How We Build...

What does the way we build say about what we value?In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Azita Hirsa, engineering ethics professor at RPI and host of the National Academy of Engineering's Online Ethics Center webinar series, to unpack what ethical responsibility really looks like in engineering practice.From historic bridge collapses to everyday project decisions, we explore why ethical failures rarely start with a dramatic moment, and why the small compromises are the ones to watch. We also get into organisational culture, the gap between compliance and true safety, and the skills engineers will need for the decade ahead.If you work in infrastructure, construction, or engineering, this one's for you. 🎧Azita Hirsa, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer in the Industrial & Systems Engineering Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s School of Engineering, where she teaches Management of Engineering & Technology, Engineering Ethics, and Professional Development. Her work is grounded in the belief that technical excellence and ethical responsibility must go hand in hand. In her classroom, students engage real-world case studies, national competitions, and conversations with leaders who have navigated complex decisions under pressure. She founded and hosts Leaders in Action Conversations, a speaker series connecting students with alumni and industry executives to explore leadership and ethical decision-making in practice. She also advises RPI’s team for the Lockheed Martin Ethics in Engineering Competition, where her students recently earned a Top 4 national finish among 72 universities nationwide. Dr. Hirsa is the past Chair of the Ethics Division of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and has served as Webinar Host for the Online Ethics Center (OEC) since 2023, moderating national discussions on engineering ethics across industry, government, and academia. She is a recipient of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)'s 2024 School of Engineering Faculty Education Innovation Award and RPI Alumni Association Teaching Award. Above all, she is committed to preparing engineers to lead with judgment, courage, and integrity.link to Online Ethics Center: https://onlineethics.org/This episode was orinigally recorded in March 2026.Music: "C-Funk" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Rohan Singh Wilkho is a Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University. Holding a PhD in Civil Engineering and an MS in Computer Science from Texas A&M University, he works at the intersection of physical infrastructure and digital intelligence. Rohan develops 'Cognitive Civil Systems', infrastructure designed to perceive and adapt to its environment like a living organism. He applies AI-driven methods to surface critical behavioral and distress patterns in infrastructure networks, ensuring they remain resilient in an unpredictable world.An example of a Cognitive Civil System is a Road-Lens available at https://road-lens.infraframe.com/Road-Lens uses an advanced artificial intelligence pipeline to transform standard commercial satellite imagery into highly detailed roadway assessments. This allows cities to monitor their entire road network from space without the prohibitive logistics and costs of physical ground-based inspections. By reconstructing street-level surface details, the platform identifies pavement damage with the same accuracy as a human inspector performing a windshield survey. Ultimately, it generates a continuous digital replica of a city's road network, empowering local governments to shift from reactive, complaint-driven repairs to predictive governance, and democratizing infrastructure.

What if engineering was about more than efficiency, skills, and problem‑solving?In this episode, Professor Anders Buch joins Nevena Vajdic to unpack the concept of Bildung and why it matters for engineers, especially in an age of AI, automation, and global technological impact.From the roots of Bildung in philosophy to its relevance for engineering education, responsibility, and care, this conversation invites us to rethink what it means to build, not just technically, but ethically, socially, and collectively.Professor Anders Buch has spent more than 35 years exploring how work and professional education intertwine in social contexts, shaping the production of experience, expertise, and knowledge. His research spans education, philosophy of technology, science and technology studies, engineering studies, the sociology of professions and professionalism, working life studies, organization studies, and practice-based theory. He has held positions at the Danish Society of Engineers, the Technical University of Denmark, and Aalborg University, and is currently Professor at VIA University College in Denmark and affiliated with Jönköping University in Sweden. His recent publications focus on the role of digitalization and AI in professional work and education, as well as the evolving character of engineering professionalism in contemporary society.Learn more about Bildung: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-86581-7This episode was originally recorded in September 2025.Music: "C-Funk" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

In this episode of How We Build..., host Nevena Vajdic speaks with Percy Lam and Felicia Anderson, two professionals who returned to academia for their PhDs after years in industry. They reflect on how practical experience shapes research, and share their ideas about the future of civil engineering. From gaming-inspired thinking to the hybrid professionals, this conversation explores how engineers can evolve to meet the challenges of tomorrow. Percy Lam is currently a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, investigating the application of artificial intelligence and computer vision to construct and maintain digital twins for road conditions. Percy completed his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering at Cambridge. Starting his career in geotechnical engineering in Hong Kong, he went on to obtain his professional qualifications and became a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. His current pursuit of PhD includes research on data preparation through automating image annotation and generating synthetic data, and using prepared data to build detectors for on- and off-pavement road defects.This episode was orginally recorded in June 2025.Music: "C-Funk" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

In this inaugural episode of How We Build…, host Nevena Vajdic sits down with Mark Enzer, strategic advisor at Mott MacDonald and visiting professor at both Cambridge and Imperial College London, to explore the transformative power of systems thinking in civil engineering and the built environment.Mark shares insights from his extensive experience leading the National Digital Twin Programme and championing digitalization, collaborative delivery, and the circular economy. Together, they unpack what it means to shift from a project-based mindset to a systems-based approach, one that prioritizes outcomes over outputs and sees the built environment as a complex, interconnected system.Mark Enzer is the Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor in the digitalisation of the built environment at the University of Cambridge, and he is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London.  As Strategic Advisor at Mott MacDonald, Mark provides advice to key clients on digitalisation and broader industry transformation. Previously, Mark was the CTO of Mott MacDonald and the Director of the Centre for Digital Built Britain, where he was the Head of the National Digital Twinprogramme.  Mark is a keen champion of outcomes-focusedsystems-thinking, collaborative delivery models, digitalisation, connected digital twins and the circular economy in the built environment.  This episode was originally recorded in June 2025.Music: "C-Funk" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Get to know How We Build..., the podcast about civil engineering in a different way. Host Nevena Vajdic shares why this show exists, what stories you'll hear, and how it aims to build a community of curious, forward-thinking colleagues. For engineers, students, and anyone fascinated by civil engineering.Music: "C-Funk" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/