Managing billion-euro construction projects across multiple continents requires more than technical expertise—it demands strategic planning that can unite diverse teams around complex, evolving designs.
From Formula One theme parks in Dubai's desert heat to Sweden's groundbreaking European Spallation Source research facility, construction planning specialist Enda Grimes has spent two decades mastering the art of breaking massive projects into manageable pieces.
Now leading his own consultancy Strata, he reveals how digital rehearsals, AI-powered data analytics, and one often-overlooked foundational skill are transforming how Europe's largest construction projects come to life
THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT
● How breaking mega construction projects into smaller, team-owned pieces enables successful delivery.
● Why engineering principles provide the strongest foundation for strategic time planning.
● How using digital rehearsals BIM models can safely plan logistics before physical execution on site
● How AI and data management are transforming construction planning
● Why communication skills and practical site experience matter for career advancement
● The value of international experience and cultural adaptability in engineering career progression
GUEST DETAILS
Enda Grimes is Director and Owner of Strata, a construction planning consultancy he founded in 2016 that manages projects valued up to €2 billion. His career spans some of Europe's most complex construction projects, including serving as Head Planner for Skanska on the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Sweden—the world's largest research facility of its kind—where he developed contract programs for this state-of-the-art super-microscope facility. Previously, Enda spent over five years as Planning and Bid Manager with John Paul Construction/Absal Paul in Dublin, leading strategic technical submissions and commercial strategies. His international experience includes planning the $600M Formula One Theme Park in Dubai and the €145M Criminal Courts Complex PPP in Dublin with PJ Hegarty & Sons. Enda specialises in translating complex construction requirements into executable plans using cutting-edge planning, modelling, and visualisation technology.
Connect with Enda:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/enda-grimes-86539a25/
Link to Engineers Ireland communications course:
https://www.engineersireland.ie/Professionals/CPD-Careers/CPD-training-courses-by-theme/Communications-Training-Courses/Communication-Presentation-Skills
MORE INFORMATION
Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering? Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer. https://www.engineersireland.ie/
Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED is produced by DustPod.io for Engineers Ireland.
QUOTES
● "Engineering is a really good base for time planning, and if you can understand the technical challenges and relate that to time, you know, you get a lot of respect". - Enda Grimes
● "It's made up of multiple project teams. If you're able to isolate each component piece to the individual project teams and let them deal with them on a project by project basis, it's a lot easier". – Enda Grimes
● "What is a digital rehearsal? It's about building something digitally and rehearsing it and then putting it in practice in real life... the whole purpose is to plan out those works in a safe manner, to make sure that it works". - Enda Grimes
● "I learned that sometimes to be Irish is a good thing in international projects because we're good at talking. We're probably have a good way about us with people, and you're able to bring different cultures together". - Enda Grimes
● "I think practical experience is really important actually. There is a shortcoming in our education process at the moment. It's too theoretical, and that connection to industry is lost." - Enda Grimes
● "I think from a leadership perspective, or as a young graduate starting off their career, I think it's so important in today's world to talk and to communicate with your peers." - Enda Grimes
KEYWORDS
#Engineering principles, #strategic planning, #construction projects, #Formula One theme park, #European spallation source, #project execution, #time management, #digital tools, #BIM,# digital rehearsal, #communication skills, #career progression, #international experience, #practical experience, #leadership.
TRANSCRIPTION
For your convenience, here is an AI transcription:
Dusty Rhodes 0:02
Hi there. My name is Dusty Rhodes, and you're welcome to AMPLIFIED the Engineers Journal podcast.
Enda Grimes 0:07
Again, it comes back to engineering principles. I think you know, engineering is a really good base for time planning, and if you can understand the technical challenges and relate that to time, you know, you get a lot of respect. You Steve,
Dusty Rhodes 0:24
Today, we're meeting a professional who has spent his career at the absolute sharp end of construction, overseeing the planning and execution of some of Europe's largest and most complex capital projects, from a $600 million Formula One theme park in Dubai to the enormous European spallation source research facility in Sweden. He has led project teams where the stakes can be astronomical. He's here today to share the critical difference that strategic planning makes in these projects and how he now brings that world class experience to clients through his own firm Strata, giving them the definitive edge in construction. It's a pleasure to welcome Enda Grimes, how are you?
Enda Grimes 1:01
How you dusty? I'm good. Thanks for that big welcome.
Dusty Rhodes 1:05
Always a big welcome. Enda, can I start off by asking what got you into this wonderful little niche of the world we call engineering? I always had an interest in, I suppose, building and construction and building things. I used to love Lego as well as a kid, and something that hopefully I'm passing on to my own kids, and I suppose an understanding of how things went together. And, you know, during my teenage years in school, I would have worked, you know, with local builders and on building sites. And I suppose just that knowledge, and and that kind of passion for engineering and building, kept fruition. From there, I went to UCD to study Civil and Structural Engineering. That's where the initial passion came from. One of your first big projects, I believe, was working on the criminal courts complex in Dublin, which is on the edge of the Phoenix Park and cost one 50 million huge money. Tell me about that building, because we see that building on the news all the time. What makes that building special?
Enda Grimes 2:02
That project, I worked on it with my time with PJ Hegarty, who I started my graduate career with. And really, I suppose they were my first exposure into planning and the way that they approached it through my old mentor, Joe Mahoney. But back to that project, what makes it special? I think the scale number one at the time, the shape of the building. It's curved. So all the walls, all the concrete structures, are curved inside. As an engineer for me, the things I remember the massive, big roof trusses on the building, and those being lifted into position. It was a design and build project, just the features the facade. I think it's a timeless building, and that's probably something that we don't see so much these days, you know, you look at old buildings, historical buildings, they always look in place, and they always feel in place. I think that's one of the iconic buildings that we actually have in Dublin, that every time you look at it, it doesn't look old, or it doesn't look tired, it just looks like it belongs in that space. But from an engineering perspective, it was a big undertaking. I think the circular shape was a challenge, and it was very different. And then inside, you know, from a, I suppose, an architectural perspective, really high-end finishes. And one of the challenges as well, because it's a court, and you have criminals as well coming up, and you have jury people, the challenge was to keep everyone separated and to figure that out. So, look, very, very interesting project. Look, I was only, I suppose, a young planner at the time, supporting the team, but I learned a huge amount from being thrown in and observing.
Dusty Rhodes 3:27
Often, when you're on a big project like that, and you're young, you learn a big lesson, and usually by making a mistake and going, oh dear, I'm in trouble. Did you have one of those?
Enda Grimes 3:38
There was one mistake actually, I made in my time, not necessarily on that project. So as a planner, or the way that we do planning, you need to, you know, we see tower cranes around Dublin, and when you're building a project, coverage of a tower crane is very, very important, because if you can't get the materials to the building, it can have a big impact. And I think on one particular project, I mixed up the scale and the drawing when I was preparing a tender, and I put a tower crane that was too small, specified a tower crane that was too small on the project. And you know, when the guys, I think they were successful with the tender, and they went to look at the tar grain, they were there, this is what we specified. Is too short. So look just little nuggets like that, which are things that kind of stick with you. You don't, you don't try and make that same mistake twice.
Dusty Rhodes 4:38
But now here, when you're working on a project, you know, if it's a hot day in summer, you might touch on 24 degrees Dubai, completely different story. It's at least twice that you said it's different building in Dubai, heat is one thing. Give me example of heat. Give me example of all the things that are different.
Describe to me another project that you worked on that we wouldn't be as familiar with, with the criminal court building, but you were in Dubai working on the Formula One theme park. Now, how did you go from Dublin to Dubai in the first place? And then tell me about the project?
Enda Grimes 4:38
Yeah, look, I had four really good years with PJ Hegarty's. And I guess I was still reasonably young, and I probably always wanted to do a little bit of travel and just experience the bigger world at the time. You know, there was, it was before the big global economic crash, but not too long before it. And then come back to that. So I got the opportunity, you know, there was lots of opportunities to work internationally, and one of those happened to be for a project in Dubai. And funnily enough, I interviewed with a company out there, project management company. And the project I was actually meant to go on was Tiger Wood's golf course out there, and I was there, okay, that's quite interesting. Tiger Woods is quite a good golfer, and it would be interesting to see something different. But when I arrived, it changed, and I was working on a Formula One team park, so I was there, okay, well, you know, that's not too bad either. And essentially, what it was, you know, a big theme park with lots of different rides or amusements, or whatever you want to call it, and structures. And actually, when you boil it down, the approach is quite similar. You know, when you're on any theme park, and you see all the buildings, they're really structures behind and embellished, then by the theme park rides. And probably the interesting part was seeing how that all comes together in the background the design and all the people involved in actually designing these mega amusements or attractions. And that was happening from all over the world. So the biggest learnings I had were working internationally with wider team of people. You know, we had people from America, we had people from Australia, the Middle East itself, and Irish and UK people as well. And it was probably working in a bigger environment than I had been used to, but still the same principles and the same approach applied. But then you're out in the desert as well. So it's very different. It's just a completely different experience.
One fundamental difference as well is it's a more labor driven market, and I suppose they depend a lot on direct physical labor to complete their work. And they would have a big supply chain from in particular, India and those countries in that region. So that's very different for a start. So, whereas in Ireland or the UK or Europe, to be fair, you would have a more mechanised approach, probably a more structured approach. In the Middle East, it was a case of increasing labour numbers to get things done. I suppose one big difference, when you think from an engineer's perspective, sand beside the sea and that salty environment can have an impact on structures as well. So the way that you build foundations and you treat foundations in the ground is quite different. There's quite a big, extensive buildup. And not a waterproofing approach, but an approach to stop contaminants getting in towards the reinforcement to, you know, that can undermine that. Everything is built in concrete as well, because of the sand approach, or predominantly so it's and that's due to the labour-driven market. And then at different periods of the year, you know, they don't work on site during the day because it gets too hot. And then you have factors like, you know, it was a Muslim country, you have Ramadan, where the majority of the supply or the labour force might be fasting during certain periods of the year, which is not ideal. And then, because of the heat as well, and pouring concrete, a lot of that work is done at night, and you would have 24 hour shifts, really, and that's how they can build things a little bit faster as well. Did all of these things cause you problems, or did you just have to adjust your way of thinking? I think look, as I said at the outset, I think on these big projects, and no matter how big the project, it's still made up of a number of smaller projects. And that's always been my approach. So if you look at a Formula One team Park, and within that, there was a mega five star hotel, which was one part of it, and then, I can't remember now, but there was about 15 or 16 major attractions. But when each of those attractions are right? It's really just 15 buildings. So it's about I've always been able to compartmentalize things and break bigger things into smaller pieces. And I think when you can have that approach and mindset, that's a good starting point. I think look the foundation as an engineer of what you learn. And I think we're quite strong at that foundation in Ireland, and particularly from the contracting environment, where you have lots of different exposure, I think that still applies. But of course, you have to learn. You know, there's different methods and ways of doing things in different countries, so you have to adopt to that. But I think if you stick to your best principles and your core principles, I think you can pick things up quickly. And I think engineering is one of those disciplines and one of those, I suppose, foundation stones, that kind of crosses borders, and I think that's what makes it a really good profession.
Dusty Rhodes 6:24
You've mentioned foundations. This might be a silly question, because I'm not a civil engineer myself... Okay, I'm a sound engineer. That's what I tell people. In Dubai, the big difference to Ireland is that you're building on sand, and sand doesn't strike me as a particular solid surface to be building on. What was your experience of that? And how do you get around that problem?
Enda Grimes 9:24
For basement construction, you would have a lot of temporary retaining works to allow you to excavate. And you know, whilst they didn't work on any major high rise over there, I did observe a lot of them, and you have mega foundations, mega big pile foundations going down to the bedrock. So it's quite interesting to see that and to understand that. So I think it makes it more challenging, actually, in many ways, because it's hard to clear areas. It's hard to clear a site, whereas here in Ireland, you know, you have clay or boulder clay or whatever, in that sense, it can be a lot easier to work with.
Dusty Rhodes 10:22
You would have been there kind of mid noughties, would you?
Enda Grimes 10:26
2005/2006 just right before the crash?
Dusty Rhodes 10:30
All right, so around, that was my first trip to Dubai as well. And I remember they were building the Burj Khalifa. Were they doing that? When you were there,
Enda Grimes 10:35
they were as well, yeah.
Dusty Rhodes 10:36
You must have heard an amazing story about putting that building together.
Enda Grimes 10:40
Not so much in the sense that there was so much things happening in Dubai at the time that look, wherever you looked, you know, there was just things happening. I think what stood out, and the thing that always I remember from Dubai, and I've been back there since, is when you fly into the airport and it's a cloudy day, and you just see all these buildings sticking up out of the sky. And it's quite daunting, to be honest, that's one of those buildings, those iconic buildings, when it's been built, that you're just going, what the hell I know? And it's quite different. If anyone that has flown into New York or wherever you're quite remote. You know, when you're on the airplane in Dubai, you're nearly just in town, yeah, yeah, absolutely, to be honest, there's not anything that really stands out, because there was so much happening. Like, everywhere you looked there was at the same point. There was the Palm Jumeirah. Are, you know, are those structures being built And the world?
Dusty Rhodes 11:29
They were building the world at the same time.
Enda Grimes 11:32
Exactly. So it was just, it was just building and construction everywhere. And whilst it was a big tower, it was just a big tower going up into the sky. It's the type of place you just lose all context of reality.
Dusty Rhodes 11:42
To this very day, you lose context of reality. So you move from the heat of Dubai. And next big stop, I suppose, really, is Sweden, where you were working on a massive project, the ESS project. Just describe it to me, because I don't know it very well. What it is and how big is it?
Enda Grimes 12:00
What it is is the ESS project, the European spallation source. So I suppose those that are familiar with CERN or Oak Ridge in the US, it's a big scientific research facility. And what it is is it's to test light particles, really fine light particles that you or I could never, ever see to the human eye, and why to do that? It's to test material, I suppose, compositions and new materials that will be future, used in industry and as the world evolves. What made it special? It has a 600-meter-long linear accelerator tunnel, and then that light or that ion source, travels at huge speeds, and it hits a tungsten wheel and generates radioactive material, actually as an output of that in this big target station. From there, light particles spin off in different directions. And then, I suppose the scientific community, using that and different experimental types, look at different compositions of materials. So the scientific part, I'm not going to get too much into, because I leave that to the experts. It's above our pay grade. But for I suppose, as an engineer, what was interesting about the facility, I suppose you're building an open-cut tunnel, and that was my first exposure of a really long tunnel construction. You have a massive electricity generation that's required to make the building work. So there was a big infrastructure piece. And then the target building itself, you know, was a massive concrete structure because of the by product, the radioactive nature, some of the process. It was a really big concrete structure that had to withstand, I suppose, those design criteria. And I think also at the time, it was at the time of Fukushima, and some of the disasters that happened in relation to nuclear facilities, you know, and what could happen. So the design criteria was huge. I think, you know, there was changes in terms of what it had to withstand. So that had a big imposition on the design. Was major pile foundations underneath this building. I think piled foundations of up to 1.5 to two meters in diameter. So it was really interesting to see that kind of aspect of things. And then probably the total opposite to Dubai. You're working in a colder environment, and you know, how people treat and complete concrete works in that environment as well. Was the dot locks it where you're heating concrete to pour it or putting pipes through it, you have covered tents to allow your work in, I suppose, more harsher conditions, albeit the south of Sweden, the climate wouldn't be as cold as the north of Sweden. You know, it would be still colder than Ireland.
Dusty Rhodes 14:40
I'm thinking one word in relation to this project, and that word is precision. Am I right?
Enda Grimes 14:46
Yeah.
Dusty Rhodes 14:46
It's not down to millimetres Correct. You're down to whatever a millimeter of a millimeter is, you know what I mean. Am I correct when I say that precision?
Enda Grimes 14:55
Precision, yes, in terms of the structure and the design. Design. But you also have to contend that you're working with scientists at the same time as well. Because, you know, in a project, and that project started back in its Genie, it's, it's 10 years ago now, or more 11 years when I started working on it at the start, the scientific fit out is still ongoing to this day. You know, the thing with scientists is that they're always looking for the next thing. Their design is never frozen, you know, because they're always thinking ahead. And that can be very challenging with a construction project as well, because criteria is always changing.
Dusty Rhodes 15:28
So were you in a situation then where the design and the construction are both happening at the same time?
Enda Grimes 15:35
Correct. And that was the form of contract, and that's why it was such a special project. And I suppose the contract type and the arrangement of it was set up in such a way to accommodate that through collaboration. So it was a very, very unique project in that instance. And even, you know, whilst there was an overall budget for the project, the final cost was agreed in stages as the project evolved and as the design was released, which was a very different experience to what I know from here in Ireland.
Dusty Rhodes 16:04
So with your time, there was there any kind of a major design change that had to happen?
Enda Grimes 16:09
Yeah, I think the main one really was in relation to the target building, which was the building where it housed the tungsten wheel and the byproduct of the radioactive material gets stored there. But the design criteria in relation to it was classed as a nuclear facility, even though it wasn't a nuclear generating power plant or anything like that. And because of that, it was subject to the same criteria. And because of the disasters, or some of the natural disasters that happen around the world, the in relation to nuclear I suppose the design criteria changed. It had to withstand more loads or or more impacts and other I think it was also, you know, September 11, unfortunately, and planes flying into buildings as well. And that was another criteria that had to be adopted. What could it withstand the plane flying into it? So that all happened midstream through the project. So, you know, there was a lot of impact and a lot of challenge in trying to finalize the structural design to accommodate that.
Dusty Rhodes 17:07
So what about you inside yourself? What did you learn and how did you improve working with this madness around you?
Enda Grimes 17:14
I learned that sometimes to be Irish is a good thing in international projects because we're good at talking. Maybe I think, and we're probably have a good way about us with people, and you're able to bring different, I suppose, cultures together. You know, we like to talk. We like to understand what's happening with people. So I found that that's a very powerful resource, or can be a very powerful resource, if respectful and used in the right way. I think the other big learning, communication on projects. And back to my mantra, me as a time management specialist or planning engineer, once you have a sequence or a phase, or even if it's a mega project, it's about being able to communicate it in small phases and to get buy in from people in that way. And if you can find a really good way of doing that. It can really influence a project. And that's something that I really learned there as well, or embellished there. And also, again, it comes back to engineering principles. I think, you know, engineering is a really good base for time planning. And if you can understand the technical challenges and relate that to time, you know, you get a lot of respect. And if you're able to talk with knowledge about a challenge and related to time, I think it can be quite influential.
Dusty Rhodes 18:26
I've never heard that before, and let me just repeat it back to you to make sure that I understand it correctly. Because you've spoken before about you break down projects into smaller component pieces, and you deal with each component piece at a time. And now you've just said, what you do is you get buy in from people for the individual component pieces, and that's how you move the big project along.
Enda Grimes 18:49
You know, we had probably about 20 different buildings of different shapes and sizes. And of course, you have to have a knowledge of the bigger picture when you start, and you have to be able to understand, you know, how all the parts come together and and set out a high level phasing overview. You know, we need to do the tunnel first before we do the target station. To make the tunnel operation, we need the electrical input, and you need to have a broad understanding of that. I think engineering, you know that engineering knowledge helps that. But if you if you look at any project, you know it's not made up really, of one person running all of that. It's made up of multiple project teams. And if you're able to isolate out each component piece to the individual project teams and let them deal with them on a project by project basis. It's a lot easier than trying to get them to understand or get people to understand every aspect. But they need to understand where their piece fits in the overall puzzle. And I think people like to see that as well. They like to understand the bigger picture and then focus of the focus on the detail of their elements and. And understand how it comes together and how it impacts a project.
Dusty Rhodes 20:03
Enda, I am dying to ask about your company, STRATA, okay, because it comes across as a very modern, forward thinking, and there's a lot of emphasis on digital with the company. Is this fair to say? Okay, what is it that you do at Strata that other firms don't
Enda Grimes 20:23
I would say, yes, very much, digitally minded, but also the backbone is an engineering focused approach. So the principle is very much still understanding the job, understanding how it's built, understanding the engineering principles, and then using digital tools to, I suppose, communicate that and to visualize that. And how do we do that? So obviously, there's in time planning or time management or schedule management. There is bespoke software tools out in the market, and, you know, Primavera p6 ask the power project, Microsoft Project, to a lesser degree, and they're around a long time and still going very strong. And we're across all of those and very proficient in that where things have changed, even in the last three to five years. You know, is the use of data and the management of data. And how do you extract the data from these programs, like a project or a project program could have, you know, some of the bigger ones could have five to 10,000 activities or line items in it. That's a lot of information to get your head around. So it's, how do you take that data and present it in a more condensed way? So working with the likes of Power BI and data management, that's one thing. And then the other aspect as well is, you know, we connect the time plan to ad model, and we create animations and movies and productions and digital, I suppose, representations of how the building will be built and how the building will look. So I think it's a combination of taking all those facets together, it's the engineering at the core, and then transferring that approach into tools that you can communicate to people with.
Dusty Rhodes 21:57
I'm going to show my ignorance, and this is net to be taken out by the editor. All right, but BIM, I know what it is, but do you sayB I M, or do you say BIM? BIM, I should have known that better. But anyway. All right, grant, so now we get on the question. All right, and we've had BIM for a long time, but you're saying that things have changed a lot in the last three years. And I saw a post that you did where you were talking about doing a digital rehearsal, yeah, I love that expression. And what really surprised me about the post was the amount of people in the engineering community went, Wow, that's a great idea. And it's like, have we not been doing this already? Is this a new thing?
Enda Grimes 22:31
Look, I think it's like everything, it's slowly evolving. So look, what is a digital rehearsal? I suppose it's about building something digitally and rehearsing it and then putting it in practice in real life. And really, where does that come to the fore Look, you're using the BIM model, or the Building Information Model, which I suppose is now the predominant BIM is the predominant function now, to manage design and projects, and the output is a federated model between all disciplines, and that's the design stage, but really, where you know a lot of problems still occur is transitioning that design to the execution phase on site and in today's projects, they're hugely complex. For example, on hyper scale data centers, there's a lot of equipment that needs to be moved into position within a site, whilst there's a lot of logistical items happening around the site, be it utilities, infrastructure, and the whole purpose of a digital rehearsal is to plan out those works in a safe manner, to make sure that it works, to make sure that you have your, you know, your logistics where you're trying to, I suppose, forecast what works are ongoing in an area at the same time you're trying to move equipment into an area. And it's really then to get buy in from the project team. This is the way, or this is the approach. This is how we're planning to do it. And then you're allowing everyone the opportunity to critique that, carry out a risk assessment, to adopt it as needed. And I suppose it's very hard to do that just looking at a sheet of paper. So that's where it can be very powerful.
Dusty Rhodes 23:58
If you look up Enda on LinkedIn, and I'll put a link in the description of this podcast. He's got a video there of digital rehearsal that they did, and it's fascinating. It's such a simple concept, which maybe years ago wasn't possible with computing. Now you see it, and you kind of go, yeah, yeah, yeah, cool. You're talking about the rehearsal. And the whole point of rehearsal is to see, well, where do things go wrong, so that you plan, so that they don't go wrong in reality. But you can't think of everything. Now, we have AI in the game, and AI is able to think of things we might not have considered, but it's also able to run 1000s of simulations with different combinations of permutations and all kinds of stuff that we would have never thought of. Is that being incorporated, at the moment, into digital rehearsals?
Enda Grimes 24:43
I would say, not so much into digital rehearsals, but it will come, I think, where we're really trying to work with AI within Strata is we have exposure to multiple projects and multiple data from projects and different types, and we're trying to, we're not. Into we are, we're capturing all that data internally, and we're building, I suppose, a database that's AI enabled, that is able to run predictions on different projects and different project types based on has built durations and outputs. So that's how we're, I suppose, using AI the most in terms of, you know, you have you have a big database, you have a new project coming up, you have constraints, and you're putting into our AI database. Look, can you give me all the projects that had this constraint? What was the duration, what was the risk, what occurred, and the power of that search engine, and to be able to bring up data that we can control? And I think that's the important part, it's about data that we've benchmarked and we can control and that we we rely on, and that's how we're using it, and that's really important. I think the more as we go on this journey, I think, as you said to as you alluded to the example of a digital rehearsal, there will be so many of these examples and either posted online or post it where it's going to mind at that and, yes, pick up things that we forget, and I think that's something that we all have to be open to and to see how we can use it in the best possible way.
Dusty Rhodes 26:13
And I'd like to chat about career and leadership for people listening to the podcast today, because I think your story is fantastic. I'll do engineering. That sounds interesting. You went you worked all over the world. You worked some great companies, brilliant projects. Now you've started your own firm, and you're running the show. That's a long way up for other people who have ambition in engineering. What do you think are the kind of the skills that mattered most for you, going from site planner to running the show in the boardroom?
Enda Grimes 26:47
Funnily enough, I was back in UCD over the last two weeks giving a lecture in planning, which was back to where I started, in a certain way, and trying to, I suppose, impair some knowledge on the students there. The big thing that stuck with me, and that, you know, I was saying with them, is communication and talking to people, and I think from a leadership perspective, or as a young graduate starting off their career, I think it's so important in today's world to talk and to communicate with your peers. I know it's much more challenging now. We have different methods of working. We have hybrid working. We have working from home. We have the use of teams and email and everything. But sometimes it can be quite frustrating to work in that like I think the office environment that I come into today or every day is so much different to when I started over 20 years ago, people are sitting at their desks with headphones on. It's just different. I could have never imagined doing that. And that's not just strata. That's many different organisations. And while people are focused on getting their work done, I think that part to communicate is lost a little bit. And I think as an engineer or construction professional, obviously you have to have the technical knowledge and the grounding that goes without saying. But as I always say to people, it's that time to talk, time to ask questions, that time to listen, in particular as well. You know, growing up and I suppose, walking around construction sites, there's so much to be learned by just stopping and watching and looking at what's going on around you, and then even the people on the ground that are executing the works. You know, as an engineer, it's so important to talk to them, it's so important to ask them questions, because they're the people that are doing the physical work. And I know there's a lot of off site production, and things are changing in that way as well. But still, you know, people installing things, they're a fountain of knowledge and expertise on on how things go together. And I think, you know, to be inquisitive, to put your hand up for things, to think outside the box as well. You know, an engineering profession opens, you know, opens up the door to many different facets of construction. And as a young engineer, whether it be in planning or site engineering, be open to do different things that are maybe outside your wheelhouse a little bit, to challenge yourself. And I think that, I suppose that approach can be, you know, very good for your career in the long term. I would also say, Well, look, we live in a much faster paced world at the moment, and people like to move fast, and particularly younger people coming into the industry, they're a little bit impatient. You can see sometimes in terms of career progression, and I would just say that, you know, it's also important to get those early years, in those early years, to put your head down, to get that experience. And then once you have that under your belt, you know, then you can start, I suppose, moving into different environments. Whereas he starts as an engineer and you want to be a project manager, after two years, you have a little bit of a road to learn, and sometimes to go slow, to go fast is good. That's probably from the perspective of just career progression, and just looking at it for. That way in terms of, I suppose some days I look around and I go, jeepers. How did we get here? You know, we have an office. We have 60 people now. We have an office in Ireland, in Dublin, our head office in London, in Stockholm and in Brazil. And look, sometimes you just don't think things just happen. But it's taking opportunities, you know, I suppose my mindset has always been not to say no to things first anyway. My wife might differ to that at home, but, but it's just to be open to opportunities and to respect people as well. I think that's really important. You know, it might be a cliche, but we do try to have a really good culture here in our organization, and we have different nationalities from all over the world working with us in strata. And look, it's about as a leader. I think, you know, people have a life in work and outside of work, and it's about being empathetic to that and actually taking an interest in that. And I think that goes a long way to it's interesting. I like people. I like meeting new people. I'm interested in what they're doing. And, you know, I suppose that's I like to see people doing well as well, and that drives me on a lot.
Dusty Rhodes 31:09
I love everything that you're saying. And I would never have thought of communications as being kind of like a foundational skill. And, you know, I bet in universities, it's not something that they teach as part of the course for engineering. I know that engineers Ireland do, they have a communication and presentation skill thing, but that's more for, you know, to be able to communicate effectively during a project meeting or to give presentations and stuff like that. But it's back again to what you're saying. It's about it's one little thing at a time, and using that communication to get people on board and to lead people, and that's how you can make amazing things happen. Again, thinking about all the people who are listening to the podcast and they want to advance their career, and we want to learn from you, that's one foundational skill, which I think is really interesting. If you want to make an investment in your career, what would you advise people to do?
Enda Grimes 32:00
I think practical experience is really important actually. I think you know, particularly, even if you're going through college or university, you know during the summers, to try and get that practical experience and get that knowledge. Because I do think it is a shortcoming in our education process at the moment. I think in too many ways, it's too theoretical, and that connection to industry is lost. And probably it's very easy for me to say that now after 20 years and running my own business, but when you go back, there is a disconnect with what happens in the real world and how we're taught in university. And I think,
Dusty Rhodes 32:39
Bigger than a disconnect, I would have said,
Enda Grimes 32:41
Look, you have to bridge that gap as a young engineer. So you have to try and get that practical experience yourself. And that's on you, I think, as well to do that. And even, you know, there's a massive skills shortage on sites at the moment, the whole thing when I was growing up, it was, you know, go be a laborer and a construction site during the summer months. That doesn't happen, I guess, so much anymore, but look, it's really important that that's where you learn a huge amount, and you learn how to navigate those situations. I think, as I said, we take on interns and we take we have a graduate program, and I think really, it's about being flexible as well. In your early career, everyone has to go through doesn't matter. Even starting out, you have to go through maybe the mundane tasks to get the stripes to move on to the next thing. And it's not to look at them as a torturous exercise. It's it's to look at them as building blocks, and they're there for a reason, to try and get people to understand the small it's all about, as you say, the small pieces, how they all come together. And it comes back to having that patience to do that. And I think the flexibility, I think, as well international travel, getting the opportunity to travel and to work internationally on different projects is a huge thing as a as a young engineer, and to be open to that, because the experiences that you get, both culturally, I think, number one and from an engineering perspective, are very different. It's just building that knowledge bank, building that repertoire, and don't be relying on emails all the time as well, I would say, is a big thing. Pick up the phone. That's another big thing. Younger people find it more difficult to communicate, and that's with AI and with everything, that's going to become more and more of a challenge. But I think if you can break that cycle, I think that's really important, if you can have that confidence to speak and to ask and to talk, I think it's really good, really powerful.
Dusty Rhodes 34:34
I think if people are listening to this, and they take away just one thing, I think that communication thing is fantastic. I mean, you've given us so much solid advice in just a half an hour, so I'm delighted with it, that one has really stuck with me. But I suppose, as a communicator, it probably would, because that's that's my business. If you are interested in learning more about Enda's insights into strategic construction planning and innovation and managing complex projects, you can find a link to Strata's website in the show notes. I'll also throw in a link to end it directly on LinkedIn, and I'll dig out a link for that communication course that Engineers Ireland do as well. So you can look that up if you want, all in the description for you now, but for now, end of Grimes, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast.
Enda Grimes 35:17
Thanks, Dusty.
Dusty Rhodes 35:19
We hope you enjoyed our conversation today. If you do know another engineer who would appreciate insights like this, please share our podcast with them. They can find us simply by searching for Engineers Ireland. Wherever they listen to podcasts. This episode is produced by dustpod.io for Engineers Ireland, for advanced episodes, more information on the latest trends in infrastructure or career development advice, you'll find a library of information on our website at engineersireland.ie - until next time for myself. Dusty Rhodes, thank you for listening.