2 May 2018
As pressures on road infrastructure increase in the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) nations from economic growth, citizens’ aspirations, and disruptive technologies, global engineering and infrastructure advisory company Aurecon has appointed two new regional leaders to lead its infrastructure and digital practices — Leighton Greenland as Infrastructure Leader and Kevin Miller as Digital Practice Leader.
Commenting on the appointments, Ermis Marques, Aurecon’s Regional Director for Middle East said, “Kevin’s appointment completes the third pillar of our business strategy in the region; the first and second pillars being Innovation and Architect of Record services. Our Digital practice will help our clients harness the latest digital tools such as visualisation and augmented reality to understand the true value created by their investments and bring their boldest ideas to reality.”
In addition, roads, bridges and highways have undergone a period of unprecedented growth in the GCC, as governments seek to maximise connectivity. For instance, up to 21% of Dubai’s 2018 budget has been earmarked for infrastructure investments – a 46.5% increase over 2017. The introduction of autonomous vehicles is only a matter of time, along with other transformative technologies – impacting how such road infrastructures are planned, designed, built, and maintained.
“Leighton brings extensive leadership experience in the design and delivery of large scale public infrastructure projects in the GCC. His keen understanding of how communities are planned will ensure that our clients develop road networks that are responsive to the users’ evolving needs,” added Marques.
Both Leighton and Kevin are based in Aurecon’s offices in Dubai.
Leighton Greenland, Infrastructure Leader
With 26 years’ experience as a chartered civil and structural engineer, Leighton has supervised the construction of major public and private infrastructure projects in transport, water, energy, waste, commercial, residential, and industrial sectors in Ireland, the UK and the Middle East.
“With the number of projects and opportunities in the pipeline, it is evident that the road infrastructure sector is looking to grow beyond Expo 2020. We should not underestimate the impact this growth can have on shaping the cities in the GCC and on the productivity of the nations. I look forward to helping clients develop smart and future-proof infrastructure that enhances the lives of residents here,” he said.
Kevin Miller, Digital Practice Leader
As a technology-focused engineer, Kevin has over 17 years’ experience, helping companies improve efficiency through harnessing the power of digital platforms. As the Digital Practice Leader, he connects client’s needs, Aurecon’s capabilities, and emergent digital technologies. He will also work closely with the firm’s new digital and visualisation services team to bring the region’s complex projects to life.
Kevin is also concurrently Aurecon’s Data Centre and Telco Leader in the Middle East. He leads Aurecon’s regional team developing, optimizing and maintaining efficient, and sustainable data centres. The digital team delivers future-ready solutions that match client needs in terms of facility type, size, capacity, reliability, capital and operating cost, together with commercial return on investment.
“The GCC is on the cutting edge for Digital Engineering. Not only are the projects here are on a superlative scale, clients are open to using Blockchain technologies, augmented reality, gaming technologies, and visualisation services to improving decision-making and delivery,” he said.