How can it be done faster, better and more efficiently?

Ries de Jonge (28) is group leader Design Advice at Witteveen+Bos. In 2022 he worked, among other things, on the design for Groenplaats  in Antwerp.

From intern to group leader

‘In 2014 I completed an internship at Witteveen+Bos, at that time with the Urban Civil Engineering Structures PMC. It was so much fun that I wanted to do my graduation project here too. During that project, my supervisor said: ‘Ries, 
prepare yourself, because you know you’re going to come and work with us after you graduate.’ It was his way of saying there was a place for me after my studies. My graduation project was on a traffic bridge over the Roode Vaart canal in 
Zevenbergen. Following that I started working as a designer and ‘werkvoorbereider’ in urban infrastructure. Following a period in Curaçao on secondment to Civil Engineering Caribbean, I returned in 2019. Shortly after that I became group 
leader Design Advice in Breda at Witteveen+Bos.’

3D pipe design

‘Since I joined in 2015 we’ve become increasingly digital. How can it be done faster, better and more efficiently? That’s often the central question. During a TKB I saw Elmo Slump give a presentation on parametric quay wall design and 
wondered whether I could apply it to urban infrastructure.’ 

‘While designing several sewerage projects in Belgium, I gained experience with 3D pipe design. We were faced with lots of height differences – more than is usual in the Netherlands. I realised that the jumble of cables and pipes 
underground is sometimes too complex to represent in 2D without compromising on detail. This led to the idea for parametric 3D sewer design, which has since been extended to a 3D environment (GIS viewer) in which all cables and 
pipes are displayed.’

Work, study and private life

‘What my goals are for the coming years? I recently started a master’s in strategic management. It’s a part-time degree with a study load of around 16 hours a week. I started working one day fewer, having first made a good 
arrangement with Witteveen+Bos. It’s quite tough at first: the course requires a different way of thinking. As an engineer, I’m used to doing everything precisely. This requires something different: it’s more about substantiating and 
reasoning. I want to use the knowledge I gain to create better quotations and better substantiate the choices I make. It’s going to be a challenge and I’ll have to find a new balance between work, study and private life, but I’m looking 
forward to it.’