Exploring aviation with Daniel Mastrogiovanni
The aviation sector is evolving with the uptake of future technologies and changes to the regulatory landscape. We sat down with Daniel Mastrogiovanni, Technical Director and Aviation Sector Lead for AECOM’s Australia and New Zealand region to explore the future of aviation and some of his favourite projects.
What has been your favourite aviation project to work on, and why is it a standout?
The T2 Satellite Expansion project at Melbourne Airport would have to be one of the stand-out projects for me. It was one of the first aviation projects I led at AECOM, and although the pandemic has halted the project, it is still a significant project in terms of what we achieved with the design.
It was an exceptionally challenging project because we were designing a significant expansion, about 38,000 square meters in the middle of the operational airfield. We also had the complexities of ensuring passenger and infrastructure connectivity between two highly utilised areas of the international terminal was maintained and considered in the design. Balancing the development of the design with the challenges of staging and delivery, in addition to the operational demands with uncompromised project quality, made this a uniquely challenging and rewarding project to be involved in.
I particularly enjoyed the opportunity to work with a diverse range of stakeholders and a highly engaged client group across many parts of the airport business. This was very rewarding and largely the catalyst for my journey towards my current role, where I get to engage and collaborate with a diverse range of clients across the sector.
What excites you most about the future of aviation, particularly in terminal design and innovation?
We have seen a real uptick in the aviation sector in terms of future technologies. I believe that the sector as a whole is a driving force in technology development and innovation, whether it be with security, biometrics, or the implementation of digital tools.
We have seen the power of using big data in our own projects. Leveraging data and analytics to guide decision making has driven significant design efficiencies and reductions in operational and embodied carbon, which is a key focus for the industry.
As designers, the implementation of digital tools has allowed us to push the boundaries of design in a number of ways. We’ve been able to improve the passenger and user experience by implementing new technologies and integrating those new technologies into existing airport environments. A great example for me is computational and parametric design. Our Australia and New Zealand structures team recently fully integrated parametric scripting and geometry analysis into our design delivery process for the Hong Kong International Airport third runway concourse. By using computational and parametric design, our team maximised the internal terminal spaces to enhance the customer experience through retail and commercial offerings and created open spaces adaptable to passenger needs.
As part of the global AECOM team delivering the project, implementing these digital design tools allowed significant rationalisation of the 74,000+ structural connections and implemented a novel workflow that integrated the connection design process with the shop detailing and fabrication. This streamlined the structural design, reduced materials and overall embodied carbon, and enhanced construction efficiency.
What key challenges do you foresee in the next generation of airport terminals, and how do you approach solving them?
One of the biggest challenges I think we’ll see in the next generation of terminals in Australia is the shift away from segregated international and domestic arrangements towards the integration of operations.
As seen with the new Western Sydney Airport, many major Australian airports are now considering integrating international and domestic operations within a single, co-located terminal.
Adapting the traditional, separated processes for these operations calls for designing flexible, agile terminal spaces that seamlessly integrate both, ensuring efficiency without compromising the passenger experience.
The challenge for us as designers is to enable this shift, and safeguard for the change in operations, technology and regulations that will come with co-location as the regulatory landscape changes. This thinking needs to extend beyond maximising column grids and finding the balance between structural depth, construction cost and large-span, column-free spaces within the terminal volume. It must consider how infrastructure, plant and services can be better planned and designed to prevent creating “hard constraints” to future adaptation of these spaces.
What gets you out of bed in the morning when it comes to leading projects in the aviation sector?
I’ve been lucky to have had the opportunity to work on quite a diverse range of different aviation projects over the last eight or so years, the exciting thing for me personally about working in the sector is that every project is unique. There is always something new or different to consider or a new challenge to face.
This keeps it engaging and exciting. It is what keeps me enthusiastic about working within the sector.
Out of all the terminals you’ve visited around the world, which one is your favourite and why?
Probably Doha’s Hamad International. The scale of the terminal itself is just so impressive, but you don’t feel overwhelmed by the scale when moving through it; it is still intuitive. The airport really puts into perspective how large an ecosystem an airport can be, particularly when you’re standing in the centre of the terminal, and you get a visible connection in each direction. Also, from a passenger journey perspective, it’s probably been one of the easiest to navigate from my perspective.
One I am really excited about visiting (hopefully in the near future) is Terminal E at Boston Logan International Airport. I am really excited to see the work our AECOM team has delivered there. There has been so much positive press about the redevelopment, and it is such a great-looking building. I can’t wait to experience it firsthand.