Site Visit to Ramboll UK Tuesday 9 July

We started class with a group breakfast to celebrate Brittany's birthday and to have some informal time to process everyone's weekend adventures (to Scotland, Dover, Brighton, and throughout London).

During class, we started working on our collaborative project. Students got into their groups and began brainstorming and writing.

After class, we met Corinne from AIFS at the Gloucester Road tube station. She took us to Goode Street to meet with representatives from Ramboll, UK. http://www.ramboll.co.uk

Ian Walker and Tina Marino gave us an overview of the company (Building and Design, Infrastructure and Transport, Energy, Environment).  Ian and Tina are both young engineers who recently joined Ramboll in September of 2012. Tina was from the US (a graduate of Florida State) and she had done study abroad in London as an undergraduate and then completed her graduate work in London.

Part of the presentation included a "day in the life" of an engineer at Ramboll:

• Team/client meetings
• Concept sketches
• Design calculations
• Computer modeling
• Site visit
• Call contractors
• Project presentations

Ian and Tina took us on a tour of the open plan facilities (rows of desks with conference tables placed throughout for collaboration). During the tour, we stopped at a number of desks to talk with employees.

Below are selected quotes from the employees we met:

Clare

• Receives about 50 emails per day but says, "I'd rather pick up the phone."
• She spends about 40% of her time writing-depending on the project

Renzo

• Uses internal IM/Chat more than email

Ruth

• Spends an "awful lot of time" communicating
• Focuses on "presenting thing in a way they (clients) understand--whether this is written or visuals"
• "Every company has their own way to do things."

Keelan

• "Everything is done through email."
• "Team work in college gets you ready for the workplace."
• He spent 20-25% of this week writing a structural report.

Adam

• As the HR manager, he gave advice to the students about resumes, interviews, and being professional
• He told the students about the written test that Ramboll administers to prospective employees.

Andy

We spent the most time with Andy. We were out on the terrace--it was hot and loud. 

However, he offered the most relevant information for ENG 331 students.

• Emails become "legal" documents and the style of email must meet "standards."
• He writes reports, specifications, notes on drawings, and emails.
• Good "communication is all about making sure it doesn't come back to me or make me liable."
• He spends a full day working on specifications, a day on design, and day on notes.
• "Communication is a really big part" of what he does.
• "Nothing beats face-to-face, but it takes time."
• "Phone calls are a bit of a dodgy one because you don't have it down in writing."
• When talking about writing in the workplace, he said "the shorter, the better."
• "It's all about communicating the right thing."
• "All managers have different writing styles--write for them!"
• Final advice: "Just tell people what needs to be done."

We went back to the basement to wrap up our tour and the students asked more questions. Tina also talked about the importance of study abroad experiences. For her, she valued "seeing a different culture." Tina believes that study abroad "prepares you to work with international projects. As the world is becoming more global, it is interesting to get a taste of what other countries are doing."