of Railway Chandu Gowda DLRT
Signal Engineers (London) S Mohanakrishnan on training in Rajesh Bellana H&T
Switzerland.
and Atkins Rail, as part Ajay Michael Metronet
of Thorrowgood Scholarship that he secured for topping IRSE Devanand Shukla Signalling
examination- 2006. Roshan Rao H&T
Sushil Tandel Northern Gulf
The Scholarship is funded from a combination of The Anurag Mahajan Signalling
Thorrowgood bequest fund, members’ donations and Institution Vinay Kumar DLRT
funds. Thorrowgood Scholarship Award holders are required to Mohammed Azim Northern Gulf
give a talk to the Institution’s membership on completion of their Pradeep Kumar H&T
study. Deepak Kumar DLRT
Nitin Ubale Metronet
The IRSE Exam for 2007 was also held in mid October, the results Adarsh Nair Administration
for this are expected sometime in January, 2008. Anil Nair Information Systems

For more information of what’s happening in Rail Signalling, email Ramesh For details on the cricket team, match scorecards and other information
Rao on Ramesh.Rao@atkinsglobal.com email Rahul Susarla on rahul.susarla@atkinsglobal.com

OFFICE NEWS Organization

Atkins Sharjah cricket team formed; European Aerospace Acquisition

wins first match; falters in the next Positions Atkins For Growth
two WS Atkins plc (Atkins) announced the acquisition of Nedtech
Engineering B.V. (Nedtech), a Dutch aerospace consultancy,
Imagine yourself, standing in the middle of nowhere, with
from its founder. This acquisition is conditional, with completion
nothing for miles but sand, away from all forms of civilization.
expected by the end of December 2007.
That’s what eleven players of the Atkins Sharjah Cricket team
have been doing every Friday since early November. No prizes for
Nedtech recorded annual turnover of £3.5m in 2006 and had
guessing, they were enthusiastically playing cricket.

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.”
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.”
Half year results announced; New
CSR policy and Sustainability policy
released; Share buyback announced
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.
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.
Growth in almost all sectors was also reported with operating
profit from continuing operations growing from GBP 27.3
If you think. You can.
Email your inputs for the next issue and feedback to rahul.susarla@atkinsglobal.com by January 25, 2008
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.
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.
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.”
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.
“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
For more information on the organization, visit bluepages or email Rahul
Susarla on rahul.susarla@atkinsglobal.com
6
news
The objective of the away day was to brainstorm any
Team Aerospace Sharjah issues currently facing the Aerospace Team and to develop an
associated action plan. Moreover, it was the ideal environment
completes a successful for the management and the employees to freely interact and
gain an understanding of any cultural differences or work place

year in flight. issues.

Spend a day away from office.
By Sujeet Chandra,
Engineer , Aerospace
sujeet.chandra@atkinsglobal.com
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

T
forward and speak freely about issues concerning them as long
he Sharjah Aerospace Team had its first away-day at the
as they offered possible solutions too!
hotel Kempinski, Ajman, on 30th October 2007. This
was a welcome break for the team from their day-to-day
The day was divided into three sessions: the take off, the climb
technical challenges, and an opportunity to interact with Neil
and the cruise- very much similar to flight profile of an aircraft.
Kirk (Managing Director, Aerospace) and Ben Adams (Operations
Each session had two parallel discussions in separate breakout
Director, Aerospace) who flew down from the UK for the event.
rooms. In the take off session, the group discussed at length
The occasion also marked the celebration of the first anniversary
the need to build relationships and the day to day operation of
of the Sharjah Aerospace Team.

1 5

2 6

(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

6
7

9 10
8

11

12
13

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
manish.khanna@atkinsglobal.com
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
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
By: Naresh Kumar, Engineer, Aerospace
naresh.kumar@atkinsglobal.com
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”
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 user-
friendly 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
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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
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
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.
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staff

congrats!! Aerospace
Manelel Raman Santosh
Northern Gulf (Landscape)
Engineer (Stress)

Paul Premnath A. Sr. Engineer

Northern Gulf (Highways Design)
Neha Kataria Transportation Planner
Marwa Mohamed Gahalla Sr.Transportation Planner
Kushal Pareek Design Engineer
Maged Khaleel Design Engineer
Highways & Transportation
Amit Roy Graduate Engineer
Sunil Padmanabhen (Document Controller, Northern
Pankaj Khandelwal Design Engineer
Gulf (H&T) and his wife were blessed with a baby
boy on October 15, 2007. They have decided to Arpit Kalyaa Design Engineer
name him Gautam Pavan Kumar P. M. Graduate Engineer
Abani Kumar Satapathy Design Engineer

our new Abhijeet Kumar Singh

Rail (Civil)
Design Engineer

colleagues
Viswanadh Ponnuru Design Engineer
Naveena P. C. Sr.Design Engineer
Saritha Ajith Graduate Engineer
Administration Amol Humne Design Engineer
Ejas Valiyapurayil Office Assistant Lakshmi Ganesh Kale Design Engineer
Ravindra Motagi Admin Assistant Narayan Nikhare Sr. Design Engineer
Rupali Gopi Koirala Admin Assistant (DLRT) Sukhdeep Singh Design Engineer
Oil & Gas Ajai Kumar Karnatakam Sr.Design Engineer
Seyed Abbas M M Structural Engineer Rail (Signalling)
C V Unnikrishnan Sr. CAD Engineer Jayant Puranik Assistant Tester
Northern Gulf (Building Technologies) Shaju Zacharia Tester
Sunny Cherian CAD Draughtsman Yash Paul Assistant Tester
Mike Daniel Rayburn Building Practice Manager Satyendra Patankar Assistant Tester
Dennis Aragones CAD Designer Ajay Pandit Assistant Tester
Lorela Aragones CAD Designer
d
Sebastian Thomas V. CAD Designer 007 an
n October 1, 2
Arnel Caburnay Sr.Design Engineer betwee
joinees are
Noushad Cherukadath V. CAD Draughtsman New 2007
ber 30,
Novem
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 Jr. Design Engineer
Francisco Franco Joushua Design Engineer
Macaraeg Crisanto CAD Draughtsman
Mohamed Dawood Sr. Design Engineer

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last page

9Qs
Answers to the previous quiz

1. Apple Computers.
Answer the questions below correctly 2. Carlos Slim Helu, He is a telecom magnate in Mexico.
and win two tickets to a movie of your 3. J.K. Rowling, Her latest book was titled ‘Harry Potter and the
choice. Deathly Hallows
4. David Beckham
5. Michael Moore, Sicko
Picture 1 6. They are the mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympics
1. What is the ‘Ipod nano index’? 7. Hotel California
Who publishes it? 8. Coca Cola
2. Identify the logo in picture 1. 9. Doodles or Holiday Logos
Hint: This logo was created after Answers that even remotely matched the above have been
the merger of two organisations accepted.
in the financial services Industry
in early 2007. All Correct Answers were given by the
3. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John following people
Bonham and John Paul Jones. Identify the band. - Kurian Thomas (Accounts),
4. Where would you find a sleeping policeman? - Vineer Malhotra (O&G)
5. Google recently released a new tool which has been
dubbed as the ‘Wikipedia killer’. What is this tool
- Sharmili Jagdale (QSE)
called? - Aparna Jayadevan (Administrations)
6. In March 2007, to reduce the number of weapons - Naina Dsouza (Administrations)
in ithe city, police officers in Mexico City offered a - Javed Akhtar (O&G)
personal computer for every high caliber gun that
was surrendered and X for every low caliber gun that
- Dinesh Kodiyatt (SDT)
was surrendered. Identify X. - Vivian Robert (H&T)
7. In 1998, IBM, Intel, Toshiba, Nokia, Ericsson, and - Kamlesh Dewangan (Aerospace)
Sony Ericsson formed a Special Interest Group which - Amol Telang (Aerospace)
formalized the specifications for this technology, which
is now very commonly used in mobile phones. What is
- Bhushan Kapse (SDT)
- Chiranjeevi Vijaykumar (Signalling)
- Rajath Shenoy (Signalling)
- Puneet Mehta (Aerospace)
- Sujeet Chandra (Aerospace)
- Prashant Sharma (O&G)
Picture 2

- Kaiser Syed (H&T)

- Gowthaman S. (Signalling)

and th
this technology? e winn
8. Identify the brand being advertised in the ers are
ad(picture 2). ...
9. Identify the man on the right. (Picture 3)
Kamlesh Dewangan
Aerospace
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 Vivian Robert
draw. Correct answers and winner’s name will be published in the next issue.
E-mail your answers to rahul.susarla@atkinsglobal.com with “Answers - 9Qs”
Highways & Transporation
in the subject line. Last date of submission - January 25, 2008.
Best of Luck!!! (Each gets two tickets to a movie of their choice)

13