Our Work
Making Resilient Infrastructure the New Ideal
The Atlas Initiative has undertaken a series of initiatives, policies, partnerships, and activities to bring the relevant organizations and institutions into closer alignment to lift resilient infrastructure as the new ideal for planning, procurement, and construction. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has done an outstanding job of showing what their 38 countries are doing to advance resilient infrastructure.
The need for hard infrastructure is rising as a top priority for every country, but so is the demand for natural infrastructure, our forests and coastlines, our rivers and lakes, our nature-based solutions that protect free ecological goods and biodiversity. So too, infrastructure has expanded its reach into what is called soft infrastructure, just as soft power and soft energy path have become commonplace. Many societies are defining it more broadly to include aspects of education and health that were somewhat outside the target zone in the past.
Atlas partners with WFEO for the Climate Adaptation and Resilience Code
Atlas is delighted to be a partner of WFEO and wholeheartedly supports the Summary Document for the WFEO Model Code of Practice - Climate Adaptation and Resilience for Engineers - WFEO Working Group on Climate Change under the leadership of WFEO President Mustafa Shehu. This document, chaired by Davide Stronati, builds on the excellent work of Engineers Canada, and its past leaders Darrel Danyluk, David Lapp and Jeanette Southwood at Engineers Canada and others. Atlas and its current President Guna Gunalan are active partners in advancing WFEO's leadership in Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure. Atlas jointly supporting the WFEO 2023 Prague Declaration with WFEO President Mustafa Shehu ...
Atlas VP of Innovation Publishes Article on a Systems Approach to Infrastructure
Atlas International VP of Innovation has published an article to challenge civil engineers to apply a Systems Engineering and Systems Integration approach to Infrastructure, especially to new types of infrastructure. Civil engineers are confronting a variety of environmental challenges, demographic shifts and sociological, economic, and technological changes that will require a drastic rethinking of how we build, operate, and maintain our infrastructure systems. There is a need for a new approach. Holistic systems thinking is required. We must consider holistic city, community andneighborhood systems, including the cultural, social, economic, political, ethical, medical and environmental aspects at different scales to better ...
Atlas is Named as a Pan American Collaborating Organization
Atlas is named as a collaborating initiative in the Pan American Academy of Engineering (PAEE) Panama Declaration. The Declaration is a call to action to world leaders to advance engineering education and sustainable and resilient infrastructure for the benefit of humanity, by leveraging the power and potential of artificial intelligence, of integration of global initiatives, and of increased collaboration. This declaration was authored and signed during the PAEE Silver Jubilee meeting in Panama City, Panama, on September 17-20, 2025. (11x17) 2025 API Panama Jubileo Declaracioěn Ingleěs FirmadaDownload ...
Induction into the Pan American Academy of Engineering
K.N. Gunalan (Guna), Atlas President, is inducted into the Pan American Academy of Engineering. In doing so, Atlas gains an additional platform for advocating for quality infrastructure across the Americas. Guna is in the last row, third from the left ...
Digital Advances and AI Demand More Attention to Cyber Security for Infrastructure
Atlas International VP of Innovation writes an article calling for more attention to cyber security for civil infrastructure. He contends that we are not prepared. We are not aware of how unprepared we are. We are not aware of the cost to prepare. We are not aware of how damaging our unpreparedness could be. Cyber security is simply another risk management issue. When designing and building infrastructure, we are familiar with risk management trade-offs applied to materials selection, earthquake design, hurricane design, monitoring for infrastructure decay, and so forth. But infrastructure has new risks associated with the digital age. We ...
Atlas Executive Director Hosts Presidents of Pan American Engineering Societies
Michael Sanio, Executive Director, recently hosted the presidents of national engineering societies from throughout Pan America who are part of UPADI, the Union of Pan American Associations of Engineers ...
Atlas Connects Inter-American Development Bank with Pan American Engineering Organizations and Pan American Academy
Executive Director Caroline LeClerc of InterAmerican Development Bank – IDB meets with Canadian Senator Rosa Galvez and representatives of the Atlas Initiative for a Resilient Infrastructure. Atlas is working with the Inter-American Development Bank to set up an Engagement Group of engineers which will be organized by the Pan American Academy. The Pan American Academy and the Atlas Initiative have formed a partnership to offer tools to measure the best infrastructure alternatives. Pictured above: IDB Private Sector Liaison Jordan Abbott, Atlas Executive Director Michael Sanio, IDB Canadian Executive Director Caroline Leclerc, Canadian Senator Rosa Galvez, Atlas Chairman Jan Hartke, IADB ...
WFEO and Atlas Sign Prague Declaration
The World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) President Jose Veira (right) and President Elect Mustapha Shehu (center) sign the WFEO/Atlas Prague Declaration. Mike Sanio, Atlas Executive Director (left), looks on with a smile of accomplishment. The Prague Declaration, announces a new initiative to create National Infrastructure Roundtables for a Just Transition that leaves no one behind. Organized by engineers, the National Roundtables will promote climate and disaster resilient infrastructure that is inclusive, multisectoral, and sustainable economically, socially, and environmentally. Noting that the Paris Climate Agreement calls for "equal resources for mitigation and adaptation," the Roundtables will mitigate climate through low ...
Atlas Authors United Nations Declaration
The Atlas team prepared and presented a statement on behalf of the global engineering community to the High-Level Political Form on Sustainable Development under the auspices of the United Nations General Assembly at the SDG Summit in September 2023. It was authored by Jerry Buckwalter, Atlas International Director of Innovation. It was presented by K. N. Gunalan, Atlas President on behalf of the UN Scientific and Technological Community Major Group and Atlas. The Title was “Innovative Action Requires Non-Traditional Collaboration.” UN HLPF GA position paper 2023 FinalDownload ...
Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure
The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) is the premier intergovernmental organization in the world dedicated to building infrastructure that is sustainable, resilient, and leaves no one behind. Its mission and work streams have already attracted national governments, multilateral development banks, and UN agencies ...
UN Forum on Science, Technology & Innovation
US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Atlas President KN Gunalan United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Forum on Science, Technology, and Innovation – STI Forum, May 2023 ...
Atlas Contributes to a G20 Resolution
The Atlas team authored a policy brief for the G20 meeting in New Delhi, India in 2023 for Task Force 3 (TF3), Life, Resilience, and Values for Wellbeing. It was delivered to the American Society of Engineers (ASCE) and the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) for final editing and submittal. The resulting Policy Brief, Catalysing Investments for Climate- and Disaster-Resilient Infrastructure was published by T20 in May 2023. T20_PolicyBrief_TF3_-Investments-Climate-Resilient-InfrastructureDownload ...
Atlas Organizes Washington DC Planning Meeting for New Delhi Conference on Resilient Infrastructure
To prepare for the instrumental New Delhi Conference, Atlas organized a planning meeting in Washington DC with key leaders including Canadian Senator Rosa Galvez, Claus Alstrup from the Asian Development Bank, and Tom Smith from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Pictured above from left: Tom Smith, Executive Director of American Society of Civil Engineers; Claus Alstrup, Director of Partnerships for the Asian Development Bank; Michael Sanio, Executive Director of Atlas; Canadian Senator Rosa Galvez; Jan Hartke, Chairman of Atlas ...
Atlas Leaders Meet With U.S. Commerce Secretary
Discussion with US Secretary Department of Commerce Gina Raimondo, who has become a widely respected international voice on commerce, trade, about quality infrastructure and the role of engineers in supporting disaster resilient infrastructure for trade and development. Pictured above: Michael Sanio, Atlas Initiative Executive Director; Jan Hartke, Chairman; Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce; Dean Hartke, Atlas Communications. September 2022 ...