Ossian Olsén

Name: Ossian Olsén
Job: Graduate airport engineer
Area of work: Airports
Employer: Halcrow
Qualifications: MEng civil and environmental engineering, University of Edinburgh, 2004

In the first year of my degree, I experienced different engineering disciplines; the problem-solving aspect of civil engineering appealed to me. I didn’t actively choose airport engineering but when I was offered the position I became excited about the projects and the prospect of travelling.

Designing air-side infrastructure

My work is quite technical and mainly involves the infrastructure on the air side of an airport. I use modelling software for runway alignment; work with drainage engineers to ensure airfields drain properly; plan and optimise apron layout; and analyse existing conditions from test data and on-site investigations. I’m working on a new airport in Oman: there’s no existing infrastructure so we have to start from scratch. Other projects involve the overlay and resurfacing of a runway, and checking for obstacles in the approach to a helipad. I spend most of my time in the office but I’ve worked on site too, which taught me a lot of the practical aspects of design engineering.

Working together to meet deadlines

There’s a great variety of work and many travel opportunities. It can become a bit frantic before a deadline but we have a good team, so we work together to get through it. My biggest highlight was flying into an airport and seeing an apron that I’d helped design and had later supervised during construction.