Atkins Engineer Named New Face of Civil Engineering

RESTON, Va. – Neeraj Kumar Sharma, GMICE, M.Sc., DIC, an Assistant Engineer with Atkins in Bangalore, India, has been named one of ten 2018 New Faces of Civil Engineering, Professional Edition by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). This program recognizes young civil engineers for their achievements and contributions to society. Sharma will be officially recognized during ASCE’s annual Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) Gala on March 15, 2018, in Arlington, Va, US.

As an Assistant Engineer in Atkins, Sharma has worked in notable projects around the world such as the Doha Metro, the A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon Highway Improvement Scheme and currently, the Colombo Port City project. The Colombo Port City is in Sri Lanka and will be built on a 270-acre land area reclaimed from the sea. For this project, Sharma is one of the lead designers and a part of Atkins’ Digital Engineering Capability Improvement (DECI) team. In both capacities, he is helping his team develop optimal design solutions for challenging ground conditions at different infrastructure work locations, using innovative approaches and best practices from relevant codes. His work on these complex and large-scale projects early on in his career has helped him gain a valuable engineering and communications skillset.

Sharma is a volunteer with the non-governmental organization, Janagraha, where he is currently working on a project sponsored by the Google Global Impact Challenge, preparing an app to measure pollution levels across Bangalore. He is also a key member of the Atkins Toastmasters Club, mentoring other engineers on communication skills and is part of Atkins’ corporate sustainability initiatives, participating in various technical training seminars. Additionally, Sharma is a Graduate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (GMICE).

“Growing up, I wanted to see direct, large-scale impact of my work on the people – preferably in the millions – around me. I carefully chartered the route hence to realize my ambition.” says Sharma of his early interest in civil engineering. “Now, the rich and early exposure to the industry has dramatically transformed me from the hesitant graduate who was finding his feet in the corporate world to a dynamic professional who believes can now take on the world.”

Sharma received his Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra and his Master of Science in Soil Mechanics from Imperial College London under the Commonwealth Fellowship programme.

Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 150,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. Through its strategic initiatives, ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation’s infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and seeks to “Raise the Bar” on engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel.