Welcome to TalkCivils

Interviewing some of the remarkable people that do Civil Engineering

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About the Podcast

TalkCivils
Interviewing the remarkable people that do Civil Engineering
TalkCivils is a primarily interview based podcast that explores all aspects of the hugely varied and exciting world of Civil Engineering. There is something for everyone from conversations about career paths to advice on professional development, project spotlights to discussions on national strategy, deep dives on technical topics to reviews of industry trends and emerging technology, and anything else that catches our interest along the way.

Join me as I talk to some of the remarkable people that enable this industry to provide and maintain the infrastructure that brings individuals and communities together into thriving civilisations.

About your host

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Nicholas Lake

I'm a Principal Engineer at Tony Gee and Partners LLP, and passionate about Civil Engineering and the small role each of us can play in shaping the society we live in, oh and we get to play with some big toys! I was fortunate to be sponsored as an undergraduate by Tony Gee and went on to join the Structures department full time after graduation from Imperial College with a Masters Degree (MEng ACGI) in Civil and Environmental Engineering. I achieved Chartered Membership of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 2020 (CEng MIStructE).

I have been team lead for design and checking of permanent and temporary works for steel, concrete, and composite bridges, jacked boxes, gantries, and various other heavy civils structures. I've got particular experience in finite element analysis including buckling and dynamic analysis of structures, and modelling of structures on hydraulic support systems. My involvement with numerous successful bridge launch, move, and slide schemes has also included site support and supervision. As part of my professional training, I spent 12 months on site (2016-2017) seconded to Hochtief UK Construction where I worked on a new road over rail bridge scheme to replace the infamous Ufton Nervet Level Crossing, and then moved to a large motorway junction improvement scheme.

My primary attraction to Civil Engineering is the technical challenge of design and how these solutions can be practically, efficiently, and safely constructed. Alongside this, I take a keen interest in how we build and support exceptional teams that can deliver technical excellence. I firmly believe that this starts with great communication.