It’s not all bridges

We welcomed our new Head of Civil Engineering, Richard James, to the team in 2018, with over 20 years’ experience in this engineering discipline and a graduate from the University of Hertfordshire.

What inspired you to become an engineer?

 “I loved science and maths at school and wanted to work in a profession that involved solving problems and where you could see an end product that benefited people and society.”

What has been your most challenging project to date and why?

“The most challenging project I have worked on to date, was the design of a new university for Nayrn in Kyrgyzstan. Due to the remote nature of the site there was difficulty in obtaining materials and skilled workforce.”

What do you love about being an engineer?

“I love being able to provide engineering solutions to problems, as every project is different, and this makes the work interesting.”

Why MNP?

“Variety is the spice of life” as they say and the diverse range of engineering projects to get involved with here is engaging. The varied schemes and sectors make no two days the same.

In our day-to-day work, civil engineers play a vital role in the resilience implementation of infrastructures ranging from designing and building flood defences to reducing the vulnerability of key structures at risk to housing. I believe that the engineering profession has a crucial role to play in climate change. Engineers will be designing, building and maintaining infrastructure to enable it to adapt, providing innovative and new engineering approaches can boost the climate resilience of our infrastructure. It is also important that engineers and leading engineering companies develop innovative, cost effective and marketable solutions to address climate change threats.

I wanted to progress my career into a management role and lead a team of people, so the growing Civils Team here was an opportunity not to be missed.

During my engineering life I’ve experienced many of the disciplines from project management, design, procurement and specification; and so, the chance to build a team and help people grow their careers was a challenge I wanted to push myself to achieve. MNP is a growing company with a mix of experienced professionals and bright stars of the future.  The founders of the company all have an open-door policy and are always available to offer their advice on a question you may have: their can-do attitude flows down into everyone who works here making it a flexible and responsive environment to work in.

I’m looking forward to expanding the Civils Team and services we offer here at MNP from early concepts to planning of below ground surface and foul water drainage designs, SuDS (Sustainable urban Drainage Systems), flood risk assessments and much more.