The Engineers Collective

This month we’re discussing the Ofwat Innovation Fund and we’re joined by Ofwat director for environment and innovation Jo Jolly alongside representatives of two companies who have been part of innovations that have been boosted by the fund: Royal HaskoningDHV UK water sector director Paul Lavender and Changemaker 3D CEO and cofounder Natalie Wadley.

The chat starts with a focus on how the Innovation Fund was set up and how it is helping to overcome issues that are being faced in the UK water sector. It then broadens into how it is encouraging greater collaboration between different parts of the sector and we hear firsthand from both Paul and Natalie about how their innovations have come together and how they are being put to use. We then look ahead at the future of the Innovation Fund, what’s next for the initiatives that have been developed through it and the bigger picture of how they will help long-term water security in the UK.

You can find out more about the initiatives brought forward by the Innovation Fund through the learning reports at waterinnovation.challenges.org/insights

Prior to the Ofwat section, host Rob Hakimian is joined by NCE senior reporters Tom Pashby and Thomas Johnson to talk about their recent reporting on plutonium stockpiles and groundwater flooding respectively.

This month’s guest is Ronan O’Driscoll, an engineer who has worked in a variety of sectors in his storied career – often in temporary works, which is what he is doing in his current role working on the construction of Hinkley Point C.

Having amassed a wealth of knowledge over his time in the sector, O’Driscoll has put together a free-to-download guide called Construction Engineering – A Guide to Temporary Works in Construction & BS5975 : 2019.

It collects together a vast range of temporary works practices, and you can acquire it, no email necessary, from constructionengineering.uk

In the conversation, O’Driscoll tells host Rob Hakimian about his career and how he came to compile the nearly-900-page document. They then move on to discussing temporary works at large – the history, the variety, the importance, good practice, bad practice, misconceptions and more.

Prior to the interview portion, Rob is joined by NCE senior reporter Tom Pashby to discuss the ever-increasing scrutiny on the cost of Sizewell C nuclear power station, before flipping over to defence nuclear to discuss a major opportunity for civils firms to gain work constructing a new nuclear weapons facility for AWE (the Atomic Weapons Establishment).

Our innovation experts Samuel Stephens, director, head of digital, nuclear at AtkinsRéalis and Angela MacOscar, director of innovation at Northumbrian Water, grill two innovators about their technology. 

In this launch episode, recorded live at Techfest, they speak with FC Laboratories’ Matthew Norbury about their AI-powered wearable neurotech to support brain fitness, and Matt Barney, chief hydrogen officer at Geopura about their Hydrogen Power Unit, designed to replace diesel generator power on site.

Hydrogen power units have the potential to decarbonise construction activity by replacing diesel generators with green hydrogen. But how is the low carbon nature of that hydrogen assured and how site-ready are these new units? 

Wearable fitness and safety technology has come a long way, so can brain fitness neurotech help improve wellbeing and safety by identifying fatigue and stress for those working on site and in potentially high risk roles? 

Listen to our podcast to find out!

This month’s guest is Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) trustee for policy and external affairs Jonathan Spruce, who joins host Rob Hakimian to discuss the trials of the UK’s megaproject High Speed 2 (HS2).

The ICE recently put out a report about what went wrong with the project and lessons that can be taken forward to other projects, compiled through interviews with people at all levels in the project.

Jonathan and Rob discuss the findings of the report as well as developments with HS2 since its publication, debating the role of HS2 Ltd, the handling of the project by the various governments entrusted with its management, how the messaging around the desired outcomes of the project needed to be refined and much more.

Prior to the interview portion, Rob is joined by NCE senior reporter Tom Pashby to discuss their recent reporting about the developments in delivering Saudi Arabia’s gigaproject Neom, especially in light of the recent ITV documentary which shed light on the abject working conditions for migrants.

In the latest episode of The Engineers Collective from New Civil Engineer, host Rob Hakimian welcomes Professor John Orr from the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) and Cambridge University Department of Engineering.

They discuss the IStructE’s upcoming 2024 Structural Awards, which seeks to honour the outstanding structures from all over the globe that have been completed in the last year.

After discussing the history of the awards and how they’ve evolved over the years, John talks about what the IStructE looks for in the outstanding candidates. These are centred around the four key judging attributes: planet, people, process and profession. John highlights four entries from this year’s Structural Awards, which offer variety of type, purpose and location and were emblematic of each of those four attributes.

The discussion concludes with looking ahead to further editions of the Structural Awards and what factors John would like to see more of from entries going forward.

Prior to the interview portion, Rob welcomes NCE’s senior reporters Tom Pashby and Thomas Johnson to discuss recent site visits to GE Vernova’s new valve manufacturing facility, Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium and under construction nuclear power plant Hinkley Point C.

The latest episode of the Engineers Collective is out now: listen in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or your usual platform.

This month we’re joined by the International Hydropower Association (IHA) to discuss the “grandfather” of renewable energy. IHA senior energy policy manager Rebecca Ellis chats to NCE news editor Rob Hakimian about the history and importance of pumped storage hydro, covering how it works, its ability to “store” energy and why this is so crucial as the world transitions to a zero carbon energy system.

Rebecca also tells us about the engineering and risks involved with developing pumped storage hydro schemes, talks about the appetite for pumped storage hydro projects in the UK and around the globe and highlights some of the exciting new schemes and technologies that are emerging in the sector.

Prior to the interview portion, Rob is joined by NCE senior reporter Tom Pashby to discuss the potential impact of Hinkley Point C on fish populations in the Bristol Estuary and how a recent legal ruling could impact its plans, as well as the news that Liverpool City Region’s Mersey Tidal barrage scheme is moving forward.

The latest episode of The Engineers Collective from New Civil Engineer is all about the development and construction of East West Rail (EWR), the brand new railway being built between Oxford and Cambridge. Our interviewee is former East West Rail Company innovation manager Daisy Chapman-Chamberlain, who was involved with all the future-facing elements of this exciting project. It should be noted that since this interview was recorded in early May she moved on to a new role at Transport for the North.

Nevertheless, Chapman-Chamberlain’s insights about the way that EWR has been designed and specified to be a “railway fit for the future” are still relevant and pertinent not only to this project but to all railway developments. We also broaden out the conversation to hear her valuable insights on the state of the UK rail sector, innovating to improve areas including efficiency and accessibility, the challenges of inclusion and diversity in the rail sector and the prospect of rail reform.

Prior to the interview section, NCE news editor and podcast host Rob Hakimian chats with senior reporter Tom Pashby about the first weeks of the new government and what the infrastructure, energy and railway Bills announced in the King’s Speech signal to the civil engineering sector.

In the new episode the we meet the authors of new book The Regenerative Structural Engineer, Oliver Broadbent and James Norman. The book, published by the Institution of Structural Engineers, draws on the two authors’ years of experience of civil and structural engineering. Today, Oliver is founder and co-leader of regenerative engineering training Constructivist and James is professor of sustainable design at the University of Bristol.

Their passion for engineering and helping to promote the inherent benevolence of the vocation is clear in our discussion. We talk about the process of writing and designing The Regenerative Structural Engineer then dive into some of its themes including regenerative thinking, the construction site as a system, learning from living systems and transitioning to a future where healing the environment is a natural outcome of design, construction and engineering.

Prior to that, the NCE team discusses the infrastructure related pledges in the manifestos of the major UK political parties as we build towards the General Election.

This month’s episode is dedicated to celebrating 40 years since Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Thames Barrier in London, the engineering marvel that protects London from disastrous flooding. We speak to two engineers who worked on its construction, which commenced nearly half a century ago.

Rory O’Grady was a section engineer for Costain on the project between 1975 and 1980 and has just published a book called We Gave A Dam: The Epic Race To Build The Thames Barrier, which recollects the people, struggles and ingenuity that contributed to the creation of the landmark infrastructure.

We also have future ICE president Richard Bayfield who spent six months in the very early part of his career on the barrier as an assistant planning engineer for Costain.

Together they discuss the Thames Barrier’s creation, its legacy and what its future looks like.

Prior to that, host Rob Hakimian and NCE reporter Thomas Johnson briefly discuss the announcement of a General Election in the UK and what that means for the country’s major infrastructure projects and policies.