Dame Sarah Springman on climate risks and the limits of AI in engineering

Dame Sarah Springman, a renowned British-Swiss geotechnical engineer and current Principal of St Hilda’s College, Oxford, has made significant contributions to soil–structure interaction through innovative methods like centrifuge modeling. Her career spans leadership roles, including Rector at ETH Zurich, where she guided the university’s digital transformation and COVID-19 response. Beyond engineering, she is a decorated triathlete who helped elevate the sport to major international competitions. Springman emphasizes that future engineers must combine technical expertise with critical thinking and multidisciplinary collaboration, especially in addressing climate-resilient infrastructure. Springman highlights the urgent need for engineering practices to adapt to intensified geological hazards driven by climate change. She stresses that designers must predict future extreme loads over the lifespan of structures and work closely with climate scientists to address specific risks such as landslides, floods, tornadoes, and wildfires. She also points out a common misconception in civil engineering: the neglect of subsurface foundations in structural designs, underscoring the