The changing face of engineering
Thinking back to the Civil Engineering class of ’90 at Kingston Poly, I recall that there were 50 students, two of whom were women. This was a source of some pride to one of my lecturers. He informed me that many a red brick uni' would love to have a 4% representation of women on their engineering courses.
It’s hard to reconcile these early memories with my role as Director of the Buro Happold Water Group in 2021. The engineering principles and processes remain largely unchanged, but the nature of the engineer has changed hugely over the 30+ years.
Perhaps the most striking change is the gender make-up, with close to a 50/50 split across the Water Group. Of course, there is a lot more to diversity than gender. And the pay gap analysis also tells us that significant challenges remain when it comes to representation at senior levels. Nevertheless, it is welcome truth that women in engineering are no longer an exception; they are merely exceptional.
Our group is fortunate to have a significant part of our portfolio of work in the Middle East. It’s an extremely challenging and rewarding environment for water engineers to practise their expertise.
A few years ago, we were presenting our proposals for the environmental rehabilitation of a wadi to our client. Their Secretary-General, an extremely wise and thoughtful man, stopped us and enquired into the whereabouts of the female engineers we’d mentioned. We replied that we had assumed that, given the cultural significance of the city, it might be more sensitive for our male engineers to deliver the presentations. The response of the Secretary-General will stay with me forever: “This is our city and we will tell you who is welcome. Next time, bring the team that carried out the work.” It was delivered with a smile, but the message was clear.
Over the next few years, several of our female engineers travelled to this special city. All were welcomed and respected without condition. The sight of one of our female team members presenting to a crowd of senior officials, as they listened intently, is one of the most impactful of my career.
Read my full blog about the changing face of engineering. This is the latest instalment in the Buro Happold Water Group’s series about water, looking at some of the pertinent issues facing our world.
I love this Dave ?? thank you for sharing, great progress & the more these stories are shared the better for everyone. Hope to see you soon :)
Civil Engineer, CEO and Co-Founder at Qualis Flow | NED Environment Agency | Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers | Enterprise Fellow, Royal Academy of Engineering
3 年A lovely thought to share. The BH Water team is certainly leading the way, still lots of work to do in the wider industry, but I certainly enjoyed every minute in this team!
Director of Environmental Dept. HSSE, LEED? Green Associate?, PMP?, CM, OSHA, KPIsP.
3 年I was there too .... you did great work in Wadi Aqeeq project bro ????
??Social Impact Storyteller & Charity Core Fundraising Coach ????Civil Engineer ??Follow to join my mission: ￡1bn in core funding for just transitions & regeneration ????
3 年Second that David Palmer!!! It's amazing to see more women join this profession that I still hold very dear (despite having moved onto non-profit work). Civil Engineering helped shape my way of thinking, I wouldn't be able to do the work I do now without it, and I am so grateful for that. It can open up so many career paths and help women own a really exciting blend of technical and interpersonal skills that are applicable to solving so many of the world's problems. I remember that meeting well and also how welcoming the client team was in KSA, I cherished my work trips and site visits there! Great to see the Buro Happold Water Group growing stronger than ever. ??
Principal Environment BHP / MBA Energy Future
3 年Great to hear female engineers are starting to be welcomed to the Middle East, when I was working in London 12 years ago it was well known females were not able to travel to the Middle East or Northern Africa for project work even when it was the female team members who had completed the work.