Purpose Lab and Curtins: My Odyssey as a Student Ambassador of Purpose Lab
In an era of today’s evolving world of work, Curtins stands out to be a guiding light of purposeful innovation by setting an example for how inclusion and flexibility are a strategic imperative. With over six mighty decades of excellence, an employee-owned engineering consultancy having a multidisciplinary portfolio spanning civil, geo-environmental, structural, and transport-planning services, with over 14 esteemed offices across the UK and Ireland, Curtins values its people as its greatest asset and reshapes the definition of workplace excellence by not just adapting to change but by leading it.
Sometimes opportunities not only open doors but redefine the path you walk. For me, this session was not just a glimpse into the future of work but a moment that reshaped my paradigm.
During this impressive Purpose Lab session, led by Rhiannon Carss, Director of Culture and Engagement at Curtins, the discussion explored the revolution over the past few years for flexible and hybrid working with a forward-thinking and authentic perspective and how it is more than a logistical choice.
Rhiannon Carss’s insights highlighted its challenges, how this model is transformative and beneficial, as it is a culture-defining philosophy, it is a strategic mindset designed for creating a culture that fosters inclusion, enhancing wellbeing, powers collaborative energy, creativity, and sustainability for the environment, and also supports individual needs where people can thrive on a workplace where working is not just about hours or location.
Through the session was a live example of Curtins’s work ethics that work should work for everyone, it was analysed how businesses can adapt to multi-generational expectations, create a balance between alignment and autonomy, and harmonise human needs with team cohesion and design a workspace that is both inspiring and functional, where people choose to come as they are purpose-driven, energising and supportive.
This conversation acted like a catalyst for me, as it expanded my understanding of how workplace culture can unlock potential and also unlocked a golden opportunity for me, joining Curtins Virtual Insight Summer Programme 2025, which offered me a platform connecting talent directly with industry leaders to explore, growth, transformation, innovation, engineering excellence, purposeful design, and progressive culture for shaping the future when purpose leads the way.
This journey was undoubtedly a masterclass in translating vision into action, right from purpose-driven leadership to future-focused workplace strategies, all of which began with Purpose Lab, which opened the door for me to Curtin’s world. Curtins has expressed how the future of work is solely defined by why we work, and this “why” reverberates with the talent we nurture and the people we serve. All I have to say is, at the convergence of progress and purpose lies Curtins, where human-first vision meets with engineering excellence for the future of work.
This is a guest blog by Gursimran Kaur, Purpose Lab Student Ambassador and Teesside University student.
