CE 1         CAREER EPISODE- 1
1.1	      Introduction: -

1.1.1	Boom General Contractors (W.L.L) is a Grade A general contracting and engineering company with Grade A classification with the KAHRAMAA for Electrical and Mechanical Engineering works in Qatar. Boom was awarded the Project “Construction, Completion, Testing, Commissioning  & Maintenance of South Plaza Buildings at Katara Project”. The duration of the project was 24 months starting from September 2015 to September 2017. Company assigned me as Senior Mechanical Engineer for the project in charge of execution, testing and commissioning and Final Handing over of all Mechanical works which include – HVAC, Fire Fighting, Plumbing Drainage, Fuel Oil and Water Feature works.

1.1.2	The project site is located in KATARA Cultural Village, Doha – Qatar. 

1.1.3	The name of the organization is Boom General Contractors. The Project Manager assigned was Mr. Charbel Elia.

              Contact Details:
                          Name:  Charbel Elia 
                          Email:   <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_EMAIL_ADDRESS>
                           Phone:  <PRESIDIO_ANONYMIZED_PHONE_NUMBER>
1.1.4	 I held the position as Senior Mechanical Engineer of this Project. 
CE 2      	Background
CE 1.2.1     The nature of overall engineering project
                    The KATARA South Plaza Project covers the construction of Basement Car Park, Office Building, F& B Retail Buildings, Planetarium and Observatory Building, Day Hotel and complete Land scape works with all electrical and Mechanical services. The project was designed in a manner with single Basement which is extended to a length of 920 meters and to accommodate a parking of up to 320 cars and 10 Buildings extended over the basement parking area. The car parking and Buildings were equipped with the below mentioned Mechanical systems which comes under Mechanical scope of Work.
                    HVAC System – Parking Ventilation system, Chilled water System, AHU, FAHU, FCU, Fresh air / Exhaust Air Fans, Pressurization system, HVAC Ducting, VAV, and air outlets
Fire Fighting System – Fire Pump, Sprinkler system, Pre-Action system, FM-200 System & Foam System
                    Plumbing and Drainage – Water Tanks, Transfer Pumps, Booster Pumps, water Heaters, sump Pumps, Soil waste and Vent Piping, External manholes, Storm water system 
                   Speciality system – Water Feature System, LPG and Fuel Oil System

 CE 1.2.2 	Objectives of the Project 
                    The Objective of the project was to construct the KATARA south plaza Buildings with reference to the received Issued For Construction Drawings, following all authority standards and client requirements and to conduct Final Testing and Commissioning of all Systems and Final Handing over to the Client after acquiring all the authority approvals. All the construction details were developed and verified by the contractor. 
CE 1.2.3 	Project Organizational Chart 
CE 1.2.4     Nature of my particular work area
	My role as a Senior Mechanical Engineer of the project was to manage and deliver the construction of all Mechanical, Plumbing & Fire Fighting services related to the project. The nature of my work was to manage the Mechanical works of the project starting from Project Mobilization, Installation, Testing and Commissioning and final Handing over of the systems to the Client / Authority. 
CE 1.2.5     Statement of duties
As a Senior Mechanical Engineer, my main responsibilities in this project included but not limited to: -
•	Attending Project Kick off Meeting with Client and Supervision Consultant.
•	Reviewing Project documents including Tender Drawings, Issued for Construction Drawings, Project Specifications etc. and raising design discrepancies. 
•	Incorporate consultant and client clarifications as well as adequate design changes required as per the applicable standards.
•	Reviewing Tender drawing, IFC drawings and authority approved drawings, and highlight the changes to Management and QS department.
•	Liaison with MEP consultants, Sub-Contractor, Clients representatives and other agencies involved at project site for site co-ordination.
•	Review and preparation of Construction schedule during the progress of site works. 
•	In charge of preparation of Shop drawings and Material Submittals. 
•	Preparation of Final Bill of Quantity as per the approved drawings.
•	Technical review of Supplier comparison in coordination with procurement team to finalize the materials.
•	Review of Material submittals before official submission to client and to take final approval from client/ supervision consultant. 
•	Preparation of Material delivery schedule and Following up delivery of materials.
•	Coordinate with client for the Inspection of materials after being delivered to the site.
•	Prepare calculations like External static pressure and Head loss calculations.  
•	Overall supervision of all site execution works. 
•	Weekly submission of progress reports to the client and our management.
•	Ensure the Safety of workers at site.
•	Ensuring that the work is carried out as per the company’s quality standards.
•	Completion of the work as per project requirements and obtaining approval from consultant.
•	Prepare for testing & commissioning procedures, Reports and final Testing and commissioning with Client/ Consultant 
•	Preparation of all the reports required for Qatar Civil Defence inspection. 
•	Preparation & Submission of As-built drawings to the client.
•	Closeout & Handover of the project to the client.

CE 1.3        Personal Engineering Activity: -. 
CE 1.3.1    How you applied your engineering knowledge and skills.
                    Once the project was finalized, I started a comprehensive review of the Tender Drawings, Issued for Construction Drawings, and Project specifications. After referring to the IFC drawings, it became evident that the Basement presented a total height from floor to slab of 4.2 meters, with a mandatory clear height of 2.4 meters for vehicular movements. However, once I began preparation of the detailed execution drawings, I noted that the Basement Ventilation duct distribution mounted with Large Ducts were traversing across the basement area, thereby impeding the efficient running of the other MEP services including Fire Fighting, Chilled Water Piping, Plumbing Drainage Piping, LPG Piping, and Other Electrical services. 
Most of these services overlapped with the ventilation ducts, thus rendering it difficult for me to attain the required 2.4 Meter Clear Height (Basement Head room). In order to re-solve this issue, I suggested and proposed the replacement of the Ducted ventilation system with a Jet Fan system, which would push the system’s capability to facilitate more headroom clearance in the basement, and subsequently allow for the efficient rerouting of the existing services.   
In order to obtain final approval from the client/consultant and proceed with the proposed solution, I presented a comprehensive analysis that included calculations, CFD simulations, and a sequence of operations. 
1.	CFD fire smoke simulations were conducted by a specialized team to assess how smoke would disperse in the basement, in the event of a fire (at peak heat release rates) and evaluate the time required for smoke clearance once the fire has stopped.
2.	In accordance with the regulations set forth by the Qatar Civil Defence Department, the visibility levels must exceed 10 meters, and the temperature levels must remain below 60 degrees Celsius at the height of 1.8 meters from each occupied floor, to ensure the safe escape of occupants/ residents in the event of a fire.
3.	The CFD simulations were based on input and assumptions collected during an extensive site survey that took into account all available drawings and standards. 
Based on the CFD analysis, the basement was divided into five (5) distinct zones, which were equipped with a total of six (6) exhaust shafts. Out of these six shafts, two were fitted with four extract fans each, while the remaining four shafts each had two extract fans. In all, there were 16 extract fans installed, with 12 of them being truly reversible type; and the rest were uni-directional. Thus, totally there were 42 jet fans present in the basement, as detailed in the General Arrangement Drawing provided.
By presenting these findings for Consultant/ Client approval, I pursued to validate the efficacy of my proposed solution and mitigate any concerns or issues that may arise during the project execution.
CE 1.3.2      The tasks delegated to you and how you went on accomplishing them
After receiving approval from the consultant for the proposal, I proceeded with the procurement process. As the first step, I prepared a Bill of Quantities (BOQ), Specification, and a Schedule of Equipment. These details were then sent to various approved suppliers/ manufacturers, from whom I received multiple data sheets and quotations. After detail review of the technical data sheets received from suppliers, I carefully selected the most suitable manufacturer that fulfilled all technical requirements while being economical and capable of meeting our project’s time frame delivery. Once the selection was made, I obtained approval from the consultant/client and proceeded to place the order for the equipment.
A detailed installation drawing, accompanied by a cost and effect matrix, was prepared and presented to the client/consultant for approval concerning the installation of fans. Furthermore, vibration isolators for the equipment were selected based on recommended manufacturers approved by the client. To ensure safety protocols were met, a detailed installation method statement was submitted to both the Safety and QA/QC departments for their approval.
Upon the equipment’s delivery, I conducted detailed site surveys together with my team, identifying precise locations for fan installation and marking corresponding orientations of the units on-site. The coordination drawings were prepared with regard to other MEP services to ensure that there was no conflict. The fans were installed in strict adherence to the approved shop drawings, and once completed, I oversaw a site installation inspection along with the Supervision Consultant to obtain approval for the installation and incorporate their feedback. 
After successful inspection and approval by the Consultant, the electrical connections for the fans were established, followed by the start-up procedures. It is notable that the value engineering study resulted in several benefits for both the client and our company, as removing GI duct from our scope saved valuable time and manpower, while installation of jet fans proved to be a much less time-consuming procedure.
  CE 1.3.3    Any particular technical difficulties/problems you encountered and how you solved them   
During the execution phase, I encountered several challenges, one of which was the installation of the CCHT model High Capacity Extract Fan, with each unit weighing approximately 250 KG, to be suspended precisely below the slab opening. The difficulty was further intensified by the constraint of providing additional ground support. To resolve the issue, I conducted a thorough site survey with my experienced technicians, and after extensive discussions, we designed a support system using standardized channels as per the manufacturer’s specifications. I then fabricated the channel frame for the extract fan in our company workshop, and subsequently fitted the channel system onto the concrete wall of the opening without any additional ground support. Given that I needed to install four (4) heavy-duty fans on the channel frame, I performed a load-bearing test using a reputable third-party organization to ensure that the channel frame had adequate load-bearing capacity. Upon confirmation of the test results, I installed the fans while following all necessary safety protocols.
Upon completion of the fan installation and start-up, the sequences of operation of the Fan were established via the control panel, while ensuring no interference with related systems such as Co sensor and fire alarm systems by coordinating with the electrical department. Through a rigorous trial and error process, the fan working sequence was repeatedly tested, requiring a high level of coordination to successfully execute. Further to this, numerous smoke tests were conducted to confirm that the basement smoke extraction was following the relevant authority standards. Once the successful completion of these tests were confirmed, I submitted a comprehensive report to the Consultant for final testing and commissioning and to be uploaded for final review by the Qatar Civil Defence.
 CE 1.3.4    Strategies devised by you including any original or creative design work
	The process of installing the heavy extract fans and carrying out final testing and commissioning demanded a complex and creative design due to the limited reference available for such installations. As such, a support system was designed on site, which was an innovative approach, and required extensive expertise from my team to accomplish successfully. One of the critical issues I faced was the control of vibrations and sound arising from the extract fans. To resolve these challenges, we brainstormed numerous ideas, and after careful consideration and consultation with team members, certain interventions were initiated. To reduce vibrations and sound, several off-site experiments were conducted using spare fans in our company workshop. Following this, the fans were installed, and final testing and commissioning conducted, adhering to all requisite standards.
CE 1.3.5      How you worked with other team members
	All along this task (as always), I supported both my Mechanical Supervisors and the workers’ team through adequate practical demonstrations and technical advices, signifying their importance and value to our firm. I incentivized their efforts by offering financial rewards when tasks were completed accurately and within designated timelines, while also emphasizing the criticality of time management. Establishing effective communication channels with the main contractor and subcontractors for diverse disciplines, such as CESCO for Fire Alarm and Johnson Controls for Building Management Systems, was crucial to ensure unparalleled performance meeting project demands. 
The healthy relationship I maintained with our Consultant helped to facilitate approvals for all works undertaken. I promptly addressed any technical needs that arose from my subcontractors regarding MEP Installation works and provisioned timely payment to encourage on-time completion. Successfully completing such a complex project relied heavily on the efforts of all stakeholders promoting seamless teamwork.
Based on the above report, please prepare a summary in 80-100 words, summing up my impressions of the engineering activity and my role in it. It should include things such as 1) My view of the overall project  2) How the project fared in meeting the goals/ requirements  3) How my personal role contributed to the project.