Amanda Walter, AECOM1

Director of Media Relations
Los Angeles - CA United States

The big idea: In 25 words or less, please tell us how this Fast 50 Nominee is helping to address the planet's problems.

Pioneering a holistic approach to design and engineering to solve the world’s environmental and infrastructure challenges – from London to Libya to the South Pole.

Please describe how this nominee is using business as a force of positive change. What technology, idea, or strategy is the nominee using -- and what problem, such as global warming, poverty, or pollution, does it address? (suggested length: 100 words)

AECOM promotes a triple-bottom-line mission – economic, social and environmental impact – in everything it does from running its business to serving clients on projects in more than 60 countries around the world. Headquartered in Los Angeles, AECOM has a major presence in Asia, Australia, Canada, the Middle East and the United Kingdom – more than 50% of its business is done outside of the United States. AECOM is instrumental in transforming community through its fusion of science, engineering and design to address the world’s immediate environment and infrastructure needs. AECOM leverages these same practices to help clients plan for the future.

One indication that its approach is effective and being embraced: AECOM’s dramatic growth. AECOM has successfully acquired more than 50 firms in the last 10 years and more than 20 companies during the past three years. Today, AECOM's roster of services has the scale and scope sufficient to deliver ground-breaking innovation for the atmosphere across every continent and in underdeveloped and emerging geographies – like Libya.

Several key examples of this include:

Housing and Infrastructure for Libya, Africa
Libya’s $50-plus-billion capital improvement program to redevelop the country's housing and infrastructure – much of it from scratch – is currently the world’s largest single infrastructure initiative. The country has seen little-to-no infrastructure investment in more than 30 years, its existing infrastructure is crumbling and public housing is in dire need. The initiative, which officially started in December 2007, will leverage AECOM engineers, architects, landscape architects, urban designers and environmental scientists and planners to dramatically transform the country of Libya's urban, economic, environmental and social landscape – greatly improving the quality of life for its citizens. In addition to the repair and upgrade the existing infrastructure, AECOM will oversee the planning and development of more than 500,000 housing units along with neighborhoods and parks; a country-wide network of roads, highways and bridges; and environmentally focused sustainable processes such as water reuse and conservation where possible.

Vital to this project is the Knowledge Transfer Program, which will empower Libyan engineers of the Housing and Infrastructure government agency with in-depth knowledge of similar projects world-wide, industry best practices and the know-how for Libya to lead future projects and programs and to sustain these solutions going forward. In an effort to advance the architecture/engineering/construction industry in Libya, each project within this massive undertaking will pair Libyan businesses with the hired international companies to ensure that Libya will gain the much needed experience in the modernization of its built environment.

London, England's Olympic and Legacy Master Plans
As the chosen site for the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, the past dilapidated state and struggling socio-economic environment of Lower Lea Valley will be converted into an accessible and hospitable location for athletes and spectators from across the world for a brief period of time –following the games the site will be transformed into a thriving community for long-term and new residents alike. This urban regeneration project will create up to 50,000 jobs and 35,000 homes, new schools, health centers and other community facilities as well as improved roads and public transit. AECOM’s integrated planning process begins with the fundamental understanding of the site’s ecology which identifies patterns that suggest areas more suitable for development than others. As a result of this analysis, canals and parkland are the nucleus of this neighborhood and in response to climate change projections, its waterways have been modified and open spaces positioned to provide protection from future flooding and rising water levels.

This approach to planning is also reflected in AECOM’s collective work at the mixed-use development at the former Stapleton Airport in Denver, Colorado and most recently, in the first planned community in Palestine’s West Bank.

Halley VI British Antarctic Research Laboratory
A hallmark example of AECOM’s unique collaborative capabilities combined with its global resources, the AECOM team pulled lessons learned from the company’s past designs for U.S. Antarctic research stations, projections and best practices identified by the company’s top sustainability leaders and the ingenuity of engineers faced with a new set of challenges. Halley VI was designed to withstand a broad range of freezing temperatures, to scale to accommodate fluctuating numbers of researchers, to raise and lower the station with adjustable legs so that it won’t be buried by blowing ice and snow, to stand on skis so that the station can be towed inland as the ice shelf halves as it is predicted to do over the next decade, and to leave zero impact on its environmental surroundings. AECOM’s Halley VI was assembled on the Brunt ice shelf in December 2007 and since then the team has been selected to design Spain’s Antarctic station and approached by NASA for advice on space station design and living in extreme environments as they research the possibility of a manned mission to Mars.

Other AECOM projects of note include: New York’s Second Avenue Subway and the World Trade Center’s Path Terminal and urban design; Bulgaria’s nation-wide transportation master plan, the urban regeneration of Belfast, Ireland; Scotland’s wave and tidal stream energy study, the restoration of the San Francisco Bay’s salt ponds and life-changing water treatment projects like the clean up of Boston Harbor through the development of the Deer Island Sewage Treatment Plant, which is currently being used as the model for cleaning up Hong Kong Harbor – also an AECOM project.

What are the results, both financial and social? How has the nominee's business performed, and what impact has it had on the problem it addresses? (suggested length: 100 words)

AECOM’s FY07 revenue of $4.2 billion marks consistent growth – 20% CAGR over 10 years, 24% net income growth over five years, 86% profit growth over two years. Its workforce has grown to 35,000. Last May, AECOM completed an $809-million NYSE IPO – a top-10 for 2007 and one of the largest engineering IPOs ever. AECOM has punctuated its industry leadership – it’s the world’s largest Pure Engineering Design firm – with a mission of enhancing and sustaining the world’s built, natural and social environments. In an era where everyone trumpets their commitment to sustainability, AECOM is truly making a difference.

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