I am privileged to work in a multidisciplinary engineering consultancy, ARUP, in which amazing people come together to deliver sustainable and innovative solutions. As an embryonic infrastructure mechanical engineer, I often find it difficult to navigate through the terminologies and design constraints of different disciplines. As prescribed by Stephen R. Covey, in his book ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, one needs to seek first to understand, then to be understood.
The quest to understand other designers’ intent led me to Grady Hillhouse, P.E. YouTube channel, Practical Engineering. Grady Hillhouse, P.E. does an awesome job of deciphering the constructed world and, most importantly, making it approachable for non-experts. For example, in his video about ‘Why Retaining Walls Collapse’, he conducted a demonstration on the effects of the soil on the retaining walls using dowels, which intuitively guides non-experts regarding the design intent of retaining walls, such as footings, mechanically-stabilised earth, soil nailing, tiebacks and sheet piles. Eventually, this videos helped me better appreciate the built environment around me and potentially learn their significance to building services design.
I also bought Grady Hillhouse, P.E. book called ‘Engineering in Plain Sight; An Illustrated Field Guide to the Constructed Environment’. The book induces the joy of “infrastructure spotting” and before I knew it, I instinctively started observing Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) stations, pedestrian bridges, and construction sites more diligently and deduce their purposes. I would like to sincerely thank Grady Hillhouse, P.E. for opening my eyes to the infrastructure surrounding us and sparking my curiosity to dig into the secrets behind it.
#infastructurespotting
