{"id":6148,"date":"2018-02-21T13:13:22","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T18:13:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/?p=6148"},"modified":"2018-02-21T13:37:53","modified_gmt":"2018-02-21T18:37:53","slug":"creating-next-generation-engineers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/creating-next-generation-engineers\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating the next generation of engineers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adapted from ArchTam\u2019s <\/em>Future of Infrastructure<\/em><\/a> report, Roma Agrawal<\/a>, one of our top talent structural engineers, and\u00a0Susan Dumond<\/a>, senior vice president of global talent management, lay out the areas in which engineers, and the wider industry, will need to upskill in order to deliver the infrastructure of today and tomorrow. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Technologies are transforming our lives and our world, impacting every type of infrastructure. The future demands smarter, more sustainable, resilient and innovative infrastructure solutions, and a new generation of talent to deliver them.<\/p>\n

The challenges are familiar \u2014 they include training an interdisciplinary workforce, unleashing their imagination and expertise to solve future problems, anticipating which innovations and technologies will be in the ascendant, attracting a more diverse and inclusive workforce, and working much harder to tell our extraordinary and inspiring stories.<\/p>\n

Most pressing for the industry is the issue of how to train, attract and retain the engineers needed to provide our smarter networks and systems. Over the next decade, we\u2019ll continue to see technologies disrupt the infrastructure sector in ways we can\u2019t even imagine now, creating new kinds of industries and jobs, as well as making others obsolete.<\/p>\n

So, how do we evolve?<\/p>\n

1\/ <\/strong>FIRE UP THE NEXT GENERATION<\/strong><\/p>\n

For 2030 engineers, the future is bright and exciting. In the coming years, these minds will reshape the world around us \u2014 radically transforming and improving the ways in which we live and work, using the latest innovations and technology.<\/p>\n

Although widely respected, engineering still isn\u2019t seen as the most open, interesting or accessible career choice by young people. As an industry, the story we tell about ourselves needs to change \u00ad\u2014 and fast. It needs to be human, impactful and, above all, authentic.<\/p>\n

Crucially, this story needs to be heard more widely, including through the mainstream media. We need engineering champions who serve as compelling spokespersons, showing the great impact engineers have on the world.<\/p>\n

2\/ SECURING A DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE WORKFORCE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our story matters. But so too do the people we have to tell it.<\/p>\n

The business benefits of having diverse and inclusive teams are clear and well documented. But despite initiatives to increase diversity within engineering, the global infrastructure sector\u2019s workforce remains largely male, middle-aged and white. We won\u2019t change this reality overnight, but we can push harder and think more radically to achieve progress faster.<\/p>\n

We need to start by challenging outdated assumptions that limit the ambitions of young people from more diverse backgrounds. We must also draw on new faces and voices \u2014 people who haven\u2019t necessarily been in the industry for decades, but who can speak with authority and authenticity, and engage those we\u2019re currently failing to reach.<\/p>\n

And if we want things to change, we can\u2019t shy away from discussing these issues openly, together \u2014 revealing and addressing the unconscious biases that prevent fundamental change.<\/p>\n

3\/ TRAIN FOR FUTURE INFRASTRUCTURE<\/strong><\/p>\n

On campuses across the world, there\u2019s a revolution taking place in engineering education. The aim is to replicate the professional environment and practical challenges modern engineers face in their every day careers, as closely as possible. This includes giving students more opportunities to work in multidisciplinary teams tackling real-world problems.<\/p>\n

More and more, organizations will also need to provide continuous learning \u2014 building cultures, platforms and spaces where people have the opportunity to develop, as well as potentially making learning a mandatory part of the work week.<\/p>\n

Building on this, both new and more established members of the profession can learn a huge amount from each other, and valuable initiatives such as reverse mentoring\u00a0can help make this a reality.<\/p>\n

4\/ USE WHAT MAKES YOU HUMAN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robots aren\u2019t just coming to a desk near you. They\u2019re already here. With more routine engineering tasks set to be automated, it poses the question, \u201cWhat will humans do?\u201d<\/p>\n

The answer isn\u2019t as bleak as you might think. In fact, rather than being sidelined by machines, we\u2019ll get to be even more of what we are \u2026 human. Our ability to empathize, communicate and collaborate<\/a> with each other will be vital to our future success.<\/p>\n

The future engineer will need to be equipped and ready to lead and work in multidisciplinary teams, reaching beyond borders.\u00a0Similarly, our organizations will need to be as agile as the work we deliver, with teams pulled together as projects demand. In response, our leadership and management practices will also become more fluid \u2014 evolving and changing with the development of each new project and team.<\/p>\n

5\/ REBOOT THE INDUSTRY TO CLOSE THE SKILLS GAP<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s always a gamble to predict what the workplace of the future might be. Nothing is certain with new technologies, industries and roles emerging all the time. But we do know some of the biggest, emerging trends set to reshape our working lives in the next 10 to 15 years.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re already living and working longer than ever before. As a result,\u00a0our industry will need to offer more dynamic, less linear career models \u2014 creating new, flexible routes for individuals to build new skills that can lead them to different projects, functions and disciplines, supply chains and sectors.<\/p>\n

A demographic shift is making our workplaces more multi-generational, with Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials in the workforce together for the first time. As such, we\u2019ll be balancing different ways of working that are ultimately influenced by technology and community.<\/p>\n

This more fluid working environment will require a new kind of manager \u2014 someone able to lead and support a team of people, all potentially working in different ways, at different times, in different places, to ensure the client\u2019s needs are met.<\/p>\n

Finally, as disciplines continue to converge, the future infrastructure industry will increasingly need to draw on the skills of engineers from other sectors. And, in this agile, smarter infrastructure world, we need our professional institutions to be more innovative, more vocal and more diverse drivers for change.<\/p>\n

For the full article and source material, visit:\u00a0<\/em>https:\/\/infrastructure.aecom.com\/infrastructure-skills<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adapted from ArchTam\u2019s Future of Infrastructure report, Roma Agrawal, one of our top talent structural engineers, and\u00a0Susan Dumond, senior vice president of global talent management, lay out the areas in which engineers, and the wider industry, will need to upskill in order to deliver the infrastructure of today and tomorrow. Technologies are transforming our lives […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":421,"featured_media":6149,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[231,2024,21,110,146],"yst_prominent_words":[925,3197,3190,3189,971,828,383,3193,3194,454,359,3192,367,452,3191,3188,457,659,483,3195],"class_list":["post-6148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-engineering","tag-inclusion-and-diversity","tag-infrastructure","tag-innovation","tag-technology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/421"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6148"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archtam.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=6148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}