SNC-Lavalin’s Atkins business expands its digital services in the UAE

SNC-Lavalin's Atkins business expands its digital services in the UAE

Senior appointments to strengthen the Company's digital and innovative solutions for engineering, design, and project management

Dubai, The United Arab Emirates: September 14, 2021 - Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, is expanding its digital and technology services in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to meet the country's growing needs to deliver new projects more efficiently and enhance existing assets. This sees the appointment of new senior positions to support the Company's digital transformation agenda.

Marianna Imprialou is joining Atkins UAE technology leadership as the Head of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (ML& AI). As part of her role, she will focus on the exploitation of architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) data by using ML & AI technologies to enable innovation, improve quality, generate efficiencies, and reveal hidden insights. Marianna is a Principal Data Scientist with expertise in leading projects that allow better decision-making by using data and ML & AI algorithms. She delivers creative, cutting-edge and commercially viable solutions that generate new business insights and solve a wide range of engineering problems. As part of her previous role in Atkins, Marianna has built and led a Data Science team that performs at all stages of the data science lifecycle. Marianna holds an MEng and PhD in Civil Engineering, and before joining Atkins, she was an Assistant Professor in Transport Engineering at Loughborough University, UK, where she was teaching Statistical Methods. She has also published over 20 peer-reviewed papers in the space of data science.

In addition, Alejandro Lopez is appointed Digital Delivery Director to lead the Company's global program and project management analytics services that aim to transform the traditional way of working on large programs to a more data centric approach by developing predictive analytics capabilities with an integrated digital framework. Alejandro is an experienced construction professional with deep knowledge in Project and Program Management, and BIM Management. He has gained experience in construction by working extensively across projects in Europe and the Middle East regions. Alejandro's career has transitioned from traditional roles in project management to more strategic assignments focused on digital disruption and innovation, enhanced business efficiency, and delivery performance. His skill set is focused on developing the digital and governance strategy, tools, assurance, and protocol to ensure effective, timely and informed decision making, and more broadly drive value-added and successful outcomes for major real estate and infrastructure clients.

'As an innovation hub in the Middle East region, the UAE is taking the lead in adopting digital and cutting-edge solutions that support the country's goal to create a long-term impact,' said Johan Hesselsøe, Managing Director of Atkins UAE, Engineering, Design and Project Management, SNC-Lavalin. 'Technology has become a key enabler to help transform our business from its traditional way of delivering our core services into one that better suits the future needs of the market. By expanding our digital offering in the Emirates, we are not only enhancing our clients' project delivery but also sharing our knowledge to help build local capabilities that will lead a more sustainable future.'

'Our digital strategy is focused on digital solutions, project monitoring, and service transformation that supports existing services while utilizing technology to achieve cost efficiency and deliver higher quality solutions for our clients,' added Gavin Britton, Technology Director of Atkins UAE, Engineering, Design and Project Management, SNC-Lavalin. 'By bringing top-notch talent to our business, we are accelerating our digital transformation agenda and redefining industry standards of project delivery.'

By harnessing data and the latest technologies, Atkins is helping clients in the UAE to transform digitally and add value across their assets' lifecycle through digital twin, data integration, immersive training, dynamic insights, asset management, visualization, analytics and AI solutions. In line with its global digital transformation strategy, the SNC-Lavalin Group announced the construction of new state-of-the-art facilities designed to accelerate its technological leadership capabilities. The Centers, called Lava Labs, will be opened in key locations globally and will enable the Company to bring its global expertise from its businesses to local clients and markets. Lava Labs will also host events, training, and discussions, bringing together the best of the industry and innovation ecosystems - both virtually and in person - to share ideas on how SNC-Lavalin can help to address societal challenges such as climate change and population growth.

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