Ashkan Amiri: Innovative Civil Engineer

My highlights

Going on a graduate excursion to the Lake District to learn about ourselves as leaders

Working on large projects with Transport for London e.g. Cycle Superhighway 4

Whitechapel Station upgrade enabling works in London

A day in my life

I design various schemes that come through our Transport for London (TfL) framework.

On a normal day, I’ll be using AutoCAD and solving various problems and issues that arise with the design.

This would involve looking at and resolving construction risks at design stage. It also means using the knowledge that comes from investigation works, such as trial holes in the ground or cores of the carriageway, which is frequent when designing.

On occasion, I will be creating fee-estimating documents and compensation events, as well as creating safety pre-construction information packages.

I’m a civil engineer, but I’m also ... an Airsoft player, coder, business owner, pianist, bilingual, and investor.

My career inspiration

I decided to become a civil engineer based on knowing that engineering was the route for me and that I cared for the environment.

We asked Ashkan…

what’s one great thing that you love about civil engineering that you didn’t know until you started working in the industry?

The fact that change in industry isn’t as slow as people expect it to be. My office is used to pumping out a lot of healthy streets and safety schemes within three months from start of design to finish of build.

which civil engineering myth(s) you would like to bust?

That we’re boring people.

A lot of us are quite social.

which civil engineering project (past or present) do you wish you’d worked on?

I wish I’d worked on Battersea Power Station. The site is amazing and being exposed to that level of problem-solving every day sounds like an amazing place to have been.

what about being a civil engineer inspires you?

Knowing that I can make an active change to way people’s lives are run ,and knowing that we’re the most effective industry to have transferable skills.

would you recommend a career in civil engineering?

A career in civil engineering will bring the most diverse, satisfying and innovative way to use your smarts in a practical manner that can make a change.

A civil engineer isn’t just a person who sits behind a PC doing calculations or designing all day, but a person who forges relationships, motivates others and talks openly about worldly issues.

Becoming a civil engineer is the most active way to help the environment, with a constant push to be more sustainable and to think of solutions to climate issues, to then building those solutions.

The industry is moving to create a better place for people. Some of the things that people take for granted and are essential for comfortable life in cities include sewage systems, water defences, electrical applications, hospitals, roads, school, and railways - civil engineers work day in and out to make these exist.