Rebecca Munro

Said the following about Dave Sempers:

“Dave Sempers is an outstanding Permanent Way engineer who is committed to his job and is always willing to go the extra mile. Dave has worked for Mott MacDonald for six years and was one of the first members of the York office Permanent Way team. Although it was not within Dave’s job description, he has played a vital role in developing the team professionally and technically, whilst also assisting engineers from other offices around the U.K.

Dave is an active member of the Permanent Way Institution and was one of the first engineers to achieve EngTech status with the PWI. His application was to such a high standard that it is now seen as an exemplar of the quality which should be aspired to. Dave is enthusiastic about continuing his professional development and is now in the process of submitting his IEng application with the PWI.

Dave takes pride in the work he is involved with and has been the lead design engineer in many large projects such as the Doncaster to Water Orton Gauge Enhancement Project undertaking track alignment and gauging works. He has worked on some very challenging projects and his willingness to rise to challenges and deal with problems doesn’t go unnoticed. Dave is also a certified user of Clear Route software, with the additional certification of tilting trains. Additionally, he is also a trained Fire Warden for the York office.

Dave originally started in the rail industry as an apprentice for British Rail Engineering Limited (BREL). His enthusiasm and commitment to the industry is a credit to him, and primarily due to his own efforts, he is now a highly respected senior engineer within the team.

In the last few years Dave was happy to take on an additional responsibility of mentoring two new apprentices within the team, to which he has proved to be a fantastic mentor. Dave has taken a very active role within the development of the junior members in the team and within a very short space of time they were both undertaking design alignment work and had a very clear understanding of the principles of track alignment design. Dave has guided them through their development, use of software and has also taken them out on active railway sites and passed on his site knowledge, ensuring all safety protocols are followed. This has allowed the apprentices to have a much wider knowledge of the industry they are now heavily involved with.

Dave has also gone the extra mile and guided both apprentices through the EngTech application and interview process, in his own time, for the Institution of Civil Engineers. His dedication to their development is very clear with both apprentices passing their review first time!

He is always willing to help others, no matter the amount of pressure or work load he has on himself, he will always ensure that the team around him are happy and confident in what they are been asked to do.

Dave is an asset to our track team and his dedication and quality to both his technical work, but also the development of others, is definitely worthy of recognition.“