Steven Lesser is an Associate Director at Arup.

Who do you work for and what is your role? I am an Associate Director at Arup, a global firm of designers, engineers, planners and business consultants. Arup's work is characterised by outstanding solutions, innovation and value. Arup has a vast pool of technical expertise across the world, enabling them to achieve the best possible results for our clients. I lead Arup's civil engineering team in the North West of England. This is a multi-disciplinary team of engineers, designers and scientists delivering projects in a variety of sectors across the North West and across the globe. The team includes a number of specialist three-dimensional modellers who create designs using state of the art interactive web and games-based software. I am also the Skills Leader for Arup's Site Development & Regeneration Network in Europe and the Middle East. This is a cross-sector skills network that connects a whole variety of professionals across Arup helping to share knowledge, experiences and values. 

What is a typical day for you? I don't think I have a typical day. My role can involve liaising with clients, designers and the public, managing major projects, solving complex problems, dealing with human resources issues, running training programmes and leading research and development initiatives. I could be in on a teleconference with a contractor in Korea in the morning, visiting a construction site in Liverpool in the afternoon and making a presentation over the web to a client in New York in the evening. Almost everyday brings a new problem to solve.

Why did you become a civil engineer? I love solving problems. I always had a natural aptitude for maths and science subjects at school but I was also interested in people and places. Geography was my favourite subject at school. Civil Engineering seemed like a great way to combine these interests.

What is your greatest achievement to date? The sea water canal forming the centre-piece of a new public park in New Songdo City in South Korea. This canal is approximately 2km in length and up to 130m wide. I led the team responsible for coming up with a concept for the canal and then producing designs that allowed the canal to be constructed. There are no design standards available for designing this type of canal so we had to go back to first principles to make it work. The obvious solutions for many of the design problems were environmentally unfriendly. The key challenge was to produce a solution that met the client's requirements in as sustainable way as practical. As well as civil engineers, the team included mechanical and electrical engineers, hydrologists, ecologists and environmental scientists and involved Arup staff from over ten different offices across four continents. At the time of answering this question, the canal is being filled; a satisfying culmination to four years of design work.

I have been involved with projects in over twenty countries across the world. My job has involved travel to Africa, North America, Asia and Continental Europe. Some example projects are a new town in Thailand, canals in Dubai and Singapore and a bus station in Hong Kong.

Are you actively involved with the ICE? I am a Supervising Civil Engineer for the Institution of Civil Engineers. This means that I am responsible for the training of a number of graduates and technicians aiming to achieve professional qualifications. I help to ensure they receive the necessary experience and provide mentorship and advice throughout their formal training periods.

What do you feel being a member of the ICE has given you? Membership of the ICE helps me to keep up to date with global and international news, events and information in construction and civil engineering through publications, meetings and the ICE website. I find the Institution’s services particularly useful in performing my role as Supervising Civil Engineer. I receive direct support from the Institution’s local representatives and am also provided with opportunities to liaise with, and learn from, other Supervising Civil Engineers in the North West.

Would you say that your ICE membership has helped you in the development of your career?  Being a Chartered Engineer has definitely helped me with the progression of my career at Arup where it is recognised as being a very important part of an individual’s professional development. Membership of the Institution is recognised internationally and this is particularly useful to demonstrate a level of professional competence when working on overseas projects.

What are your aspirations for the future? I believe that, over the 18 years that I have been practising as a civil engineer, the public perception of the value of civil engineers has increased, particularly as concerns over environmental issues and climate change have come to the fore. As we enter what has been termed as the ‘ecological age’, I believe our role will be even more important and I look forward to playing a small part in meeting the challenges of the future.