Last June Fernando Yévenes U. had the chance to participate in the Association of Civil Structural Engineers of Chile (AICE) Networking 2026: “Construyendo Confianza”, an event focused on something quite simple—but at the same time very powerful: the impact of structural engineering in Chilean society.
What stood out to him is that the conversation quickly moved away from purely technical topics. Instead, it centered around something we don’t always talk about enough: the role our profession plays in building trust.
Because at the end of the day, what we do is not just calculations or design—it’s what allows people to live, move, and work safely without even thinking about it.
A few things that resonated
One recurring theme across the event was that we are still quite invisible as a profession.
Not because the work isn’t valued—actually, quite the opposite. The message was clear: without structural engineering, cities simply wouldn’t stand.
But we don’t always do a great job at showing that value, especially outside our own circles.
Another point that came up strongly is that the profession is going through a transition.
Technology, new ways of delivering projects, generational change, everything is evolving. There’s a growing sense that what made us successful in the past won’t be enough going forward.
And interestingly, one topic kept appearing again and again in different forms: projects don’t struggle because of lack of technical capability—but because of how we work together.
It’s not new, but it’s becoming more evident. Coordination, integration, and decision-making processes are now critical to outcomes.
His small contribution
As AICE Director, he helped facilitate one of the working tables during the event, focused on collaboration.
Without going into details, the discussions were very consistent with the broader message: we have strong technical teams, but we still have a big opportunity in how we integrate disciplines and engage early in projects.
Why this matters (beyond AICE)
For him, the most interesting takeaway is that this is not just a “profession-level” discussion.
It connects directly with how we work as firms.
The future of structural engineering will depend not only on technical excellence, but on how we collaborate and position ourselves within the broader project ecosystem.
Link to what we do at GHD
This aligns quite naturally with where GHD is heading:
- more integrated delivery
- more multidisciplinary collaboration
- more involvement in early project stages
There’s a real opportunity here—not just to deliver good engineering, but to help shape better projects from the beginning.
Final thought
If he had to summarize the event in one idea, it would be this:
We’ve built a profession that the country relies on—but now we need to make it more visible, more connected, and better integrated for what comes next.
To close, we’d like to share a short video (in Spanish) from AICE that captures this idea very well:
👉 Ingeniería estructural en Chile: una labor silenciosa, pero esencial YouTube
It’s a good reminder that, although much of what we do happens behind the scenes, its impact is fundamental to how society functions every day.
FYU Engineering