Expert

Rosa
Diez
project director
,Mott MacDonald
After completing a Geological degree in Spain I was awarded a scholarship to undertake postgraduate studies at Imperial College in Engineering Geology. Following graduation I joined the Halcrow Group to work on the investigation of the Heathrow Express collapse. Working in the Tunnels Department I had a key role in the design of major international transportation projects including the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and the Rome Metro Line C; experience which allowed me to become a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Geological Society.
In 2000, as a Senior Engineer, I joined Jacobs Engineering where apart from heading the design of the Large Hadron Collider (CERN) caverns in Switzerland I lead the winning team to the MERIT competition. In 2001 I was sent to Portugal to work as Geotechnical Manager for the construction of the Porto light railway. During the following four years I was responsible for a team of inspectors and engineers ensuring the safety and quality of the works during construction. Back in the UK I was the Design Manager for the underground stations of the Dublin Metro North project in Ireland and for the design and construction of the Waterloo and City line Step Free Access project in Waterloo.
I joined Mott MacDonald in 2006 where I have acted as Design Manager for major international transportation projects such as the Dublin Interconnector, Victoria Station Upgrade, Bergen Light Railway and Crossrail. From 2012 to 2016 I led a team of 60 engineers and technicians designing all the underground structures built using sprayed concrete linings along Crossrail Line 1, including the biggest underground caverns ever built under Central London. I was responsible for technical leadership and quality as well as for ensuring the buildability of our designs.
Following the completion of the design I was the Project Director for the accelerated design of the Melbourne Metro advance works and currently Technical Lead for the tunnels of the 2 billion north contracts in the High Speed 2 project.
I have participated as Tunnel Specialist in Due Diligence processes for financing purposes in major Hydro projects in South America, Spain and Portugal and I have been an Expert Witness in the High Court in technical tunnelling matters.
In 2017 I was nominated as the UK Metros Account Lead Responsible for a portfolio of projects worth £9.6 million in 2017 and for growing client accounts by identifying opportunities and turning them into prospects and into fee earning projects which deliver to a high quality standard, and growing sustainable project profit.
In 2017 I was also elected by my colleagues in the industry to be part of the British Tunnelling Society Committee.