Finding New Ways to Adapt During a Pandemic

Engineers, designers and architects are finding new ways to adapt as life under the COVID-19 Pandemic creates a hitherto unknown scenario.  The resilience of our Cayman Islands community keeps the team here at Reed Consulting Engineers inspired, connected and proactive to find ‘unblinkered’ solutions during the current crisis.

This is not a great time to be in the construction industry but considering the circumstances, RCE is doing well. We are apprehensive and empathetic. However, we are blessed with an awesome team, full of energy, support and positivity to see us through this transition and beyond.  

Our team was already working “partially virtually” for quite a while prior to the current crises. We had hardware and software remote capabilities and capacities for all team members already in place. Therefore, the transition to 100 percent remote working was very smooth.

A very small number of projects have been put on hold, but many of our clients are looking at the current environment as one in which to increase the volume of design work awarded to design firms, since the development of these phases can be easily monitored and directed virtually by the clients with their engineers, designers and architects.

There is a feeling that we are all in this together, which of course we are, rather than fostering a competitive attitude. We are all part of the same community. Hagy Belzberg is quoted as saying: “Overnight, we’ve transformed from thinking of the phrase ‘our industry’ to ‘our community.’”

Everyone is starting their conversations with: Are you safe? Are you healthy? We all start our phone calls and emails with asking if everything is OK, and if it is, then we can move forward. We are a community now and it happened overnight. The recovery is not only going to be dependent on this, it is likely not going to happen without it. We do not expect that we can go back to the way things were. Everything seems a bit volatile. It will take some time for everything to even out. However, it will and if we can weather this storm together, we will come out of it stronger and more appreciative. 

There is something in the nature of most engineers, designers and architects that makes us positive thinkers, even in the most difficult, scary, and unknown contexts.

From a long-term perspective, this “moment” is going to really challenge us to reconsider the way we live and work. We should be ready for drastic and comprehensive changes, but with change comes innovation. Engineers are in the business of solving problems. RCE is ready for this challenge and embraces it.

RCE welcomes and endorses the Cayman Islands Government’s approach to the control of the Covid-19 virus. As soon as the construction community (née industry) is released for service, we will be ready to serve, engineer and innovate for the ‘new normal.’ In the meantime, we continue (albeit remotely) to continue business as normal – even in these extraordinary times.

Stay safe, stay healthy.