Tonight I went to hear Roma Agrawal deliver an inspiring talk about engineering The Shard London. The event was organised by IESIS and WES which also gave me the opportunity to meet many interesting women engineers.
Roma is a very eloquent speaker and made the complex project of The Shard interesting and understandable to non experts like myself. She described the many difficulties of the site itself, from the London clay, to Victorian underground structures, the tube, proximity to major sites such as Hospitals and the legacies of WWII bombings and 1970’s constructions. The project required innovative methods of construction from the foundations to the core, the spire and the cranes. An amazing team effort built on budget and on time!
If you get chance to hear Roma speak then you should go. The Shard is an interesting and iconic structure dominating the London skyline and Roma implores you to look up and admire the steel a great feat of engineering and ingenuity. The next time I visit I will do just that with an educated eye on the detail.
IESIS The Institute of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland
WES Women Engineers Society