I have been asked this question countless number of times, yet I seem to answer differently each time based on personal circumstance of the one asking the question. For Clients, its about procuring the support of our members, specialised consultants, whom are able to advise independently on our Client’s projects and help achieve commercial and technical goals. Be it to assess an asset they want to procure and turn around, or study the feasibility of developing a new one, we are there to make it work. 

Its because we value your time. We want to promote your knowledge to our Clients and make them realise an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We see how the engineer is often underpaid and undervalued, yet the engineer has to take full liability of a design. Why is it that legal, fiscal and commercial professions are generally accepted as expensive, yet its only an opinion and not a guarantee that is procured. We are here to be your agent and maximise the return on your bottom line in exchange for your knowledge and experience.

During the lock down of 2020, I attended the International Federation of Consulting Engineers’ (FIDIC) first online international infrastructure conference. The vice president of private sector, infrastructure and industrialisation, of the African Development Bank Group, Mr Solomon Quaynor so elegantly put it during the conference that now is “the time of the engineer”, which I believe echo’s the need to, especially during trying times, fuel innovation and the creativity of the human brain to build a sustainable future for all. And by sustainable I mean develop an environment that can sustain mankind’s existence in a healthy, happy, safe and environmentally friendly manner, indefinitely. This requires building infrastructure that can sustain us in this manner, looking into synergies between technologies, creating a hybrid economy and promoting education and the development of centres of excellence, both in design and construction.

Coming back to the title of this article, making it work, at home. Change starts in our home where we raise the future, set examples and support creativity. The global COVID pandemic gave us an opportunity to realign ourselves and find a new work-life balance. Companies have realised that responsible employees can be trusted working from home, switching to a more deliverable based environment, as its no longer about tracking hours between 9 to 5. This flexibility can create additional room to spend time with our kids at ad-hoc moments when this counts most, between our VC calls and dog walks. In addition to this flexibility, our clients are now open to contracting our consulting members remotely, living in another city or country, depending on the scope of work at hand. But its a benefit for both sides, clients have a broader reach to contract the best, and we get the flexibility to work remotely.

We at the Club of Engineers, want to support all engineers, by providing the back office support and tools required, while also creating the sense of belonging to the Club of Engineers, where we remotely support each other on our projects, sharing ideas, standards and fun. Some teams still will need to be mobilised to site when the time comes, but again with a purpose to construct, commission and operate a new facility, not fill empty seats in an office.

Let us engineers create a better world, let us help you make it work. From home, on site, at the client, or sometimes, at the office!