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Conversations about City-building at the intersection of planning and engineering. Michelle Berquist, Rob Muir and Muneef Ahmad reflect on stories behind-the-scenes of "Plangineering" projects.

Autonomy (Part 2 of 2) 04/09/2020

Autonomy (Part 2 of 2) The Plangineers engage experts Sven Beiker and Gary Hsueh to explore the world of autonomous vehicles. Dr. Sven Beiker is Managing Director of Silicon Valley Mobility. Gary Hsueh is Director of Mobility Programs at Prospect Silicon Valley. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/13924154

Autonomy (Part 1 of 2) 04/09/2020

Autonomy (Part 1 of 2) The Plangineers engage experts Sven Beiker and Gary Hsueh to explore the world of autonomous vehicles. Dr. Sven Beiker is Managing Director of Silicon Valley Mobility. Gary Hsueh is Director of Mobility Programs at Prospect Silicon Valley /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/13923845

Indy Johar talks Future Cities Canada 08/31/2019

Indy Johar talks Future Cities Canada Indy Johar, Visionary and Co-Founder of Project OO talks about quiet but crucial change required to enable our cities for the future /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/11070230

Olivia Labonte talks Future Cities Canada 05/06/2019

Olivia Labonte talks Future Cities Canada Olivia Labonte, Executive Director of Young Diplomats of Canada, talks about grassroots youth engagement /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/9672737

Derek Ballantyne talks Future Cities Canada 04/05/2019

Derek Ballantyne talks Future Cities Canada Derek Ballantyne, CMHC Board Chair, talks about housing for all. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/9277205

Fang-Jui Chang talks Future Cities Canada 03/22/2019

Fang-Jui Chang talks Future Cities Canada Fang-Jui, Service Designer/Consultant at PDIS, shares "New Rules for New Ways" following her involvement on the panel of the same name at the Future Cities Canada Summit. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/9105911

Claire Hicks talks Future Cities Canada 02/26/2019

Claire Hicks talks Future Cities Canada Claire Hicks, Program Manager for Future Ready at WSP Canada, shares successes in sustainability. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/8785577

Leah Lawrence talks Future Cities Canada 02/10/2019

Leah Lawrence talks Future Cities Canada Leah Lawrence is a lifelong advocate for engineering, entrepreneurship and the environment. The President and CEO of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) shares behind-the-scenes insights on technology and how 'change management' can be about 'change expectation.' /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/8588030

Geoff Cape talks Future Cities Canada 01/15/2019

Geoff Cape talks Future Cities Canada Geoff Cape, Evergreen CEO, speaks to the Plangineers about the vision and potential for Future Cities Canada /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/8259563

Desmond Cole talks Future Cities Canada 12/18/2018

Desmond Cole talks Future Cities Canada Desmond Cole, award-winning journalist, activist and author, speaks to the Plangineers on the heels of his opening keynote at the Future Cities Canada Summit, held November 7-9, 2018 at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/7926161

Future Cities Canada Summit 10/31/2018

Future Cities Canada Summit Jo Flatt, Senior Lead of Policy & Partnerships at Evergreen speaks to us about the Future Cities Canada Summit. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/7377593

Bloom Where You're Planted 09/26/2018

Bloom Where You're Planted Alex Lenarduzzi, Water Resources Engineer at Conservation Halton shares her thoughts on the role of the natural environment and how it co-exists with the urban environment. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/7090882

From the Archives: Good or Good Enough? 08/28/2018

From the Archives: Good or Good Enough? Michelle and Rob, our Plangineers, discuss how paradigms were broken for the revolutionary Deep Lake Water Cooling system /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/6977233

The Onion of Discontent 07/24/2018

The Onion of Discontent The Plangineers talk about the illusions and realities of public consultation. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/6830088

We're All Settlers 06/26/2018

We're All Settlers Sheila Boudreau, Senior Landscape Architect at Toronto & Region Conservation Authority, shares stories of teaching, engaging and opening up opportunities for indigenous youth. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/6743470

Inspired 05/01/2018

Inspired The Plangineers share how their professional fuel often comes from outside their professional lives. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/6533760

Rules of Engagement 03/27/2018

Rules of Engagement Helen Noehammer, Director of Transportation & Infrastructure Planning at the City of Mississauga shares her take on pink-handled tools and how soft skills help alongside the hard skills in the engineer’s toolbox. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/6412276

The People's (Food) Court 02/06/2018

The People's (Food) Court Lesley Pavan, Director of Design and Development at the City of Mississauga shares her insights into the lifestyle choices on offer in the rapidly urbanizing city where she both works and lives. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/6227560

Power to the Sheeple 01/02/2018

Power to the Sheeple The Plangineers talk about ingrained falsehoods and the challenge of living up to our professional duty /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/6085074

Like Millenials 11/14/2017

Like Millenials A “Millenial” is defined as someone born between 1981 - 1997. Our Millenial Planner, Michelle, and Gen X-er Engineer Rob, share their perspectives on the topic of the “Millenial experience,” and challenge the current narrative. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/5944177

The Day After Tomorrow? 07/16/2017

The Day After Tomorrow? The Plangineers talk about how the input of technical experts can help round out storytelling to add the "why" to the "who cares?" (Sorry for the confusion in the intro...this is actually episode #5, you're right.) Reporting on the GO Train flooding of 2013 may have exaggerated the frequency of this occurrence Check out Rob's on the matter Discussing the context of numbers and the value of infographics How technical input to the media can add the "why" to the spice of storytelling as well as the mechanisms of mini-advocacy The lesson of communicating like an activist while telling a good story The need for our professions to push past humility and tell good stories that will resonate and inform people in positive ways Listeners might be interested to know that during our cut, to keep the show within our regular ~20-25min length, we sacrificed a dialogue on "open data", it's emergence, relevance and potential value as a tool for healthy skepticism. Though it was a relevant part of the overall dialogue that dialogue almost stood on its own so we cropped it from the final edit that you hear. Send us your feedback at or if you have any suggestions for projects or topics you'd like us to explore. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/5543355

ArtWorkX re-cap 06/04/2017

ArtWorkX re-cap Check out what went down at ArtWorkX by clicking /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/5416052

ArtWorkX 06/04/2017

ArtWorkX fused art & infrastructure at Celebration Square in Mississauga on May 27, 2017. Artists Gaya Kairos, Claudio Ghirardo, Dominic Simone & Nisreen Askar turned otherwise remnant pieces of infrastructure into a creative cityscape mash-up. Kids took turns in a wide variety of interactive crafts. Here you can see the result of their efforts making pipe look good. Credit Valley Conservation was representing and supporting the event. Melanie was ready to answer questions from participants on a range of planting techniques. Whether it was what to plant in a pollinator garden, what might attract birds or what to use in a raingarden, she had the answers. Just around the corner from CVC's booth was a functional raingarden. This standalone feature helped answer a lot of questions since you could see and feel what the end product could look like. And thanks again to Sean for explaining how the water recirculated. The incredible Joanne Jackson, Producer of , during an interview just before the screening of the acclaimed documentary about the plight of songbirds. Corrugated plastic pipe becomes the Marilyn Towers. It was an incredible event that helped change the way people look at infrastructure and imagine creative possibilities. Cheers to the event organizers! /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/5416049

Dancing About Infrastructure 05/08/2017

Dancing About Infrastructure Episode #4: Dancing About Infrastructure Michelle and Rob reflect on the artistry that reveals our invisible services and why these reminders are an important part of our urban existence Talking about music, is like dancing about architecture. But we’ll try dancing about infrastructure anyway Older underground sewers are brick works of art like the photo shown by clicking of the Garrison Creek storm sewer Aesthetic inspirations for the ? The beauty of water treatment, as seen through the How a tight butt can be a tribute to aging infrastructure Wishing for the "Big Bridge Theory" A timely tribute to Send us your feedback at [email protected] if you have any suggestions for projects or topics you'd like us to explore. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/5338547

Is the River Longing? 05/08/2017

Is the River Longing? In episode #4, Michelle recounts her experience viewing this sign in Calgary for the first time. It was a simple yet powerful reminder of what is around us that can be seemingly invisible. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/5336412

A Woman's Place is in the... 04/08/2017

A Woman's Place is in the... At the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in Ontario, we ask is there a "woman's place" in the Plangineering space? Ontario became the fifth province in Canada to grant women the right to vote on . This came following more than half a century of activism. Discussing how the controversial dialogue between was storied. Recognizing areas of internal strength and vulnerability. on women’s representation in engineering from the Where the engineering information gap may be? -overall lack of awareness of what engineers do -misconceptions about engineering (not being related to people) in contrast to the high prestige, say, for the medical profession which is seen as important work Judgement blocks internal action, but may also be a barrier to acceptance of others. A cure for this is found through the rules of Improv as told by . Rule no.1: Agree. Send us your feedback at if you have any suggestions for projects or topics you'd like us to explore. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/5248225

Good or Good Enough 03/13/2017

Good or Good Enough Episode #2: Good, or good enough? Michelle and Rob, our Plangineers, discuss how paradigms were broken for the revolutionary Deep Lake Water Cooling system. Our ancestors first form of “,” sharing fire in a cave Vancouver’s Sustainable development at the Discussing Enwave Toronto’s Deep Lake Water Cooling () Baffin Island Mining Creativity is just ingenuity, applied. The DLWC was a showcase project for Toronto, and Enwave. Bringing along others so when we have the answers, others can see the questions. The enemy of doing something great is doing something good. Even moreso, even better than good...is good enough. Mentioned: Good to Great by Send us your feedback at if you have any suggestions for projects or topics you'd like us to explore. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/5163461

Plangineers 02/07/2017

Plangineers In the debut podcast, Michelle and Rob talk about what inspired them to urban planning and engineering and why the bridge between their practices is shorter than we think. This month, we talked about: Urban dictionary reference to The three pillars of planning: Public Health, Legislation & Architecture Rob's Discussing how, "Form follows function" The curious case of building the Zooming-in versus zooming-out Engineering the Muneef’s take-away: Thinking inward versus outward Rob's take-away: Appreciate the complexities of planning, design and constructing big City-building projects Michelle's take-away: Respect and curiousity Send us your feedback at if you have any suggestions for projects or topics you'd like us to explore. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/5060935

The Toothpick Bridge 01/29/2017

The Toothpick Bridge In episode#1, Rob talked about the toothpick bridge he built that was, in part, responsible for his inquiry into engineering. Still lookin' good. /episode/index/show/openduringconstruction/id/5035149

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