This is the second in a series of international dispatches from civil engineers in the North West who have worked, volunteered or travelled outside the UK. Marc Easton is a fourth year student at the Unversity of Manchester studying Civil and Structural Engineering. When he graduates he is joining Arup in London as a Graduate Structural Engineer. In this interview he talks about his experiences working abroad on two student placements in the baking heat of Abu Dhabi.
What project did you work on & which company was it with?
In the summers of 2009 and 2010 I travelled to Abu Dhabi, UAE, to work on the Aldar Headquarters Building for Arup and Aldar Laing O’Rourke. It is a 24 storey (110m) circular building situated in the developing Al Raha Beach area, and is home to Aldar Developments (a large property company in the UAE), amongst other businesses.
How long did the project take and how long did you stay in Abu Dhabi?
The project itself was obviously an extensive development, taking a number of years, and so during my two visits I got the chance to see the building grow. Personally I took two lots of two weeks over consecutive summers, making a month in total as part of the project team, and getting the chance to work with both contracting and consulting engineers. I have in fact travelled to Abu Dhabi a number of times, and so have probably spent close to three months there in total.
Did you feel you had adequate skills, did you learn a lot?
In the first summer I learnt a huge amount from working on the Aldar HQ building – I saw concrete pours, supervised rebar checks and worked with recent graduate engineers, and so had the chance to experience life as a working engineer. At first I didn’t feel prepared at all, and everything I had learnt at university seemed a million miles away, but after time (and especially during my second visit) I felt I understood how the project was operating and even had the chance to do some (very simple and heavily supervised) structural design myself!
How was the experience (culture, knowledge, weather, work relations etc.)?
Both of the times I went to work in Abu Dhabi I travelled in summer when temperatures can reach over 50°C. This, combined with working during the month of Ramadan when eating and drinking in public during daylight hours is prohibited, provided me with a culturally shocking and exciting time to work on site, if not a thirsty one! I also found that I had to adapt my communication skills to those I was working with (whether expatriates or UAE nationals) as often a bit of haggling and friendly banter could get you a long way.
What was the main challenge when working in Abu Dhabi?
One of the main challenges for me whilst working in Abu Dhabi was the extreme temperature, as it was virtually impossible to remain on site for longer than an hour without returning to drink. This meant that the inspections had to be completed quickly, and this proved to be difficult when I was also learning exactly what I should be doing. I also found it slightly intimidating walking into a room full of experienced engineers that knew much more than I did, but I quickly learnt that they were more than happy to help me if I became stuck on a problem.
Will you be returning to Abu Dhabi if you can?
I would absolutely love to go back to Abu Dhabi if I could! The skyline there (and in Dubai) changes so quickly that in the two years that I haven’t seen it, many of the projects will have been completed and open to the public. As well as Al Raha Beach, I also got the chance to take a site visit on Central Market in Abu Dhabi, a collection of three skyscrapers up to 374m tall and a modern souk, which I would love to return to see finished.
Would you recommend taking such opportunities to ICE students?
Gaining work experience, especially in a country that offers different cultures, is one of the best things I have done as an engineer as it has shown me how the theory learnt in our lectures is applied to the real world, and has cemented (no pun intended...) the fact that I want to be an engineer and work on projects of my own in the future.
Photos credit: Marc Easton
image 1: Marc Easton on top of the Central Market
image 2: The Aldar HQ building
image 3: View from the top of Aldar HQ
image 4: Laying the rebar for a concrete pour next to Aldar HQ
image 5: Central Market tower
image 6: view from Central Market