AEGIS Engineering Systems has beenserving the rail industry for two decades

now and is currently in its 21st year. Thecompany started from humble beginnings as asmall consultancy, employing a handful ofspecialist engineers based in Huddersfield andfocusing mainly on passenger rolling stock safetyand reliability. It is now a flourishing companybased on Pride Park in Derby. AEGIS currentlyemploys 34 full-time employees as well as manyassociates and covers all areas of the railwaysincluding infrastructure, On-Track Machines(OTMs)/On-Track Plant (OTP) and plant.

New launchThis January saw the launch of AEGISCertification Services, which was grantedaccreditation by UKAS to undertake work inaccordance with BS EN ISO 17065: 2012‘Conformity assessment - requirements forbodies certifying products, processes andservices’. In addition, the assessment andultimate certification includes the scope of RIS-2700-RST for the ‘Verification of conformity ofengineering change to rail vehicles’.

Since the move to Derby in 2012, thegrowth has been steady and consistent,exceeding 30% year-on-year. AEGIS hasexpanded its range of services and its clientbase. Initially, continuing with the passengerrolling stock theme, but offering a wider range of services such as mechanical,electrical and structural rail vehicleengineering, suppor ting new build andrefurbishment/modernisation projects.

It was whilst reviewing the annual railwaysafety repor ts that the AEGIS directorsrecognised that passenger rolling stocksafety, the company’s natural field ofexpertise, had reached consistently highlevels, but that the industry was stillstruggling with safety at level crossings andwith OTMs and OTP.

Mark McCool, Managing Director, AEGIS,picked up the phone and called a contact atNetwork Rail to offer the company’s safetyexpertise in whatever format was needed. A few

weeks later, AEGIS commenced a newworkstream, undertaking suitable and sufficientlevel crossing risk assessments for Network Railand its clients. Since then, AEGIS RiskAssessments has been described by the ORRas ‘exemplary’. With the increasingly demandingrequirements of the rail network, and withpressure to run more and more services, levelcrossing assessments will continue to be a partof the AEGIS business going forward.

DiversificationAnother area of natural diversification camewith the support of the safety, approvals andcertification of OTM/OTP. The first significantcontract was to support Loram Maintenanceof Way in its introduction of three new plainline rail grinders for use on Network RailManaged Infrastructure. Since the Loramproject, AEGIS continues to support otherOTM/OTP projects in the UK and worldwideand this area of the business is set to groweven further over the coming years.

As well as new areas of work, AEGIScontinues to grow in the safety arena. It wasone of the first organisations accredited byNetwork Rail in 2002 as an Independent Safety

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Assessor, a process that was laterdiscontinued. AEGIS continued to undertakeindependent Assessment Body work for majorvehicle builders and equipment suppliers in theinterim period. In 2016, it was once againaccredited - this time by UKAS under the BS ENISO 17020 regime - as an Assessment Body(AsBo) for the ‘Common safety methodsregulation for risk evaluation and assessment’.

AEGIS is the AsBo for high-profile rollingstock projects such as Crossrail and LondonOverground trains. More recently, AEGIS hasbeen involved with a variety of majorrefurbishment projects including severalretraction projects for major equipmentsuppliers where it has assisted with compilingthe safety case as well as per forming AsBo duties.

In recent times, AEGIS has diversifiedfurther into work on major infrastructureprojects with AEGIS assessors andcertification managers playing significant rolesin high-profile projects such as the OrdsallChord, Birmingham Gateway and ManchesterMetro Phase 3. AEGIS sees the infrastructuremarket as a huge oppor tunity and, inNovember, appointed Martin Westerman as

its Head of Infrastructure. Martin’s role is tohelp grow the infrastructure business over thenext three years into a sustainable andsignificant part of the AEGIS offering.

Worldwide clientsAs well as diversifying the service offeringsand customer base, AEGIS is becoming acompany with a global reach. The companycurrently has clients from the USA to Germanyand Japan and is working on projects in Dubai,Singapore and Vietnam. Its overseas work isset to expand as it looks to export itsengineering excellence.

Key factors in AEGIS’ success include:n Rapid mobilisation.n Experienced employees.n Flexibility.n Pragmatic solutions.n Customer focused.

The company undertakes work in thefollowing key sectors:n Passenger rolling stock.n Infrastructure.n On-track plant and machines.n Freight.n Signalling.

The key services where AEGIS offersexpertise are:Engineering:n Project engineering.n Project management.n Structural engineering.Assurance:n Standards compliance.n Software assessment.Compatibility:n Gauging.n EECS and EMC.n Vehicle performance.n Electrification.Reliability, Availability, Maintainability andSafety (RAMS):n Safety management.n Common safety method.n RAM management and engineering.Independent Services:n Independent Safety Assessor.n Assessment Body (AsBo).n Independent Competent Person.n Notified Body (NoBo).n Designated Body (DeBo).n Plant Assessment Body (PAB).n RIS-2700-RST.

The next engineersAs AEGIS grows as an organisation, it believesthat it has an obligation to assist the industryin bringing through the next generation oftalented engineers. Of its 34 currentemployees, five joined AEGIS within 18months of completing their studies.

‘As we grow, it is vitally important thatAEGIS contributes to developing the nextgeneration, but we realised early on that wewould have a challenge attracting the bestengineers unless we could offer them apathway to becoming Chartered,’ said ChrisHoare, Engineering Director. ‘This is why weengaged with the Institution of MechanicalEngineers (IMechE) to create our owndeveloping engineer scheme. The scheme wasregistered and recognised by the IMechE in2017 and we have recently received formalaccreditation of the scheme.’

As well as the developing engineerscheme, AEGIS supports those graduates whowish to continue their studies to MSc level andbeyond. AEGIS is also helping talentedundergraduates with engineering workplacements with either summer placements orwork placements as part of their degrees.

What next?So, what does the future hold? ‘Well, we willcontinue to support and delight our existingcustomers,’ said Mark. ‘Our growth plans includeexpanding our current offerings beyond theexisting customer base, but also to grow intonew areas like Infrastructure. And then there isthe overseas market. But, most importantly, wewill continue to live our values and create aworking environment that is stimulating, excitingand focused on delivering excellence with theobjective of making AEGIS the positivechoice for your rail consultancy needs.’

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For further information, please contact:AEGIS, 29 Brunel Parkway, Pride Park,

Derby, DE24 8HR. Tel: 01332 384302

Email: info@aegisengineering.co.uk Website: aegisengineering.co.uk

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