The RailStaff Awards 2024

Chris Whawell

Said the following about Mike Lewis:

“As Control Systems Director for Siemens Rail Automation in the UK, Mike Lewis is responsible for every aspect of the products within the company’s control systems portfolio – from research and development, to manufacturing, installation, testing and commissioning. The range includes Siemens’ Controlguide Westcad control centre and Westronic 1024 train describer solutions.

For over 20 years, Mike has been at the heart of the control systems sector, working closely with customers and the wider industry to develop and refine solutions that continue to meet their changing needs.

In August, he oversaw the installation of the company’s 100th Westcad workstation, as part of the Derby station resignalling programme. This was naturally a significant milestone for the company, but for Mike it was the latest in a long line of satisfied customers, following another successful commissioning, delivered on time and to budget.

An electronics engineer by training, Mike has worked in the rail industry for over 30 years, developing a broad range of skills and experience during his work for British Rail signalling and then Westinghouse, Invensys and Siemens. In this time, Mike has earned a well-deserved reputation not only for the quality and capability of the products he and his team develops, but also for his enduring passion, commitment and enthusiasm for the industry.

Mike is also one of the few engineers who not only has the capability to engineer and develop innovative solutions (and get into the technical detail with the best of them), but also has outstanding business acumen. He only develops products he knows his customers want, tirelessly working to achieve a high-quality system that will deliver safe, reliable, robust, long life performance.

He has a huge network of contacts across the industry, working closely with Network Rail colleagues at every level – including Route Managing Directors and Asset Managers, Operations Managers and Signallers – to ensure that Siemens’ control centre systems constantly evolve to meet Network Rail’s changing needs and provide the functionality they require.

He also works closely with the supply chain in the UK, with a real focus on partnership working with SMEs and local procurement and a total commitment to delivering quality to the customer – both with the product and the service that he and his team provide.

Finally, he has developed close links with research bodies and academia, ensuring that future developments are exposed to fresh and innovative ideas and that potential solutions are simulated and tested before progressing to live trials.

Mike has also built and nurtured a loyal and dedicated team that is packed with experience and expertise; with a sprinkling of ambitious and talented graduates and apprentices in the mix.

He now has a 90-strong UK-based team, providing design, development, engineering, installation and manufacturing support from Siemens offices serving the whole of the British Isles.

With the industry’s drive to digitalisation, Mike is also spearheading Siemens’ development work with respect to Traffic Management Systems and has recently launched new solutions that respond to the industry’s needs, with ETCS compatible software and hardware.

In short, he is a consummate professional, a ‘commercial engineer’ totally dedicated to delivering a service that his clients require – and importantly that improves the passengers’ experience and provides a rail service that the travelling public deserves.

With no two projects being the same, and with control systems’ installation and commissioning time very often being squeezed to absorb any earlier project overruns (one of the penalties of being one of the last elements to be delivered) Mike’s commitment to delivering projects safely, on-time and to-budget, with an unwavering focus on quality, is quite simply outstanding.“