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Kenneth Severn Award thestructuralengineer.org

Kenneth Severn Award 2018

What will structural
engineering practice Radu-Valentin Trancau
BEng(Hons)
Structural Engineer, CCL (GB) LTD

look like in 10–15 years’ Synopsis

The Institution of Structural

time and how can our Engineers’ Kenneth Severn Award

is an annual essay competition
for young engineers in which the

professional community question is set by the President.

In this essay, 2018 winner Radu
Trancau looks ahead to a rosy future

help us prepare for this? and considers what steps structural

engineers must take to get there.

FOREWORD

Faith Wainwright Paul Jackson

MBE, FREng, DEng (Hon), FIStructE, FICE PhD, BSc(Eng), CEng, FIStructE, MICE
2018 President of The Institution of Structural Engineers Chair of the Papers Awards Judging Panel

As an industry, we know that there The general standard of entries this

are many global challenges which year was high and seems to me to have
mean that how we typically practise substantially and progressively improved
as engineers now is definitely not since I was first a judge. The winners have
how we will be practising in years to always been good, but the first year I was
come. This is the case whether your involved we had to identify the winner from
interest is in social or demographic some 30 entries, which was easy and we
changes, or in digital change – from had unanimity among the panel. This year,
machine learning and artificial we had more entries (over 40) and the
intelligence to blockchain technology judging was much more difficult: the winner
and how we work in a data-first was not at all obvious even when the
environment. These challenges are judges’ marks were in and there was much
now coming at us thick and fast, and discussion in the panel. We had many good
we must be as forward-thinking as entries, with several considered worthy of
possible if we are to do more than an award, and there was a split decision,
simply react. leading to the award of the commendation.
We have an unprecedented opportunity to be able to shape our future The award is unique among those we
roles as engineers, and it matters – especially in the built environment, which on the Paper Awards Judging Panel judge
fundamentally affects quality of life and sustainability on this planet. We must in that it is not a technical paper. The
be future seekers, wanting to bring our best thinking to what we need to do as winner took advantage of this to use a
individuals, as firms, as communities of practice and as an industry, to better novel presentation which many of us found
meet society’s needs. refreshing and we hope readers will too.
This year one of my presidential themes is to encourage members to ‘lead
to inspire’. I believe that leadership can be given by people at any career stage
and it is our profession’s collective responsibility to help shape the future by KENNETH SEVERN AWARD 2018
always looking ahead, thinking about the challenges and how we turn them to Winner: Radu-Valentin Trancau
opportunities. As you read the winning essay selected by the judging panel, Commendation: Michael Minehane
why not use this as a prompt to debate this question with your own colleagues?

10 September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer

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thestructuralengineer.org
GETTY
 Figure 1
In the future, projects will be discussed
at holo-meetings
It’s almost nine o’clock in the morning and I’m
getting ready to start my guided tour inside
one of the well-established engineering
practices of the year 2030. I arrived on the
driverless electrical train, I’ve registered my
visit by using a retina scan signature and
a little robot has brewed me a nice coffee.
From the reception area I can see the entire
floorplan of this practice. There are small
rooms for hologram meetings, big meeting
rooms with structural glass walls that can be
dimmed when the meeting room is busy, and
many leisure rooms with ergonomic seating
facilities. A lot of people have already started
to come to work and meet up to discuss the
day’s plans.
09:00: Meeting the project information
managers
As it’s the beginning of the day, the
information managers and consultants are
getting together to set up the plan for the
upcoming phase of the project. I am invited to
join their morning briefing in one of the holo-
meeting rooms (Figure 1). I am sitting next
to the project engineers and we all wear our
hologram glasses (this reminds me of an old
movie called ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’).
The attendees are starting to appear one next
to the other with their names, disciplines and
locations above their heads.
The project appears in the middle of the
room with a full three-dimensional (3D)
TSE80_10-12_Kenneth Severn award.indd 11
perspective. It is one of the floating cities
(Figure 2) being constructed in the Indian
Ocean. I’m so lucky to attend this meeting. I’ve
always wanted to get an insight into one of
these wonders of engineering.
In turn, each discipline’s representative
leans over the federated model, pinches the
hologram to zoom in on a specific area and
writes down a task or draws a sketch to be
passed on to the task teams. Once a task has
been discussed and approved, the task team
are alerted and they all start working on their
piece. I can even see how, from our side of
the project, a shear wall is being modelled and
reinforced. Everything is happening right now,
live on the 3D hologram.
All the meeting attendees discuss the
progress of the project and how to optimise
the tasks and implementation into the
federated model. It is amazing to see how
quickly people get around from all over the
world and collaborate in such a clean and
fast environment to deliver a project. I have
been impressed by how these cutting-edge
technologies and holo-meetings manage to
save time, optimise the entire workflow and
lead to great satisfaction for everybody.
11:00: Meeting the task teams
I have been assigned to shadow one of the
structural engineers responsible for designing
a high-rise residential building in one of the
central parts of the floating city. His task, as
assigned by the information managers for the
upcoming phase, is to design the foundation.
He has all the details of the building inserted
TheStructuralEngineer | September 2018
Feature
Kenneth Severn Award
"EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING
RIGHT NOW, LIVE ON THE 3D
HOLOGRAM"
into calculation software straight from the
federated model, which gives him the optimum
solution in terms of material consumption. He
says that the embedded CO2 of the building
is within the limits, but that it can be improved.
He decides to allocate the detailing to one
of his colleagues in another partner office
before investigating a method to reduce the
embedded CO2. Holo-goggles time again.
We meet the team’s detailing task force.
After a short chat about future holiday plans,
the brief for the task is clarified using the 3D
model, with sketches and notations made
straight on the 3D foundation of the building.
The communication is flawless, saves time
and builds a strong working relationship
between all the team members. I really do
like these glasses. Maybe I can borrow some
to get in touch with all the friends I’ve made
so far today. The next step: the engineer
invites me to the department of research and
sustainability where he is planning to outline
his concern.
12:00: Meeting the research team
The research team is made up of the most
senior structural engineers who perform
simulations about every topic that needs to
be looked at in detail. The engineer’s request
is to reduce the embedded CO2 of the
foundation. After receiving all the details, the
research team introduces the input data into
some super-fast analysis computers that are
running simulations to see which is the best
concrete mix, how the steel composition can
be adjusted and what the optimum shapes
and sizes are. It’s going to be a long process,
but by tomorrow morning the results will
be produced and interpreted by the senior
engineers and the project will in this way be
optimised even from the early stage of design.
Engineering has seen very fast
development in the last decade in relation to
materials and optimised shapes, all due to
the development of technology. We now have
elegant shapes with a minimal impact on the
environment thanks to all the research teams
and mathematical simulations that are being
run throughout the ‘cradle-to-grave’ life of
cutting-edge projects.
15:00: Meeting the graduates
My lunch break, followed by an hour of social
activities, has been very welcome. I’ve met
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 Feature
Kenneth Severn Award
VINCENT CALLEBAUT ARCHITECTURES
a group of fresh graduates while wandering
around the office and I’ve decided to sit down
with them and ask them their opinions about
structural engineering. They say they are very
happy to continue their careers in structural
engineering. They are not strangers among
the company employees, as they were actively
involved in the practical learning process
within the industry and some of their university
mentors are even their colleagues now.
They say that the need to find alternatives
to the climate and social challenges that
started almost two decades ago has inspired
their whole generation towards all branches
of engineering and the built environment.
They have been part of a reformed way of
learning in university. Education was combined
with practice and with active roles inside
companies starting from Year 1. Now they are
working to share their experience and they
are encouraging the following generations to
follow the same path. There was too little time
to find out more, as they had to attend the
initial meeting for the timber residential project
due to start next week.
16:00: Time for conclusions
The experience I had in the year 2030 has
been amazing. I have seen how fast-paced
12
TSE80_10-12_Kenneth Severn award.indd 12
a structural engineering practice is; how
collaborative and how people are mentored
and encouraged to follow engineering right
from their studies.
I have seen how technology has evolved: it
evolved naturally, but how people learned to
use it to shape the future and to forge new
ideas is something that was taught. It was a
collaborative process that happened around
the world, connecting cultures and sharing
knowledge. It was a call for action that led
people to join together and fight challenges
such as climate change, housing problems,
poverty and pollution.
What can the professionals of 2018 do to
achieve such a work environment? There are
many answers to this question, but I believe
they can all be condensed into three broad
categories:
Collaboration
We must come together under this profession.
We must help each other as professionals. We
need to act now and to mentor the younger
generations. Part of our work programme
should be directed towards inspiring and
attracting new members to our profession.
A failure to help each other, not sharing
knowledge with each other and not realising
that the biggest challenge of 2018 for
structural engineering is the shortage of
young people who choose engineering must
be the concerns that spark a big change
among the engineering community. In the
words of Lindsley Ruth, ‘We have to start with
promoting technology and engineering as an
exciting and rewarding career to school-aged
children’1.
Bridging the gap between cultures
There are so many different structural
September 2018 | TheStructuralEngineer
thestructuralengineer.org
 Figure 2
Lilypad project
by Vincent Callebaut
Architectures Paris
engineering environments that have emerged
in parallel with regional architecture. I’m
referring to Asian architecture and structural
engineering, the Middle East with its record-
breaking shapes and sizes, European
architecture and with its long history of
structural engineering, and so on. The answer
is to bring people together from different
structural engineering environments, to share
ideas and concepts, and to bridge cultures.
We are problem-solvers. We are shaping
this planet’s future. For that we must come
together.
Tailoring the education system
It is no secret that the education system has
changed little or not at all in recent decades.
There is a need for a more modern way of
educating engineers. More bridges should
be built between industry and academia. We
professionals are responsible for this action
and for making sure we contribute to it. The
temporal bracket ‘10–15 years’ is not that far
away. We should look towards tackling these
challenges today, as tomorrow may be too late.
HAVE YOUR SAY
To comment on this article:
Eemail Verulam at tse@istructe.org
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REFERENCE
E 1) Ruth L. (2017) ‘Engineering skills
shortage: overcoming the fear and
uncertainty’, The Engineer [Online]
Available at: www.theengineer.co.uk/
engineering-skills-shortage-overcoming-
the-fear-and-uncertainty/ (Accessed:
August 2018)
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