Ross shares that he enjoyed his time at the 2nd Annual BAMI-I (Buried Asset Management Institute-International) Congress held in Indianapolis from 14 to 16 November 2024.
The long journey from New Zealand to the USA is always well worth it, as Ross enjoys meeting colleagues, sharing insights and industry practice developments, and being among the many wonderful people who work in this industry.
Heather Himmelberger and Ross Waugh held an hour-long conversation based on the theme ‘the infinite loop’ that incorporated looking back to look forward and projecting what is ahead to inform decisions now.
During their conversation, Ross and Heather covered the following:
- The total cost of assets over their lifecycle and how that can impact decision-making.
- The advantages of incremental investment in smoothing tariffs and maintaining resources and expertise.
- Labour resource scarcity and resilience: The demand for engineers in the USA is growing significantly and is projected to increase by an additional 13% per year until 2031. However, a third of roles remain unfilled each year (a similar situation exists in Australia and New Zealand).
- The issue of funding public health infrastructure in small, rural, remote, and deprived communities, with previous state and federal funding being free grants, means communities are reluctant to fund new infrastructure or required upgrades.
🎉Well done to Tom Iseley, Wei Liao, and BAMI-I (Buried Asset Management Institute-International), who put this conference together and continue to run it every year. You deserve all the applause for your hard work in providing incredible value and connection to our industry.
Ross is looking forward to what 2025 will bring for all of us!
Below are two more photos from the BAMI-I Congress 2024 that Ross attended.
PHOTO CREDIT: Wei Liao and BAMI-I (Buried Asset Management Institute-International
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