INTERVIEW | CLAUDIO CABRAL DIAS
London, for which Ayesa designed an
oval-shaped chamber in which to rotate the TBM through 180˚ in order to excavate the second of its twin tunnels; Line 5 of the Metro de Madrid; and, work on the Metro do Porto, his old university city. “Now I have a lot of responsibility
because one year ago I was promoted to head of my department, which is quite challenging because I have around 30 people in the team. They range from geologists to engineers; so to be honest I’m adapting to that part.” In 2023 he won the ITA Young Tunneller
of the Year award. (He had previously been shortlisted for the 2022 award, so they clearly had their eye on him.) Why does he think he was chosen? “It was a great honour. I think it may
have to do with courses that I have been delivering. I was already collaborating with BTS Young Members (BTSYM) when I was in Britain but since I moved to Spain I start collaborating also with CBT, which is the Brazilian equivalent, and CPT in Portugal, and also AETOS in Spain. And, I have been involved with ITACUS, of course, as well. Since I was already specialising in 3D analysis it was proposed to me that I should give courses on it; so I have been doing that, in English and in Spanish. And that is something I find really fascinating because you meet people from America, from Asia, from all over the world. I think that probably around 150 people have attended the courses over the last three years. “So, I think it was partly that contribution
to the training of younger members that may have played a part. I was supporting the BTS, CBT and AETOS, and BTS and I started to deliver webinars during the pandemic; so for the CBT webinars I would be telling the audience in Brazil about how they are doing some of the shafts in the UK, and for the BTS I would deliver information about Spanish ways of doing things. It may have been a combination of those.” What of the future? “Where to go next?
I am really enjoying giving those courses. Teaching is something that is giving me a lot of satisfaction: you explain how to do something and then you get some questions that really make you think ‘Do I really understand this or do I have to study it more?’ “So, I think for the future I would consider
Top: Excavation for Porto Metro’s Yellow Line in 2021 Above: Crossrail Site Engineer 2016
46 | September 2024
some academic or university job but in combination with industry so I could carry on with the practical side of tunnelling. I think I enjoy the challenge of the technical
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