Black & Veatch establishes global water design center

SINGAPORE—Black & Veatch officially opened its Global Design Centre for water in Singapore in early February. The company had announced in December 2006 that it planned to make its Singapore office a key hub for its global water infrastructure business.

"[Our] five-year plans include doubling the number of our professionals in Singapore, as well as investing in a Global Design Centre and establishing a Centre of Excellence for Desalination," said Dan McCarthy, president and CEO of Black & Veatch’s global water business. "We are seeing increasing use of desalination as a treatment process throughout the world. However, desalination is still constrained by high energy consumption and membrane lifespan. The Centre of Excellence in Desalination will focus on optimizing the performance of plants and enhancing membrane life."

Kenneth Tan, executive director of the Singapore Economic Development Board and deputy executive director of the Environment and Water Industry Development Council said, "To continue growing this vibrant industry, it is essential that we also develop and attract a pool of quality talent and manpower. Black & Veatch is dedicated to helping this cause through conducting intensive employee training programs here, as well as sending local employees for training in the United States. In addition, Black & Veatch continues to engage in active recruitment of many scholars and top professionals for their operations here. All this adds to the growing talent pool in Singapore’s water industry."

"There is excellent talent in Singapore," said Ralph Eberts, Black & Veatch’s managing director for the Asia-Pacific water business. "Through our integrated global workforce, we are already utilizing these resources on projects in Australia, the United States, and Europe, as well as bringing together resources from around the world to benefit our clients."