Sener culture

What inspired you to pursue a career in infrastructure and mobility sector?

Ever since I was at high school it was clear to me that, somehow, I wanted to be involved in the design of large infrastructures: bridges, stations, stadiums… I remember that I was fascinated by those TV programmes like “mega constructions”, I found them very interesting. And I remember when my father asked me at the time what I wanted to do when I went to university and I told him clearly “I want to be a civil engineer, I want to design structures”. I was and still am fascinated by being able to create such important projects for the development of society and in some way contribute to making it better and better. Then later BIM crossed my professional life and it was another revolution in my professional motivations, which fortunately I am able to develop today.

How did you join Sener?

It was thanks to my best friend Pablo, who was working at the time in Sener Valencia office (then called Gestec), who informed me that there was a vacancy in the office for a structural calculation engineer. He knew that I was looking for a change of job, as at the time I was working in an engineering company in Valencia where my professional development was limited and I was looking for a career move to a larger company. Then I had the relevant interviews and in October 2008 I joined Sener and since then I have been here.

What business area are you in? What is your day-to-day life like?

I currently belong to the Structures Hub of the Mobility Technology Unit (UTM). For about 6 years I have been 100% dedicated to BIM Management and I am currently also the coordinator of Sener BIM Office. In this role I am in charge of coordinating the work of all Sener BIM Managers and BIM Coordinators, as well as supervising all activities related to BIM implementation in Sener Mobility.

On a day-to-day basis, I am involved in many different activities: supporting colleagues on projects, direct production on projects where I am BIM Manager, calls and meetings with bid managers, meetings and support to production teams, in-house training, etc. Every day is a small adventure…

What has been your progression since you joined Sener? What are the most outstanding projects you are currently working on?

In the early years I worked as a calculation engineer in the design of civil structures, mainly for projects in Valencia (e.g. the Valencia Central Station or the Eje Pasante for high-speed lines). Subsequently, I got involved in other larger and international projects such as Line 3 of the Guadalajara Metro or Line 1 of the Panama Metro, working as a structural engineer in many of them. I was also assigned as Front Office team for the Doha Metro Workshops and Garages project in Qatar, which was a major professional and personal challenge. But since 2017, I evolved my professional life towards BIM, obtaining a Master in BIM Management and taking on the role of BIM Champion for the Civil Structures discipline in the early years of Sener BIM Office. Since then, I have been BIM Manager of large international projects such as Line 3 of the Panama Metro or the Cairo Monorail. And since 2020 I have alternated my work as BIM Manager with that coordinating Sener BIM Office, which is undoubtedly the most important project for me.

How do you think the projects you work on influence the current/future world or society?

The projects we work on at Sener Mobility contribute directly to improving people’s quality of life. Urban transport projects, which reduce the time people spend travelling in cities with a high density of vehicles, for example, is a clear case of positive impact on society. Hospital projects, which improve medical services in cities where there are not so many public services, is another direct example of positive impact on society. Also, digitisation projects for infrastructures or buildings, which in the future will improve the operation and maintenance of these infrastructures and buildings, optimising resources and reducing waste. This is a major improvement that will gradually reduce the cost of maintaining these assets and will undoubtedly have an impact on future society.

How do you keep up to date with the general knowledge and trends in your sector?

In the world of BIM it is extremely important to keep up to date with the new developments that are appearing day by day, as it is a world with many different areas of development in which there are always things to learn. Currently, thanks to the fact that Sener is a partner of BuildingSmart Spain, we are up to date with the new technologies that are appearing both in Spain and in the world, and this allows us to continue to be a benchmark in terms of BIM implementation in projects. I also like to consult different forums and blogs specialising in BIM management to keep learning and keep up to date with new tools to use in my day-to-day work. I also have the opportunity to attend sessions of the Revit User Group of Valencia (GURV) where experiences and news related to the BIM world are presented by first level referents. One of these sessions is the EUBIM, which is the most important international congress on BIM in Spain, which I usually attend every year and for which I am fortunate to have several colleagues within the Sener BIM Office who participate in its organisation, being a privileged source of these developments that are exposed there.

In your opinion, what distinguishes Sener from other companies in the sector?

For me, above all, it is the transversality and the ability to create integrated designs, since all the disciplines that can be involved in a project can be developed in-house. I am not only talking about typical production disciplines (e.g. architecture, structures, installations…) but also about technological innovation disciplines that give another approach and a higher quality to the projects that are realised. Another important point for me is the large number of technicians, engineers and professionals of the highest technical and human quality that are part of this company. It is a pleasure to be able to work side by side with people of the highest level in the world of engineering and new technologies and to be able to form part of this great family. This means that you, as a professional and as a person, can have a much greater professional development than you could have in other companies in the sector. In addition, for me it is important to work in a company whose core business is in Spain, as I value very much being able to work close to my family, but without losing the opportunity to work on world-class projects.

What new challenges do you see yourself working on in the medium term?

Well, in the medium term the biggest challenge I’m going to be working on is to evolve the Sener BIM Office. I want us to be able to have a broader organisation that is fully aligned between the different sites of the company and I also want us to be able to expand the markets and services that we can provide to clients. I would like that, just as we are being a reference in developing BIM projects, we can also be a reference in BIM consultancy work and other services beyond the production of projects. Also, as a second main challenge, I want to collaborate with the total digitalization of the company, which will allow us to exploit and optimise all the data we have available within the company to be able to learn and improve future decision making based on the conclusions we obtain from all of them. These are two exciting challenges that motivate me every day to continue with this work.