Winner: Rohit Malhotra MCIOB, AtkinsRéalis
Rohit Malhotra’s special quality was evident right from the start, impressing both his employers as well as the judges. In his first permanent role as a planning engineer at McLaren Construction on a project in the UAE, unforeseen delays threatened the schedule. Malhotra swiftly identified the issues and recommended strategies to get the project back on track.
With a potential cost overrun looming on a second project, his comprehensive risk breakdown and mitigation proposals helped resolve the problem. Malhotra’s technical, managerial and problem-solving prowess is equally clear in his current role as NEC project manager for AtkinsRéalis, as are his significant mentoring contributions as a CIOB Tomorrow’s Leaders champion and STEM Ambassador.
Improving people’s lives
Inspired by his father, who also works in the construction industry, Malhotra says he wants to leave his own legacy by shaping the built environment, and creating spaces that improve people’s lives. His aim is to contribute positively and leave the sector “in a better place than I found it”.
It makes sense then that if he hadn’t gone into construction, Malhotra would have pursued a career in psychology or teaching. But growing up in Dubai, with construction in his blood and surrounded by iconic structures like the Burj Al Arab and Burj Khalifa skyscrapers, he was inspired to follow his dream of working in the industry.
Malhotra is also passionate about green building practices and the adoption of eco-friendly materials, and believes more focus and attention ought to be given to sustainability and innovation. He is also optimistic that automation and digitalisation can provide some of the answers here, while also improving safety and efficiency.
Malhotra plans to focus his career within contracts management and is particularly interested in NEC contracts and dispute resolution.
A postgraduate student in construction and project management of Queen’s University Belfast, Malhotra was recently invited back to become the face of the university graduate programme to inspire new generations of construction graduates.
