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Face-to-face, Linden Stephens, Hyder Consulting [Construction Week (United Arab Emirates)](Construction Week (United Arab Emirates) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Born in north London, UK, Stephens was educated in the city at what is now called London South Bank University, "but was called the Polytechnic South Bank when I attended", he added modestly. He has a BSc (Hons) Building Services Engineering and his early career included working for the civil service and the BBC. Being in a multi-media environment it was at the latter that his interest in the communication side of technology was piqued. "I got involved in IP television, where they were looking at using IP and streaming," he said. After the BBC, while working at Cisco partner, Thrupoint, he immersed himself in IP, working for the likes of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Reuters and other communications corporates. Stephens has been with Hyder Consulting since 2009, initially as an electrical and communications engineer, but it wasn't long before he realised that his skills could be better utilised within the company, "as they weren't quite up to speed as to where industry was going", he explained. [[banner]] "Most of the company's projects were still reliant on serial communications; they weren't fully aware as to what was happening in Europe. The first customer I worked with was Education City, bringing them up to speed with Ethernet and its potential to replace serial communications," he explained. Since then, he has played a lead role in many of the most significant and technically complex projects for Qatar's principal public sector organisations, including: Kahramaa's Mega Reservoirs, Ashghal's PWA Wastewater Sewage Framework and Qatar Foundation's Education City Smartgrid. "I helped Ashghal develop the use of IP to do much more than it normally does for them," he stated. He has also served on similarly challenging projects across the Middle East, Oceania, Europe, Asia and Africa. Article continues on next page ... [[page-break]] "The whole of Qatar is going in the same direction regarding the technology wave, particularly with the new standards that have been introduced on control system guidelines. They have fully embraced that IP is the way forward in terms of controlling plant, and now they have policies out for securing everything. And this is where lies part of my main focus – security and how to build secure networks." He explained: "In the past, networks were secure by their obscurity; no-one knew they existed as there was no way to communicate with them unless you were on-site, plugged into the network." This has all changed, with everything running through the internet and specifically wireless networks, making it more accessible for the people who need to be able to see the networks. But with this ease of access, the downside is vulnerability. Cyber terrorism and security leaks have become ongoing issues within every sector of the business world and Stephens is at the forefront of this battle. [[banner]] He explained how cyber-terrorism has become an industry, where countries launch cyber-attacks against each other and when infrastructures fall as a result of the attacks, then 'rebuilding' is required, "which in turn generates cash, as you have to have people who come in and fix what has been 'broken'", he added. "If you look at every network within the Middle East, no-one in the region has any kind of cyber security features, yet all of them have moved to IP," he said incredulously. "There is a mad rush around the region to secure these networks and prevent attacks on utilities," and he gave an example of the destruction that a hacker caused with the Stuxnet virus in 2010, that stymied Iran's nuclear-fuel enrichment program. He warns: "Cyber terrorism is very real and companies must prepare to defend themselves against it." As technical director automation and technology for Hyder Consulting, Middle East, he brings 30 years' of experience and knowhow to the company within a varied role. "I look at projects from a client's perspective and how they would control and optimise their engineering systems using technology. All the utility companies are now trying to use technology to obtain better analytic data with permutations to enable them to run their operations more efficiently," he explained. There has been a paradigm shift, according to Stephens, where communication is easily accessible: "Everything can now be controlled by your mobile phone or your Tablet; everything has data that can be shared. What this means is that, the more data you have, the better your decision making abilities." He also commented that engineering degrees currently place an increased focus on communications: "with engineers having to understand Ethernet and IP, because we are moving into a new phase of the 'internet of everything', with a need for greater holistic understanding of the communications sector. "It's important that a plant manager can see the matrix, to understand what is happening with his efficiencies and can therefore make better judgment on budgets and such like. For example, instead of looking at the pressure on a water system every hour, you can now look at it every minute; it's far more accurate and more data can be stored in a single footprint." Stephens has created automation networks across wide geographical areas and project scopes, using cutting-edge technologies such as 4G Long Term Evolution (4G LTE) and convergence networks to create sustainable solutions. The intricacy of this work is imposing; his applications have to fulfil clients' complex requirements regarding cyber-threats, operability, data collection, cost-estimation, coding accuracy, quality of service and long term sustainability; all within the context of a rapidly expanding state of Qatar. Article continues on next page ... [[page-break]] Water security is vital in the Middle East and, owing to continuous growth and development in Qatar, the increase in water demand is immense. In 2012 Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (KAHRAMAA) launched an ambitious water project to provide seven days strategic water storage within its network system. Hyder consulting was appointed to undertake engineering and environmental consultancy services for the Water Security Mega Reservoirs project. The scope of services includes pre-design studies, preliminary design, detailed design, tender procurement and construction supervision. The project programme commenced in the first quarter of 2012, with completion expected by early 2016. Kahramaa estimates that construction of the five sites, or 'farms', will cost between $1.92bn and $2.7bn. Entailing the construction of five mega-reservoirs, the project also includes some 200km of large-diameter ring mains. Each reservoir will be around 200m in diameter, 12m deep and store 73mn imperial gallons, which is around twice the size of the largest tanks ever built. [[banner]] "With each reservoir site comprising up to ten reservoir modules, this rates as one of the biggest such projects in the world. The reservoirs and pipeline network, with associated pumping stations, will provide up to 17 million cubic metres strategic potable water storage. The automation of the Kahramaa Mega Reservoirs is an achievement that Stephens can count high on his growing list of successes. "The system allows the client to distribute and track water across Qatar," Stephens explained and continued: "We have implemented the entire automation and technology piece for them and at present we are moving to the next stage of building master operation centres and connecting up their existing reservoirs and water distribution to the project we have just completed. "This project is huge, not only in size and value, but in addition, it's the most valuable asset in the region — it's not the gas, it's the water. Without water, they will have to evacuate," he added ominously. The target of the project is to provide enough water for a projected Qatari population of 3.5mn by 2036, with a seven-day emergency supply. Currently, Qatar has just two days, which is comparable with other GCC countries. The mega reservoirs and pumping stations will be constructed at five strategic locations along the Qatar National Utility Corridor. First phase of the project will deliver storage capacity of about 2,300mn gallons of water in 24 huge concrete reservoirs and about 480km of buried ductile iron pipelines with diameter up to 1.6m. The second stage of the project, which will be implemented after 2020, will include the construction of additional pipelines and 16 new reservoirs within the five mega sites, to ultimately achieve a total storage capacity of about 3,800mn gallons of water. Stephens' impact on the industry is enormous and the strides he is making in the trade are in direct proportion to the man himself – big! Article continues on next page ... [[page-break]] Stephens' career recently witnessed him winning the Engineer of the Year award at Construction week Qatar's Awards 2014 event. His delight was tangible: "This was really great. I am really happy to have won that, as sometimes I feel that I am toiling away without recognition and it's really good to know that the industry recognises my work; more so, as my work is behind the scenes." While he is pleased at the recognition, he is quick to include his team in the accolade "It's a good thing for me yes, but it's a great thing for my team," he said. "These are the people who do all the reading and research for me, and they know full well that this award is not about me alone, but includes them too." Stephens is much more than he appears to be. As a former world champion in kickboxing, he sparred with world-renowned figureheads such as Frank Bruno, in his South London birthplace. Stephens' passion for his work is clear and he applies the same dedication and purpose to his professional life, where he maintains involvement in both electrical and building services disciplines, becoming a member of the Institute of Engineering Technology in 2005. He also fosters a professional network of leading communications experts, sharing knowledge, technologies and ideas. A great believer in self-education, his extensive and renowned expertise in the field of IP technology is almost entirely self-taught and he is a great user of YouTube as a resource. He also taught himself the business skills he needed to pursue his financial target of growing Hyder's communications business into a $50mn-per-year income stream and, when time permits, he voluntarily assists in Hyder's graduate engineer recruitment programme. (c) 2014 ITP Business Publishing Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |