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Reby Media

Engineering Matters

A Technology , Arts and Design podcast

#125 in Technology · 🇿🇦 #174 in Technology · 🇮🇪
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About the show

Five times winner of the Publisher Podcast Awards, including Best Technology Podcast, Engineering Matters celebrates the work of engineers who use ingenuity, practicality, science, theory and determination to build a better world. In the UK alone 5.7million people work in engineering related enterprises from manufacturing and agriculture to construction and transportation. Their work ensures that the country has sustainable power supplies, better connectivity between cities, increasing efficiency in production processes; advanced manufacturing methods; and is embracing the digital transformations that include virtual modelling of our environment, and development of intelligent machines. Our episodes will examine the vital work of engineers using a mix of interviews, analysis and site visits.

Newest episodes

#379 The Cost of Time: Modern British Manufacturing

31 min

Manufacturing accounts for 8% of UK GDP directly. Counting its supply chains and the spending of the people it employs, that figure rises to 23%, according to a 2024 Oxford Economics study for the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA). Yet the sector pays some of the highest energy costs in Europe and relies heavily on imported materials. It also struggles to recruit, held back by an image that no longer matches the modern factory floor. At the same time, many workshops are sitting partly idle. Xometry’s 2027 Manufacturing Outlook report found that 37% of smaller manufacturers are carrying spare capacity, against 11% of larger ones. Meanwhile buyers still contend with slow quotation processes and fragile single-source supply chains. Engineering teams are shrinking, and the time lost to sourcing carries a cost that unit price alone does not show. In this episode, MTA president Stewart Lane describes the pressures on British manufacturing, including the wait for clarity on defence spending. Oscar Lovera of Xometry explains how on-demand manufacturing is filling idle capacity and helping engineers iterate faster, with quality checks that combine AI and people on the ground. Guests Stewart Lane, President, Manufacturing Technologies Association; Head of Business Development, EMEA, Renishaw Oscar Lovera, Chief Operating Officer, Xometry Resources To find out more about the Manufacturing Technologies Association, click here To read the 2024 report: The True Impact of British Manufacturing, click here To read the MACH 2026 survey on Sovereign Capacity and Industrial Strategy, click here To read Xometry’s Manufacturing Outlook report for EMEA in 2027, click here To see the Top Gear video showcasing British engineering, click here Partner Xometry is an AI-native marketplace and a suite of cloud-based services that are rapidly digitising the manufacturing industry. Xometry provides manufacturers with the critical resources they need to grow their businesse...

#378 Revisited: Designing Dinorwig – Inside Electric Mountain

43 min

In late 1973 the UK’s Central Electricity Generating Board gained parliamentary approval to build the largest and most difficult pumped storage hydroelectric power station in its history. It was the largest civil engineering contract ever awarded by the government and became the biggest construction project in Europe. Engineering teams had to burrow 750m deep into the Cambrian slate of Elidir Fawr mountain at Dinorwig, North Wales to create the underground power station and a 16km labyrinth of tunnels up to 10.5m in diameter linking upper and lower reservoirs.  It’s scale and complexity pushed the limits of design and construction with engineers developing state of the art practices for rock reinforcement and concrete design and pioneering new construction methods. As the station celebrates 40 years of operation and looks ahead to a bright future as a battery for renewable energy, we speak with the people that planned, designed and constructed electric mountain hearing stories that have never been told before. Guests Kin Almond, supervising civil engineer, James Williamson & Partners  John Armstrong, station manager Dinorwig and Ffestiniog, First Hydro James Arthur – senior engineer, James Williamson & Partners John Cowie – associate, James Williamson & Partners  Chris Roberts, commissioning engineer, Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) Dyfrig Roberts – assistant engineer, James Williamson & Partners Robin Thomas – civil engineering technician, James Williamson & Partners  Ian Waite – project surveyor, James Williamson & Partners  Musical recording of “Tydi a Roddaist” used with the permission of the Caernarfon male voice choir who performed in the excavated machine hall in 1979. Partner Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management and development consultancy focussed on improving society by considering social outcomes and relentlessly focussing on excellence and digital innovation. James Williamson & Partners became part of Mott MacDonald...

#377 German Offshore Wind and the Mudflats of the Wadden Sea

48 min

Germany needs 70GW of offshore wind power connected to its grid by 2045, part of an estimated 300GW total capacity by 2050 for all of the nations bordering the North Sea. To achieve that ambitious goal it needs to run power cables through the Wadden Sea, the world’s largest system of intertidal sands and mudflats. The area is difficult to work within due to its dynamic environment, sensitive habitats, and bird nesting locations contributing to its World Heritage site status. The North Sea itself is no picnic, and extensive surveys need to be carried out, and actioned, at a pace unthinkable without the use of cutting edge technology and clever programme management. Beyond the challenging offshore conditions, developers must navigate competing uses of sea, including shipping routes, military practice areas and other designated use areas. This work can be carried out throughout the year with special rigs, uncrewed surface vessels and remotely operated vehicles. The resulting data  is collated and analysed through cloud-based platforms and advanced AI tools to provide the optimal routes for power cables. The routes are refined and optimised as new survey information becomes available and additional sea-use constraints are introduced by the government and the market. In this episode Fugro, along with German grid operator TenneT, set out the challenges of working in the narrow German economic zone, as the industry races to meet these connection requirements ahead of a volatile geopolitical situation, and the hungry grid of Europe’s industrial powerhouse. Guests Dr Anja Drews, Lead – Lead Offshore Route Engineering, TenneT Mathias Drücker, Senior Advisor for Political Affairs, TenneT Tony Greig, Solution Owner – Offshore Power Cables, Fugro Connor Schulze, Business Operations Manager, Marine Cables and Hydrography, Fugro Resources For more information on Target Grid, TenneT’s vision for the electricity grid of 2045, click here For more information on the Wadden S...

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The newest 50 of 431 episodes

#379 The Cost of Time: Modern British Manufacturing

31 min

Manufacturing accounts for 8% of UK GDP directly. Counting its supply chains and the spending of the people it employs, that figure rises to 23%, according to a 2024 Oxford Economics study for the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA). Yet the sector pays some of the highest energy costs in Europe and relies heavily on imported materials. It also struggles to recruit, held back by an image that no longer matches the modern factory floor. At the same time, many workshops are sitting partly idle. Xometry’s 2027 Manufacturing Outlook report found that 37% of smaller manufacturers are carrying spare capacity, against 11% of larger ones. Meanwhile buyers still contend with slow quotation processes and fragile single-source supply chains. Engineering teams are shrinking, and the time lost to sourcing carries a cost that unit price alone does not show. In this episode, MTA president Stewart Lane describes the pressures on British manufacturing, including the wait for clarity on defence spending. Oscar Lovera of Xometry explains how on-demand manufacturing is filling idle capacity and helping engineers iterate faster, with quality checks that combine AI and people on the ground. Guests Stewart Lane, President, Manufacturing Technologies Association; Head of Business Development, EMEA, Renishaw Oscar Lovera, Chief Operating Officer, Xometry Resources To find out more about the Manufacturing Technologies Association, click here To read the 2024 report: The True Impact of British Manufacturing, click here To read the MACH 2026 survey on Sovereign Capacity and Industrial Strategy, click here To read Xometry’s Manufacturing Outlook report for EMEA in 2027, click here To see the Top Gear video showcasing British engineering, click here Partner Xometry is an AI-native marketplace and a suite of cloud-based services that are rapidly digitising the manufacturing industry. Xometry provides manufacturers with the critical resources they need to grow their businesse...

#378 Revisited: Designing Dinorwig – Inside Electric Mountain

43 min

In late 1973 the UK’s Central Electricity Generating Board gained parliamentary approval to build the largest and most difficult pumped storage hydroelectric power station in its history. It was the largest civil engineering contract ever awarded by the government and became the biggest construction project in Europe. Engineering teams had to burrow 750m deep into the Cambrian slate of Elidir Fawr mountain at Dinorwig, North Wales to create the underground power station and a 16km labyrinth of tunnels up to 10.5m in diameter linking upper and lower reservoirs.  It’s scale and complexity pushed the limits of design and construction with engineers developing state of the art practices for rock reinforcement and concrete design and pioneering new construction methods. As the station celebrates 40 years of operation and looks ahead to a bright future as a battery for renewable energy, we speak with the people that planned, designed and constructed electric mountain hearing stories that have never been told before. Guests Kin Almond, supervising civil engineer, James Williamson & Partners  John Armstrong, station manager Dinorwig and Ffestiniog, First Hydro James Arthur – senior engineer, James Williamson & Partners John Cowie – associate, James Williamson & Partners  Chris Roberts, commissioning engineer, Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) Dyfrig Roberts – assistant engineer, James Williamson & Partners Robin Thomas – civil engineering technician, James Williamson & Partners  Ian Waite – project surveyor, James Williamson & Partners  Musical recording of “Tydi a Roddaist” used with the permission of the Caernarfon male voice choir who performed in the excavated machine hall in 1979. Partner Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management and development consultancy focussed on improving society by considering social outcomes and relentlessly focussing on excellence and digital innovation. James Williamson & Partners became part of Mott MacDonald...

#377 German Offshore Wind and the Mudflats of the Wadden Sea

48 min

Germany needs 70GW of offshore wind power connected to its grid by 2045, part of an estimated 300GW total capacity by 2050 for all of the nations bordering the North Sea. To achieve that ambitious goal it needs to run power cables through the Wadden Sea, the world’s largest system of intertidal sands and mudflats. The area is difficult to work within due to its dynamic environment, sensitive habitats, and bird nesting locations contributing to its World Heritage site status. The North Sea itself is no picnic, and extensive surveys need to be carried out, and actioned, at a pace unthinkable without the use of cutting edge technology and clever programme management. Beyond the challenging offshore conditions, developers must navigate competing uses of sea, including shipping routes, military practice areas and other designated use areas. This work can be carried out throughout the year with special rigs, uncrewed surface vessels and remotely operated vehicles. The resulting data  is collated and analysed through cloud-based platforms and advanced AI tools to provide the optimal routes for power cables. The routes are refined and optimised as new survey information becomes available and additional sea-use constraints are introduced by the government and the market. In this episode Fugro, along with German grid operator TenneT, set out the challenges of working in the narrow German economic zone, as the industry races to meet these connection requirements ahead of a volatile geopolitical situation, and the hungry grid of Europe’s industrial powerhouse. Guests Dr Anja Drews, Lead – Lead Offshore Route Engineering, TenneT Mathias Drücker, Senior Advisor for Political Affairs, TenneT Tony Greig, Solution Owner – Offshore Power Cables, Fugro Connor Schulze, Business Operations Manager, Marine Cables and Hydrography, Fugro Resources For more information on Target Grid, TenneT’s vision for the electricity grid of 2045, click here For more information on the Wadden S...

#376 Sandy’s Left Turn: Building a Resilient Manhattan

38 min

In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy turned sharply west and drove a storm surge into New York Harbor. Lower Manhattan flooded, a substation failed leaving more than 220,000 people without power, and damage across the wider region reached $65–70 billion. Protecting the Lower East Side from the next storm means threading flood walls, berms and deployable gates through one of the densest parts of the city. Defences sit above generations of utilities: sewers, water mains, power and telecommunications infrastructure. Works also had to avoid separating communities, while ensuring access to city parks and the waterfront. Engineering capacity is stretched by modern demands, and extreme weather poses increasing risks. Engineers need new approaches that enable them to evaluate and test more options, more quickly and effectively than ever before. Artificial intelligence, digital twins, and open data approaches provide the tools to do just that. These technologies can reduce tasks such as floodgate analysis from 30 hours to just 30 minutes. Across the infrastructure lifecycle, digital advancements are boosting efficiency and improving outcomes, transforming once cost-prohibitive concepts into the resilient infrastructure systems that society depends on. Guests Roni Deitz, Global Director for Climate Adaptation, Arcadis Gregg Herrin, Vice President for Water, Bentley Systems Resources To read more about the East Side Coastal Resiliency project, click hereWatch the floodgates in action here Partner Around the world, infrastructure professionals rely on software from Bentley Systems to help them design, build, and operate better and more resilient infrastructure for transportation, water, energy, cities, and more. Founded in 1984 by engineers for engineers, Bentley is the partner of choice for engineering firms and owner-operators worldwide, with software that spans engineering disciplines, industry sectors, and all phases of the infrastructure lifecycle.

#375 Innovation Champion – Engineering Matters Awards

21 min

In this episode, we celebrate Showerkap, winner of the Innovation Champion category in the Engineering Matters Awards 2026. The final award of the series. Judged by representatives from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and Engineers Without Borders UK, the award recognises innovation across all of this year’s categories. Showerkap won gold for technology designed to reduce the water and energy wasted in showers. Its system uses sensors to monitor showers at fixture level, helping building operators understand water use and spot maintenance problems. Its patented valve technology can also encourage people to take shorter showers by gradually reducing the flow of water, rather than imposing a fixed limit. We learn about how the technology works and the role small changes in behaviour could play in tackling water waste. Guest Carly Hunt, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Board Member, Showerkap  

#374 Net Zero Champion – Engineering Matters Awards

23 min

In this Engineering Matters Awards episode, we celebrate the winner of the Net Zero Champion category, which recognises projects, processes, and tools that make a real contribution to reducing carbon emissions. The highest awards were to be given to those entries that demonstrate significant impact or widespread scope, or that overcome a specific challenge. Our gold-level award-winning entrant was Ceres Power for its solid oxide technology, which can generate electricity with high efficiency while avoiding the combustion and associated emissions of conventional power generation. We explore how Ceres’ technology could help meet rapidly growing electricity demand, including from data centres, while supporting the transition to a lower-carbon energy system. Guest Nick Lawrence, Chief Product Officer, Ceres Power Resources For McKinsey’s report, Global Energy Perspective 2025, click here  For more information about the Ceres Endura and more from Ceres Power, click here

#373 Lubricating the Lunar Frontier

26 min

Returning to the Moon is the next step, but staying there is the next leap. Abrasive and electrostatically-charged dust particles cling to every surface, and find their way into every mechanism, while a radiation-blasted lunar surface swings from 130°C in the sun to a brisk -173°C in the shade. To survive and thrive in the lunar wasteland, we will need habitat modules, power plants, autonomous rovers, drilling equipment and more: a fleet of machinery that needs to survive these hostile conditions. How we design these machines will be critical, how lubricants behave in extreme temperatures and hard vacuum is yet to be determined. But engineers are beginning to answer some of these questions. Guest Chris Lockett, Chief Technology Officer, Castrol Resources To watch the Drive Me to the Moon documentary, click here To listen to the Engineering Matters episode on in-situ space resource utilisation, click here

#372 Sustainability Champion – Engineering Matters Awards

15 min

In this Engineering Matters Awards episode, we celebrate the winner of the Sustainability Champion category, which recognises organisations driving groundbreaking innovation to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It promotes the conservation of natural resources, reduces waste and pollution, and supports social and economic stability. Our award-winning entrant is the Nuclear Manufacturing Group at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), whose team partnered with Cambridge Vacuum Engineering and Kairos Power to pioneer electron beam welding for Small Modular Reactor (SMR) vessels. Their breakthrough reduces vessel welding times from 500 hours down to just five hours, eliminates hundreds of kilograms of filler wire, and dramatically cuts manufacturing energy consumption and carbon emissions. Guest Charles Carpenter, Head of Research for the Nuclear Manufacturing Group, University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre Resources To read more about the project discussed in this episode, read the Kairos Power Report

#371 Revisited: Place is the Space for Growth

36 min

How should local and regional leaders encourage investment in their communities? Around the world, cities struggle with a legacy of industrial decline. In England, devolution of planning policy to mayoral combined authorities has allowed for regions like Greater Manchester to outpace national growth. But within regions, local areas can themselves fall behind, and require a joined up approach to planning and investment. When this episode was first recorded in September 2024, the focus was on how places can unlock investment by understanding their own histories, strengths and opportunities. Today, as the debate around Britain’s infrastructure ambitions intensifies, and the former Mayor of Greater Manchester looks increasingly likely to become the next Prime Minister, the intentions of the government in this area are worthy of speculation. The infrastructure industry is not waiting, an open letter from leading infrastructure and construction organisations, including the Association for Consultancy has called on the next government to prioritise long-term infrastructure delivery and provide greater certainty for investment. Could the principles of Manchester transfer to the nation at large? Will infrastructure be a priority for the incoming government? Can the required investment be funded? The engineering sector waits to see. Guests Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester Susan Hinchliffe, Council Leader, Bradford City Council Tim Newns, MD, Levelling Up, Office for Investment, UK Department for International Trade Richard Robinson, CEO, UK and Europe, AtkinsRéalis John Rayson, MD for Northern Transformation, AtkinsRéalis Resources For the open letter from the ACE to Andy Burnham, click here

#370 The Forgotten Arsenal of the Ocean: Clearing Dumped Munitions

39 min

At the end of the Second World War, millions of tonnes of unwanted explosives and weapons were disposed of at sea. For decades, these dumped munitions lay hidden beneath the waves as time and tide passed over them. Now 80 years past that mass-dumping, corrosion has begun to expose the explosive chemicals inside these weapons casings. Lead, mercury and TNT breakdown products have begun to be detected in fish stocks throughout the affected waters. At the same time, the growth of offshore infrastructure such as wind farms is increasing the need to understand and manage hazards on the seabed. But dumped munitions are not the same problem as unexploded ordnance (UXO). Instead of finding isolated dangerous objects, engineers face vast areas containing thousands of items, requiring new approaches to detection, removal, containment and disposal. This is a question of new technologies, new approaches, and still yet, convincing people of the scale of the problem. Guests Torsten Frey, post-doctoral researcher, Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel Peter Nieuwveld, Solution Owner UXO Risk Mitigation, Fugro Jennifer Yun, New Business Manager, Fugro Resources Sign up for the CAMMera & MMinE-SwEEPER Newsletter: http://bit.ly/3PDUcPj  Visit JPI Oceans Knowledge Portal for Munitions in the Sea: http://munitionsinthesea.eu/  Check out Munitions in the Sea Projects booklet: Munitions_booklet_October_2025.pdf Check out UNOC 2025 Munitions in the Sea Factsheets: https://tinyurl.com/2x35pwwu For the Engineering Matters episode on UXO mitigation, click here Photo credit: Lukas Schröder Partner Fugro is the world’s leading geo-data specialist, collecting and analysing comprehensive information about the Earth and the structures built upon it. Through integrated data acquisition, analysis and advice, Fugro unlocks insights from geo-data to help clients design, build and operate their assets in a safe, sustainable and efficient manner.

#369 Health & Safety Champion – Engineering Matters Awards

13 min

In this Engineering Matters Awards episode, we celebrate the winners of the Health & Safety Champion category, which recognises engineers who are changing how we protect people in some of the world’s most challenging environments. Engineering is often measured by what we build: the bridges, tunnels, infrastructure, and systems that shape our world. But true...

#368 Community Champion – Engineering Matters Awards

18 min

This episode is part of the Engineering Matters Awards series, recognising individuals and organisations making an outstanding contribution to the engineering profession and wider society. Engineering is often judged by technical achievements: better products, more efficient processes, and breakthrough innovations. But some of the industry’s most meaningful contributions happen beyond the core aims of the...

#367 Nature Based Solutions: The End of Grey Engineering

36 min

For decades, infrastructure design has relied on ‘grey’ engineering: concrete flood walls, steel structures and rigid systems designed to control the environment. But with climate pressures intensifying, engineers are increasingly looking to work with nature rather than against it. This episode looks at the growing role of nature-based solutions in building climate-resilient infrastructure that can...

#366 Diversity & Inclusion Champion – Engineering Matters Awards

30 min

In this special Engineering Matters Awards episode, we celebrate excellence across the industry, highlighting our Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners in the Diversity & Inclusion Champion category.  Engineering suffers from a ‘leaky pipe’ problem, where a great many potential professionals count themselves out of a career long before university. It is a problem that has...

#365 Making a Success in British Construction

15 min

Greg Wilkes has seen the highs and lows of running a small business in the UK construction sector. From being talked into staying with his apprenticeship by his father as a young carpenter, to success, failed partnerships, and success again, he began to make it a point to note down everything he did that worked,...

#364b Environment Champion – Engineering Matters Awards gold winner

32 min

In this episode, we tell the story of MERMAID from the Wildlife Conservation Society, this year’s Engineering Matters Awards Environment Gold Champion. Emily Darling, director for coral reef conservation at WCS, describes why scientists need better ways of sharing coral data, and how MERMAID helps them do so. Rita Bento, a researcher at NYU Abu...

#364a Environment Champion – Engineering Matters Awards shortlist

41 min

Around the world, engineers are working to protect the environment. In this episode, we introduce eight companies who are taking steps to safeguard the natural world. All have been shortlisted for the Engineering Matters Awards. The first three shortlisted entries look at ways of understanding the natural world. Petra Ringeltaube explains how RWE’s SeaMi is...

#363 Uncrewed Vessels and Unprecedented Data

36 min

In its seventh Allocation Round the UK executed the largest offshore wind auction in European history, putting pen to paper on 8.4GW of new capacity, enough to power 10 million homes. Allocation Round 8 is expected to be even more ambitious, as the UK looks to upgrade its radar systems to enable a 10GW installation,...

#362 Revisited: Skyscrapers, Predicting The Future

44 min

The London skyline is undergoing perhaps its most significant transformation in decades as a new ‘vertical renaissance’ is sending tremors of excitement from Guildhall to Mansion House. The City of London Corporation says that over half a million square metres of office space was granted planning permission in the City in 2025, equivalent to more...

#361 Revisited: Space – The Robotic Age

28 min

Humanity’s furthest ever journey into space has been delayed. Again. An interruption to the flow of helium forced NASA to scrap the revised 6 March launch date of the Artemis II mission, and begin the slow process to roll the increasingly unfortunate rocket back to the vehicle assembly bay. While the delays are frustrating for...

#360 Systems Change: Thinking in Patterns

31 min

Systems thinking allows engineers to understand complex systems and the second-, third-, and nth-order effects of their interventions. It avoids the accidental creation of new problems when solving a first, and allows for the identification of effective leverage points for more impactful, sustainable change. The world, the built environment and our infrastructure all have patterns...

#359k Transit-Oriented Communities in Toronto

12 min

Around the world, urban planners are seeking to deliver urban growth and increase access to city centres through the development of transit-oriented communities. These combine new publicly-backed transport infrastructure, with privately-financed residential and commercial development. It’s a route to more sustainable cities, but it involves careful navigation of budgetary constraints and the needs of existing...

#359j – Modern Vernacular in Saudi Arabia

12 min

In the 1970s, Saudi Arabia, buoyed by a surge in oil prices, embarked on an ambitious building programme. The country moved rapidly to develop its cities and infrastructure. However, Prince Salman, then the governor of Riyadh, now the country’s King, saw that this was resulting in cities that were unmoored from their local context. This...

#359i Stone as Structure

15 min

For facade specialists, stone is highly prized for its performance and character. The right choice of stone can anchor a building in its local context, or make a striking statement. While stone has fallen out of use, modern approaches mean that it could now be used in the same standardised ways as steel, concrete and...

#359h Sustainability in Paris

10 min

Sustainability experts often use a hierarchy to help their thinking about interventions. The best way to limit your impact is to do nothing at all. If that’s not possible, then use as few materials as you can. And finally, if extensive work must be conducted, then replace more carbon-intensive materials with those with less impacts....

#359g An Intergenerational Approach to Sustainability

12 min

Lifecycle carbon assessment – the process of monitoring the total carbon footprint of a structure from the first spade in the ground to demolition – sits at the confluence of engineering and sustainability. As we adapt our processes and understanding of the built environment, LCA is a critical measure to guide our decision making. The...

#359f Sustainability and Adaptation in East London

12 min

Retrofitting is an instrumental step in reducing the carbon footprint of a city’s building stock. It also extends the life of a building and has a lower environmental impact than demolishing inefficient properties and building anew. Even a new development, such as the East Village in Stratford London, although just 12 years old, is still...

#359e A Better View of Stadium Design

10 min

When you are designing a stadium for the World Cup, or any major sport, it’s vital to have a fan’s-eye view. For more than a century, the architects tasked with designing stadiums have used the C-value, developed by Victorian theatre designer John Russel. But this value just measures the view in one direction, towards the...

#359d A Digital Path to Nuclear’s New Generation

12 min

Nuclear power promises to provide energy when other sources can’t. But nuclear plants currently take a long time to build—often more than a decade. Anthony Burch, digital manager, Egis, and his colleagues, are working on the key components of Hinkley Point C in England. These form the so-called ‘nuclear island’—the reactor building and four associated...

#359c A Fusion of Minds at ITER

12 min

At ITER, in France, scientists and engineers from around the world are working together to develop nuclear fusion at power plant scale. The project could one day lead to a world of truly abundant green energy.  In this episode, Caroline Dixon explains some of the logistical challenges of working on a project that is perhaps...

#359b Water, Energy and the Environment in the Middle East

11 min

There is a changing view of the environment among public sector clients in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia has ambitious goals like generating 50% of electricity from renewables by 2030, the UAE has targets such as diverting 80 percent of its waste from landfill by by 2031, and Qatar is moving towards 100% treated wastewater...

#359a Australia’s Most Flooded Town

13 min

Lismore sits at the confluence of two rivers in New South Wales. Covering more than 1,300 square kilometres, it is home to more than 44,000 people. In 2022, it was hit by a huge flood, the highest on record, followed by a smaller, though still devastating, second flood. Five lives were lost in the disasters,...

#359 Intro – A Sustainable and Resilient World

12 min

Society needs to consider the impact of climate change on our cities because it is no longer a future challenge; it is a present reality. Cities with their concentrated populations, infrastructure and supply challenges are uniquely vulnerable to climate-related shocks, exposed to risks such as floods, heatwaves, water scarcity and any disruption to their systems....

#358 Experts in Risk

25 min

Residents of tall buildings can face significant risks in the event of fire or structural failure. At Grenfell Tower in the UK, a fire in a resident’s kitchen spread rapidly around the building, due to failures in the testing and installation of cladding materials, and leading to widespread loss of life.  The inquiry into the...

#357c Well-Grounded Decisions: Construction and Operations

34 min

A wise asset owner builds on solid ground. Unless ground risks are clearly identified, projects can easily be delayed or delivered over budget. Some risks may not even be fully understood until an asset begins operations. In this final episode of three on ground risks and the asset life cycle, Karim Khalaf explains how one...

#357b Well-Grounded Decisions: Design Development

25 min

Without a clear understanding of ground conditions, unquantified risk can be transferred from project owner to lead contractors when a contract is signed. In the first episode of this three part series, we explored how geophysical screening, using non-intrusive methods, can be used to reduce uncertainty in site selection and provide clarity on construction costs...

#357a Well-Grounded Decisions: Site Selection

31 min

On any project, uncertainty creates risk. Decisions that are made without a good understanding of site conditions can result in overengineering or threats to safety. Delivery may be delayed, and unexpected costs incurred. To avoid these risks, project owners and other stakeholders should question their assumptions and get real, actionable insights throughout the project lifecycle....

#356 Making Space for Wastewater Treatment

29 min

Wastewater treatment is an overlooked lifesaver. While the medical advances of the last 100 years—penicillin, chemotherapy, and, more recently, mRNA vaccines—have transformed healthcare, keeping our water supplies free from pathogens like cholera and dysentery, has saved many more lives. The systems developed to treat wastewater are so successful that we can afford to flush and...

#355 The Real Value of Nature

33 min

Green-grey engineering combines nature-based solutions with traditional civil engineering. It can be used in flood protection, with mangroves acting as a first line of defense rather than relying wholly on seawalls or earthen berms. As parts of the world face dual threats of flood and drought, the same systems can incorporate drainage and water collection....

#354 AI in Infrastructure: Adoption and Guardrails

30 min

The infrastructure sector is adopting AI with enthusiasm. A new whitepaper from Bentley Systems, Pinsent Masons, Turner & Townsend, and Mott MacDonald, The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Built Environment, surveyed the sector, and found the 48% of the infrastructure companies they spoke to were trialling AI, or had already implemented it. But only...

#353 Carbon Assessment in a Time of Housebuilding

28 min

This week, the UK House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, or EAC, released a report on environmental sustainability and housing growth. The UK government is striving to meet a target of building one and a half million new homes, and has raised concerns about the risk that environmental objections could delay their construction. But, the...

#352 Health Monitoring for Offshore Wind 

31 min

From blood pressure monitors and smart watches, to MRIs and step counters, many of us make tracking health metrics part of our daily routine. Armed with data, we can take steps to extend our lives. And this approach can also be used to extend the life of key components of our energy infrastructure. The offshore...

#351 Rough Seas and Reliable Defence Partnerships

34 min

Around the world, climate change and shifting alliances are opening up new theatres of geopolitical competition. In the Arctic, Canada must be ready to patrol a new coastline; in the Pacific, Australia faces increased tension with China.  Naval defence will be a key component of these nations’ security planning. But the so-called ‘exquisite’ capabilities of...

#350 Living in Space: The Next Generation of Astronauts

33 min

Dr Meganne Christian is a scientist and adventurer. In her research, she has studied the performance of novel materials including the use of nanoscale metals for hydrogen storage, and the use of graphene across a diverse range of applications. But her career has taken her far from the traditional university lab. In 2018-2019, Meganne was...

#349 Never Again: Embedding Safety in Engineering

30 min

The tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in west London demanded new ways of thinking about professionalism and ethics in the engineering sector. However, since that awful night in 2017, which saw the loss of 72 lives, fatal incidents and near misses have continued to happen: in Genoa, in Toddbrook, in Miami, and on many more...

#348 Modelling Distributed Energy Storage

25 min

In Europe, and around the world, renewable electricity generation is being built at pace. However, these sources of energy create a new challenge: they are intermittent, and will not generate power on dark, windless days. One solution to the challenge is to install grid scale storage. If you’re building an offshore wind farm, with a...

#347 Revisited: The Pipeline to Net Zero

42 min

Last week, at the end of September 2025, a study by Regen, commissioned by the MCS Foundation, found that biomethane had a limited capacity to replace natural gas in the UK’s domestic heating. The study emphasised the importance of focusing on electricity and heat pumps to keep our homes warm. This means that much of...

#346 Scaling Carbon-Free Cement

33 min

It’s a simple fact of chemistry that cement cannot be produced, without also producing carbon dioxide. But this does not mean that the sector—and its clients in the construction industry—cannot decarbonise. The equally simple solution is just to capture and store the carbon dioxide, before it can enter the atmosphere. The challenge is how to...

#345 Pinpoint Precision in Space Positioning

39 min

When launching a satellite into orbit, getting the positioning right is of paramount importance. As humanity sends more satellites into space, the vast space above our heads has become hazardously busy. State-of-the-art positioning technology has helped to counter this problem, with existing systems able to track the location of satellites to an accuracy of metres....

#344 Networks Under Water: Transport, Flooding and Resilience

31 min

When flooding happens, damage and disruption ripples out across assets and infrastructure. Private businesses and homeowners can insure themselves against direct damages to buildings. But the impacts on the local economy go much further: debris can block transport networks, causing businesses to fail and reducing tax revenues, at a time when increased local government spending...

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