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The Panasonic Trust Fellowships
Simon Lamb – MPhil Engineering for Sustainable Development, University of Cambridge
 I read civil engineering at Plymouth University and graduated in 1995 having studied a broad range of engineering specific disciplines. My professional career remained in civil engineering in both private and public sectors and I eventually became a Chartered Engineer in 2005. At the time I envisaged that my next career move would be into middle management through a traditional MBA route. However, I was disappointed at the narrow content of the MBA and realised I was seeking a broader perspective to the current challenges faced in civil engineering. The MPhil course in Engineering for Sustainable Development at the University of Cambridge appeared to fulfill this need with a broad range of modules which focused on the challenges of environmental, social and financial implications in delivering infrastructure projects. I was particularly interested in the Management of Innovation and Technology component that incorporated key management disciplines, similar to that of an MBA syllabus, but orientated towards applying scientific and technical knowledge in a commercial context.
I had real concerns as to the financial viability of spending a year in academia as a full-time student, however I was fortunate to be awarded a Panasonic Trust Fellowship which enabled me to concentrate on my studies and not have to worry about how the weekly food bill!
My first day at University was quite a daunting experience; would I be the oldest student there, would I cope with workload, what is the suitable dress code for student? All these questions added to my anxiety and excitement in starting the course. I wasn’t the oldest on the course and my professional training as a Chartered Engineer meant my approach to the course work was always methodical and thoughtful. The suit and tie combo were put aside in favour of a more casual approach!
The diversity of backgrounds and experience of my fellow students complimented the focus of the course and provided a wealth of knowledge from which to draw upon for the many assignments and discussions. The group assignments, including practical project presentations, showed me the benefits of mediation and consensus building against the more common and traditional adversarial approach. The dissertation afforded me the opportunity to build upon the knowledge I had gained and fully explore my key sustainability interest in Environmental Impact Assessment as a framework for Sustainability Assessment in Highway Infrastructure.
Since graduating in 2006, the increased knowledge and tools I gained over the 11 months of study has helped me to appreciate complex environmental and social problems and initiate change. I now have the confidence and ability to make positive changes in complex engineering environments. The first task in my new role after graduating with my MPhil was to instigate an office recycling scheme. Although this might appear simple, the politics around the changes to working practice required are complex but fortunately they bore a resemblance to a role play exercise in implementing European Environmental Pollution Legislation I had been involved with on the course, so this paid off almost immediately.
My current position as a Senior Project Manager for a commercial property developer is exciting and has many opportunities to apply the knowledge gained from my postgraduate studies. I am now able to provide a focus on interconnectivity and externalities within a whole life matrix. My professional vision has been widened to include consideration of the global challenges we face in engineering for development that is Sustainable.
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