A spotlight on: Principal Engineer Eduardo Moral talks about his career

Eduardo recently won the Mentor of the Year award at our People of Project Centre Awards! This award celebrates individuals who have shown outstanding dedication to guiding, supporting and inspiring others to achieve their goals.  His peers nominated him for his dedication to supporting junior members of staff, especially with obtaining their Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) professional qualification.

We decided to spend some time with Eduardo, talking about what drives his motivation towards this profession.

How did you get into the industry and why?

I’ve been interested in the construction industry since I was very young, but I was also an “academic mind”. I wanted to learn how things are designed and how numbers are tied together. That’s why I started studying civil engineering in Spain. Then, I moved to Edinburgh to undertake my master’s degree and get better job prospects. While completing my studies, I worked for Amey and gained first-hand experience in the industry. 

After my masters, I joined the highways team in WSP where I worked for five years across multiple teams and projects. I was also seconded to their geotechnical team for several months to help with ground investigation and site supervision. Then, in January 2022, I joined Project Centre as I was looking for a new challenge.  

What challenge did you face when entering the engineering industry?

At the start of my career, probably the language barrier and the cultural differences were my biggest challenges. It can be difficult sometimes to not just understand things, but also integrate yourself within the place. Learn how people support each other and how they joke or banter around. 

Eventually, my English naturally improved, and I was lucky enough to find people in every workplace who supported me and made me feel integrated. 

What do you enjoy the most about your job at Project Centre and what’s your favourite project?

What I love about working for Project Centre is being constantly exposed to people from different backgrounds and experiences. We work in multidisciplinary teams and, whenever there is a challenge, we come together to provide the best possible solution for our clients and stakeholders.  

One of my favourite projects with Project Centre is the Mill Lane cyclops roundabout, which we designed for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. It is a unique type of junction that will reduce traffic as well as improve accessibility and enhance active travel in the area. The project is ongoing, and the concept is quite new for the UK. It required coordination between multiple disciplines, to develop detailed designs, safety assessments and project management. 

Growing the north regions is a big goal for Project Centre. What’s your strategy for that?

Yes, growing the north region is one of our main priorities. And it’s incredible how far we’ve come since I joined Project Centre. We now have a solid client base and an organised structure for different projects and tasks.  

Generally with clients, I want to be as honest and transparent as I can be. I clearly communicate what I think we can achieve and how we can help them. Because in the end, honesty and communication are the only ways to build trust and trust is what allows us to build great relationships with clients and stakeholders.  

You manage few junior members of staff. How do you approach your management responsibilities and can you share a piece of advice for our new starters?

With the people I manage, I try to understand their career goals and encourage them to continuously develop their skills. I run the Institution of Civil Engineering group with two of my colleagues at Project Centre, to motivate graduates and junior members of staff to get professionally qualified. I think this is so important as it allows you to become a well-rounded engineer. Getting qualified is proof that you can perform at a certain level on all different areas. Professional institutions help you to see the bigger picture as they teach you how to improve your technical skills, as well as your health and safety, commercial and management knowledge.  

Some advice I would give to new starters is to put effort into each task. Be proactive, do not sit on a task or an issue, and always ask for new opportunities to grow. Networking is also really important. It helps to meet colleagues from different disciplines, sharing knowledge and advice on how to tackle certain projects. It makes your job easier and more rewarding as well as creating a better work environment.  

Thanks, Eduardo, for taking the time to answer our questions. If you’re interested in starting or progressing your career with us, check out our current opportunities.