Institution of Civil Engineers   |   Record

Smeaton Lecture

Peter Guthrie to deliver Smeaton Lecture with focus on lessons from the Industrial Revolution and leadership in the face of climate change

This year’s Smeaton lecture is entitled “Sustainable development: from Smeaton to the 21st century” and is on 4 October. It will be given by Cambridge University professor for sustainable development Peter Guthrie at the ICE in London.

Civil engineers have always known that their work has wide impact on society and Guthrie will explore how historic engineers like John Smeaton and others who shaped the Industrial Revolution made their decisions in a time of extraordinary change.

Like their historic predecessors, today’s civil engineers face unprecedented challenges in the form of climate change. They require a broad range of expertise to deliver a holistic approach similar to that of engineers in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Guthrie will draw on historic lessons, as well as on the developments of the past 50 years, to highlight the issues civil engineers must address as the global target of net zero carbon emissions approaches.

• The lecture is a hybrid event. Register to attend at bit.ly/47XGITf