Kevin Berry: Why the best engineering decisions happen before designs begin

Long before technical calculations begin, the real work is often deciding what problem needs to be solved. For Kevin Berry, Managing Director of TTW, that means resisting the urge to move too quickly toward an answer.

"It’s important almost to start slowly when you’re actually building out the concept and development of a project. If you jump too quickly into a solution, you might actually sort of shoot past the correct answer," Berry says.

That principle shapes how TTW approaches complex projects, where decisions about function, lifespan, sustainability, commercial requirements and physical constraints must be understood before technical expertise is deployed.

"So that upfront piece of understanding the problem is a really critical aspect of any project delivery to be successful," Berry says on CEO: Behind the Scenes.

The process is less linear than outsiders might expect. Rather than moving directly from a vision to a finished design, Berry describes design as a narrowing process in which possibilities are tested, refined and tested again.

"The reality is that design as a process is sort of like a funnel and you kind of weave, and you get tighter and tighter as you start to look at options," he says.

That willingness to question the initial brief can fundamentally change the outcome. A client considering a completely new structure, for example, may discover through early conversations that adapting or extending an existing building better serves its budget or timeline.

"There are numerous ways to ultimately execute the technical design of projects, but it’s important to make sure that we’re solving the right problem to start," Berry says.

It is why he sees the engineer’s value as extending well beyond calculations and drawings. The earlier the conversation, the greater the opportunity to influence what should be built, how it should perform and whether the original assumption is even the right one.

"By asking some high-level questions, that will completely change the type of execution piece that we do, and so a lot of those upfront steps are invariably more valuable than just the process of the engineering," he says.

Those conversations also depend on something less technical: trust. Berry says understanding a client requires empathy, repeated questioning and the ability to identify needs that may not have been fully articulated at the outset.

"Sometimes it’s our job to actually extract what the real problem is we’re trying to solve," he explains.

That human element may become even more important as technology reshapes engineering. Berry expects automation to improve production efficiency, but believes consulting, problem solving and personal interaction will remain central to how engineers create value.

"The leadership, the consulting, the being able to influence an outcome through maybe some of those upfront conversations that we had, that all becomes incredibly important," he says.

For Berry, better engineering begins with asking better questions.

Listen to the latest episode of our CEO: Behind the Scenes podcast with Kevin Berry on Amazon, Apple or Spotify.