Luke Smith: Engineering needs more daydreamers and rule-breakers

If you want to understand how Luke Smith thinks, you’ll find some clues in his dream dinner party guest list.

Thomas Edison makes the cut – not just for his world-changing inventions, but for his commitment to napping. “He believed naps were a huge part of innovation.” Then there’s Billy Connolly – because every table needs a storyteller – and mathematician Hannah Fry, someone who, in Luke’s words, “takes boring concepts and finds the stories in them.”

The list itself is telling. A restless innovator, a sharp-witted observer, and a scientist who makes the abstract feel human – these are the figures Luke gravitates toward. His own career so far has shown shades of all three.

Now, as he steps into his new role as an elected trustee, we caught up with Luke to find out what drives him, what shaped his approach to engineering and how he believes the industry needs to change.

Context is key 

Luke’s first brush with Engineers Without Borders UK came through the Engineering for People Design Challenge during his time at the University of Edinburgh. He and his team had designed a biogas digester – a system that could turn animal waste into cooking fuel – for a community in East Timor. On paper, it was the perfect engineering solution: efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective. Only, it wasn’t.

Near the end of the project, the team started investigating the success rate of similar global projects and discovered some worrying insights. “So many of these projects are installed, and then within months, they just fall by the wayside,” he says. “There wasn’t a clear way to engage the community, to ensure they’d actually adopt it. So at the end of our report, we said: Don’t do this.”

That moment was a turning point – a lesson that engineering is about more than technical solutions.

“We’re trained to see engineering as problem-solving, but the real skill is knowing when to stop; when to say, ‘This isn’t the right answer. We need to rethink this.’” 

Later experiences in industry only deepened his resolve. “At one moment I thought, Is it possible to be an engineer without always providing a physical solution? That was my awakening.”

Lessons from a career shaped by impact

Luke’s interest in challenging the status quo has defined every stage of his career. From international entrepreneurship programs at the Royal Academy of Engineering and launching his own heated clothing business to collaborating with human rights organisations, positive social impact has always been his driving force.

But Luke is quick to highlight one of the industry’s biggest challenges. “I saw a stat the other day,” he says. “For every $400 billion invested in ‘sustainability,’ only $40 billion goes into social impact. That’s a 10 to 1 ratio.”

Why? Because sustainability is investable. “It’s a growth area. Companies can profit from it.” 

Luke goes on to argue that if we’re serious about change, we need to move away from the notion that perpetual growth is sustainable, and innovation shouldn’t always be tied to growth. We need to encourage individuals and organisations to look at success in another way. “It’s how you’ve changed the lives around you, how you’ve dedicated your life to create lasting change.”

Rethinking what it means to be an engineer

For Luke, the conversation about engineering’s future goes beyond diversity in numbers – it’s about nurturing diversity of thought.

“I keep hearing people say we need a more diverse engineering sector. But too often, what they mean is: We need different kinds of people to become the same kind of engineer.”

Instead of funnelling more people into traditional technical roles, Luke believes the profession must broaden its definition of what it means to be an engineer. “What about the daydreaming engineer? The systems-thinking engineer? The highly empathetic engineer?” he asks. 

“There’s room for highly skilled technical engineers, but we also need to nurture those other characteristics. That creates space for people to realise that they are engineers in their own unique way.”

Embracing risk 

Luke believes the engineering profession is at a crossroads. On one side, a culture of risk aversion, incremental improvements, and corporate inertia. On the other, the chance to completely reimagine what engineering could be.

“We need more of a culture of disobedience.” 

He argues that we need engineers who aren’t afraid to challenge their clients, their employers, their own teams. Just saying yes to business isn’t good enough, and we need to be actively challenging each other to do better.

He points to the innovation culture in the UK: “I think it’s because we’re a financial capital, so decision-making is dominated by a finance mentality. Financiers are even more risk averse than engineers. That risk aversion, ironically, is dangerous.”

“If you think your organisation isn’t doing well enough, sit down with someone and do some imagining,” Luke suggests.

Listen first

Now, as a trustee for Engineers Without Borders UK, Luke sees his job as amplifying the voices of engineers who want to do things differently. But first, he’s listening.

“Engineers Without Borders has always taught me that you spend as much time as possible with the problem before you act. I think that’s the main thing and it’s probably true for every movement and sector and position of responsibility – we need to understand the change that people want, not to try and force anything on people.”

When asked what success would look like at the end of his term, “The best thing I could do is make sure we’re hearing from more engineers, that their voices are louder and more influential. If I can help make that happen, I’ll be proud.”

The future of the movement

As Luke reflects on the direction of Engineers Without Borders UK and the continued emphasis on systems change moving into 2025, he sees a real opportunity for transformation. 

“Engineering is typically quite event responsive,” he notes. But to realise positive systemic change and move beyond just addressing the symptoms, “We need to dig deep into our work and understand why we’re doing it. The culture that Engineers Without Borders UK is garnering just now is the right one in my opinion.”

In Luke’s view, the future of engineering is about daring to think big – and daring to say no when the answers aren’t right. His call is simple: 

“If you are building a future (or want to) where engineering serves not just progress, but justice and sustainability, then you are part of the same movement as Engineers Without Borders UK. So why not come along?”

 

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If you’d like to connect with Luke or learn more about the role of our elected trustees, please contact us at community@ewb-uk.org.