Engineering Reimagined

Just Imagine: what lies at the heart of a sustainable future? is an anthology of blogs about climate change and sustainability, viewed through the lens of L Frank Baum’s classic The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

Like Dorothy and her friends, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow, we are on a journey – in our case to a sustainable future where all humanity can find and enjoy a home for years to come.

Unfortunately, a simple click of the heels won’t get us there. We will have to deploy our best tools and technologies to safeguard a sustainable future and give our story a happy ending. Perhaps, most importantly, we will need what a Cowardly Lion, a Scarecrow and a Tin Man needed: courage, brains, and a big heart.

This collection of blogs reflects the diverse journeys and stories of different industries and sectors on the path to achieve a sustainable low carbon future. In a series of provocative stories, it explores what we have done, how far we have come, and what else we can do.

You can also download the ebook version here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have witnessed how science, technology, engineering, research and industry have come together to innovate in ways we could never have imagined.

The CSIRO – Australia’s national science research agency – is a leading example of how, when great minds, diverse skills and real-life challenges merge, innovative solutions can result. The organisation is currently working with government, universities, industry and the community on a program to bolster Australia’s COVID-19 recovery and build long term resilience.

This is just part of the CSIRO’s purpose to solve the greatest challenges using innovative science and technology – collaborating on a missions programme across six major focus areas: Food security and quality; health and wellbeing; resilient and valuable environments; sustainable energy and resources; future industries and a secure Australia and region.

In this episode, Aurecon’s Chief Executive Officer William Cox and CSIRO’s Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall discuss the importance of multi-sector collaboration and diversity to foster innovation and create real change in our society, or putting it another way, ‘making science real’.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than 50,000 people from across the world are set to visit Sydney in 2023, as the city becomes the first destination in the Southern Hemisphere to host WorldPride, the marquee international LGBTQI pride event.

Aside from all the glitter, floats and dancing, the festival will also host a Human Rights Conference, providing a platform for discussion and change around the many crimes and injustices still prevalent against the LGBTI community, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. 

While the movement for LGBTI equal rights has made significant progress in recent years, with same-sex marriage now legalised in many countries, the LGBTI community still faces discrimination and marginalisation. What impact does this have on workplaces and how can we better support this community, understanding the importance of embracing diversity to enable innovation?

Chief Operating Officer Andrew Muller talks to Kate Wickett, Interim CEO of Sydney WorldPride 2023, about how organisations can build an inclusive culture and its importance in industries like engineering. Kate also revealed how the team won the bid to host WorldPride and a few insights about what to look forward to at the 2023 event! 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Design has a powerful impact on our lives, from the smartphone we use to stay connected with friends and family to the bicycles that enables us to get from A to B. The COVID-19 pandemic, while being extraordinarily challenging, has inspired many designers to innovate and repurpose their production processes to meet demand for hand sanitisers, PPE and ventilators.

What lessons can we learn from this creativity to reimagine the manufacturing sector and drive economic growth?

There is mounting evidence that organisations that excel at design significantly outperform their industry peers financially. So should organisations embed design as a strategic tool within their business to improve performance or has the term design thinking done more harm than good?

In this episode, Aurecon’s Chief Design Officer John McGuire catches up with Dr Brandon Gien, CEO of Good Design Australia, to discuss the remarkable world of design as we celebrate Good Design Week.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how much we rely on essential workers. Whether working in a hospital or supermarket, they have been providing services non-stop while putting their own health at risk. It’s become apparent how vital public transport is in enabling our modern-day heroes to travel to and from work, but means operators also face the huge challenge of supporting the safety of employees and passengers and maintaining operation of the network.

However, with more people working remotely along with growing fears among the community of catching the infection, passenger numbers have dwindled for many metro systems. Active transport – on the other hand – is on the rise, with cycling surging in densely-populated cities like New York.

How can public transport operators rebuild customer confidence in using their services in a post-pandemic world, as cities move further towards integrated, multimodal transport systems? And what can we learn from cities where lockdowns have eased, to improve the public transport passenger experience?

To answer these questions, Aurecon’s Managing Director for Transportation in Australia & New Zealand Becky Wood talks to Metro Trains Melbourne’s General Manager for Passenger Experience Tilly Loughborough.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So many sectors around the world, including aviation, tourism, hospitality and retail have been hit extremely hard by COVID-19, leaving millions of people jobless. Fortunately, many engineers have quickly adapted to digital ways of working despite delayed or cancelled projects.

Given their skills in finding solutions to complex problems, will engineers be the new rock stars of our post pandemic world? Aurecon’s Chief Executive for Australia and New Zealand, Louise Adams, speaks with Trish White, Board Director of Engineers Australia, about the role they will play in global economic recovery and how they can pivot to different industries where their skills are required right now. 

Find us online at aurecongroup.com/podcast or email us at [email protected].

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As COVID-19 restrictions start to ease in many parts of the world, economic recovery plans are taking shape to stimulate jobs and growth. A recent Clean Energy Council report demonstrated how renewable energy could create an estimated 50,000 new jobs and inject approximately AUD 50 billion worth of investment in Australia, particularly in regional areas where projects would be located.

Whether it’s the Australian Outback or rural Southeast Asia, people in remote areas all over the world deserve affordable and reliable connectivity to survive and thrive, and it’s important that remote places aren’t left behind in the renewable energy transition.

Aurecon’s Harriet Floyd speaks to Clean Energy Council’s Director of Energy Transformation Lillian Patterson about the potential for economic recovery through investment in renewable energy, while Ekistica’s Lachlan McLeod shares the opportunities and challenges of delivering renewable energy projects to regional areas.

Find us online at aurecongroup.com/podcast or email us at [email protected].

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the COVID-19 pandemic peaked in Australia, Beyond Blue, an independent non-profit organisation working to address issues associated with depression, suicide, anxiety and other related mental disorders, witnessed their online forum activity reach an all-time high in its "coping during the coronavirus outbreak" chatroom.

In this episode of Engineering Reimagined, Aurecon’s Scott Powell talks to Beyond Blue Chief Executive Officer Georgie Harman about how we can support our own and each other’s mental health and wellbeing in the coming months.

Find us online at aurecongroup.com/podcast or email us at [email protected].

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special episode of Engineering Reimagined, Maria Rampa talks to Stephane Asselin, Aurecon’s Chief Executive for Asia, about his insights on the COVID-19 pandemic and what lies ahead for the region, and Mark Mauerberger, Aurecon’s Electrical Team Leader in Dubai, who shares his experience on what it’s like working on a live construction project during a period of lockdown.

Find us online at aurecongroup.com/podcast or email us at [email protected].

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this special episode of Engineering Reimagined, Maria Rampa talks to Louise Adams, Aurecon’s Chief Executive of Australia and New Zealand, on COVID-19’s impact on the engineering sector across both countries and the opportunities available to industry post the crisis. Engineering geologist and Aurecon’s Spatial Team Leader Camilla Gibbons also shares her insights on how lessons learned from the Christchurch earthquake could be helping to inform New Zealanders’ responses to the current crisis.

Find us online at aurecongroup.com/podcast or email us at [email protected].

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.