Araj Lal enjoys his role with BG&E for the same reason he enjoys spending almost every weekend on his farm – it is never boring.

He says, “There is always a new challenge at BG&E, something bigger and better.”

After joining BG&E as a drafter in 2010, Araj was promoted to become leader of the NSW buildings drafting team, before going on to manage the multi-discipline drafting teams across NSW and NZ, in addition to supporting establishment of the buildings drafting teams across the east coast of Australia. Over the last few years, he has transitioned from drafting to digital engineering, working across all of BG&Es large-scale multi-disciplinary major infrastructure projects.

Araj’s passion for diverse challenges is manifested on weekends with quad biking, tractoring, ploughing, slashing, spraying and whatever else is required to grow vegetables while having a great time on his farm, located around two hours’ drive out of Sydney, nestled halfway between Goulburn and Yass.

He says, “At the end of an active day on the farm, the serenity of the Australian outback and the sunset over the beautiful hills is worth it.”

Araj also feels the reward is sweeter when the effort required is greater for work projects, with his favourite one to date being AMP’s Quay Quarter Tower (QQT) in Sydney, which is widely recognized as a hallmark of world-class engineering and ingenuity.

The 216-metre-tall redevelopment of the existing building required demolition of the existing structure, while retaining over 60% of the core. New floor plates were then placed over the height of the structure.

Araj says, “QQT was one of the most complex buildings projects since it entailed refurbishment in addition to compositive floors, inclined columns, and strengthening and temporary works requirements.

“I spent the good part of five to six years on this project.”

Araj was invited to present a class about QQT’s innovative construction at Autodesk University 2023 hosted in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Occupying a role which represents innovation and the cutting-edge of progress, Araj leverages his digital engineering expertise and leadership to go above and beyond client requests where possible, often discovering more efficient and effective ways to achieve project objectives than what was originally briefed.

He says, “I believe I am helping to align client requirements and our deliverables more effectively.

“If you focus too much on delivering everything the client requests throughout the lifecycle of the project, without taking the time to ensure it is the best way to achieve their end goals, it is easy to run over on budget and timeframes.”

Araj is planning to share his specialist expertise across his team, enhancing capacity for digital engineering services within BG&E and ensuring more people are taking advantage of the latest technology to add value to projects.

In between upskilling colleagues, working on iconic projects or maintaining his farm, Araj does occasionally enjoy downtime by binging on crime shows, such as Hawaii Five0 and NCIS Hawaii.