Improving Lives Through Engineering 

Today is National Engineering Day. A day where we celebrate how engineers are shaping the world and improving lives. Originally launched by The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), the 2nd of November is a day of recognition and celebration of British engineering.

This year’s #NationalEngineeringDay will focus on broadening public perceptions of what engineering is, what engineers do, and inspire the next generation of engineering talent as they help tackle some of the challenges facing our world today. The theme for 2022, ‘Improving Lives Through Engineering’ aims to bring the engineering community together to celebrate the impact and change engineers are driving throughout the country.

Today, as we recognise an important day for our industry, we’ve been hearing first-hand from some of our incredible engineers as they answer some of the questions posed by the Royal Academy of Engineering.

We spoke to Annabel Precious and Leah Stuart, both Directors here at Civic Engineers, who shared their views on how our people and projects are improving lives through engineering.

“We put the needs of people using the infrastructure, and its impact on the environment, at the forefront of the design decision making. When designing a street, we are thinking about how a pedestrian or cyclist could easily and safely use the street, whilst also trying to help the street drain in a sustainable way.” Annabel Precious, Director

“Civic Engineers are improving the world by finding innovative solutions to tackling climate change – by working smarter, we are saving carbon, changing behaviour, reducing flooding and improving biodiversity. Our projects like the timber, energy-efficient buildings, and car-free, water-absorbing streets in the Climate Innovation District in Leeds, demonstrate our multi-tasking engineering approach which gets lots of value out of each piece of infrastructure.” Leah Stuart, Director

Sharing their thoughts with us on the benefits of a people-first approach in terms of our design ethos, two of our Graduate Engineers, Sinead and Marta, also commented:

“I think Civic Engineers are improving lives through engineering by building better and more inspiring places for people. Focusing on sustainable engineering design, we help to create a built environment that is resilient for years to come.” Sinead Gilmore, Graduate Engineer

“Civic Engineers pay attention to the social context in which projects develop and make an effort to create buildings and spaces that make it the best possible experience for people.” Marta Drabek, Graduate Engineer

As our industry continues to raise awareness of the opportunities available in a career in engineering, some of our team have shared the parts of their work they find the most rewarding.

“The work we do is tangible; there’s a real satisfaction in being able to see the results of our hard work and the benefits it brings to our clients and society. There’s a lot of variety, it’s analytical, creative, collaborative, and can be incredibly rewarding. If you want a job where you can make a difference in the world – consider engineering.”  Hannah Keighley, Associate 

We hope that today you’re able to find a minute to reflect on the role engineering plays in shaping and influencing our society, and the many ways engineers make our lives better, every day.