It was great to be at the British Tunnelling Society Conference in the last two days, involved in quite interesting discussions, and attending illuminating talks.
The Tuen Mun – Chek Lap Kok Tunnel presentation has particularly drawn my interest, as it delivered a showcase project of genuine innovations in tunnel construction. Also, I appreciated Mike King’s stimulating address on the importance of work safety as part of Crossrail’s knowledge legacy. Finally, I was really glad to see the first comprehensive presentation on the CRL Farringdon Station tunnel works, where many dear friends and colleagues have put enormous effort and enthusiasm in the past few years.

Inspired by John Carroll’s intervention in the debate session, I would like to accentuate the societal impact of our work as civil engineers. We should understand and communicate this aspect of our professional existence, step out of our drawings and numbers for an instance, and look at the tremendous contribution of our end product – infrastructure – toward a better and safer life, more sustainable societies, more collaboration, more and more equal opportunities, and the preservation of our natural and built landscape.

There has also been discussion on the education of young engineers and whether it is relevant to practice. Notably, there are several industry professionals attending university classes and young-professionals’ workshops to share some of their experiences as guest lecturers (proud to be one of them), and my view is that we should try to invest more of our – often spare – time in sharing our experiences with the generations to follow. The involvement of the industry and the academy with each other carries, as it always did, a great potential to enhance the practical understanding and industry-preparedness of graduating engineers.