Pinoy engineer builds railways to the world

A CIVIL ENGINEERING GRADUATE, THE young Joseph Allan Dilay had set his sights on getting a job for construction project overseas.

This was sometime in 1978, a year after he obtained his diploma from the Batangas State University, with four years spent at the Mapua Institute of Technology, when he found himself working as project engineer of a public works department in Bahrain.

His first Middle East job would fortuitously kick off a successful career in railway and mass transit, with a string of projects waiting in various parts of the world.

Today, Dilay, 50, sits as chair of the group of companies that he put up and proudly bears his initials: JAD Group of Companies. Being involved in various transit-railway and civil engineering projects here and abroad, he divides his time in various sites, making sure that every project gets his full attention. His consulting firm, JAD and Associates, boasts a highly qualified team of engineering professionals backed up by an impressive track record in the design, construction and maintenance of rail transport systems.

A few years ago, Dilay took one of the biggest challenges of his career as the track work engineer and consultant for the two lines of the Metro Manila Light Railway Transit. Line 1 involved a 15.4-km elevated line with 18 stations running north-south of Metro Manila while Line 2 is a 13.8-km almost totally elevated system running east-west through Metro Manila . JAD and Associates served as sub-consultant to Tonichi (of Japan) for Line 1 and design consultant for Line 2, involving the modern segmental viaduct system, the first of its kind in the country. The jobs completed satisfactorily, he amply proved himself for having fully met the challenge.

“The Filipino’s skill, talent and expertise are definitely at par with the best of the world,” says Dilay, a registered professional engineer in the United States and Canada, and an affiliate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Association of Professional Engineers in British Columbia, Canada.

Among the rail projects he was actively involved in, in the United States, were the Light Rail Transit Systems in Denver, Colorado, the Las Vegas People Mover, Long Beach Transit, Los Angeles Light Rail Transit and Metro Rail Lines.

In Taiwan, Dilay was involved in tunnel construction for Chungho Line and underground stations for Hsintien Line in downtown Taipei. Another project in Taipei involved the design of a 12-km track heavy rail system.

Dilay’s Genials Trading and Contracting Company is the lead member of joint venture which signed a system maintenance contract for the Manila LRT 1 system with the Light Rail Transit Authority on May 24, 2004 until Sept. 30, 2006, which includes 64 Belgian and 28 Korean-made vehicles as well as covering track, power supply and other rail-related systems. The contract, however, had expired and the JAD Group is very eager to participate once more in the forthcoming bidding of the maintenance contract.

Genials Trading is more than qualified to do the job. It is the recipient, in 2005, of the “Most Outstanding Rail Transit Employer,” award jointly conferred by the Agora Institute, The Philippine Marketing Practitioners Association, the Asia-Pacific Global Awards and Business Asia Magazine. The award is testament to the Company’s superior value of offering, product quality and strong consumer orientation.

With 20 years of railway experience behind him, Dilay has realized he needed to grow professionally. He needed to enroll in review courses in civil engineering at California State University in Los Angeles, and track work installation course also in LA. As a result, he is a licensed civil and trackwork engineer both in the US and Canada. He was also given a civil engineering license in Canada after passing the qualifying examinations.

This year, Dilay has embarked on supplying skilled manpower and management to Canada, via his Jadcan Services Inc. based in Burnaby, Canada.

His company is also involved in sub-contracting services in the field of Civil Engineering and Construction.

His sights are now set to contribute his talent in railway system in Vancouver, with the help of dedicated, experienced and globally competent engineering and construction professionals. His goal is to elevate Pinoy engineers to finally becoming world-class professionals.

The Great Pinoy Dream, as prospects augur well for the engineer who dreamed of the world, is well on its way to becoming a reality.

By Gino Dormiendo
Inquirer