Abdul Savant

Said the following about Amaan Shaban:

“Amaan Shaban, a name that you probably do not know when it comes to specialist engineering in the rail industry. It is a name that many will soon know very well when spoken about in the same sentence as Signalling Power Distribution, E&P design and Electrical Engineering.

Amaan joined SYSTRA UK in January 2020 following the fortunate opportunity I had to interview him. The moment he walked through the door as a 17 year old seeking an opportunity as an Apprentice E&P Engineer, I just knew he would be the ideal candidate. His timing, professionalism, organisational skills and technical understanding all shone at his interview. When Amaan became a part of the team, he learnt new skills from the first day and kept developing quite rapidly. By his second week he was already getting involved in some interesting engineering designs. But then within 5 weeks of joining, the pandemic struck and we all know what happened there. However, despite the pandemic and all the surrounding issues like having to work from home, delays to his college..... None of this deterred Amaan from his drive to succeed. Amaan continued to utilise the time he had to excel at college to get top mark's in his Level 3 course, including distinctions and also exceeding expectations with his NVQ units too. Amaan has been a key member of the team over the last 18 months who has developed in to a very reliable and trustworthy engineer. He has gained some great experience working on Signalling Power Distribution design on some high profile projects across the east and west of the UK. Amaan has a great characteristic of retaining information in his brain, which is so helpful when he is working with the team. He does not shy away from taking a lead on activities and is always so willing to learn new skills. As well as his excellent achievements in the workplace and academics, Amaan has also demonstrated a commitment to his CPD activities, attending regular workshops, seminars and training sessions to further increase his knowledge and learn about ways in which he can apply engineering to support sustainable solutions including combating climate change. Amaan shows great awareness of the ongoing impacts of climate change and shows a passion to develop ideas and solutions to make a difference.

Amaan is very hard working and talented who will only get better as he develops and achieves his career milestones. Amaan has made it very difficult for us when it comes to recruitment, as he really has set the bar and spoilt us with high expectations from candidates that we interview. We now look for another Amaan as we cannot clone the one we have. I truly believe Amaan's efforts and commitments over such a globally difficult period should be awarded with this award of Apprentice of the Year 2021.“