AECOM – Turning Ideas into Reality

From building iconic skyscrapers to helping governments maintain stability and security, AECOM addresses the world’s most complex challenges by developing and implementing innovative solutions. AECOM is a global network of experts working with clients, communities, and colleagues to also help in delivering clean water and energy, planning new cities, restoring damaged environments, designing children’s parks, connecting people and economies with roads, bridges, tunnels and transit systems.

AECOM is a premier, fully integrated infrastructure firm that designs, builds, finances and operates infrastructure assets in more than 150 countries. AECOM is made up of at least 90,000 employees working across disciplines, cultures, and time zones – all united under a common vision. They “turn ideas into icons, thoughts into action, and imagination into reality.”

AECOM was recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the ‘World’s Most Admired Companies’ for the fifth consecutive year in 2018. It also made it to the top in the ‘Transportation and General Building’ category in Engineering News-Record’s 2018 “Top 500 Design Firms.” AECOM’s Major Infrastructure Resource Optimization Group also received three awards at the 2017 Business Green Leaders Awards in London, UK, for its highly innovative approach to optimizing resource use and delivering circular models.

Their Services

Clients in every region of the world depend on their ability to design, build, finance and operate their most critical projects. AECOM delivers specialized services from design and engineering to construction and management leveraging its technical knowledge, local connections and broad market experience. Here are just a few of the wide variety of services AECOM offers –

Architecture and Design –AECOM designs a wide range of building types that each excel at their function; provide a high-quality environment for people; conserve resources like energy and complement their contexts, and thereby strengthen the client’s brand and identity.

Saadiyat Island is an ongoing project in the Middle East. The island, when completed, will be home to 160,000 residents and a working population of more than 220,000. Saadiyat Island is a 2,700-hectare signature urban quarter built on a natural island adjacent to Abu Dhabi. AECOM will restore the lost mangrove and beachfront ecosystems, mandate energy urban densities e-mass transport systems, integrate a wide range of community and education facilities and provide housing for a broad range of income groups. The overall development of the island will be phased for over 15 years.

IT and Cybersecurity – Taking into account the critical role IT and cybersecurity play in every aspect of business operations, AECOM provides its clients with trusted information delivery – from information flow, to access and storage, to the security of operational and business systems from cyber threats. AECOM was one of the first companies to deliver cloud infrastructure and methodology solution that met stringent U.S. Department of Defense security standards. “We team with industry-leading cloud providers to deliver the full range of data storage and management services, providing our clients with improved efficiency, agility, and data security,” – according to AECOM’s website. AECOM combines its expertise in IT security and instrumentation and controls engineering to incorporate safety and security into new facility and retrofit designs. Furthermore, by combining its infrastructure design and construction services, systems engineering, and IT support, AECOM delivers safe, reliable and sustainable data centers that manage and protect customers’ data.

A Prime Employer for Women

AECOM is a company that is truly committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Established by AmCham Abu Dhabi’s Women in Business Committee, the WOMEN ACHIEVE program focuses on encouraging companies and organizations to help women advance in their careers by helping them take-up roles that require greater responsibility and leadership. As a supporter of the WOMEN ACHIEVE program, AECOM reassures its commitment to provide a work environment that is favorable to women’s development by empowering women to refine their leadership skills and flourish in their respective jobs and areas of expertise. Moreover, AECOM pledges to provide greater opportunities for women’s participation in training and career advancement.

AECOM also leads the way in attracting female talent into construction. AECOM, in order to attract more female talent into the built-environment sector, tweaked its graduate recruitment process. AECOM’s recruitment programs, for example, had changed the way it promoted vacancies to help attract more female applicants. AECOM also has several early careers development programs in place to support many newly appointed graduates and apprentices build their career. Almost 40 percent of the graduates and apprentices who attended the AECOM’s ADVANCE induction event in Birmingham, UK, were female - a very positive achievement for the company. 

AECOM has thus made progress in recruiting women graduates. In 2018, the gender split of its UK and Ireland graduate intake was almost equal, with an impressive 43% of female intake. "These figures are really exciting and I can’t wait to see the fresh thinking and creativity this mix of graduates will bring," says Roma Agrawal, an Associate Director of buildings and places at AECOM. AECOM’s such programs “won’t stop until it is fully satisfied its workforce represents the communities it serves. The wider strategy includes initiatives to attract more female apprentices and work with schools to help encourage young people, and girls in particular, into technical professions,” she added.

Chairman and CEO of the Big World – Michael S. Burke

Michael S. Burke joined the company in 2005 and has been instrumental in the evolution of AECOM from a private company to a public firm. Mr. Burke directed the company’s initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), which was one of the 10 largest NYSE listings for 2007.

Prior to joining AECOM, Mr. Burke served as Western Area Managing Partner at KPMG LLP. At KPMG, he served as the chairman of the Board Process and Governance Committee and a member of the Audit and Finance Committee. Mr. Burke is a Member of the 2018 Business Roundtable Board of Directors and Chair of its Infrastructure Committee. The Committee is leading the organization’s efforts to advocate for the modernization of U.S. infrastructure assets. He is an active member of the Los Angeles community and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Children’s Bureau, which helps at-risk children through state-of-the-art child abuse prevention and treatment services.

“We design, build, finance, operate and manage projects and programs that unlock opportunities, protect our environment and improve people’s lives.”

“We are a collaborative force of world-class innovators, problem solver, and visionaries on a journey to transform our world for the better.”

“Inclusion and diversity are key drivers of our success.”