International Sustainability and Transport Planning Consultant Joins SYSTRA ANZ

After commencing with SYSTRA in 2014 at the group’s headquarters in Paris, Romain has spent the last three years in Hong Kong, the largest of our offices in Asia.

With 10+ years’ experience, Romain brings a unique set of skills and knowledge to add to our growing ANZ team. He is a certified BREEAM Infrastructure Assessor – one of the world’s leading science-based sustainability assessment methods that is used to masterplan projects, infrastructure, and buildings. He is also aiming to become accredited by the Infrastructure Sustainability Council.

Romain’s world class skills and experience align perfectly to where the industry and business are headed. As the world pursues net zero targets, ensuring our transport networks become more sustainable is going to be a priority for our clients and communities.

“As a business, we are dedicated to driving meaningful change in relation to the role of public transport in reducing carbon and promoting sustainability, health, and wellness benefits. Romain will assist us as we look to leverage international best practice, utilising his experience from projects such as HS2.

Chris Hurst, Executive General Manager – Transport Consultancy, SYSTRA ANZ

Although Romain has been based in Hong Kong, he is well known to many of our clients locally, having already worked on the Waitemata Harbour Crossing in Auckland.

I’m really excited to relocate to Australia and embark on a new challenge. Having a lasting impact on the sustainability of our cities and regions is one of the reasons why I studied engineering. I am thrilled to be focusing on that, bringing what I have learned to date and taking on new parameters pertaining to the ANZ market. There is a strong commitment and adherence to these values in the region with local clients looking for and seeking innovative and bold ideas.

“One of my core beliefs is that, just like value for money, we should be focusing on the value for carbon. I am looking forward to working with our clients and the rest of the business to ensure we are creating solutions that are sustainable and that also comply with our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments.

Romain Dufros

Since starting his career, Romain has worked on a variety of city-shaping projects. He has developed brownfield transport plans in Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe and megaprojects in the Middle East. More recently, thanks to his time in Asia he has worked heavily in sustainable compact development and urbanism where he has been able to broaden his understanding to the range of possibilities that exist, particularly important as the ANZ region looks to densify.

He adds, “The varied nature of these projects has helped me to learn about the intricacies of the local markets. Whatever the solution, it needs to make sense, have a positive impact on our clients, the community, and their environment.”

More about ESG at SYSTRA

At SYSTRA ANZ, we believe our role extends far beyond designing and engineering excellent infrastructure solutions, it’s also about ensuring a better, more sustainable, and resilient future.

A commitment to ESG resonates deeply with our values and aspirations of where we want to go as an organisation. In collaboration with our people, partners, and clients; we are dedicated to creating a sustainable future that leaves the communities we operate in better off than before. We also hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards and seek diversity, equity, and inclusivity in all we do.

To learn more about our commitments, please click here.

Connecting Teams through International Mobility

In October this year, Nieves transferred to our Sydney office from our headquarters in Paris.

Nieves a Senior Consultant in our Complex Structures team says, “The opportunity to come out to Australia to help grow our expertise in Tunnels and Bridges was too good to refuse. Firstly, the opportunity to work on some of Australia’s most significant projects was a big factor in our decision to move and then secondly the chance to bring our young family over to Australia was equally amazing. My family and I are both grateful for SYSTRA’s support to make the move possible.”

SYSTRA ANZ is focused on developing its skills in Complex Structures leveraging its Bridges & Tunnels international network of more than 900 experts across the world. In her role, Nieves will bring her decade of experience to connect our global network to the local market where she will also focus on the execution of tenders, negotiation of services and project delivery.

She adds, “In my career I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked on projects in Europe and Central America including roles onsite as a construction engineer so have valuable experience and networks that I think will be of value to our Australian clients.”

The Future must focus on Sustainability

When speaking about the future of Complex Structures, Nieves is passionate about the role sustainability will play.

“We are building all these amazing structures that are connecting people to one another as well as new opportunities, but it needs to be done in a more sustainable way. Transport is the world’s third largest emitter of carbon. That is why SYSTRA has placed sustainable innovation at the core of its offer because we cannot compromise the future of the next generation.

Nieves Penalba Perez

“An example of sustainable innovation is our CarbonTracker tool which measures, monitors and controls carbon emissions at each phase of the project. The application is a powerful solution during the tender design of a Design & Build project to evaluate the CO2 emissions of the reference design and the savings that our design could generate.”

A Champion for Social Responsibility

Moving to Australia was not the first times Nieves has lived abroad. Having grown up in Spain she moved to Paris for her first opportunity with SYSTRA where she began her career as an Alignment and Track Engineer.

Recently, Nieves was given the full support of the business to take a year off to travel the world and volunteer. Spending time in a remote Peruvian town in the Andes Ranges near the Cusco Valley, Nieves admits this experience made her more aware of the societal responsibility we have in our industry. Upholding our value of bold leadership, she has since championed SYSTRA’s involvement with ‘Bridges to Prosperity’ where we will help construct a footbridge in Rwanda.

She finishes, “I consider equal opportunity, diversity, and inclusion as core values for the future of our industry. As a woman living abroad, I am very thankful for the opportunities that have come my way. Now, as a mum, I feel that it’s my turn to help us reach social equality. Our commitment to build a more sustainable future is essential to serve the coming generations.”

Upholding our Values

SYSTRA’s international mobility is embedded within our values. We connect our experts throughout the entire Group and coordinate them in order to respond to the most complex issues. This also extends to our people connecting with their loved ones overseas. We recently introduced an International Work Remote Program so our staff can visit family and friends anywhere in the world. Read more about that here.

To find out more about our ambitions and values, please hit the link here.

To get in contact with Nieves, please reach out to her here.