JESÚS ALBA

The first steps in the profession were given by my teacher and mentor Jose Ramón Navarro Vera, doctor engineer of roads and renowned urban planner, who welcomed me as a fellow and accompanied me in the foundation of Engineering Without Borders in Alicante, which was integrated in the federation of associations under my presidency. As an intern, I had the opportunity to participate in the Construction Management of the El Campello port urbanization, as an assistant to my experienced colleague Julio Rosique, the designs of a new intersection in the N332 to connect the El Messell industrial estate, the repaving the center of Gandia and the extension of the Maritime Promenade of Las Canteras Beach in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Here I learned love for the profession, attention to detail, to understand the problem as a whole, and engineering as a process of creation, which chisels the idea of ​​the right solution to each case. I will never forget these dear teachings Julio and José Ramón.

To close my studies in Technical Engineering in Public Works, I decided to carry out a technical historical study of the evolution of the Alicante tram and its relationship with the creation of urban land. The project took me a year and a half of research in files and technical files, but, finally, it was very well evaluated and, years later, it was published as part of the book “The tram of Alicante”. With the newly obtained title, I participated in the first agreement of the Alicante Provincial Council for infrastructure inventory organized by the Ministry of Development, where I helped to collect and inventory alphanumeric data to link in a GIS of municipal urban infrastructures covering the counties of the Navy Baja and Alta of the province of Alicante. The idea of ​​being part of the revolution of geographic information systems, as decision-making tools subjugated me, but I wanted to put into practice my theoretical knowledge of infrastructure design and, more specifically, roads. So I jumped into the professional world of civil engineering to work with Francisco Ferrándiz Dauder and his company URBANISTAS INGENIEROS, S.A. Initially my direct superior was Eduardo Muñoz Rodilla, who taught me all the art of technical assistance to the administration and to write without adjectives. I still remember a fax that he sent me the first time I did it well with a very explicit content (Chapeau !!!!). I also had the privilege of working with Paco Borrull, with whom I made the best field team to control work in which I have never participated. The Improvement of the Crossing of San Bartolomé was our work, my first complete work, and one of the most complete experiences of my life. Well, there I met, with a daily deal, the entire Territorial Road Service of the Consellería de Obras Públicas in Alicante. Although there are countless people who have helped me, special mention deserve José Ripoll, Gabriel Barco, Emilio Norte and Artemio Cuenca (DEP), with whom I have worked for 15 years in various works and contracts. The next work was, in fact, to help finish the New Road of Rojales Guardamar with Francisco González Luque (DEP), who would be my direct boss from 1999 to 2004. De Paco learned a lot, but I would emphasize the tenacity, the personal improvement and the rigor, and, at the technical level, road layout, applied geotechnics and service replenishments with real execution criteria. The Farm Round – Cox – Callosa de Segura was the first work in which I managed teams with full autonomy, defining the complete layout and the foundations of the 3 main structures. The Carretera de Elche – San Fulgencio was the next and last with URBINSA, which coincided with other contracts of the company in Alicante, as facilities in the City of Light and Conservation Road Center of the Generalitat Valenciana. In this case, my responsibility was to direct the Alicante delegation, coordinating all the teams assigned to each project and communicating with customers.

URBINSA is, without a doubt, the company that has trained me. Thanks Paco Ferrándiz and, wherever you are, thanks Paco González. In 2004 I decided to go up in category, signing up for EUROCONSULT in the assistance to the Circunvalación de Alicante, possibly the largest work in concession in Spain at that time. I approached this new project with great enthusiasm and tremendous desire to learn, but, on the one hand, the delay in the beginning of the work and, on the other hand, the methods of execution control used, disappointed me deeply. It was, without a doubt, a new lesson learned, since I discovered that, not always a bigger company, by many means that it has, makes things better. The good part was the magnificent group of professionals I met in the 6 months I was, excellent people and even friends today.

Then, with the motivation of implementing robust systems of control and decision making, I started my activity on my own, with the company ISIMAT CONSULTING, which I founded with two friends, to carry out Geographic Information Systems. Paradoxically, in the 9 years of ISIMAT, with engineering projects, mobility, topography, orthophotography and GIS, the latter was the minor chapter. The first 3 years, and with different partners, we perform engineering, topography and chalk, in that order 60% -30% -10%. From the fourth year, it becomes a purely personal project, which I decide to guide to engineering and mobility, in an average ratio of 75% -25%. The projects, at a rate of 25 per year, developed the capacities of a team of 15 to 25 people, organized in operational, flexible and coordinated teams, shaped according to the skills needed in each project and with a flow of continuous improvement. The economic, financial and fiscal management of a company, as well as the management of human resources, are knowledge that is better forged with experience. Without a doubt, I have learned a lot, both from my mistakes, as well as from my successes and, above all, from the close to 50 people who worked with me on this adventure.

From 2010 to 2013 the financial crisis hit us hard, when we were initiating international experiences. We started work for the implementation of solar farms in Japan after the Fukushima disaster, we studied real estate developments in Tanzania and even started the design of the new access to the port of Oran in Algeria. But we desist because of the impossibility of financing before the defaults of the Spanish public administrations. Yes, we managed, in the hands of EPTISA, to work in Portugal on the layout of roads and railways, which were also interrupted by the economic collapse of Portugal. Same situation we live with the suspension of our contract of extension of third lane on the A7 between Crevillente and Benferri for the Ministry of Development, of which having made 80% we only charge 15%. The Generalitat Valenciana did not help us in the collection of works management contracts for PIP works in El Pilar de la Horadada, Villena, Elda and Petrer.
The experience was worthwhile with some 200 projects completed in 9 years. And with 35 people trained in my charge, whom I taught and from whom I learned daily.

In 2013, I started a freelance period where I helped the implantation of AMERICA FACILITIES in Spain and Germany, personal project of Adrián Jornet, colleague and expert in railway electrical installations. I collaborate in mobility projects with GUIA CONSULTORES and Tomás Pastor, urbanist expert and landscaper. I highlight in this period the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of Benidorm in 2016 where the Sustainable Parking Plan of Benidorm was also developed, the first specific plan of this type in Spain, developed under my direction.
For family reasons, from 2013 to 2017 I lived in the United Kingdom, where I had the experience of working for others in ALCOA, an American multinational of the manufacture of aluminum for aeronautical applications, as a specialist in maintenance of civil works. My main task, as the only civil engineer, was to maintain the 20Ha of buildings and roads. However, over time, security management, contracts for cleaning and supervising contractors are added, as well as assisting the rest of the colleagues in industrial engineering in projects involving parts of civil works involved. The management of contractors, under American and British standards and the use of the BIM methodology in maintenance, were the main achievements in this period, at a professional level. But on a personal level it was even more enriching, because the United Kingdom is a great country and its people are worth it. Unfortunately, the Brexit substantially modified the work environment and conviction for my family, which made us move to France.

Since 2018, traveling from France, I return to AMERICA FACILITIES to develop a Mobility Department that starts with the name of PMUS and CIVIL. Where Sustainable Mobility projects are carried out with a team of 4 people, collaborations and designs of Smart Cities are studied and BIM is applied to the maintenance of urban works.
Currently, with residence in Spain, I collaborate as a freelance in PMUS & CIVIL and other engineering companies as an expert in mobility.