We owe our success in team-working with clients to the quality, experience and interpersonal skills of our staff. Around the world many are recognised as committed specialists in their fields. This brief resume presents some of Mott MacDonald's key personnel, illustrating the diversity and depth of experience available within our geotechnics unit.

Dr. John PerryManager of geotechnics and divisional director of metros and civil. John has over 25 years geotechnical experience in a wide range of infrastructure projects and has a reputation for overseeing projects through from concept to completion. He has a particular reputation for his work on earthworks and is widely known in both technical and client bodies.




Jonathan DaviesDivisional director in the UK Birmingham office of Mott MacDonald for over 13 years. Now a technical practice leader for the Group's network of 16 regional centres in the UK and Dubai in the Middle East, Jonathan is responsible for the technical capability and development of over 90 specialist staff. He also sits on the Group Board promoting professional excellence and knowledge management. With over 28 years involvement with leading contractors and consultants, Jonathan's experience covers all aspects of temporary and permanent works design.

Tony O'BrienA project director with over 20 years experience in complex geotechnical engineering design, and a visiting professor at Southampton University. Tony has specialist in-situ and advanced laboratory testing knowledge plus detailed knowledge of geo-environmental planning constraints and the potentially harmful effects of a wide range of contaminants. He has been chief designer for the Wembley Arch Foundations and the Group's remedial works to Network Rail and London Underground’s earth structures, and is responsible for leading our quantitative risk assessment capability.

Derek WinsorA divisional director and chief design engineer on many civil underground projects in the UK, South East Asia, India and North America. Derek has 30 years of civil and structural design experience and particular expertise in jacked tunnels and cut and cover structures. In addition, he is currently responsible for Mott MacDonald’s Civil and transportation's IT and CAD strategies.





Saleem AkbarA divisional director with comprehensive experience in design, construction and project management of major underground metro, rail and road transit projects in Europe and Asia. Particular experience in design and build commissions with extensive expertise in management of multi-disciplinary, system wide teams. This has included 'hands on' leadership of design teams for underground structures for mass rapid transit systems, cut-and-cover stations and tunnels, value engineering, alternative designs and optimisation.

Chris PoundA project director with 20 years experience in the management, design and construction of surface and underground excavations. Chris has extensive knowledge of numerical modelling techniques in soils and rocks and experience of design, installation and interpretation of instrumentation monitoring systems and particular experience with underground works. He contributes significantly to the design, supervision and reporting for a wide variety of site investigations.

Peter PhippsHead of geomorphology and coastal management. Peter is a chartered geologist and chartered engineer with 15 years experience in engineering geomorphology and coastal management around the world. He also has specialist knowledge of hazard and risk assessments for planning, infrastructure and other construction projects.

Tim SpinkHead of engineering geology with 30 years experience in this area as well as ground investigation. Tim has particular expertise in the specification, development and deployment of asset and data management systems with responsibility for geotechnical, project and drainage GIS systems and database management projects.





David CookA senior project manager with 20 years heavy civil engineering design and construction experience. David is currently responsible for developing our design of instrumentation schemes for structural monitoring for ground movements associated with urban tunnelling, an area in which he is globally recognised for.


Haresh ShanghaviA senior project manager with over 18 years of experience in structural and civil design and construction of cut and cover tunnels and underground stations. Haresh has experience in the management and co-ordination of large transportation projects. He has specialist knowledge and experience of instrumentation systems, monitoring, concrete technology, interpretation and risk management for large infrastructure projects.
Robert DicksonSenior project manager with over 14 years experience of both inter-disciplinary consulting and contracting environments. Robert has specialist expertise in transportation projects, encompassing the observational method, pile construction, foundation and retaining wall structure design, earthwork stability assessment and renewals design and investigation.





Changiz RoohnavazA Senior Project Manager with over 20 years of ground engineering experience in major international multidisciplinary projects relating to transportation in the UK and Asia Pacific. Changiz is currently responsible for the development of a new client sector in Energy for Foundation and Geotechnics Division. He has proven record of establishing strong links with large international oil and gas contractors and developers. He has specialist knowledge and experience of pile driving design and construction using PDA and CAPWAP analysis.
Alan PowderhamDirector of transportation based in the UK, and former manager of our geotechnics division. Alan has designed tunnels, bridges, shafts, and both cut and cover roads and railways. With over 40 years experience he is a member of the Group's metro task force, and is globally recognised as an expert in value engineering and the use of the observational method. He has over 35 technical papers published and is a visiting lecturer at Cambridge and Imperial College in the UK and at universities in Illinois.
Jim BeveridgeCommercial and divisional director for metros and civil division and geotechnical advisor with over 30 years experience of major infrastructure projects. Jim has experience of all geotechnical aspects for highways, tunnels, railways, airports and bridges from concept through to construction and asset management. Experience of managing large multi-disciplinary teams for a variety of ground engineering projects with particular experience of underground works.

Arthur DarbyTunnels practice leader responsible for developing our tunnelling skills. Arthur has over 30 years experience in the design and construction of large infrastructure projects including the Channel Tunnel. He is currently involved on the SMART project in Malaysia and all the tunnelling works for the Terminal 5 development at Heathrow Airport. Arthur has wide-ranging technical expertise in the design of major tunnels and caverns constructed by TBM and NATM, and has developed a broad perspective of design, construction management and procurement processes.

David PowellLeader of the business development activities for tunnels in Croydon, UK. David has worked extensively on hydro-electric, road and rail tunnel projects around the world. He has global experience in designing tunnels and large span caverns in all types of soft ground and hard rock, and is acknowledged as an expert in the design and implementation of sprayed concrete linings and in the sequential excavation method, authoring many papers on the subject at conferences around the world and in leading publications. He has led our efforts in successfully pioneering the use of this form of tunnel construction in soft ground.

Tim Blower Tim Blower has over 27 years’ experience of ground engineering associated with a broad range of projects from major civil/structural projects to contamination remediation contracts. He is currently responsible for the management of the Ground and Environmental Engineering Group of the Cambridge office. A Chartered Geologist, Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Geological Society, he has qualifications in Engineering Rock Mechanics and Engineering Geology and Geotechnics. He is also a SiLC (Specialist in Land Condition) a qualification administered by the Institute of Environmental management and Assessment. His most recent experience has included remediation contracts in the UK, major civils works in the UK water sector and dams in Egypt, Laos and Afghanistan.

Andrew DavisA senior project manager with 20 years experience in the area of engineering geology and geotechnics. Andrew has particular experience in the management of large ground investigations and geotechnical aspects of transportation projects within the UK and overseas. His experience includes a wide range of geotechnical design applications including tunnelling, soil reinforcement and nailing, and structure design.