Christopher Ackland

Project manager, Moffatt & Nichol

Expertise

Design, Project Management, Water

Location

UAE

My highlights

Moving a river: how many people get to say they’ve done that?

Relocating: it’s marked a pivotal moment in my personal and professional life

Becoming a Chartered Engineer: represents my hard work and dedication

A day in my life

Alarm, snooze, roll over. Repeat.

Some mornings I make it to the apartment gym. Others, motivation is in shorter supply, so it’s a quicker routine: shower, breakfast, and a much-needed caffeine boost before driving to the office along Abu Dhabi’s Corniche.

The workday starts with emails, followed by further coffee and a scan for anything urgent – client queries, project tasks, proposals, or coordination across teams as part of my project management role.

Lunch involves a walk to get some fresh air, typically when my phone starts buzzing with Microsoft Teams messages as my colleagues from the UK come online.

The afternoon then becomes a mix of calls, task progress, and catching up with the team (and occasionally myself).

Finish times vary depending on deadlines and calls with the UK or US, with some flexibility naturally required.

The Middle East isn’t known for 'switching off' – clients have high expectations, and there’s a strong work culture based on ambition, pace, and execution.

The upside is a near round-the-clock workflow: as my day winds down, colleagues elsewhere pick things up, helping us stay responsive and able to draw on our worldwide expertise.

Evenings are usually spent unwinding in front of the TV or trying to get into golf at the driving range.

In the Middle East, we're blessed with good weather all year round, so the weekends are an opportunity to go to the desert, meet with friends and squeeze in some much-needed exercise.

My career would have been far less fun – or meaningful – without the ICE. For that, I’m very grateful.

Which individual project or person inspired you to become a civil engineer?

Honestly, I never had a 'lightbulb moment' that pointed me towards civil engineering. As a teenager, I wanted to be a pilot – but somehow ended up becoming a civil engineer instead.

I approached engineering from a more creative angle than you might imagine: initially wanting to become a graphic designer, I chose A-levels in fine art and 3D design.

I begrudgingly did maths to keep my options open, didn’t study physics, and assumed engineering might be off-limits – thankfully, I was wrong.

The idea of studying architecture as an alternative to graphic design didn’t last long, and ultimately, endless portfolio preparation killed the romance of a creative career.

Civil engineering won me over with the opportunity to work on projects involving rivers, coasts and flooding. Job security was also an important factor, as was the perceived 'prestige' that comes with a career in engineering, much like medicine or law... this was something I'd thought was beyond my reach, until speaking to the right people.

If degree apprenticeships had existed back then, I’d probably have jumped at the earn-while-you-learn option.

I admire anyone taking that path today, but it wasn’t really a thing when I started university, and I don’t regret the decision to go down a more 'conventional' route – it undoubtedly helped shape who I am today.

Deep down, I still dream of becoming a pilot (who doesn’t?), but civil engineering has given me plenty to celebrate, and occasionally complain about (more than I might be willing to admit).

So until an airline comes calling, it seems like I’m set on civil engineering!

We asked Christopher…

I would recommend a career in civil engineering because…

…of the people you meet and the places it can take you, even if only from behind a desk. I had never even considered holidaying in the Middle East before, and now I live here.

It’s boosted my confidence, broadened my cultural perspective, and introduced me to some really remarkable individuals.

Complete this phrase: I’m a civil engineer, but I’m also…

Somebody who swaps hard hats for half marathons, and CAD drawings for painting canvas.

What about being a civil engineer gets you out of bed each morning?

Let's be real for a moment: job security and the ability to live a comfortable life are huge benefits.

But so is the opportunity to talk to people about things beyond my own skills, knowledge and experience and delve into topics that I might otherwise not be able to.

My involvement with the ICE and the South West Infrastructure Partnership (SWIP) has allowed me to do that.

In general, I have found civil engineering to be a broad church, with lots of opportunity to go in different directions.

I think what we do, particularly in the water environment, is relevant to all of us, and I can only hope that it keeps me curious and engaged for many years to come.

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

Civil engineering involves almost everything you can see – who knew (not me, at least not when I first started).

Name one civil engineering myth you’d like to bust.

That civil engineering interventions are somehow supposed to last forever.

It’s easy to forget that everything we do is temporary, and no matter how many times we might repair or replace something, everything has a design life, no matter how many awards we win, and how much we style it out on LinkedIn.

So, we better get better at baking in this mentality to our planning, financing and daily practice.

Too many people – usually those first to comment on a Facebook post about Auntie Pat’s pothole problem – lose sight of the bigger, long-term challenges we face in civil engineering.

This all comes back to the ways we respond to – and work with – nature, embedded circularity in the lifecycle of a project, and finance for the future.

Civil engineering is risk management in disguise.

Has civil engineering helped you overcome any personal hurdles/difficulties?

Civil engineering has been a constant for all of my adult life, through relocation, loss of loved ones, and as friends have come and gone.

It’s been both an anchor and an opportunity to experience new things.

What motivated you to become professionally qualified? 

Professional qualification isn’t just a title. It’s a mark of quality, commitment, and credibility, respected by peers across industry.

For me, becoming a Chartered Engineer represents the hard work and dedication I’ve shown while developing personally and professionally, and is a standard I aspire to uphold in everything I do.

My journey to chartership began while my mum was alive; she first introduced me to civil engineering through her colleagues.

After she passed, it became much more than a career milestone; a personal mission to honour her influence, and the values she instilled in me.

What does being professionally qualified with the ICE mean for your career?  

Honestly, professional qualification is now the benchmark for career progression, especially in consultancy.

It’s no longer a ‘nice to have’, but an expectation.

Beyond achieving chartered status, my involvement with the ICE, and later SWIP, has been a major driver of my professional development.

Engaging with people across different disciplines in civil engineering and the built environment has given me a more well-rounded view of infrastructure opportunities and challenges.

Having moved abroad, this world-view has also taught me that these challenges, and the processes to overcome them, are rarely straightforward.

How did the ICE and your employer support you to become professionally qualified? 

My employer (at the time WSP) supported me via a training agreement.

I also received support from our local membership development officer (MDO), colleagues via on-the-job learning, and numerous ICE volunteers.

What do you value most about being an ICE member? 

The opportunities it brings to engage with professionals from different backgrounds and disciplines, lived experiences and levels of seniority.

How has being a member helped your career?

My involvement with the ICE began in Bristol, acting as a liaison between the Early Careers Network (then the Graduate and Student Network) and the Bristol City club committee.

After our project to move the River Taw won a sustainability award at the ICE South West Civil Engineering Awards, I was invited to speak at city club events – my first taste of public speaking... scary stuff.

From there, I became a 'Chair’s Apprentice' (now known as 'Future Leaders'), then served as vice chair and senior vice chair of the ICE South West Committee for five years.

Alongside this, I got involved with the SWIP, eventually joining their steering group.

I helped to shape and host the Beyond Brunel podcast, and led on SWIP’s first ‘Vision for the South West to 2050’.

Since relocating to the UAE, I’ve joined the ICE UAE committee, continuing to build my professional network.

These experiences have shaped my personal and professional development more than I could have imagined.

I’ve interviewed infrastructure big-wigs, rubbed shoulders with architects, planners, environmentalists, tech experts, community groups and charities.

I’ve made lasting friendships and gained many informal mentors, all while broadening my understanding of what goes into the built environment.

Simply put, my career would have been far less fun, or meaningful, without the ICE. For that, I’m very grateful.

What’s the biggest/most complex thing you’ve made out of Lego? How long did it take you?

I’m going to disappoint here – I’ve never owned Lego. I called it a day after graduating from 'early learning' blocks at nursery.

I think there’s a stereotype that civil engineers were all obsessive builders or puzzle-solvers as children. In reality, I think we’ve moved on from that.

We’re (rightly) getting better at showing that engineering isn’t about a particular hobby or personality type – it’s about being invested in building a better place for people and planet.

For what it’s worth, I was always more arty, and fairly hopeless at puzzles. Somehow, it seems to have worked out.

It’s probably also why I’ve taken so much joy and interest in helping establish the Beyond Brunel podcast. And more broadly, taking part in ICE initiatives that help to make infrastructure a story people want to hear.

Anything else? i.e. personal causes, hobbies

I enjoy running (to offset cake), painting, playing badminton, shooting, and fly-fishing (occasionally).

Christopher's career path

I studied an integrated master's degree in civil and coastal engineering at the University of Plymouth, UK.

During university, I completed a year-long industrial placement with a contractor working on regional civil and coastal engineering projects. I also completed an eight-week summer internship with AECOM in outer London (Croydon), contributing to capacity improvements at Waterloo Station.

I’m a proud Janner (for the uninitiated, that’s people from Plymouth), but after graduating, I set my sights on somewhere a bit bigger.

I joined WSP in Bristol, alongside a large cohort of fresh faced infrastructure graduates.

We were all happy to have survived academia, but anxious about swapping lectures for timesheets, and trading literature reviews for the reality of utilisation.

After five years living it up large – fuelled by falafel, harbourside sunsets, and many crossings of the Clifton Suspension Bridge – I returned to Devon to live and work in Exeter.

I joined Moffatt & Nichol (M&N) as a coastal engineer. M&N is a US consultancy specialising in ports, water and transportation.

Working with some of my old colleagues and with shore and moor on my doorstep, it was a happy reunion of people and place. As they say, South West is best, and Devon’s heaven.

Following a six-month assignment to support a colleague in establishing M&N’s presence in the Middle East, I’ve since relocated to Abu Dhabi, where we’ve opened an office.

Along the way, I transitioned into a design coordination and project management role, and now support our general manager for the Middle East and Africa in growing the team across the UAE and wider region.