Agents for Change

This week, I was honored to be recognized as a 2016 Forty Under 40 Award recipient by the Rochester Business Journal. The accolade is now in its twenty-second year, and the list of alumni includes many of today’s leaders in Rochester. This year, I was told, there were more nominations than ever before, and I thank the review committee for the hard work they must have put in to whittle it down to forty (as well as the RBJ staff for organizing a great event). Reading through my fellow honorees’ biographies, it is humbling and heartwarming to be in such company, and to be considered among those who have already achieved so much.

As I was asked to fill out my own story, one of the questions was, “How would you be an agent for change in Rochester?” In order to describe what might come next, it helps to understand where I have come from, and why I do what I do.

From a relatively early age, I knew that I wanted to be a civil engineer. At the time, I thought that would mean designing soaring skyscrapers and beautiful bridges, in far-flung places such as Hong Kong, my ancestral home. As I explored my future career, I realized my true passion lay in something closer to the ground: dealing with water resources. As a first-year university student, I learned about the work of Joseph Bazalgette, who built the first interceptor sewer system in London in the mid-1800s, reducing pollution in the River Thames and improving public health. This was the first time I recognized the calling I would pursue was really about helping people and the environment in which we live.

If there is one word that I could use to describe my profession, it is service. Our duty of care is first to the public, then to our clients and their customers, then to our employers and colleagues, and finally to ourselves. In the US, we license professional engineers to guarantee they have the required competency to protect public health and safety. The work of a civil engineer touches every physical aspect of our daily lives, and it comes with a huge responsibility that cannot be taken lightly. When we get it wrong, the effects can be felt on a massive scale, so it is incumbent upon us to hold ourselves to the highest possible standards, both technically and ethically. While it is gratifying to be celebrated from time to time, we should never forget who we serve and why.

Given the enormity of the tasks we face, why would anyone choose to follow this path? There are many reasons, but an important one is that to be a successful civil engineer means to be a leader. Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate to have had mentors who are great leaders. As I try to emulate those who have gone before me, I also hope to inspire the next generation of problem-solvers to dream big. To address those issues that most affect our society, we must cultivate ingenuity (which shares the same root as the word “engineer”), and be cognizant of the impact we have on our communities. In that regard, civil engineers are exactly the kind of change agents we need in Rochester.

So, congratulations again to my fellow honorees, and to all who work to make our community a better place to live. You may not know it, but there might just be a little bit of civil engineer in all of you!