Averting the water emergency top priority 

Last week, EFCA held its annual General Assembly and conference in Madrid; the theme for this year was the EU Blue Deal. Water scarcity is a cross cutting issue that can be addressed from a multitude of angles, which is why we brought together experts in energy production, procurement, policymaking and more to highlight achievements so far, whilst stressing the collaborative efforts that need to be made to ensure a safe and sustainable future for all. We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to those who attended and participated. Thanks to your contributions we are closer to finding solutions together, to avert the water emergency.  

Celebrating another young star in the sector  

We are proud to announce the winner of this year’s Future Leaders' Awards Competition: Diego Apellániz Quintana (Head of Design at Kevee in Germany). Driven by the urgency of climate change and recognising the significant impact of the built environment on this crisis, Diego's project entry was centred around combining AI with structural design and CO2 assessment in one tool. With his work, Diego has set an example of how an engineer becomes an integrator of available tools in order to bring fruits of the technology into the engineering field.

ACEI Congratulates Robert Corbally, a Civil/Structural Engineer with Roughan & O'Donovan who was presented with a certificate in the Excellence Category: Quality of Submission Project

More information is available here.

 

Gender balance achieved, with new EFCA Board members

EFCA is thrilled to have reached a landmark, as it achieves gender balance in its internal governance for the first time in its 30-year history. Member Associations appointed several esteemed professionals to its Board of Directors during the annual General Assembly Meeting last week. With a female Director General in office since 2022 and Ines Ferguson having assumed the role of President in 2023, the Federation celebrates this significant milestone. At the same time, we want to thank our outgoing Board members Søren Adamsen, Nikola Matić, Kevin Rudden, Philippe Van Troeye, and Johan Dozzi for their valuable contributions to EFCA's work.

We are pleased to welcome:

• Roberto Carpaneto, existing Board member, now appointed as Vice-President.
• Nele De Smet, CEO at Evolta (Belgium), elected as Treasurer.
• Shane Dempsey, Director General of ACEI (Ireland), appointed as Director.
• Ioana Dragan, General Manager at Aquaproiect S.A. (Romania), appointed as Director.
• Anders Persson, Director of Strategic Development and International Affairs at Innovationsföretagen (Sweden), appointed as Director.
• Eva Rindom, Managing Director at SYSTRA (Denmark), appointed as Director.

We extend our warmest congratulations to all newly appointed and re-appointed members. The diverse expertise and profound industry knowledge of our Board members significantly contribute to the advancement of our mission.

 

Tackling Water Resilience in Europe – The Practical and the Political

Following EFCA's recent conference on an EU Blue Deal in Madrid, Director Sue Arundale has written a compelling article, just published in Building Services Engineering. The article emphasises the urgent need for an EU Blue Deal, highlighting how years of neglected water infrastructure, including both fresh water delivery and wastewater treatment, have resulted in leaking supply pipes, significantly depleting the already strained clean water supply. The article underscores the crucial role that consulting engineers play in tackling Europe's water shortages and explores how harnessing the power of nature can help mitigate climate change risks.

More information is available here.

 

Join our lunch webinar on The Future of Infrastructure Engineering Software: Advancing Infrastructure with AI

EFCA's Future Trends Committee is pleased to invite all Engineering Europe readers and interested individuals to join a lunch webinar, The Future of Infrastructure Engineering Software: Advancing Infrastructure with AI, in collaboration with Bentley Systems. The webinar will take place on June 14, 2024, from 1:00 pm to 1:30 pm (CET). Join us for a fruitful discussion on the future of infrastructure engineering and the transformative potential of AI in the field.

Register here.