Meet Vivekanandhan, a Leading Professional in Sustainable Aviation

The variety of work and personal development in the role

“In the first 3 to 4 years I focused on airport development projects related to forecasting, terminal simulations and capacity assessments. Those assessments help airport planners and architects with designing the building and the facilities in it. In this role, I worked with air traffic data and analysed the numbers that were required to design an airport.

Eventually, I started focusing more on the strategy side and in this way, I developed myself towards the client-facing role. My affinity towards sustainability started flourishing which made me to expand my presence and company representation at Industry Trade Associations such as ACI, IATA, and regulatory bodies like ICAO. This also helped me to be informed about the latest knowledge which gave me the opportunity to dive more into sustainability and resilience in the aviation industry and add value to our existing projects.

Following the passion and freedom provided, allowed me to lead the sustainable aviation topic within the company. The impact of this work is not only helpful for the clients but also for the aviation industry. For example, I’m part of the Climate Change Adaptation working group within the Aviation industry. We came up with guidelines that will be used across the whole world. This makes it possible to make a real impact.”

Leveraging the network to enhance sustainability

“By leveraging the network of Royal HaskoningDHV, I became part of the sustainability network within the organization which helps me to stay up to date, understand the broad range of sustainability topics, and translate it to the aviation industry. By doing this, we got inspired to form a sustainability working group in 2017 with multiple disciplines in the company to bundle like-minded people, including colleagues from the management. In this way, we can bring valuable knowledge among each other and step up the sustainability aspect in this industry for our clients.”

The interesting and fun side of the role

“The most important and interesting part of my job is the diversity. Every day is different because of the international scope of the projects. Working with various cultures, the approach is very different when it comes to clients in Peru, Singapore or another country. In the end, the product we deliver is the same, but the way we deliver is always different since you always have to communicate and engage with the relevant stakeholders in a different way. That makes it very interesting to interact with lots of people. Also, since I am mainly involved in the initial stages of a project, I can work on multiple projects in a year. This makes it very diverse. I also get the opportunity to travel for site visits which is fun but also very helpful to get to know the people in real life and discuss the project.”

Working on international and impactful projects

“In terms of climate resilience, I worked on a climate change adaptation project for Singapore Airport. As Singapore is located on a small island, it is critical to be protected against climate risks. Therefore, we worked on various recommendations for airport climate resilience. Happy to see that some of the recommendations have been implemented in the short time frame. Another recent project was situated at the airport in Lima, Peru. Sustainability and circularity were the main topics to incorporate further in their new terminal with topics such as solar assessment, waste flows, energy efficiency and electric ground vehicles.”

The benefit of in-house experts with knowledge

“Thanks to the company, I engage with a lot of international colleagues who are culturally diverse. As already mentioned, the clients are international, but the company still has its Dutch roots which offer me the best of both worlds. Knowledge-wise, it is easy to exchange and ask for support since Royal HaskoningDHV is active in many sectors. If I have, for example, a question about solar panel specifications, I can call the solar panel expert of our business line Industry & Buildings within Royal HaskoningDHV.”