Rudi

 Many people spend their lives searching for the perfect career, often going through three or more companies before settling. However, Rudi found his spot the first time around.

Royal HaskoningDHV was Rudi’s first job in 1990. After completing his civil duty, he studied civil engineering and received a bursary from the company. Fast forward three decades, and today, Rudi is the Associate Director and Director of the Advisory Group (DAG) for Smart Mobility.

Proudest moment?

“When I was acting director for smart mobility for 11 months, we managed to turn the advisory group around from 3-4 years of making losses to making a small profit at the end of last year.”

Happy accident

“I started my career as a technician, worked for ten years, and studied part-time in 2000 to improve my qualification. I wasn’t always sure what I wanted to do, so choosing civil engineering was a happy accident.” 

Between 2010 and 2011, Rudi took on the challenge of completing his Honours in engineering part-time while working on plans to upgrade the N3 between Durban and Pietermaritzburg. Although his work and study schedules regularly coincided, Rudi successfully completed both.

 “My Honours degree was in transport planning, so my studies matched the work I was doing quite well. It was really rewarding but really tough at the same time.”

Navigating choppy waters to calmer seas

Understandably, working for a company for 32 years means facing the changes that come with it, from part-time studies to the company’s acquisition and even downsizing.

 “In a managerial role, it’s all about keeping the ship afloat and moving in the right direction. My goal is always to turn choppy waters into a calmer sea; to create job security for everyone, especially after the downsizing. Fortunately, our staff turnover has always been fairly low otherwise.”

 Today, Rudi and his team have a solid foundation on which to grow and thrive. He regards his colleagues as some of his closest friends and doesn’t see his work as merely a job. Ha takes pride in what he does and takes responsibility for the impact he makes.

 “When I was still designing roads, I had to take responsibility for my designs because people from all walks of life ended up using the infrastructure I designed. The fact is, many people get killed on roads, so we have to be very sensitive in what we design. As a team, we do form a bond with the people we work with. I’ve found that the better you get along with your team, the higher the quality of your work.”

Favourite memory?

“While doing my Honours degree, I had a massive assignment deadline for the Monday. So I grabbed our home printer and worked until the early morning hours to get it done, only to find that the printer’s black ink was finished. So I ended up handing in my assignment in pink ink.”

Working toward sustainability and safety

For Rudi, the future of engineering technology at RHDHV is exciting and shows great potential to improve infrastructure, road safety, and efficiencies surrounding upgrades.

 “With minimal upgrades, we can improve efficiencies by 20-30%. Sometimes it’s just about taking what we have, managing it better, and using innovative technology. Just because a road is old doesn’t mean you need to build an entirely new one.”

 “We have one planet; we need to look after it. That means maximising efficiencies of what we already have, innovating for that which we don’t have, and working toward sustainability and safety.”