20 March 2018 – As countries in Asia continue their investment in building smart, liveable cities, they will require innovative ways to connect people and places to power that growth. In response to development trends here, global engineering and infrastructure advisory company Aurecon has appointed three regional leaders to lead its client engagement activities.

Asia’s rapid urbanisation has increased its appetite for energy. The Asian Development Bank projected that energy demand will double in the Asia-Pacific region by 2030. Securing clean energy will not only boost economic and social development, it will provide the foundations for the smart cities that many Asia countries aspire to. Furthermore, Asia’s growing population will require an enhanced level of connectivity for its people, places, and goods.

“As part of our commitment in Asia, we have appointed Nichol Luttig, Damien Kerkhof, and Nigel Walker to help our clients in the Energy, Property, and Rail markets respectively to embrace the opportunities presented by national aspirations. They bring subject matter expertise, commercial acumen and advisory capability to help meet our clients most significant and evolving challenges,” said Paul Lombard, Managing Director – Middle East and Asia.

Nichol Luttig

The company has appointed Nichol Luttig, as the Energy Leader, Asia to systematically grow Aurecon’s share of business in this market, with effect from 5 February 2018. Concurrently, he will also act as the General Manager for Aurecon’s operations in Indonesia where he will be responsible for the strategic development and operational efficiency of this business.

Trained as an electrical engineer, Luttig is a power sector professional with more than 20 years’ experience in emerging markets. He has extensive design and project management experience of substation, sub-transmission lines and industrial control and automation projects in South Africa and throughout developing Africa. Having grown the energy business substantially for Aurecon in Africa through a sound understanding of the clients’ business, he is eminently qualified to achieve a similar outcome for Aurecon in Asia. In particular, Luttig’s experience as a technical advisor in renewable energy power would assist Aurecon’s key clients in Indonesia looking to make investments in one of the fastest-growing energy markets in South East Asia.

“I am excited to start working with clients in Asia to find innovative solutions to generate and distribute power in a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable manner. I have seen the positive impact that energy projects can have throughout Africa and I look forward to doing the same in Asia,” said Luttig.

Damien Kerkhof

Starting on 1 March 2018, Aurecon appointed Damien Kerkhof as Client Director, Property where he will leverage his experience to provide strategic, design and business leadership to the Aurecon’s Built Environment teams working on property projects around the region.

A qualified engineer with extensive global experience in the lifecycle of major infrastructure and urban development projects, Damien spent a significant part of his career delivering complex urban mixed-use development schemes such as Wembley Park and TRX City. Kerkhof joins Aurecon from Buro Happold, where he led the Asian Cities Practice as Regional Director for South-east Asia.

“As property developments become bigger and more complex, new and innovative approaches to delivery are required, harnessing the digital revolution to improve returns throughout the asset cycle provides exciting opportunities. I look forward to working with our clients to create value through digitisation, innovation and design-thinking to drive asset values,” said Kerkhof.

Nigel Walker

Starting on 1 March 2018, Nigel Walker started with Aurecon as Project Director – Rail, where he will provide technical and project leadership in the metros and rail sectors throughout Asia, with a focus on Thailand.

A Chartered British and Australian civil engineer with over 30 years’ post graduate experience, Nigel has spent the last 25 years working on the implementation of rail projects, notably BTS and MRTA Systems in Bangkok, the Palm Jumeirah Monorail System in Dubai, Education City LRT and Doha Metro in Qatar. He has also led several studies and detailed designs for heavy haul railways within Australia and Asia. Delivery-focused, Nigel brings extensive project experience in multi-cultural settings for client, consultant, and contractor’s organisations on project management, contract management, engineering management, civil works design management, design coordination and project control aspects.

“The rail market in Asia offers considerable opportunities, as governments are committed to implementing both new metro systems and expanding existing ones. High speed rail is also being implemented, with tenders to be awarded later in 2018 on the iconic Kuala Lumpur to Singapore rail link, which will prove to be a major impetus towards socio-economic development in Kuala Lumpur and the intermediate cities along the High-Speed Rail corridor. Similarly, Thailand is seeking to develop a high-speed network. I am looking forward to help build Aurecon’s rail expertise in the region and to successfully securing work on the upcoming rail projects.”