Guernsey: Wednesday 16 September 2026 – 7:30pm – Les Cotils
Jersey: Thursday 17 September 2026 – 5:30pm – Jersey Museum (Ouless Room) – Book tickets for free here
Drawing on almost 40 years of engineering experience, this paper explores how smart technology can help us rethink the way we respond to the growing challenges presented by climate change.
Rather than defaulting to the costly, disruptive, and carbon-intensive replacement of existing infrastructure, I will examine how intelligent monitoring, real-time data and adaptive control can enable us to better understand, manage, and optimise the assets we already have.
The paper will consider practical applications including improving drought resilience and water security, reducing surface-water and sewer flooding, reducing pollution and CSO spills, optimising the use and storage of increasingly precious water resources, and protecting water supplies and reservoirs from threats such as algal blooms on the Islands.
Drawing on real engineering experience, I will demonstrate how smarter monitoring and adaptive management can allow existing infrastructure to respond dynamically to changing weather patterns and increasingly extreme conditions. In many cases, this can extend asset life and increase capacity and resilience without the need for wholesale reconstruction.
The underlying principle is straightforward: before we rip out and replace infrastructure, we should ask whether we can make what we already have smarter. By doing so, we have the opportunity to deliver greater climate resilience more quickly, more affordably and with significantly less embodied carbon.
| Eur Ing Brian M Back BEng(Hons) CEng FIET |
Eur Ing Brian M Back BEng(Hons) CEng FIET is a Chartered Engineer, entrepreneur, and innovator with almost 40 years’ experience in electronic engineering, radio telemetry, remote monitoring and intelligent infrastructure.
Brian began his engineering career with Hawker Siddeley before graduating with First Class Honours in Electronic Engineering Design & Production from Middlesex University in 1987. Since then, he has spent much of his career pioneering the application of radio, telemetry, and remote monitoring technologies to real-world engineering challenges across the water, environmental and rail sectors.
His work in the water industry has included the development and deployment of large-scale, real-time monitoring networks for sewers, flooding, pollution, and Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs). Through Radio Data Networks, Brian continues to champion the use of smart technology and IoT to extract greater performance and resilience from existing infrastructure, reducing the need for costly and carbon-intensive replacement.
Brian has a long-standing connection with both Jersey and Guernsey, where he has worked on the development and implementation of private radio telemetry networks. These networks provide resilient communications for critical infrastructure and have been utilised to control pumping stations, monitor CSOs and sewer levels, and remotely monitor leachate levels at landfill sites.
His experience of the Islands gives Brian a practical understanding of the particular challenges faced by island infrastructure, where resilience, water security, environmental protection and making the best possible use of existing assets are especially important. Brian was also a guest speaker at a CIGPE event in 2023 and is delighted to be returning to the Islands to share some of the developments and lessons learned since then.
Brian is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET), a Chartered Engineer, and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Engineers. As part of his forthcoming year as Master of the Worshipful Company of Engineers, he is planning to bring members of the Company to Jersey and Guernsey in September 2027 for his Master’s Out-of-Town visit, further strengthening his personal and professional links with the Islands.
Brian’s approach remains rooted in practical engineering: use technology intelligently, understand what existing infrastructure is actually doing, and adapt and optimise it before resorting to wholesale replacement.
For Jersey lectures, the doors will open at 5:00pm for a 5:30pm start, with complimentary tea and coffee on arrival. We have limited capacity so if you wish to attend the lecture free bookings can be made via Eventbrite.
CIGPE is the representative body for professional engineering institutions in the Channel Islands. We organize several engineering related events each year including a series of technical lectures. These events are free to attend and contribute to Continued Professional Development. While aimed at engineers, our events are open to all members of the public.
Channel Island Group of Professional Engineers 