How do feminine-coded skills and thinking ahead transform the outcomes of major projects?  Marilyn Spink uses her experience, expertise, and eloquence to explore this and so much more in this episode of Master Builders. Approaching engineering as a practical force that materially improves how people live has driven Marilyn’s professional ventures for much of her impressive career. She’s a metallurgical and materials engineer whose career has spanned a wide range of industries. Today, she serves as Executive Director of the Canadian Critical Minerals and Materials Alliance. 

Marilyn turns a candid lens on why projects succeed or go sideways, citing delivery and procurement norms she has seen in Canada and around the world. Proudly independent of public oversight, she is unafraid to call out familiar failures. Her thoughtful explanations of why projects fail and how they could avoid pitfalls make a future of prosperous critical minerals projects in Canada feel attainable. 

Marilyn and hosts Shormilla and Riccardo discuss how long-term planning and accountability, as well as procurement approaches that consider more than just the lowest bid, make for stronger builds. They examine the need to balance social and environmental considerations with revenue generation. Throughout the conversation, Marilyn shares hard-won insights about advocacy and how the socially conditioned skill sets of women and other underrepresented groups will change the engineering industry as cultures of inclusivity continue to grow.

Key takeaways

• The skills and approaches required to make a project actually work in the long term;
• The meaningful impacts that engineering projects can have on communities;
• Using beer and food metaphors to highlight the opportunities of midstream minerals processing;
• The benefits of using a qualification-based selection to identify the best choice during procurement;
• Why unrealistic budgets and schedules undermine due diligence and set projects up to “fix” problems later.

Quote:

• “You can make money, but you can also do things that are responsible from an environmental and social perspective.” - Marilyn Spink

The conversation doesn’t stop here—connect and converse with our community via LinkedIn:

• Follow Navigating Major Programmes: https://www.linkedin.com/company/navigating-major-programmes/ 
• Read Riccardo’s latest at www.riccardocosentino.com 
• Follow Shormila Chatterjee: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shormilac/ 
• Follow Riccardo Cosentino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cosentinoriccardo/ 
• Follow Marilyn Spink: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marilyndspink/