Railways

After almost a year in our railways division I'm happy to say I made the right choice when I chose my first job. The first year has been a fun and steep learning curve full of project work and other activities in parallel to the daily tasks. In the first few months I was involved in the pre-analysis stages of the Athens and Budapest Metros' tunnel ventilation modelling; for a couple of weeks I got involved in a toxicity study using computational tools for the Amsterdam Metro. Since those initial two or three months I've been working full time on London Underground's Cooling the Tube Programme.

It is great to have the opportunity to be part of such a large multi-disciplinary team in my role as a tunnel ventilation engineer. I support the mechanical and electrical lead and have not only been responsible for a variety of technical tasks including calculations, equipment layouts and feasibility studies, but also participated and led surveys and technical meetings. It's rewarding to see our designs and ideas moving from concept through to detail design; and let's not forget that these designs include contributions from other team members (electrical, architectural, environmental, civil...). The inter-disciplinary work is one of the most enjoyable aspects of work, and quite a typical one too in Mott MacDonald.

Railways is ideal for graduates who seek professional development; soon after we join we're encouraged to establish a chartership plan and have an especially dedicated training manager that can advise us whichever path we may want to follow. The company has a variety of events where one can meet other graduates and network, such as graduate weekends, daytrips, forums, seminars and so on, including a graduate society, which organises after work and weekend activities!

Mikel Alonso
Queen Mary, University of London.
PhD Aerospace Engineering – Computational Aeroacoustics (2008)
Joined in 2006
Works in Railways, Croydon, UK