Jane Wright

We asked Jane…

Could you share some defining moments of your professional journey with us?

My proudest achievement remains teaching 30 project engineers how to produce whole life carbon assessments in 2021. This was to generate the first carbon baseline for a live TfL major programme, the Piccadilly Line Upgrade. 

That was the start of a multi-year (and ongoing) journey driving a cultural and process change at TfL to make carbon – and now environment – business as usual in TfL infrastructure delivery and asset management. 

Recognition of the value of my contributions to the business helped catalyse the creation of TfL's environment and sustainability engineering team.

The team has grown to over 15 engineers (including a brand new graduate scheme) in two and a half years. 

I'm proud to be helping shape a team that thrives off of the enthusiasm and ideas of young and diverse engineering talent, and is defining what is an emerging new engineering discipline. 

Other highlights include:

• a secondment as an infrastructure carbon advisor at the Department for Transport, UK government
• volunteering with the former ICE Decarbonisation Community Advisory Board
• collaborating for 18 months with peers from the Environment Agency, HS2 and across the Infrastructure Client Group (ICG) to create the ICG Concrete Carbon Commitments

Which skills do you think helped you the most in your Fellowship journey?

I think my genuine excitement about the intellectual challenge, problem solving and meaning that comes from working across sustainable design has helped me hugely in my career.

My colleagues and peers see my genuine interest and commitment to achieving sustainable outcomes and that helps them buy into the journey, too. 

It may seem 'non-technical' from the outside, my environment and sustainability engineering team and I are working with no standards or set processes every day.

Everything we do is constant problem solving:

• designing brand new processes
• testing new ideas and technologies on projects
• creating new environment standards
• continuous improvement of tools 

It's constant problem solving – pure engineering!

What does achieving Fellowship mean to you?

Fellowship is recognition of my technical expertise and contributions to making carbon management part of business as usual for civil engineers.

I'm proud to have played a part in the evolution of our centuries-old profession and help put our natural world at the heart of our work.

My being elected a Fellow is evidence that civil engineering is for everyone. It shows that we're members of a professional institution that is willing to embrace new ideas from anyone in the industry and that values the voices of young engineers.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I love using my hands to draw and paint, and I love a long-distance walk! 

If AI manages to solve all our sustainability problems and take over civil engineering, I'll happily retrain as an ecologist or park ranger...

Education and career

• Master of engineering degree, University of Cambridge
• Hybrid and electric vehicle energy management intern, Jaguar Land Rover
• Electrification systems integration intern, Jaguar Land Rover
• Transport planning data analyst intern, Arup
• Graduate engineer - systems engineering, progressing to senior engineering leader - environment and sustainability engineering, Transport for London