John T Roberts

John is a Visiting Professor for Digital Technologies and Net-Zero Design and Construction at the University of Hertfordshire.  He spent almost 30 years leading design teams at Arup and Atkins delivering offices, stadia, railways, and nuclear projects.  Ten years ago, John switched to contractor teams, first at Laing O’Rourke and now as McGee’s Chief Engineer.  His focus is on the integration of design, digital and manufacturing to enable increases in productivity and reductions in embodied carbon.  He studied Civil Engineering at Southampton University in the 1980s, writing geotechnical software and investigating digital design and manufacture in shipbuilding.  In 1986 he joined the UK’s first CAD based building design team and has continued to work on many initiatives at the forefront of digital construction.  He now advises on digital strategy at Priestland Consultants and works with ConTech start-ups.  John is using his time as a RAEng VP to show young engineers how to implement effective Net-Zero strategies in their future design or construction roles.  He also ensures they understand how digital information increasingly underpins all our infrastructure.