Steve Burrows CBE

We asked Steve…

A day in my life

I don’t distinguish weekdays or weekends and so each day I decide what I'm going to do based on what I feel energised to do.

There are several components to this, exercise (swim, golf, gym), learning (webinars, reading research papers, listening) or production (designing, writing, innovating).

The ratio changes but the components are consistent.

I also travel 4-5 months a year, but the components of my day travel with me.

Complete this phrase: I’m a civil engineer, but I’m also...

I'm an engineer who is a husband, friend, father and grandad. These things are not 'as well as', they are 'because of'.

Engineering builds character.

Name one civil or infrastructure engineering myth you’d like to bust.

You cannot see the Great Wall of China from space.

How does your role contribute to addressing climate change?

Humans have only existed between ice ages in a world in which the climate has been constantly changing.

We can impact the rate of change, but we cannot stop it.

Therefore, opportunities exist in mitigation and adaption which is where I seek to have impact, focused on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need in which food, water and shelter are foundational.

How does your role contribute to making the industry more diverse and inclusive?

By promoting the profession through movies like Dream Big.

What role does digital technology play in your job?

It's impossible not to be impacted by digital transformation.

I use digital tools to reduce routine tasks to zero but also to find new ways to innovate and deploy.

Anyone can now write code with AI and should do so.

Engineers will look back in 10 years and be amazed by how far they’ve come.

What motivated you to become professionally qualified?

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Professional qualification is a measure of competence and once achieved you can manage your career.

What does being professionally qualified with the ICE mean for your career?

Being an ICE member in the USA could be seen as much less relevant than in the UK, where the designation has a status that the market understands.

The impact on my career was greater in the UK than in the US.

Presently, I serve as the ICE West Coast representative in the US, because I’d like to change that and make the ICE more impactful in the US market via things like reciprocity and knowledge sharing.

How did the ICE and your employer support you to become professionally qualified? 

My employer sponsored me to become chartered and paid my dues afterwards.