Season 3 Episode 10 Part 1: Protecting the Past - Exploring Heritage Conservation Engineering

Our world is filled with structures, statues and artefacts that humankind has created. Throughout our history, we have utilised different materials, methodologies and technologies to help us innovate and construct ever-more complex objects. It is only in more recent decades that society has recognised the significance of these items and the responsibility it has, to conserve and protect them for posterity.

Across the world, many of these incredible technological and artistic objects have been safeguarded and restored by heritage specialists and artistic conservators, so why would we be talking about preservation and heritage on an engineering podcast?

Well, believe it or not, the protection and recognition of our heritage; particularly those artifacts, locations and landmarks with links to engineering, have been a focus of the IMechE since the mid 1980’s with over 130 of them being celebrated through its Engineering Heritage awards. We can of course consider our own birdcage walk building among these historic places and objects of significance, as it too represents over 120 years of engineering tradition yet is itself in need of significant maintenance to remain a useful part of the imeche’s legacy.

But what exactly is the engineer’s role in conversation? first thoughts bring to mind building conversation; the protection of architectural relics, their structural stability and repair - Like the recent work carried out on Big Ben in london for example and its easy to assume, that this would be the realm of the civil engineer. As it turns out, conservation engineering is a diverse, multidisciplinary profession, drawing, not just on the technical skills of the engineer, but on their creative and innovative talents to understand and protect all manner of objects, from artworks to engines.

In this month’s episode Helen had the opportunity to speak with Ian Clark, managing director of Ian Clark Restoration and Engtech fellow of the Institution.  Ian is unreservedly passionate about the restoration and preservation of our historical and technological achievements, and it has been a part of his life for over 40 years. He has worked with the likes of english heritage, the national trust and hundreds of national and international organisations, conserving firearms, statutes, submarines, windmills and everything in between. He has received numerous awards for his work and his advocacy of conversation engineering and has played a leading role as a committee member of the heritage awards.

Ian had so much enthusiasm and so many engaging anecdotes to share, that He and Helen truly lost track of time and so this will be the first I2I two-part episode.  In the first segment of the show, Ian talked about the field of conversation engineering, how it came to be part of his life and career and what opportunities there are for engineers looking to join this small community.

 

We would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this episode. If you would like to get in touch, email us at podcast@imeche.org

You can find more information about the work of the IMechE at www.imeche.org