I managed to arrive the day before to get my bearings in the Netherlands and managed to explore a small part of Utrecht where I will be staying for next three nights. The first day I have visited the Amersfoort office which was a lot bigger than i expected (700+ people here!) I met with Peter Schouten and Jennifer Barker and discussed the projects that are undertaken with the Geotechnical team here in Amersfoort (quite substantially more impressive than the projects we undertake in the UK!). Very interesting to see the differences from Geotechnical Engineering here and the Engineering Geology we mainly do in the UK. In the afternoon Peter took me to visit Eindhoven Railway station where a new tunnel is being built alongside the existing tunnel. The new tunnel is about 35m wide and is being constructed whilst the station remains fully operational, an impressive feat indeed! I was most impressed by how new piles had been installed to support the existing beams all beneath the operational railway lines. The next two days I went to visit some epic river defence systems; one in Bergambacht, one in Dordrecht and the last in Overdiepse Polder. All three were very different and fairly impressive. The first site comprises an upgrade of ~6km of dyke which runs through three villages. A variety of improvement methods are being utilised to improve the dyke, all on the actual doorstep of people’s houses whilst occupied. This includes the installation of 3m wide, 22m deep […]
One day prior to a meeting with a client and the municipality, my project leader asked me a question about possible opportunities with regard to the zoning plan. So I called a colleague with expertise in zoning plans and asked the … Continue reading →
Preparation For me, the preparation was an important step in ensuring a successful Quest experience. My primary objectives in applying for a Quest were 1) to learn more about how other ARCADIS business groups operate and govern their Business Intelligence departments/projects; and 2) to share knowledge, connect, and communicate with colleagues in a similar function and different part of the world. Since our own Business Intelligence department at ARCADIS NV is relatively new, I knew that there were many best practices and lessons learned by others that could be beneficial for us to apply. Also, since the trend within ARCADIS is to move from a decentralized BI organization to a more cohesive global BI community, I thought this was a perfect opportunity to get a jump-start in meeting and sharing ideas with my global counterparts. By focusing on these objectives, my manager and I were able to identify the US as a viable option for my Quest. She helped to put me in contact with people in the US, so that the logistical side of things could begin moving forward. After a host manager within the AUS BI team was identified, I filled out the Quest application and luckily quickly received confirmation that I had been approved. In the weeks just prior to flying to Denver, I exchanged emails with my host manager, Colleen Duke, who coordinated an agenda for my time there and made sure the people I would be talking to would be available—no small feat since the […]
It was a little under a year ago that I stumbled across the job posting for “Performance Excellence Team Member”. The job was for a handful of young professionals within ARCADIS and from around the globe to support the beginning … Continue reading →
Read the first part of the Quest by Martin Vaclavik here. His story continues below: DAY 3 Wednesday was probably the busiest day of my trip. Undoubtedly, it was precisely planned by David Parmelee. David was the one who accepted my Quest application and who organized most of the first three days. When we arrived in the office I was introduced to everyone, including Liz who was waiting on hold for our conference call. Liz is a designer working in Roanoke, VA on various projects. She gave me a presentation of the Roanoke complete LEED Gold project of the recreation center. It was enriching to see a green building project different from office buildings or industrial halls which we usually certify in Czech Republic. Another, probably the “greenest” project, was introduced to me by its construction manager and great professional—Glenn Ryan. Glenn told me all details about the Central Sanitation Facility in Anne Arundel County, MD, and he also provided me with many supporting documents that made this a very good study case for me and also my colleague in Prague. For example, the daylight design resulted in reduced energy consumption on lighting, or restoring local habitat within the stormwater management. To be honest, even though this building is LEED Silver certified, it has got more green building features than some buildings certified at higher levels. All people were talking about a famous Maryland crab cake. Luckily, David invited me for lunch to try a crab cake. It was really […]