Perspectives
Jack Kavanagh is leading an effort to make municipal data work harder. As the open data lead at Smart Dublin, a joint initiative of the Irish capital’s four local authorities, Kavanagh manages a portal that...
Perspectives Recent Articles
Devastating wildfires tore through the hills surrounding Los Angeles in January, leaving emergency responders to navigate a maze of smoke, debris, and melted street signs. Familiar roads and landmarks were rendered unrecognizable. Like other densely populated areas hit by natural...
Louisiana is no stranger to devastating storms and floods, but you’d never know it every February when New Orleans erupts in Mardi Gras, a festival of sound and color flavored with boisterous parades, jazz, and spicy crawfish boils. Locals know...
James Bowles has always loved building things. As a child, he spent hours with Lego, piecing together miniature cities brick by brick. As a teenager, he became fascinated by skyscrapers—their design, engineering, and sheer scale. It wasn’t just their height...
Some 25,000 people recently flocked to San Jose, California, for Nvidia’s GTC AI Conference. Informally known as “AI Woodstock,” the event featured Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who talked about the semiconductor giant’s latest AI chips, and AI pioneers and luminaries...
I recently joined a room full of energetic infrastructure professionals for the release of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Report Card for U.S. infrastructure. Released every four years, the report gives an overall grade for U.S. infrastructure, as...
When an 8-mile stretch of upgraded highway opens in the Rocky Mountains in 2028, it will ease congestion and improve safety for Colorado’s mountain resort communities and the thousands of tourists heading to the slopes each ski season. The Floyd...
New Orleans is home to awe-inspiring music, food and street parties. But let’s not forget equally awe-inspiring infrastructure, which keeps the Big Easy dry. That was evident in early March when New Orleans entered “Deep Gras,” the boisterous coda to...
Many engineers have stories of meetings getting off to a rocky start. For Victoria Fillingham, one began with being mistaken for the coffee server. “I’ve seen a big change,” she says, “but I can tell you stories about being the...
Railways and the steam engine. Few inventions better symbolize England’s role as the cradle of the Industrial Revolution. The country’s first railroad opened in 1825, using Robert Stephenson’s steam locomotive, the Locomotion No. 1, along the 25-mile (40-kilometer) Stockton and...