Hi #SmartCommunity friends,
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we live, work and record this podcast and pay our respects to Elders past and present. We extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listening.
In this episode of the Smart Community Podcast, I speak with Felicity Furey, engineer, author, speaker and CEO of WeAspire, about the future of engineering and why it’s time to rethink how we design the world around us.
Felicity shares the inspiration behind her new book, The Future of Engineering: Legacy by Design, exploring how engineering can move beyond traditional measures of time, cost and quality to create infrastructure that prioritises people, communities and long-term wellbeing.
We discuss why engineering is not broken but incomplete, how human-centred thinking needs to evolve and why diverse perspectives, meaningful community engagement and systems thinking are essential for building better places.
We also explore the hidden biases embedded in engineering, standards and technology, why diverse perspectives lead to better outcomes and how genuine community engagement can help create infrastructure that serves everyone, not just the people it was originally designed for.
The conversation also explores technology, AI, leadership and our growing need to reconnect with the human experience as we shape smarter communities.
As always, we hope you enjoy listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it.
What we cover in this episode:
- Felicity’s journey into engineering and what inspired her career
- The story behind The Future of Engineering: Legacy by Design
- Why engineering needs to evolve for future generations
- Designing infrastructure that prioritises people, wellbeing and legacy
- The importance of stakeholder engagement and community relationships
- Moving beyond time, cost and quality as the only measures of project success
- Hidden bias in engineering, standards and technology
- Why diversity leads to better design decisions
- How AI and technology should support, not replace, human judgement
- Systems thinking and designing for long-term community outcomes
- Reconnecting with nature, creativity and the human experience in engineering
Quotes:
“It’s not that engineering’s wrong… it’s just incomplete for now and the future that we want to build.”
“It’s around putting the human part at the centre of what we do as engineers, and I think it’s not just for humans today, but humans in the future, and those generations 50 years from now.”
“What if we created infrastructure and designs that actually took care of people and healed people, not just stressed them out”
“it’s taking the consideration or the view that our standards are not neutral, and I’ve certainly had that idea that engineering standards are neutral. But actually, we’ve ingrained a lot of these biases in, and it’s hidden from our view.”
“I think one mindset shift is around stakeholder engagement, [genuine engagement with] the community is a de-risker and a value add to our projects.”
“We’ve just been so disconnected from some of those basic human things, it’s almost like we need to remind ourselves of what they are to be able to care for humans again, rather than just… relying on this tech.”
Links:
- The Future of Engineering: Legacy by Design by Felicity Furey
- Felicity’s website
- WeAspire
- Power of Engineering
Connect:
Connect with Felicity via LinkedIn and learn more about her work
Connect with me via email: hello@mysmart.community
Connect with My Smart Community via LinkedIn, Instagram or YouTube.
The Smart Community Podcast is produced by Perk Digital.
