Future of engineering is intertwined with risk management

The skill sets of risk management and engineering have more in common than one might think.

David Bonowitz, San Francisco-based structural engineer at the Earthquake Engineering Re-search Institute, said both disciplines have a keen understanding probabilities and statistics.

“The future of engineering is about risk management,” he said. “Engineers need to ask, "What do we really want to get out of this building?' and that's a risk management decision.”

Indeed, the construction industry is moving from a focus on building to meet code into an era of resilience-based design, Mr. Bonowitz said.

“The concept of resilience is showing continuity of function in the face of disruptive risk,” said Stephen E. Flynn, professor of political science and founding director of the Center for Resilience Studies at Northeastern University in Boston.