SEABC Annual Dinner and Pinnacle Lecture 2025

The President and Board of Directors of the Structural Engineers Association of British Columbia invite members and guests to the 2025 Annual Dinner and Pinnacle Lecture.

Our keynote speaker is Ian Firth. His talk is entitled “The long and the short of it – designing bridges for tomorrow’s world“.

Talk Description:

We live in a rapidly changing world, and some of what might once have been acceptable and even celebrated is now frowned upon. In particular, the climate and biodiversity emergency has thrown up issues that previously were either unknown or just ignored.

Ian Firth has over 40 years’ experience in bridge design and engineering for some of the world’s longest and shortest spans. He will discuss how some of these might have changed if they were built today, and review examples of what might be the way forward in meeting the future challenges for tomorrow’s engineers. In his words: “I see bridges as much more than just a means to cross an obstacle. They are in many ways the purest form of architecture and deserve the best of our creative skills. Structural engineering is about making our buildings, bridges and structures safe, durable and sustainable, but we must also make them beautiful when, like bridges, they will be seen and enjoyed by so many for so long.”