TZL 1347 (web)

TZL: How has COVID-19 impacted your firm’s policy on telecommuting/working remotely? ND: As the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded, we have complied with the guidance of the CDC and other authorities to ensure the safety of our staff, clients, and the general public. Given the speed at which the COVID-19 virus spread, we encouraged staff to work from home in early March. We recently updated our policy on working remotely to ensure that safety, cybersecurity, and corporate values were prioritized. Moving past the immediate crisis, there will certainly be longer term effects to our markets. Remote working-from-home may become a norm in our industry and our tools, processes, and workforce will continue to adapt. TZL: What role does your family play in your career? Are work and family separate, or is there overlap? ND: I grew up in a close-knit, immigrant family in Hoboken, New Jersey. All we had back then was each other, and my fondest memories are of family celebrations. My brothers, sister, and cousins were my best friends and they still are. Family remains a priority as my wife, Linda, and I brought up our four boys and were blessed enough to see them have children of their own. At Mott MacDonald, well-being and family time is a big part of our culture. There are certain times just for family, but there is also overlap, and it is a good kind of overlap. I’ve seen young people grow up in the business and I’ve seen children of my colleagues work in the business at Mott MacDonald. We have a few multi-generation families working at Mott MacDonald. TZL: Artificial intelligence and machine learning are potential disruptors across all industries. Is your firm exploring how to incorporate these technologies into providing improved services for clients? ND: Over the last five years we’ve been developing Moata, our digital twin platform. The first deployments of this were in Auckland, New Zealand, where our Safeswim solution uses more than 1 billion data points a day to predict open sea water quality at 85 beaches. In our Coastal Practice, we used AI and neural networks to build an accurate high-speed surrogate hydrodynamic numerical model. We are currently building a set of AI tools to more efficiently predict and eliminate lead service lines in major cities throughout the United States. The first step towards AI is machine learning, and this is already taking place with Moata, by analyzing live data feeds from sensors

and comparing it to values predicted by our algorithms. This process builds confidence in the application, which enables the next step to use those learnings to achieve specific goals and tasks through flexible adaptation driven by the machine. We’re already applying machine learning and AI to water, energy, and transportation problems. Our experience is that AI alone isn’t enough, it needs to be applied to the client’s specific problem and for that you need engineering domain expertise. Mott MacDonald has been at the cutting edge of digital technology for decades with tools such as Fieldbook, our GIS-based work management tool, and SmartLifecycle, a suite of advanced software tools that help you run every aspect of a large infrastructure project. By incorporating AI into these tools, we are making them more accurate, better predictors of future requirements, and much more efficient. TZL: Does your firm work closely with any higher education institutions to gain access to the latest technology, experience, and innovation and/or recruiting to find qualified resources? ND: Mott MacDonald works closely with many institutions throughout the country including the New Jersey Institute of Technology, North Carolina State University, Colorado School of Mines, Rutgers University, Columbia University, California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, California State University Los Angeles, and Villanova University, to name a few. I am personally involved with several of these institutions local to our corporate headquarters in New Jersey. I’m proud to say that I am currently a member of NJIT’s Board of Trustees, my alma mater, and I previously served as a member of its Board of Overseers and past Chairman of the Newark College of Engineering Board of Visitors. We are involved in NJIT’s New Jersey Innovation Institute, internship programs, and various industry programs. My colleague Joe Stanley, a senior Business Management Systems Manager, is a member of the Board of Visitors for the College of Engineering and past president of the Alumni Association, and Bob Fritz, our Practice Leader for the Built Environment, is a member of the Advisory Board for the School of Architecture. At Rutgers, Mott MacDonald is a member of the New Jersey Climate Adaptation Advisory Committee under the leadership of Pat Natale, our Vice President of Business Strategy. Another colleague, Eric Betz, a Development Manager for Mott MacDonald, is a member of the Advisory Board of the Department of Civil See PERSONAL CONNECTIONS, page 8

HEADQUARTERS: Iselin, NJ NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES:

16,000 worldwide and 2,300 in North America

YEAR FOUNDED: The company’s roots go back to 1902 NUMBER OF OFFICE LOCATIONS: 120 worldwide, 65 in North America MARKET SECTORS: Transportation, buildings, power, oil and gas, water and wastewater, environment, education, health, international development and digital infrastructure VISION: To be the world’s leading employee-owned consulting firm, opening opportunities with connected thinking to deliver optimum solutions and sustainable outcomes

for our clients. VALUES: PRIDE

(progress, respect, integrity, drive and excellence)

UNE 1, 2020, ISSUE 1347

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