First observed in 2006, World Down Syndrome Day is celebrated annually to raise public awareness and insight into the lives of people who have Down Syndrome. Recognizing the need for global support in this endeavor, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution in December 2011 to officially codify March 21 as World Down Syndrome Day. In this episode of If/When, we spoke about family life and Down Syndrome with Nicola Enoch, chief executive officer of Positive About Down Syndrome, a UK-based advocacy organization; Stephanie Bywater, Jacobs Divisional Director, Highways Framework Manager; and Lara Jumagdao, Jacobs Senior Architect/Fire and Life Safety Specialist.

In this special edition of Inflection Points, CEO of Crossrail Ltd, Mark Wild, joins Jacobs People & Places Solutions Senior Vice President for Europe and Digital Strategies Donald Morrison and Jacobs People & Places Solutions Program Director Russell Pilgrim, to discuss learnings from and benefits of the development of London’s new Elizabeth line.

Ever since the Space Age began in the 1950s, man-made objects have been filling the nighttime sky in an increasing number. But what happens to all those rockets and components floating around our world? Though some burn up in the atmosphere, an ever-growing number of artificial objects litter the stratosphere, presenting potential dangers to astronauts and costly damages to satellites and spacecraft. In this episode of If/When we explored the topic of orbital debris with Dr. Phillip Anz-Meador, Orbital Debris Principal Scientist, Jacobs JETS Contract Group. In the discussion that follows, we talked about the size and scope of the problem of orbital debris, the safety hazards it presents, and what is being done to remediate the problem.

In April 1972, he became the youngest person ever to walk on the Moon – a record he still holds to this day. Just three years prior, he served in a critical role as part of the Mission Control team for Apollo 11, and he was later a member of the backup crew for the ill-fated Apollo 13. But in the heyday of NASA’s lunar explorations, he would eventually get his own shot at walking on the moon. As we close in on the 50th anniversary of the flight of Apollo 16, we sat down with General Charlie Duke, lunar module pilot for this historic flight, to reminisce about his three-day excursion to earth’s farthest shore.

As more and more investors and boards elevate the importance given to Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance metrics, greater emphasis is being placed on reporting and transparency. To help ensure investors are able to make informed decisions related to ESG matters, the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (or TCFD) was founded in 2015 as a mechanism to provide standardized reporting methods for organizations to communicate their climate impact data. To learn more about the TCFD and business climate resilience, our guests are Adam Liddle – Jacobs Director of Corporate Sustainability, and Craig Clifton – Jacobs Global Technology Leader for Resilience and Climate Change.

With the intersection of advanced data technologies and the evolution of healthcare, both providers and patients look to benefit, but security, privacy and data hygiene still loom as potential areas of concern. In this episode of If/When, we discuss data science advances in the context of healthcare with two data science experts from Jacobs - Dr. Jennifer Blum and David Morgareidge.

In this final episode we discuss COP26 and the Path Ahead and reflect on learnings from across the series and to discuss how we can Collaborate. Act. Commit to create a more resilient and sustainable world, together.

Coming to you live from the World Climate Summit in Glasgow, we’ll be bringing you the key highlights from the event and chatting with some of the world’s most influential green leaders. Join us as we explore the latest partnerships, policies, innovations and investments that are driving action on climate change.

On this episode of If/When we sat down with two experts from the famed SETI Institute whose passion is listening to the stars and seeking new life - Dr. Nathalie Cabrol, Director of the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe and Dr. Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer. We asked Nathalie and Seth to expound on topics such as, "If intelligent life is out there, why has it been so hard for us to find any evidence of it?"; "What kinds of advances in technology will be needed to discover life among the stars?"; and "What can extreme environments on Earth teach us about the potential presence of life on other planets?"

As sea levels rise, coastal habitats will find it necessary to migrate landwards. But when human-made constructions such as sea walls impede their progress, the habitats are squeezed, resulting in the loss of life-sustaining environments. To lessen those impacts, scientists are developing solutions such as compensatory habitats to preserve affected sea-life. In this episode of If/When, we explore the challenge of coastal squeeze with Dr. Chrissy Mitchell, National Principal Research Scientist - Flood, Coast, Reservoirs, UK Environment Agency and Dr. Nigel Pontee, Global Practice Leader, Coastal Planning & Engineering, Jacobs.

In this episode we talk about how sustainability is a sub-theme of Expo 2020 Dubai, which presented the opportunity for the global community to share challenges, lessons learned, and solutions from the around the world. For Expo, the event is an opportunity to advance the UAE’s sustainability agenda and create a model of sustainable urban development that will live on as District 2020 after the event.

In this episode, we discuss the challenges in decarbonizing cities and how the city-state of Singapore is addressing this challenge head on through its “Green Plan” – a set of initiatives to advance progress on key sustainable development targets related to their energy, buildings, transport, food, waste and water industries.  We’ll also explore the role of green finance in accelerating decarbonization and sustainability agenda in both Singapore and across Asia.