What Vadivelu Paramasivam loves about L&T is that “Opportunities are open ended for career growth and readily available to all irrespective of one’s current designation, if one possesses the potential to deliver.” This is the positive attitude that he has adopted in the various projects that he has been a part of including the 132/22 kV substation (with TRANSCO UTILITIES) – 4 numbers, the 220 kV GIS containerized substation (with GASCO UTILITIES) and the 132 kV / 11 kV substation (with DEWA UTILITIES) – 5 numbers.
As part of the project team at the 132/11kV Tilal Al Ghaf Substation project, he is a winner of L&T Construction’s Timely Delivery Award 2023. He mentions the lean method of construction that the client had introduced as a pilot is being followed throughout the site and has gone a long way to help the team identify and quickly resolve their core issues.
Referring to some of his challenges Vadivelu says, “Securing the delivery of all major equipment in line with the ROOM ACCESS dates is one of my responsibilities apart from securing the availability of the respective OEM Engineers as per the project schedule and ensuring the readiness of the SCMS System and the feeder cable.”
Vadivelu’s mantra for success is to always remain motivated, especially when one is down. That has driven him and along with the support of his seniors, cooperation of his colleagues and team members and the help of various digital solutions like Optic Vyu, and Align, they have been delivering handsomely as a team. “ALIGN, for example, has helped us to understand the concerns of the respective teams to complete the respective activities,” he points out.
A native of Siruvayalur, Tamil Nadu, Vadivelu’s better half is Nanthini, a homemaker, and they are blessed with two daughters, Devadharshini and Shathana and a son, Praneeth. Vadivelu relaxes during his free time listening to music and playing cricket.
6 PROJECTS.
8 YEARS.
ENJOYING EVERY DAY.
Shajahan Samsudeen Mubarak
Construction Manager (Elec), PT&D IC
Shajahan Mubarak is proud of his association with L&T that is already 8 years strong and delighted that due to the all-out effort of their team, they successfully delivered the 132/11kV Tilal Al Ghaf Substation Project on time and won L&T Construction’s Timely Delivery Award 2023. According to him, their success can be attributed to, “The extraordinary support and guidance of our Project Manager, Sajith Sir, and from the Cluster that helped us in all aspects. More importantly, as a site team, we collectively took full responsibility and accountability to complete the project on time,” he says with a happy smile.
He has played his entire innings overseas with work experience of 16+ years having worked on L&T projects like the 132/11kV Jebel Ali Hills Substation, the 132/11kV First Khawaneej Substation, the 400/132kV Race Course Substation, the 132/11kV Qanat Substation – which he mentions was successfully completed with work resuming after a gap of 5 years due to the non-availability of an incoming cable. After having handsomely delivered the 132/11kV Tilal Al Ghaf Substation, his focus is now on his present assignment that involves construction, supply, installation, testing & commissioning of 12 Shunt Reactors of 132kV, 15MVAr in the existing 132/11kV DEWA Live substations across various locations in Dubai.
About their performance at the Tilal Al Ghaf Substation, he shares, “We conducted regular meetings with the internal team members, sub-contractors, our client (DEWA) to get their feedback to quickly overcome practical difficulties at site and by implementing new work procedures, we reduced execution time,” he points out. “Of course, we continuously followed up with vendors right from the beginning of the project to get material delivered to site on time.” He feels that a combination of factors contributed to their success: prompt material delivery, co-operation & support of site team, subcontractors, efficient administration, and P&M resource management.
When working with speed, it is equally important to maintain Safety and Shajahan mentions the use of the Sheild App to act quickly and control site safety requirements on a day-to-day basis. “For our EHS performance, we won the ASSP Award in the Platinum category and the BSC International Award in Merit category,” he shares with pride.
Though born and bought up in Chennai, his native place is Aruppukottai, in the district of Virudhunagar. Shajahan is married to Faizul Maryam, a homemaker, and they are blessed with a son, Mohammed Umar, and two daughters, Zara Mariyam and Faiza Mariyam. Playing cricket and spending quality time with his family are what he likes best, other than building substations.
Ariharasenthil Balakrishan is a very happy man, having contributed in no small measure to their project team delivering the 132/11kV Tilal Al Ghaf Substation Project in time and winning L&T Construction’s Timely Delivery Award 2023, in the process. Sharing about their approach at site, he says, “We introduced new vendors to the DEWA network but faced challenges and additionally, had technical issues with the 132kV GIS, that threatened to drag our completion by more than a couple of months.” He pauses, looks away and then continues with a smile. “But despite all these challenges we were yet able to deliver the station on time.”
After identifying the key activities, the project team focused on them more to achieve the milestone activities earlier. “We utilized the same resources across multiple activities based on our schedules to maximize productivity with minimum manpower,” he says with josh. “Our daily morning scheduled meetings with the team members engaged them to believe in our schedules and achieve.”
What Ariharasenthil enjoyed during the project was the freedom his seniors gave him to work independently and take decisions. “They were, however, always available at any time for support, direction and address our concerns on a priority basis.” He is all praise for his team too. “Our team members extended their support in all the activities and especially in the interfacing activities that ensured that there was no slippage in activities and, we were able to give back access in the stipulated time.”
On his personal front, Ariharasenthil is from Vadalur in Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore district, married to Jayalakshmi, a homemaker, and they are blessed with two children, Sharrvesh and Kayash. About his hobbies, he says, “I really enjoy going for long drives with my family, playing football with my kids and indulge in other physical activities.” He recalls fondly the days he spent with his father that he shares are some of his best moments.
About L&T, he says, “Our company encourages continuous learning and development and offers ample opportunities to enhance one’s skills and knowledge through various training programs.”
DRIVEN TO KEEP PROJECTS SAFE
Praveenkumar Sengottuvel
Assistant Manager (EHS), PT&D IC
Although proud that his 132/11 kV Tilal Al Ghaf Substation project has won the Timely Delivery Award 2023, Praveenkumar Sengottuvel is equally proud of his sound EHS practices. “As a Safety Engineer, establishing a safe work system in line with the project’s specific EHS plan, from the very beginning helps us to maintain top-notch Health & Safety standards,” he says seriously. “In fact, all the pre-commissioning and testing activities that require specific safety clearances from DEWA were obtained on time by complying to the prerequisites that allowed us to smoothly proceed with the crucial T&C works.”
One of Praveenkumar’s major challenges at the Tilal Al Ghaf Project was to parallelly handle multiple specialized sub-contractors at site; another was the fluctuations in manpower of different nationalities. “Totally, 1,879 site safety inductions were given on this project from inception,” he points out. “At one point, having to share the plot with the infrastructure contractor for master development, we faced a lot of heavy equipment movements in front of our project entrance that called for effective traffic control measures.”
In a fast-track project where SIMOPS are unavoidable, it was imperative to establish proper coordination between all the disciplines involved especially during high-risk activities like High Voltage tests on switch gears and cables, working inside energized LVAC rooms that required engineering and administrative controls like the LOTO system, Access Control Permits to Works and the like. Praveenkumar is thankful for the SHEILD App to digitally raise near misses, record unsafe observations and more. “It has helped us eliminate imminent hazards at site as well make the team actively contribute to the Key Lead Indicators,” he adds.
Praveenkumar is appreciative of his Project Manager, Sajith’s support and that of Country QEHS Head, Selvam, to drive the safety culture at site and showcase their work to clients like DEWA & Majid AL Futtaim. He earmarks Safety Officer, Vinu, Safety Steward, Pravej Ahamed, the site construction and admin teams for special praise for their support and cooperation.
A native of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, Praveenkumar is married to Geetha Lakshmi. “She holds a Masters in Communication Systems Engineering from PSG-Coimbatore, has worked as an Infotainment Engineer at an MNC in Bangalore before marriage, though currently on a break as a beautiful homemaker looking after the family,” that also includes their two children, four-year-old, Vihaan Prageeth and Varun Prageeth, who has just turned one. He loves playing and watching cricket. “I captain our ‘Integrated Kings’ team of colleagues from the EHS and quality departments,” he laughs.
SMARTER YOU WORK, GREATER THE SATISFACTION ON SUCCEEDING
Ramakrishnan Shanmuga Sundaram
Manager (Accts & Admin), PT&D IC
Having been involved in a project that has won L&T Construction’s Timely Delivery Award, the 132/11kV Tilal Al Ghaf Substation project, Ramakrishnan Sundaram’s responses are aligned with quick and smart working. “As an Accounts & Admin representative, I regularly participated in progress review meetings to understand the site and client requirements which helped me act proactively,” he informs. “It was my responsibility to deliver all the major equipment in line with the room access dates and depending upon work exigencies, materials (consumables with the support of stores) had to be arranged on time.” He adds that the lean method of construction introduced by client as a pilot project has been followed throughout the project that has helped the team to speedily identify and resolve their core issues.
Certainly, it was a hectic period for Ramakrishnan who has a nice work philosophy: “The smarter you work for something, the greater will be your sense of satisfaction when you achieve it,” that he has religiously followed for the 13 years he has been with L&T and across the various projects that he has been part of since 2010 when he joined the Sudah Port Project, Fujairah-UAE. Currently he is working at the 132/11kv Asayljum SS in Jumeirah-Dubai.
He acknowledges that digitalization has played a key role in their project’s success mentioning the Shield & QIR Apps, WISA and Optic Vyu as useful digital solutions to make their lives easier and work more efficient.
Support and cooperation are essential to succeed when handling key portfolios like accounts and administration and Ramakrishnan is extremely grateful to his Project Manager, Sajith, ME-Finance Head, P.C. Rajasekar, Country Finance Head, Harshit Gyanendu and team members (Karthik at store and Habib at the Time Office). “They have been like my mentors, speeding up my learning, strengthening our teamwork, always giving useful feedback, and motivating me. They are a big reason as to why I‘ve been able to grow and do well at L&T.”
From Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, Ramakrishnan’s better half is Raaja Pavithra, a homemaker, and they are blessed with two daughters, Taarika and Tiya. Their births are his life’s happiest moments. Ramakrishnan enjoys the rhythm of life by listening to music and singing. “I used to sing during festival celebrations and staff birthday functions,” he smiles, looking ready to break into a song.
He loves the working culture but what he truly enjoys at L&T is the difference between working for a ‘good’ and a ‘great’ company. “L&T is certainly a great Company,” declares a proud Murugesan Chockalingam, a veteran of nearly 17 years with L&T having joined PT&D UAE in 2007. “The 132/11kV Tilal Al Ghaf Substation project that has won the Timely Delivery Award 2023 is my 12th project,” he says with an air of achievement. “This is also my 4th project in the DEWA Network, and I have worked with authorities like AADC, FEWA and Transco in the past too.”
Speaking about their various methodologies at site to deliver on time, Murugesan mentions adapting the concept of Lean Management to complete project within the schedule. “We closely monitored client inspections to avoid rejections, ensured proper coordination with all disciplines at site, initiated SCRUM meetings with the client every morning to set targets and review our planned progress.” The team closely followed up with sub-contractors to ensure that the set targets were achieved. “We also set our target completion dates earlier than the baseline schedule and maintained micro schedules of the target dates,” he adds, emphasizing their good practices.
Referring to one of their major challenges, Murugesan shares, “The project has several major GRC works which were approved at the latter stages of project for all the elevations. This was critical since it is a major work and we had very little time to execute but by closely following up with the client, vendors, and other disciplines, we completed the works as targeted.”
A seasoned campaigner, Murugesan is aware of the advantages of having a supportive Project Manager and cooperative team members. “I receive continuous support from our Project Manager, Mr. Sajith, and his motivation and trust has helped us complete the job while my colleagues, Mr. Kasi Vishwnathan Civil – Operations, Mr. Sheik Abdulla Manager – Civil Mr. Mohammed Rasiq (QC In-charge), EHS and my site supervisor team have supported me in all aspects to keep the site running smoothly.”
On his personal front, a native of Karaikudi in the Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu, Murugesan is married to Gayathri, a homemaker and who has completed her MCA. They are blessed with a son, 6-year-old, Prakatheswaran, who is certainly the apple of their eyes. Holding his hand for the first time is Murugesan’s happiest moment, while taking him cycling is what he enjoys best. He also watches debates and comedy shows when he has the time for them.