People Spotlight: Meet Leigh Martin
Our People Spotlight series gives you an inside look at our technical experts around the world. This week, we are highlighting an associate director and team leader from our Water business in our Australia and New Zealand region and providing an insight into their inspiration and work.
Leigh Martin is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in the water sector. He started his career with AECOM in London and later moved back to his hometown of Melbourne. His roles have spanned technical, project management, people management and business development. As a lead verifier and project manager, Leigh has been involved in several high-profile water projects, demonstrating his commitment to technical excellence and innovative solutions.
Tell us about what inspired you to join the industry.
I must have been a slow learner, as it took me a while to realize the career path I wanted to pursue. Reading a glossy aeroplane brochure as a wide-eyed high school student inspired me to study aerospace and mechanical engineering, but I soon discovered that the types of aerospace jobs in Australia weren’t going to get me out of bed in the morning. I worked in this industry for several years before stepping back to reflect on my career and asking myself honest questions about the work I was doing and the legacy I hoped to leave behind.
At this point, I was living in London and work was just starting on the Thames Tideway, a huge 25-kilometer sewer tunnel built under the River Thames, right through the heart of the city. It wasn’t long before the project had me hooked. Where else could you collaborate with global specialists to build massive underground structures in the center of a major city, whilst making a positive impact on the environment?
The Thames Tideway project, for which I was the lead mechanical engineer, inspired me to join the water industry. I’m constantly reminded that I’m in the right place by the projects that I work on and the people I work with every day. I’ve enjoyed roles spanning technical, project and people management, and business development. I am now back in Melbourne working flexibly in my role while spending quality time with my two very energetic and active children. My colleagues have provided outstanding support and flexibility every step of the way.
I was living in London and work was just starting on the Thames Tideway, a huge 25-kilometer sewer tunnel built under the River Thames, right through the heart of the city. It wasn’t long before the project had me hooked. Where else could you collaborate with global specialists to build massive underground structures in the center of a major city, whilst making a positive impact on the environment?”
What is your favorite AECOM project that you’ve worked on and why?
Whilst the aforementioned Thames Tideway project was fantastic, it’s hard to look past the work that the local water team recently delivered at Melbourne Water’s Upper Yarra Reservoir. Upper Yarra is a beautiful reservoir in the foothills east of Melbourne, a stunning part of the world. I was raised in the valley across from the reservoir, so it’s always been a very special place for me.
We are working on several active engagements at Upper Yarra Reservoir; I was involved as the lead mechanical engineer for the five-yearly comprehensive inspection of the site. The aim of the comprehensive inspection is to review the asset condition, configuration and consequence category per Australian National Committee on Large Dams (ANCOLD) guidelines. The inspection of Upper Yarra involved performance testing of several large outlet valves, each of which provide critical isolation functions for Melbourne’s primary water supply. Planning and then delivering this testing program, which included closing valves into 600-megaliter per day flow, was rewarding from a technical standpoint, as it successfully demonstrated the integrity of the dam outlet works as well as their capacity for future maintenance, upgrades and managing downstream releases. The testing involved wide stakeholder consultation, including careful ramping and measurement of flows to the local Yarra River to manage the impact on the local environment.
Overall, the extent of testing has raised the asset management benchmark for our other local water clients. We subsequently worked with Melbourne Water to publish a paper on our approach, which was presented at the 2023 ANCOLD Conference in Cairns, Queensland.
It’s hard to look past the work that the local water team recently delivered at Melbourne Water’s Upper Yarra Reservoir. We are working on several active engagements at Upper Yarra Reservoir; I was involved as the lead mechanical engineer for the five-yearly comprehensive inspection of the site. The aim of the comprehensive inspection is to review the asset condition, configuration and consequence category per Australian National Committee on Large Dams (ANCOLD) guidelines.”
Tell us a story of how your work positively impacted the community.
One of my favourite things about the water industry is that you can pick virtually any project and have a great answer to this question. Personally, a significant project I worked on was as package lead for the Prospect Pump Station upgrade, which was part of the wider Prospect to Macarthur Distribution Link program for Sydney Water.
This was a vast upgrade of Sydney’s water infrastructure, linking their main storages and improving drought resilience for large parts of the city. The project evolved to facilitate the growth of key Sydney suburbs, providing significant improvements to the security of Sydney’s water supply. Our team delivered complex technical solutions to create a design compatible with existing brownfields infrastructure, including bespoke mechanical, structural and electrical arrangements — examples of which include hot-tapping into an existing 1700-millimeter diameter water main, rebuilding the high voltage distribution network and cutting over power from the existing network without interruption to supply. This multi-discipline project was designed in an integrated 3D environment using laser scanning of infrastructure to inform existing geometry. Delivering the project for the residents of Sydney was an incredibly satisfying outcome for the whole AECOM team.
Personally, a significant project I worked on was as package lead for the Prospect Pump Station upgrade, which was part of the wider Prospect to Macarthur Distribution Link program for Sydney Water.
This was a vast upgrade of Sydney’s water infrastructure, linking their main storages and improving drought resilience for large parts of the city. The project evolved to facilitate the growth of key Sydney suburbs, providing significant improvements to the security of Sydney’s water supply.”
Share a piece of career advice.
Be honest with yourself, take a few risks and step outside of your comfort zone. This will help you feel certain you’re in the right place. Since my move to the water industry, I have found immense pride and satisfaction in the work that I am part of. Once you have that — and a great team by your side — the rest works itself out.
More recently, I took a step away from a technically focused role to become a team leader for the local water infrastructure group. This has exposed me to different parts of the business and shown me the broader challenges and incredible collaboration at AECOM and across the water industry.
