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RME NEWSRAMBOLL MIDDLE EAST NEWSLETTERISSUE#1 JULY 2015

A CHALLENGE TO GROWThe prestigious TECOM project is helping Ramboll Middle East grow by challenging our capabilities on our home turf.

Read more on page 4

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Managing Director’s Message

Dear Colleagues

Welcome to the latest offering in the regional newsletter for the Middle East giving an insight into the business life for Ramboll in the region.

It has been a very dynamic year for the business and we have seen some major successes in winning new projects such as the Ministry of Interior Building in Jeddah and the Salalah Port Development in Oman. Both of these wins are significant as they develop our service offerings in design and build and the maritime sectors and serve as platforms to continue to grow the business.

Projects, as you are aware, are key, and their delivery as planned is vital to the success of the business. Delivering technically excellent projects keep the clients coming back, and producing the financial results provides the means for us to invest and grow our business. The business support, technical teams and project managers have all contributed to the underlying business being sound, and improvements continue to be made with the help of our new Project Excellence Director, Panos Haralampous, who I urge you to meet if you have not already.

From a growth perspective it has been an exciting year as we have increased staff numbers by 9% across the board, as those of you in Dubai particularly will know given the constraints on office space. In addition we will grow resources in other locations to meet the demands of our clients and to attract the best talent into the Ramboll family. During this year we have said au revoir to some friends such as Matthew Nield who moved to the Southampton office and Frode Mo who returned to Norway. We have also seen Wael Khalil step up to address the market in Saudi Arabia and relocate to Jeddah as our country manager. We will shortly be announcing the replacements to focus on the Qatar and Environment markets.

I do hope you spend the time to read the newsletter and hopefully we will see more of your contributions in forthcoming issues.

As Eid approaches I would like to take this opportunity to wish all employees and your families a very blessed Eid Al Fitr.

Regards

Richard Beard

Editorially speaking

Welcome to the first issue of the Ramboll Middle East Newsletter (RME News).

The editorial team for this issue comprises of myself and Rabiya Shabeeh. We have been working hard to gather the most interesting and informative content with an aim to improve the communication within Ramboll Middle East (RME) and to ensure that all of us are informed with the same news at the same time.

In this issue, you will find a feature on the TECOM Project, recaps of some the recently held events such as the HR Recruitment Training and the launch of the Professional Women’s Network and, once again, an opportunity to learn more about our colleagues within RME in ‘In the Spotlight’.

With upcoming issues, we hope to continue sharing as much news as possible. To do so, we count on the support of each of you, to read our issues and let us know how we are doing and what more you would like to see from us. We would like to encourage you to tell us your stories, to let us know what you want to read, and if the urge strikes, even write for RME News and share your voice with us.

2015 has seen a busy start to the year and through this inaugural newsletter, we’ll be covering updates, people and projects for you.

Best regards

Christoffer BrandtCommunications Intern

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COMPETITION!Suggest a new name for RME’s Employee Newsletter

We’re running the first ever competition to find a new snappy title for the Ramboll Middle East’s Employee Newsletter. Last year we ran the Ramboll New Markets competition, and this year we are giving you the opportunity to name the Ramboll Middle East newsletter as well.

All you have to do is email your suggested title that reflects what the newsletter is all about to RMENews@ramboll.com.

So don’t delay send us your ideas. The best name will win a great prize. The closing date for entries is Thursday, 27 August 2015.

All the best and good luck!

Editorial Team

Editorially Speaking

Rabiya ShabeehCommunications InternRamboll Middle East

Christoffer BrandtCommunications InternRamboll Middle East

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A CHALLENGE TO GROW

The TECOM project is no ordinary venture for Ramboll Middle East. But the reward is as big as the challenge!

TECOM

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TECOM info The TECOM project is no ordinary venture for Ramboll Middle East. Announced by His Royal Highness, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, this project is a part of the overall plan to promote Dubai according to the goals set by His Highness and Dubai Holding. I spoke with Haithem Ahmed, Principal Project Manager about this prestigious project.

At Ramboll Middle East (RME), the project is known as TECOM but throughout Dubai it is known as the Innovation Hub. A largescale project that demands a large part of Ramboll’s skillset: Structures, MEP, Facades, Fire & Life, Acoustics and Waste Management. With more than 25 specialists involved, the project is both a test of Ramboll’s capacity as a company and a test of the capability of Ramboll’s staff. The project includes the construction of offices with supporting retail, a mosque including open space areas, and community facilities.

Besides increasing the capacity of the staff in RME, this project also exemplifies the types of ventures, Ramboll should be involved in: “This kind of project is what we expect Ramboll to be working on”, Haithem says “We don’t want to compete against other engineering companies for smaller projects. We want to establish that we are a major player. We are providing a consultancy and engineering service that emphasizes quality and adds value to the client.”

TECOM INNOVATION HUB – No ordinary project

TECOM COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS (INNOVATION HUB)

Client: TAMDEEN - TECOM Investments

Architect: RMJM

Project Value: 1.70 Billion AED

Ramboll Scope: STTR, MEP, FAC, FIR, ACO & WM

Project Status: Draft Final Design Stage

Programme: Preliminary Design Completed DFD submission 29th April Tender Documents 7th June Tender Award 6th August

Project Use: Offices with supporting retail, and mosque including open space areas and community facilities.

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Haithem furthermore explains how this project is a bridge to the future for Ramboll. By winning and executing projects of this magnitude and with this prestige, Ramboll will build both a reputation and a capability that cements our position among the top tier engineering consultants not only in the Middle East but globally.

TECOM demands a broad cooperation between the departments in RME, but the project has also seen the continued cooperation between RME and the GEC structures and MEP team. Besides having weekly scheduled meetings through Lync, RME engineers from the mechanical and Electrical area and the CAD technician of the project visited the GEC to discuss goals and deliverables in-depth with the team in India. This cooperation between not only departments but countries is a great learning experience and allows employees throughout Ramboll New Markets to establish cross office relations. This has helped the involved employees to cope with this challenging project. Haithem makes it clear that the team has faced challenges along the way but he also remarks “Everyone has gone above and beyond. The team has done a truly remarkable job.”

Through cooperation and determination within all involved departments, the project showcased just

how important and rewarding collaborations between different business units within Ramboll can be.

“The TECOM project is a challenge to grow. It is an opportunity for Ramboll to showcase that we can deliver services on an international level – and right now we are succeeding in doing just that” concluded Haithem.

Written by Christoffer Brandt

The Ramboll we know today is the direct continuation of the story our founders started together. Børge Johannes Rambøll and Johan Georg Hannemann founded “Rambøll & Hannemann” in 1945.

When they founded the company in the wake of the Second World War, it was not a goal in itself to grow into an international company. It was, in the words of B. J. Rambøll, “completely by chance that Hannemann and I – one morning at Professor Anker Egelund’s engineering design office where we both worked occasionally – said to each other. ´What if we set up a little firm of our own?’

Over the next 70 years what started as a small partnership in Denmark evolved into a large international company to include engineering multi-disciplines that employs 12,300 specialists in over 300 offices across 35 countries.

Their first projects included a design for the roof of a clothing factory, and the ‘Ballongyngen’ ride at Tivoli Gardens theme park in Copenhagen. More projects came along and in 1946 Ramboll and Hannemann hired their first employee and in 1947, opened their second office in Aarhus. The consultancy firm quickly grew and with that organic growth, the company started including different services. Some of the projects that they provided services on were bridges, buildings, energy and environment, and oil and gas.

Our history

The founders promoted awareness of the human dimension and left behind a legacy that emphasises high ethical standards, quality rather than quantity, economic stability, responsibility towards society, and satisfied employees.

After Hannemann passed away the company changed their name to what it is today, Rambøll.

The company continued forward without looking back. Ramboll became the largest consulting engineering business in the Nordics after merging with a Swedish Scandiaconsult. In 2007, Ramboll further expanded their global presence and acquired a United Kingdom based engineering firm called Whit by bird with offices all over the UK as well as Italy, India, Australia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Today, Ramboll is owned by the Ramboll Foundation, a commercial foundation with a long-term ownership perspective. And at every location Ramboll tries to emphasize a local excellence incorporated with its global knowledge-base.

Ramboll’s local experience and understanding, combined with our global expertise, our strong ethical policies and our wholehearted determination to exceed expectations, ensures we generate rigorous and exacting solutions for everything we undertake.

Curious about Ramboll’s history?

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In the spotlight - Muhammed Arafath

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1. Can you tell us little about your career and past experience?I graduated in Civil Engineering from Karnataka University, India with the first rank and a gold medal. I obtained my masters in Structural Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, India. I have been working as a Consultant Civil and Structural Engineer in both single and multi-disciplinary practices for the past 15 years, 12 of them being in the Middle East, and I joined Ramboll ME Dubai in 2007 as a Senior Structural engineer and got promoted to Principal engineer in 2008 and Associate in 2015.

2. What made you do a chartership?For a professional engineer, gaining Chartered Status is a key milestone. CEng status indicates that your competence has been assessed by other engineering professionals and is comparable with internationally recognised standards. Chartered Structural Engineer (MIstructE) is an internationally recognized professional qualification. It is basically an international passport to practice, sought after professional accreditation that leads the field in terms of international recognition. CEng is a legally protected term under the UK Engineering Council’s Royal Charter.

3. Can you explain what the chartership entailed?A Chartered Engineer is an engineer who has reached a high level of competency and commitment to professionalism in their particular branch of engineering. In the UK, the Engineering Council set the skills and competencies required to become a Chartered Engineer. Professional engineers are eligible to join as graduate members and then pursue the higher grades through the prescribed process. Candidates who meet the criteria to sit the exam have demonstrated the required technical and intellectual competence. It usually takes up to three years for a graduate member to become a Chartered Engineer and approximately one in three pass the exam in their first attempt. I passed the exam in first attempt and it took me a year to transfer from Graduate Member to Chartered Engineer.

4. How does the chartership benefit you in your position?Chartered ensures you are recognised by peers and valued by employers. CEng title proves that you have a positive attitude and the drive to succeed within the engineering profession. These are attributes that are highly valued by employers and customers. Going through the process of preparing for the professional review and final exam helped recollect the years of experience I had gained and the passion I have for this industry.

And then passing the final step to professional qualification gave me confidence in my own abilities and was a springboard to my current position as an Associate and is a recognition for the extra responsibility I now have at Ramboll ME. As a Chartered member, The Institution of Structural Engineers accredits and confirms my intellectual, academic, technical and professional status as a world-class structural engineer.

5. What advice would you give someone who wants to pursue a chartership?It is not an easy task when you first start it but it that intense examination process is an excellent way to train you thought process, writing skills, calculation abilities, and drawing abilities. The keys to success are good mentor, appropriate exam materials, and practice. RME has excellent professional mentors who are more than willing to spend time assisting you achieve that chartership.

According to the Engineering Council, Britain’s regulatory authority for registration of Chartered and Incorporated engineers and technicians, Chartered Engineers “are characterized by their ability to develop appropriate solutions to engineering problems, using new or existing technologies, through innovation, creativity and change and are variously engaged in technical and commercial leadership and possess interpersonal skills.”

Muhammed Arafath, a registered Chartered Engineer, is an Associate here at Ramboll.

We sat down to have a conversation with him:

Nosca BoNNa DiaNaNationality: Filipino

Education: BA - English Language Teaching

Position: Office Administrator

In each issue of RME News we will be interviewing colleagues within RME. The aim is to learn a bit about our colleagues working in the different geographies. Should any employee wish to be featured, please do not hesitate to contact either Christoffer Brandt or Rabiya Shabeeh.

NICE TO MEET YOU!

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Nice to meet you!

Why Ramboll? I have always wanted to work in a multi-national company. So working for Ramboll is like a dream come true!

What are you hoping to gain? Working in Ramboll gives me an opportunity to fully enhance my skills in office administration. I look forward to gaining more skills and experiences that will make me a valuable asset to the company.

Any challenges? I think the biggest challenge is ensuring smooth day to day operations in the office. Another challenge is being able to complete all tasks at hand. To do all these, you have to be organized and efficient.

What unique value do you add to the office? I believe I also play a significant role in terms of the non-technical aspect in the business. The support that we are providing to the staff enables them to fully dedicate their time in the technical part of the business.

What is your favourite aspect of working for Ramboll? Being appreciated and recognized for your efforts and contribution. It gives you a sense of fulfillment knowing you have contributed in the company’s success.

omar aBuarqouB

alpha polo

Nationality: Jordanian

Education: BSc - Computer Science

Position: Adminstrative Support

Nationality: Filipino

Education: BSc - Communication Arts

Position: Business Support

Why Ramboll? I was looking for a multinational and global company. Ramboll has a great reputation. And it is continuously increasing my skills in administration and management fields.

What are you hoping to gain? Right now I am an acting office manager in KSA and I support most departments such as the HR, Document Control, Finance, Projects, and Administration. I hope to achieve a senior level in the administration field.

Any challenges? Working for many various areas can sometimes delay my work development. It is not much like when focusing on just one particular field.

What unique value do you add to the office? I hope my personal work ethics and habits help increase the positivity in the working environment at the office.

What is your favourite aspect of working for Ramboll? The work environment at Ramboll makes working here especially worth my while.

Why Ramboll? I have a great admiration for the company. I have friends in the industry who have told me about the company’s respect for employees and how they create a great environment.

What are you hoping to gain? I would like to grow and take on new challenges over time. I’d like to assume more management responsibilities and get involved in product/company strategy.

Any challenges? I think one area I could work on is my organizational skills. I am always so concerned about meeting the needs of everyone, and in order to do that I have to be more detailed oriented.

What unique value do you add to the office? Being the first point of contact in the company, I am well aware of what is going on in a daily basis. I can compare myself to GOOGLE where everybody relies on me with every question.

What is your favourite aspect of working for Ramboll? Ramboll has a great culture of work environment and amazing employees. I feel appreciated and motivated because of the learning opportunities and support of the management.

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Photo competition

Ramboll Middle East (RME) is thrilled to launch the 2015 Photography Competition which is open to all employees in RME.

Participants must take photos relating to one or more of the following categories:

1. Ramboll Projects: Projects undertaken by Ramboll in the Middle East in any of the market sectors – Buildings, Transport, Telecom, Management Consulting, Oil & Gas, Environment and Energy.

2. City shots: People from all walks of life and of the cities where Ramboll Middle East has offices. These photographs should highlight the activities in the city that convey a sense of place.

3. People: Individuals working for Ramboll. These photographs should creatively highlight the people who work for Ramboll. For photos in which a person is recognizable, a model consent form must be secured from the said person.

4. Ramboll Values: Photographs that portray Ramboll’s core values and conveys a sense of what it is like to work for Ramboll.

Photographs with minor adjustments like cropping, sharpening, and contrasting are eligible. However, digitally or otherwise enhanced photographs will be disqualified and the judges reserve the right to determine if a photo has been altered or not.

Photographs will be judged on parameter such as the originality of the idea, relevance to the category, key technical elements such as lighting and contrast, composition, and the overall visual appeal of the picture.

Watch this space for more details on the competition.

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Ramboll launches its Professional Women’s Network

Ramboll Middle East hosted a series of workshops to initiate the launch of its Professional Women’s Network (PWN) forum.

These workshops held in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, served as a platform to provide further information about the newly launched PWN group and to establish the aims of this forum. The workshops also instigated a conversation of what it is like being a woman working for Ramboll in terms of the combinations of opportunities and challenges it brings and welcomed suggestions in what ways the forum should cater to the women working here.

“It is not run by management. It is about empowering women working for Ramboll in the Middle East, where the PWN can help give our female colleagues what they need to do to in order to succeed. There is also a focus on career aspirations. We would really like it to be an active professional network that involves women across all the business units in the Middle East,” said Lisa Christowitz at the commencement of the workshop held in Dubai.

“The establishment of PWN allows for ideas to be shared and provide a constructive platform to reflect on the examples of women already excelling in their respective fields at Ramboll,” stated May-Britt Syshoej Lorenzen, Department Director – ME Structures Oil & Gas. “By being an open informal forum, it aims to serve as an opportunity for women working across the Middle East to be heard, to participate, to share their thoughts, and to support other women in the forum.” May-Britt stated.

The forum will also provide an opening to receive support on career development, mentoring and coaching. A PWN group LinkedIn site has been established to be the hub for conversations within the forum.

Welcome to the Project Excellence page!

Welcome to the Project Excellence page! Here you can find the latest presentations, news and stories on Project Excellence.

During the last few months, Panos Haralampous Project Excellence Director for Ramboll Middle East kicked off an office-wide campaign to give updates and presentations on Project Excellence. The presentations were organized following a recent survey conducted among all RME staff to give an indication of Project Excellence awareness. Panos Haralampous’s primary aim with the updates was to increase the awareness of Project Excellence within the company and share the delivery cycle of this change programme developed to manage the way Ramboll delivers its projects.

There will be several more presentations conducted during 2015. Watch this space for more details.

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Project Excellence

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Recent awards and wins

RME sponsors MEED Quality Award for Sustainability

Ramboll Middle East proudly sponsored the Sustainability Award for the fifth annual MEED Quality Awards for Projects 2015 held at the Address Hotel Dubai Marina, the evening of the 27th of May 2015.

The MEED Quality Awards for Projects is an awards programme run throughout the GCC to recognise completed projects. It aims to raise standards through benchmarking the practice specified in project briefs and excellence provided in project delivery.

Recipients of the MEED Quality Awards have demonstrated that quality is essential in all parts of the project management process; from design planning to engineering and construction. The gala award ceremony was attended by more than 300 executives from this region’s projects sector and was the ideal platform for Ramboll to showcase our services and highlight our ambition to be recognised as the leading sustainable society consultants.

Richard Beard, Managing Director for RME handed over the Sustainability Award to the 2015 winner, Bahraini company, Muharraq STP Company.

Recent wins

Project name: Project Zulu

Client: Al Naboodah

Division: Transport

Country: Eritrea

Description: Construction and reconstruction works at Zulu Airport in Eritrea.

Project manager: Claire Habashy/Mark Owles

Project name: North Souk Project

Client: Alumco

Division: Buildings

Country: Lebanon

Description: Geometric and engineering analysis to develop and optimise the constructability of the building envelope.

Project manager: Brett Patrick

Project name: DSOA Silicon Park

Client: DAR architect

Division: Buildings

Country: Dubai, UAE

Description: Silicon Park project comprises a full podium with different types of buildings ranging from G+2 to G+4.

Project manager: Brett Patrick

People Power

A company’s greatest asset is its people; and with that in mind, Ramboll recently presented a Recruitment Training programme for all line managers in Ramboll Middle East (RME) to ensure that we maximise the potential of the resource we value most.

The training programme was initiated and conducted by Peter Brandt, HR Director Ramboll New Markets to help facilitate a smooth and transparent understanding of the recruitment procedures and processes while incorporating the Ramboll values. The participants were introduced to the importance of a sound recruitment process and why talent acquisition is vital to the success of Ramboll’s business development. The training focuses on identifying the right candidate, the competency based recruitment process, and assessment of competences.

During the training the participants took a deep dive into understanding how the candidate’s competence is clarified and related to a specific position. “Ramboll is a people business, and so our success is purely based on the skills and ability of our employees. People managers are trusted with the responsibility of attracting, retaining and developing employees. By presenting the recruitment training to all people managers, we reinforce how talent acquisition is vital to our business development”, stated Peter Brandt.

Four training sessions were undertaken with two in Dubai, one in Qatar and one in Abu Dhabi. The people managers from Ramboll Oil and Gas were also invited to the training.

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HR News

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HR News - life events

Here at Ramboll Middle East, we want to share your life experiences with you. This page is dedicated to the life events that all our employees experience! If you have anything you want to share with us, please do not hesitate to contact Christoffer Brandt or Rabiya Shabeeh.

Newborns:

Rami AbuarqoubQuantity Surveyor had: Kenan

Glenda GanibanPersonal Assistanthad: Tabitha Grace

John Ketlaar Structural Engineer had: Bernadette Nell

Abdul Majeed Sha’awan Al Ahmari Office Support had: Turki

Mohammed Abdul-Aziz Al-Hossaine PROhad: Salman

Maria Fe Bawalan-Garcia Marketing Executive had: Marcus

Congratulations! We wish you and your children all the best.

Weddings:

Ragini KalapatapuSustainability Consultant

Ibtisam SaifRecruitment Assistant

Maris TamsStructural Engineer

Congratulations! We wish you all the best in your new marriage.

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We would like to receive your feedback.

Email us at RMENews@ramboll.com if you have any comments regarding this issue; or if you have any suggestions on how we can improve the newsletter.