People Spotlight: Meet Adelin Oles
Our People Spotlight series gives you an inside look at our technical experts around the world. This week, we are highlighting a hydrogen mobility lead from our Energy business line in Europe and India and providing an insight into his inspiration and work.
Adelin Oles joined AECOM in 2014 as a deputy project manager and is based in The Hague, Netherlands. He has a broad range of experience in complex project delivery across the energy sector.
What inspired you to join the industry?
While pursuing my engineering degree, I was fortunate to have my very first industry internship in a consultancy company in Poland supporting a large, fast moving consumer goods company abroad. Through this experience, I was exposed early in my career to a professional and international set up, which paved the way for my future growth.
I was surprised to find an environment which wasn’t so visible during my studies. In university, we either learned about designing buildings or building them as a contractor. I discovered that behind each project, besides the design and actual construction, was a wealth of other activities including initial budgeting and cost estimations, portfolio planning, risk management and stakeholder management. I knew from that moment that this is the right environment for my professional development.
What is your favourite AECOM project that you’ve worked on and why?
I’ve enjoyed all my projects as they are quite diverse, and each laid a brick for my career. Of course, my favourite one is the very first hydrogen project done for an energy company in the Netherlands. Back then, hydrogen was relatively new, so our team had to navigate and identify the project related risks at an early stage, keeping all relevant stakeholders onboard and aligning expectations through the supply chain.
The project was the very first hydrogen refueling station operated by the client within the BeNeLux region. The goal of the project was to assure that the required hydrogen refueling infrastructure was available on the main transportation corridor for Western Europe so early adopters can use it. Integrating such infrastructure to an existing site comes with the typical challenges of organizing the execution on a live site where existing traffic needs to be managed accordingly. The project was a great example of cross border collaboration as the teams came from different countries to contribute to the successful delivery, testing and commissioning.
It was challenging and a steep learning curve. However, I was fortunate to work with our highly skilled and passionate team. Without a motivated team of professionals and diverse experts, these projects wouldn’t be possible. Together, we can make energy transition happen faster without leaving anybody behind.
The project was a great example of cross border collaboration as the teams came from different countries to contribute to the successful delivery, testing and commissioning.”
Tell us a story of how your work positively impacted the community.
One impactful project that sticks out for me was a Dutch project where the end client was transitioning its diesel operated buses to hydrogen. The project involved adding a heavy-duty hydrogen refilling station in an existing bus depot, which now refuels twenty hydrogen buses daily and supports cleaner public transportation in the Groningen area.
I was the project manager from the project’s inception, early budgeting and planning stages, up until the testing and commissioning of the station under the engineering, procurement and construction management delivery method.
This project demonstrated how important the shift towards more sustainable alternatives is for surrounding communities in eliminating noise and improving air quality. Supporting local and government authorities, raising public awareness, and demonstrating the value derived from cleaner energy sources are important elements of transport decarbonization and the overall energy transition.
This project demonstrated how important the shift towards more sustainable alternatives is for surrounding communities in eliminating noise and improving air quality. ”
Share a piece of career advice.
I have always been proactive and led the development of my own career. Although patience is important, I think doing more than your job description will add greater value to not only you, but also your organisation. I would also advise long term planning, collaboration and learning from subject matter experts – which is easily done in a large, diverse company like AECOM with a pool of top industry experts one click away!