Moonshots vs Mundane: The Next Generation of Infrastructure Delivery

This is Infrastructure Week, a time to celebrate the importance of infrastructure in our daily lives. Traditionally, this week is centered mainly on calls for greater public funding for infrastructure. Fortunately, last year’s passage of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act answered those calls. This level of federal spending has been widely hailed as a godsend for infrastructure.

 As a veteran of more than 30 years the AEC industry, I am thrilled to participate in delivering some of the infrastructure projects that will outlast me. But I am concerned about our industry’s willingness to take risks and its ability to turn this once-in-a-lifetime investment into transformative actions: Do we have the courage to invest in moonshot ideas that will remake society, or will we play it safe and perpetuate incremental improvements as in the past? What if the next generation of engineers wants nothing to do with this once-in-a-generation investment opportunity?

 Peter Thiel famously said, “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.” He was disappointed by the lack of imaginative, bold, and life-changing projects in his Silicon Valley world. Often, I feel the same way about my Infrastructure world! 

 We're only scratching the surface when it comes to utilizing AI to monitor and maintain road repairs. Employing drones for bridge inspections isn't commonplace. Investment in alternative energy generation technologies is trumped by low returns. Roads that charge my car’s battery still have a long way to go. We are not ready to design and build infrastructure to support the futuristic solar electric vehicle.  And poor data management leads to limited streamlining of repetitive tasks and inefficiencies in delivery. This list of transformational projects is limited only by our imagination and our willingness.

 Deservedly or not, this constrained vision has also given the engineering industry a stodgy reputation, especially compared to the likes of Tesla, Google, or Facebook. Indeed, many young, tech-savvy engineers are looking to develop social media platforms, rather than designing and constructing physical infrastructure. 

 How do we attract talented young people to pursue engineering as a career and work to deliver vital projects that benefit society? In two words, impact and innovation.

 We need to show young professionals the opportunities they have to solve climate change with smart infrastructure design, create economic development and social welfare by connecting communities, and improve lives with technology that provides clean water and energy. We need a more powerful, passionate vision of how our industry is going to positively transform lives. And we need to back it up with equally ambitious moonshot projects.

 From their omnipresent smart phones to streaming services to incredibly realistic immersive video games, today's college students and young engineers have literally grown up with technology. If the engineering profession wants to recruit these individuals, we must capitalize on their enthusiasm for technology and creativity. To do this, we need to make them aware of the innovations taking place in engineering today such as BIM, use of AR/VR in construction, 3D printed bridges, and Smart Communities.

We all are motivated by a desire to make a difference in people's lives by applying our knowledge and ingenuity. Give young talent the same motivation, and instead of moving to cloud, EV and social media companies they'll be here today building the infrastructure moonshots of the twenty-first century.