The Association for Consulting Engineering in Nigeria (ACEN) has urged engineers to lead in infrastructure projects to remain competitive.

The managing director of ACEN, Olufunmilayo Kadri, disclosed this in a communiqué issued on Saturday.

Mr Kadri recommended that engineering designs must account for the effects of climate change by adopting various considerations, such as green building technologies, renewable energy integration, and environmental sustainability, among others.

”There is also a need to embrace a life-cycle approach in planning infrastructure projects. This approach should ensure that the stages of project development—design, construction, and operations are better conceived and implemented at optimal costs,” he said.

Mr Kadri added that emphasis was placed on the utilisation of digital advancements in infrastructure development, which included the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM), the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the concept of Smart Cities.

He called for multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional approaches to broaden engineering practice through collaboration among various fields.

He further called for improved project outcomes, noting that by embracing the outlined approaches, project outcomes would improve, leading to higher quality, more efficient, and sustainable infrastructure.

He added that cross-disciplinary collaboration would enhance adaptive capacity and foster innovation and creativity. 

(NAN)