Atkins expands UAE digital services business with new hires


Atkins, a member of SNC-Lavalin Group, is expanding its digital and technology services in the UAE, with two key appointments - Marianna Imprialou as Head of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence and Alejandro Lopez as Digital Delivery Director.

Atkins, a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group, is expanding its digital and technology services in the 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). 
 
In her new 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. 
 
Imprialou 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, Imprialou has built and led a Data Science team that performs at all stages of the data science lifecycle. 
 
She 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. 
 
Imprialou has also published over 20 peer-reviewed papers in the space of data science.
 
Atkins said its other senior hire is Alejandro Lopez who takes over as the new Digital Delivery Director to lead the company’s global programme and project management analytics services that aim to transform the traditional way of working on large programmes to a more data centric approach by developing predictive analytics capabilities with an integrated digital framework. 
 
An experienced construction professional, Lopez has 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. 
 
According to Atkins, Lopez’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.
 
Lauding the appointments, Johan Hesselsøe, Managing Director of Atkins UAE, Engineering, Design and Project Management, SNC-Lavalin, said: "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 
 
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.
 
Technology Director Gavin Britton said: "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.-TradeArabia News Service