30572_Kao Data Critical Careers_Pages - Flipbook - Page 16
Bijal
Mehta
Associate Director,
RPS Tetratech
How did you come to be in the
digital infrastructure industry?
come from an architectural background and have
spent about 20 years working in architecture. My 昀椀rst
data centre project happened while I was completing
my degree. I worked with Imagination Technologies
designing a data centre as part of my 昀椀nal case study
piece. This was something I could lead independently,
helping me showcase my skills as an architect.
I
In the years that followed I’ve worked on projects
for a variety of different industries and purposes. For
the London Olympics I supported the IT team to
deliver results, timing, and scoring rooms for the test
events in 2011. I’ve also worked on schools, student
accommodation, science labs, and retail. All of which
require meticulous attention to speci昀椀cations and must
integrate considerations like 昀椀re safety, acoustics, and
structural integrity.
More recently, working with MCa in Nottingham, I
worked with Kao Data to deliver KLON-2. That project
was like my baby as I was involved from start to 昀椀nish
and something I was very proud of. Today I’m working
for RPS to lead a multidisciplinary team on the design
of a hyperscale data centre campus. Whilst doing the
day-to-day, I assist the team with feasibility studies for
prospective DC sites. Data centres bring their unique
set of challenges and opportunities, so it’s an exciting
industry to work in.
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