Engineering is often regarded as a rigid discipline dictated solely by the Laws of Physics. In this context, engineers are rarely identified as creative professionals; instead engineers are often sitting opposite to artists, architects, industrial designers and other professionals from the design communities. How close can we bring engineering to all these other disciplines? 

Maria Mingallon, Senior Structural Engineer specialized in advanced computation and digital fabrication at Arup, will discuss how digital technologies are bringing these practices together and the added value that stems from it. Her work uses Nature as a source of knowledge and digital computation as a tool for designing, analysing and making. She has worked at ARUP since graduating as a Structural Engineer. Among other projects, she has designed two footbridges leading to the Aquatics Centre by Zaha Hadid Architects at the London 2012 Olympic Park. In 2008 Arup sponsored her master degree in Emergent Technologies and Design at the Architectural Association from which she graduated with Distinction.