Academia and engineering – strengthening the links

Strengthening links with academia to encourage knowledge-sharing and ensure that healthcare estates professionals are aware of, and can benefit from, the latest built environment and engineering advances, and academics can reciprocally benefit, was one of the priorities for IHEEM’s Immediate Past-President, Pete Sellars. Speaking in his inaugural Presidential address last November in London, his successor, Ian Hinitt, made clear that this would be a key focus for him too. Before speaking, however, he was among seven participants from academia, the healthcare estates sector, and the engineering profession, in a roundtable discussion that focused on this important topic. HEJ editor, Jonathan Baillie, chaired the discussions, and here reports on the first ‘half’. An article in March’s HEJ will cover the discussions’ second ‘half’.

The IHEEM roundtable focusing on how the Institute and its membership can strengthen links with academia for the benefit of both ‘parties’ – for instance there could be opportunities for those studying building services engineering to gain useful experience within hospital estates and facilities teams – was the third to be held in IHEEM’s 75th anniversary year. It took place at London’s Institution of Structural Engineers just a few hours before Ian Hinitt gave his inaugural Presidential address at the same venue. 

I (JB) began by asking each participant to introduce him or herself, and to briefly describe their job role and professional background. The process began with a few words from Dr Ghasson Shabha (GS), senior lecturer at the School of Engineering and the Built Environment in the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, at Birmingham City University, one of two participants to take part by telephone remotely. He explained: “I’ve been involved in research on different aspects of healthcare facilities over the past 15 years, with a particular focus on infection control and critical care facilities. I am currently working on developing a system for monitoring airborne infection, inducting ventilation and air conditioning systems, using smart sensor technology that relays data in real time. I find the whole area of engineering in healthcare quite fascinating, both because of the level of complexity, and the wide range of variables affecting the end-user – the patient. I’m also particularly interested in how we can make the healthcare environment more conducive for healing and accelerating the recovery process for patients with longterm illness.”