AECOM, Abu Dhabi (Work Experience) 15th Aug - 10th Sep 2010

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22/08/2010 (Sun)
This morning I arrived at work on time at 08:30, I was quickly briefed on what needed to be done throughout the course of the day. I continued to follow on from what I began with on the Reem Island Najmat project, where I completed two blow-up pages showing the extents of certain areas of the masterplan for dimesnioning (part of what is required for a breifing package for an architectural fabric company-shading structures) yesterday evening as mentioned. Once these were complete I began with some contextual illustrative diagrams showing various physical site elements and typologies relative to site pedestrian circulation. Once both of these blow-up plans were finished I had to compile various material (varying scales and context of topography, scale and context by cross sectioning, precedents of possible shading structures etc..) onto an InDesign document to ensure this briefing package was ready for submition as scheduled.

AECOM, Abu Dhabi

19/08/2010 (Thur)
On the 19th, I tested my photoshop skills beyond belief. I had to update a small section of the Al Reem Island, Najmat masterplan (1:1000). I was pleased after opening the photoshop file only to see that all layering and texture styles were implemented to each layer, therefore my work load was dramatically decreased. I had to just import a PDF which was exported from CAD featuring an update of the islands marina (new docking decking dimensions and that of the extended waterfront walkway) had to be re-rendered accordingly. This task took me a fairly long time to complete due to an utter confusion of the files layering extent.
The long awaited weekend began after work. (The location of the development I am working on can be seen below - Al Reem Island)


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AECOM, Abu Dhabi

18/08/2010 (Wed)
Finally, the document was finished. Though, it exceeded the hand in date by a fair amount because of my stress levels taking over... Luckily, the lead architect was in a good mood so he understood my situation. By lunchtime, we finished the task of binding 4 copies and set off for lunch at a fancy restaurant, best baguette I have ever had... As a project assistant, I do not always have work to do. It simply depends on whether or not a specific collegue wants me to help with any work that they are trying to explore or create. After lunch I came back to office and this is precisely what happened, nothing to do but a quick an easy photoshop adjustment to a pavement concept.

AECOM, Abu Dhabi

17/08/2010 (Tue)
Today was the day where you could say 'proper work' for the company began. A graphic design collegue asked me to prepare a large InDesign document showcasing a list of our sub-consultants involved in various projects in order to show to our clientele featuring their vision and portfolio based on various projects. The tedious process involved uploading individual pdf's to a book which later came to the number of 583 pages. Nonetheless it helped me with understanding InDesign to a much higher level, especially when it enabled me to easily remember a number of key shortcuts to save time. This document was not completed on this date, after long hours of importing pdf's and compiling media into acceptable page layouts I only managed to reach page 338, it was a stressful ordeal because 4 copies of the completed document had to be printed off the follwoing morning by 10:00, where we would hand these bounded books to the lead architect on a number of active projects. It was important that we kept to this deadline, so I went home earlier than usual in order to get a good rest, preparing for a long day ahead of me.

AECOM, Abu Dhabi

16/08/2010 (Mon)
Today I spent hours getting health checks at a local hospital in order to proceed further with work, all healthcare payments were paid up front by AECOM which was handy to say the least. Furthermore I had to sign numerous documents regarding company legislation and policies.
No LA work was attempted today.

AECOM, Abu Dhabi

15/08/2010 (Sun)
http://www.aecom.com/

When I finally arrived back home in Abu Dhabi from Muscat Airport at night (14/08/2010), I prepared for work the following morning not knowing what to expect or what was expected from me. All I knew was that I had to start work at 08:30 as a Project Assitant in Aecom's Abu Dhabi Office (Al Jazira Sports Stadium) and work past 17:00 depending on the work intensity for 5 days a week. Luckily, I started work the following morning in the Design & Planning department which comprises of urban designers, landscape architects/planners & environment engineers from across the world.

I have not been involved with the practice long enough to base a detailed anology towards it, however their Abu Dhabi portfolio seems to be very impressive. They typically work on a variety of large scale mixed-use developments throughout the United Arab Emirates, with an innovative and particular focus towards public realm. See website for Company Overview and Project Involvements (Abu Dhabi).

Hopefully throughout this placement, I will not feel like too much of an ant when it comes to work output and recognition in comparison to the rest of the design team.

After meeting the Landscape Director, Mark Khune, I was introduced to the design and planning team. The purpose of the 15th was to become familiar with the workers, studio, computers and networks/software before I could move on to something a little more hands on and technically work related. At the end of the day I was finally given something to do, and that task was to update the networks Hardscape Library by uploading paver samples from a number of local hardscape services through scanning these artifacts and producing their general product descriptions onto AECOM's Abu Dhabi network system.