Driving change: from the auto industry to construction

Driving change: from the auto industry to construction

From a chance TV opportunity as a teenager to launching a new car brand, Chetan’s career has been one highly charged adventure. The ELS programme not only helped him accelerate in the competitive field of car design but ultimately steered him into the world of modern construction where he is now Head of Technology and Innovation for Laing O’Rourke.

The Academy and the ELS have been so pivotal and important in almost every step of my career.

Turning an opportunity into more big breaks

Unsure whether to becomea doctor or pursue his love of cars, Chetan got a lucky break when he was chosen to star in a TV programme about career dilemmas.“It was surreal, but that show opened so many doors,” he says. One of those doors led him to Jaguar Land Rover Design where he met the head of studio engineering. “I was sold; that’s when I knew what I wanted to do,” he says.

Chetan studied automotive engineering at Loughborough University. “It was incredibly difficult, but the challenge set me up for the future and I loved it,” he says. He taught himself design and learned how to draw cars, but the ELS programme changed the direction of his ambitions. “I got to understand what industrial leadership is and the impact good engineers can have on society,” he explains. “That motivated me to become the best engineer I could.”

Moving up a gear

Chetan used his ELS funds to attend the biggest auto conference in the world and toured Ford’s Innovation Centre in Detroit. But it was attending the Global Grand Challenges Summit in London that proved most inspirational. “The other delegates were megastars. It made me realise the impact I could have too."

The Academy and the ELS ignited in me the determination to succeed at everything I try, be the best engineer I can be and do good for society. It’s been invaluable.

A career in the fast lane

It hadn’t occurred to Chetan to apply for jobs abroad before he spoke to his ELS peers. Out of three job offers, he chose Volvo Cars’ graduate programme in Sweden. “I was born in Hong Kong, my parents are Indian and I grew up in the north east of England,” he says. “I was a bit of a chameleon fitting in everywhere and nowhere, but at Volvo, I was around other people like me.” Chetan worked in the design studio like he planned.

"My first day in the studio was the first day of the design of a brand-new car, so I got to live my dream of seeing a car go from a clean sheet of paper to final design and then to seeing people driving it on the road. Even now, my mother drives a car that I designed – it’s pretty incredible.”

Then, Volvo launched Polestar– an electric performance car brand – and Chetan’s career shifted up another gear when he was asked to become the CEO’s assistant. “As a 27-year-old, I was blown away,” he says. “My childhood dream was to design a car and here I was being presented with the opportunity to design a car company.”

Chetan’s team launched several cars globally, and he led the design of and even named a concept car called the Polestar Precept.

Changing Lanes

In 2022, Chetan’s connection to the ELS led to a sudden change in industry. When the Academy celebrated the 25th anniversary of the ELS programme, it produced it’s first alumni case study brochure, which featured Chetan’s inspiring story. “At the time I had no idea that agreeing to be an ELS case study would change my life,” he says.

After the brochure was published, Chetan received an unexpected call from Ray O’Rourke, founder and chair of Laing O’Rourke – an international engineering and construction company. “It was surreal...he had read my story in the brochure and wanted to meet me. After one phone call I was suddenly flown to his HQ,” he recalls. “As we walked around a lake, Ray asked me if I wanted to help him transform the construction industry and change the world!”

Chetan was offered the role of Head of Technology and Innovation. “I am now driving change in a totally different field but using my automotive knowledge and experience to transform how we build in the construction industry,” he says.

He leads a large team of innovative engineers tackling extremely complex and sophisticated construction and infrastructure challenges, which includes working on two nuclear projects in the UK – Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C. Chetan’s team has designed game-changing innovations in modern methods of construction to radically transform the building and assembly of steel-reinforcement components. Their work has led to an accelerated building programme, elimination of manual handling, improved health and safety, and increased productivity – cutting installation time on site by 75 per cent. “As a team, our main focus is to tackle some of the greatest challenges of our time by changing how we build sustainable infrastructure, in service of humanity,” he says.

Outstanding achievements

Chetan won the Academy’s Young Engineer of the Year Award in 2018 and was recently appointed a Fellow of the Academy, in recognition of his outstanding engineering achievements. “The Academy and the ELS have been so pivotal and important in almost every step of my career,” he says.“ They have ignited in me the determination to succeed at everything I try, be the best engineer I can be and do good for society.”

As a Fellow, Chetan joins a community of almost 1,700 eminent engineers for a shared purpose – to deliver public benefit through engineering excellence and technology innovation. “Becoming an Academy Fellow is really the highest honour you can receive as an engineer, so this is really special to me. I feel incredibly proud to be working alongside some of the best minds in engineering.”