www.ceotodaymagazine.com by using existing competencies to enter into neighbouring fields and to adjust them to the needs of the market. A typical example in this respect is our move into climate change mitigation several years ago, offering sustainable energy system consultancy and engineering services for all kinds of renewable energy projects including hydrogen plants. We went to foreign countries by acquiring projects and used them to establish a local presence. A typical example is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where we’ve been engaged continuously since 1977 when we signed the contract for the Riyadh Water Transmission project. Today, ILF is offering its clients a very wide portfolio of international expertise and a strong local presence with 45 office locations worldwide. What are the core values that have guided ILF Consulting Engineers throughout the years and how have they contributed to its success? Our vision is to be a leader in improving the quality of life around the globe and our values include respect, honesty, reliability and fairness. We believe in engineering excellence, effective cooperation and sustainable solutions. Looking back, the key to the success story of ILF, in addition to all these visions, values and beliefs, was the unshakable partnership of the two founders of the company which continued for over 50 years in their active roles and still continues to this day as a great friendship. on our own initiative and cost something like a concept study for the 14-kilometre-long Arlberg road tunnel. And we offered to take responsibility as the Owner’s Engineer for the execution of the complete project. This courageous approach was new in Austria. The Arlberg road tunnel became a great success for ILFwhen it was opened in 1978. It was the first time in which we implemented our vision to execute a large project in-house, covering all disciplines. We applied the same principle of business development for the Riyadh Water Transmission System foreseen to transport 830,000 m3 of drinking water per day over 460 km from the Gulf to the capital of Saudi Arabia. We developed an innovative concept for this pipeline and won the competition without any reference project as a newcomer in the Saudi market. This lighthouse project of ILF became a great success too. The two examples show that especially in the startup and pioneer phase of an engineering company, you need initiative but also creativity, courage and convincing power. The Riyadh Water Transmission System was opened in 1983, which I consider the end of ILF’s pioneer phase. How was the further buildup of the company after the RiyadhWater Transmission System opened? We put all of our efforts into satisfying our clients with our work for ongoing projects. At the same time, we continuously expanded our portfolio Adolf Feizlmayr Co-founder of ILF Consulting Engineers 48
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