World-renowned Tall Buildings Expert Appointed to Laing O'Rourke's Engineering Excellence Group

LONDON, March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

David Scott, a globally renowned expert in structural engineering and particularly in tall building work, has been appointed Structural Engineering Leader within Laing O'Rourke's Engineering Excellence Group.  He will join as a lead director in April 2012, responsible for the structural engineering team in the development and delivery of innovative and sustainable engineering solutions.

David will join from Arup New York where he is a principal and leads the Building practice within the Americas region.  He has led the design of many large and prestigious building projects in the United States and throughout the world.

Ray O'Rourke, Chairman and Group Chief Executive said;  'With over 34 years' experience, David has been responsible for developing many of the most innovative building designs in America.  This has included working extensively on the World Trade Centre masterplan and the Freedom Tower, as well as leading the industry review of design standards and procedures for tall buildings, following 9-11.

'The Engineering Excellence Group is at the forefront of Laing O'Rourke's innovation agenda.  Bringing together some of the world's leading engineering innovators, David will be working closely alongside Chief Engineering Adviser, Professor Robert Mair, to further develop the Group's innovative solutions, identifying and devising new engineering strategies, bringing renewed benefits to our clients and driving industry wide change.  

'David's active involvement within the industry and his engineering expertise will bring valuable insights and ensure the advancement in our Engineering Enterprise strategy, enabling our structural engineering activities to continue to reach globally recognised levels of excellence.'

David Scott's areas of structural engineering expertise include a wide variety of building types from airports, rail, hotels, museums and universities. He is renowned globally for his tall building work with his leadership in this discipline recognised in 2006 when he was appointed chairman of the international authority on tall buildings - Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).  His contribution to engineering was recognised in 2009 when he was elected as a Fellow to the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Following 9-11 he was extensively involved in the industry review of design standards and procedures for tall buildings in extreme events. He has authored papers on Fire Induced Progressive Collapse, and was a reviewer of the US Governments (GSA) design requirements to mitigate progressive collapse, that were issues in 2002. He also worked extensively with Daniel Libeskind on the World Trade Centre masterplan and his design for Freedom Tower.

Laing O'Rourke's Engineering Excellence Group:

The role of the Engineering Excellence Group (EnEx.G) is to lead Laing O'Rourke's innovation agenda by devising engineering strategies not only to provide a competitive advantage, but ultimately, to drive industry wide transformation. Bringing together some of the world's leading engineering innovators; the Engineering Excellence Group includes the influential engineering thought-leaders Professor Robert Mair, Dr Andrew Harris, Dr Gavin Davies and Dr Phillip Cartwright, with the aim of growing to around 40 specialists based across all the regions in which Laing O'Rourke operates.  

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