Dr. Sauer & Partners’ MD, Brian Lyons, recently attended the NCE Future of Skills Roundtable. The event brought together some of the UK’s key clients, contractors and designers to assess what we as an industry can do to ensure we are prepared for the projects, digital environment and political landscape of the future.
The open discussion included a focus on education and professional development including a review of approaches in different countries across Europe. As we continue to evolve in the digital age, consideration was given to a new set of skills that will be required, and that this could mean a shift in the traditional Maths and Physics A-Level requirements for university intake as these may not meet the industry needs.
Additionally, there was an appreciation that in the increasingly multi-discipline environment in which we work, the development of soft skills in engineers of the future should be included in education. The recent ICE Skills Report was reviewed and suggestions that professional development should continue beyond Chartership were broadly supported around the table.
