Teenage engineering students sort out London's rail problems!

"This is the best day of my life" - Jamie, student, Sawyers Hall College, Brentwood

Last Friday ICE ventured to London’s Transport Museum (LTM) for the Transitions project showcase event. It was the culmination of four months of workshops developed by ICE London and BBC 21st Century Classroom (BBC 21CC) in partnership with the London Transport Museum.

Over 60 young people from 10 schools in London were involved, all on Engineering or Construction and the Built Environment diploma courses. On the showcase day, BBC’s Alice Bhandhukravi led the event interviewing students, teachers, ambassadors and representatives from ICE, LTM, the BBC and Crossrail. It was great to see such a large turnout for the final too, with an audience that included industry and media professionals, students and teachers.

The Transitions final attracted a diverse audience

We heard how the project had started back in January with site visits to four Crossrail stations: Paddington, Tottenham Court Road, Whitechapel and Canary Wharf. Whilst exploring these locations, the students worked with Crossrail staff and learnt about the different, real-life, engineering challenges facing each of the stations.

After these visits, the students spent time at London Transport Museum working with volunteer engineering ambassadors discussing problems like building underwater and what to do with excavated material from tunnels, all relevant to the various Crossrail stations.

The next step was to work with media professionals at BBC 21CC’s digital classroom in White City, where the students explored creative ways of using multimedia to showcase their work at the project finale.

BBC 21CC and students chat before the final

A great turnout to support their friends!

In the finale we had the pleasure of watching some of the video presentations the students had created, one on each of the four Crossrail locations. The films showed the students presenting their projects as newsreaders, presenters or chat show hosts, all playing their characters excellently! Hard hats, a few suppressed giggles from the "news readers" and some cheesy "now back to the studio" catchphrases kept the audience thoroughly entertained. Creativity is definitely not something these students lack!

But jokes and comedy sketches aside, it was really impressive to see the amount of research and preparation they did. The students investigated in depth the different issues that the stations face and got some great hands on experience of problem solving, interviewing, teamwork, and most importantly, a step into the real world of engineering.

Students presented to a full house


BBC's Alice Bhandhukravi hosted the final

"The results are truly inspiring. The pilot project has been a huge success and we look forward to developing the workshops further, bringing industry closer together with schools and supporting teachers as they demonstrate how exciting it is to be an engineer in London." - Miranda Housden, ICE London Director

Lots of people were involved in the Transitions project, but most importantly we need to say a big WELL DONE to the students for all their hard work and the very entertaining final presentations. Here's to many more Transitions in the future!

A final big round of applause for everyone who took part!

ICE West Midlands: UK Infrastructure Leaders Debate

ICE Director General, Tom Foulkes

Tom Foulkes, ICE Director General, and Antony Oliver, NCE editor, gave a fascinating insight into what they think is the bigger picture on the future of UK infrastructure during a pre-election event organized by ICE West Midlands in Birmingham last week (22 April).

The two well-known industry figures discussed the prospects for the civil engineering industry and also gave advice to the incoming government on how civil engineering can contribute to the UK’s economic recovery and low carbon aspirations.

A range of recommendations to the new government were put forward including the need for an infrastructure bank and the importance of prioritizing infrastructure requirements.

Foulkes cited a recent HM Treasury Strategy for National Infrastructure which identifies the need to spent £50bn a year on infrastructure for the next 10 years.

He said that ICE are currently assisting and can continue to assist future governments to build a vision and framework for infrastructure objectives.

Welcome steps towards meeting the above objectives included, according to Foulkes, the introduction of the Planning Act 2009, the creation of the Infrastructure Planning Commission led by Sir Michael Pitt and the creation of the post of Chief Construction Adviser.

With politics high on the agenda, Antony Oliver thought that more civil engineers standing for parliament would be a welcome change. Oliver posed one big challenge for the future of the industry: how do we balance infrastructure investment with the need to cut the budget deficit?

Oliver also addressed carbon as a currency and the need for engineers to face the challenge of re-thinking everything they do and embrace value management. He said “It’s possible to build anything but the price has to be right and we need to right people to do this”.

Visit the ICE West Midlands events page to make sure you don’t miss future ICE West Midlands events.

Jane Young
Jane Young is the regional marketing and communications executive for ICE West Midlands.

GSNet annual conference 2010 a big success

On April 9th and 10th, GSNet held its annual conference and this year’s venue was in Nottingham. The agenda for this year’s conference was packed full of items directly relating to this year’s GSNet business plan.

Delegates at this year's GSNet annual conference

Top of the agenda was to provide a guidance piece to both graduate and student members who are currently out of work or are facing the terrible prospect of not having a job once they leave university. The item was discussed at great length over both days with GSNet extremely keen to have a response to the graduate and student membership on this issue very soon. An article is expected to be printed in New Civil Engineer (NCE) magazine in the next couple of weeks. The item is also due to go back to all regions for further discussion as GSNet are keen to continue offering advice and support to graduate and student members.

Other issues discussed at conference included improved support for University initiatives and the continued improvement of communication links between the regions and between the regions and GSNet. Discussion papers from all these items went out to regions prior to conference for discussion at regional level and feedback was brought by each of the regional representatives. Summary notes of all these discussions can be found at the ICE GSNet website.

ICE President Paul Jowitt opened the second day of conference and discussed the challenges and opportunities facing graduate and student at this time. Professor Jowitt then opened the floor to Engineers without Borders who carried out a training session incorporating scenario building focusing on non-governmental organization (NGO) work being carried out abroad in the Developing Countries. Andrew Lamb (CEO, EWB-UK) also highlighted the opportunities available to graduates and students at this time and directed conference delegates towards the placements and schemes which are currently available for both individuals and companies.

Kieran Owens
Kieran is the Chairman of GSNet and is responsible for chairing the GSNet committee and executive, liaising with the ICE President and representing GSNet on council. Kieran will be contributing to the blog on a monthly basis with updates about GSNET.

The Election Campaign and Party Manifestos

ICE published a grid of its key policy recommendations and compared them against the manifestos of the main parties. That document can be downloaded from the ICE website.

The document provides a clear indication of how close Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties are to ICE positions. There is also a contrast between the manifestos of this campaign and those of 2005 – this document indicates how the concept of infrastructure and other related terms have significantly increased in importance within political discourse over the past five years.

ICE National Offices in the Devolved Administrations are also actively monitoring and engaging to take account of the local political realities in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

ICE South West: A New Seminar and Conference Programme for 2010

ICE South West launched its new programme of monthly seminars in January 2010 and has so far covered the South West Regional Transport Strategy (January), Sustainable Energy (February) and Earthquake Engineering (March).

Sustainable Energy Conference, February 2010

The next key seminar, ‘Bridge Engineering: Maintaining our Strength’, takes place on 28 April 2010. This event will present delegates with the big issues in bridge engineering, as well as the technical background to bridge assessments, non-standard bridges and bridge eurocodes. It will also present illustrative case studies to delegates and will feature a presentation on the much anticipated Twin Sails Bridge, Poole.

In reality the bridge engineer faces a multitude of challenges; we will present key bridge features that can change the way a bridge functions, such as electronic tolling and the effect it has on capacity.

Key Speakers:

• Introduction – Richard Fish, Independent Consultant
• The Big Issues – Mike Winter, Dorset County Council, Chair of ADEPT Bridges Group, Member of UK Bridges Board
• Bridge Assessments – Graham Cole, Surrey County Council, Secretary of ADEPT Bridges Group, Member of UK Bridges Board
• When Non-Standard is Standard – Peter Radford, County Bridges and Structures Manager, Somerset County Council
• The New Poole Bridge – Peter Curran, Gifford
• Electronic Tolling: An option for increasing capacity – David List, General Manager, Tamar Bridge & Torpoint Ferry
• Bridge Eurocodes – Steve Denton, Parsons Brinckerhoff
• 8hr Rail Bridge Replacement – Deborah Elliott, Network Rail
• Flexi-arch Bridge Case Study – Liz Kirkham & Phil Raven, Gloucestershire Highways

Visit our website for further details and booking information.

Joanne Morgan and Charlotte Snooks
Joanne and Charlotte coordinate the programme of events for the ICE South West Region, including a full programme of evening meetings and a programme of monthly seminars.

ICE helps promote Civil Engineering to thousands of young people at Manchester’s Big Bang 2010

The Big Bang is a science and engineering event aimed at under-19s. It took place for the second time in March 2010, at the impressive Manchester Central Conference Centre (an old railway station!), and a small team of ICE staff, graduate members and QUEST scholars were there to take part.

There’s one main aim of the Big Bang fair– to promote science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM) careers to young people and address related skills gaps across the UK.

With over 22,000 school children, teachers and parents attending - three times as many as last year - The Big Bang was a huge success. It was also the biggest single celebration of science and engineering of its kind, and ICE was right in the thick of it.

The Big Bang 2010 was held at the Manchester Central Conference Centre and saw thousands of visitors over three days

ICE’s stand in the ‘Go Global’ zone featured a bridge construction game, which challenged students to put their science and maths knowledge into practice in the real world. The event gave us the chance to meet and inspire young people, to explain what civil engineers do and to promote the profession as a great career choice.

We also enjoyed chatting with teachers, career advisors and parents, who clearly play an important role in influencing young people. So as well as building new relationships, we were able to help raise the profile of civil engineering and meet with others in the industry.

Budding civil engineers enjoyed the chance to build bridges at the ICE stand

The Big Bang also took the chance to reward young achievers through awards and competitions like the 'UK Young Engineer of the Year' and the National Science & Engineering competition.

A number of prestigious guests were present, such as the HRH the Duke of Kent, Lord Mandelson and Olympic Gold Medalist Amy Williams. The BBC's Bang Goes the Theory presenters also attended the show, and some of them even arrived at the venue in a sustainable, coffee-powered car!

The event attracted plenty of national media coverage, featuring on the BBC, in national newspapers and in regional news networks across the UK.

We’re already looking forward to the next Big Bang event, which will take place at London’s ExCel from 10-12 March 2011. And after this year’s success, it promises to be the biggest Bang yet!

Notes from Uganda: The final chapter

This is the final chapter in a series of weekly updates from QUEST award winner Hayley Maxwell and her collegue Jessica Robinson, who are currently in Uganda helping to build rural classrooms.

Our last few days here have been sadly frustrating for several reasons. We returned from Pallisa to discover that the cleared section of the site had been burned to remove all traces of vegetation. Although this left the site half cleared, but we had hoped more might have been done in our absence. We were also disconcerted not to find any of the villagers working on the site.

It turns out that there is a boundary dispute and work has completely halted. Nobody seemed to quite know what was going on, so we went to see the chairman of the village. He explained that the landowner is disputing the area of land Building Tomorrow has bought. We then went to the home of the landowner to try and discuss the problem. Unfortunately he wasn’t there, but his wife was lovely and gave us some fresh eggs!

We had to leave the matter with Building Tomorrow as boundary disputes can get complicated. An article in the newspaper the other day said they can turn nasty and end in machete fights (though we’re sure this one won’t!). However, in typical Ugandan style a meeting between the charity, the landowner and surveyor was pushed back, then back again, then back some more!
We did have the opportunity to talk to the villagers about the school and what it will mean to them. Currently, a lot of them cannot afford the school fees for the private school nearby, and are eager to educate their children and ready to build the new school! We also met some of the children who will be attending, who don’t currently go to school but are very excited about starting!

Unfortunately, we have also been hit by illness this week which hampered our efforts. Hayley, Joseph and Jimmy have all been struck down at some point, and Metrine had to miss a computer ‘lesson’ due to sickness. We went to the surgery in Kampala to visit the very good English doctor who has served out here for 30 years and knows all possible Uganda-inflicted ailments and bugs!

We have introduced Metrine to the internet and set up her first email account – we hope she will stay in touch with us. We have also organised a computer training course at John’s facilities in Pallisa for a number of staff from the Crane Paradise.

For our last day today we visited the completed Building Tomorrow Academy at Gita, north of Kampala. We were encouraged to see such a well built school, although there are some problems with rain ingress, noise transfer and weld durability! We donated exercise books and pencils to every student who were pleased and excited to have visitors!

We can’t help but be disappointed with the lack of progress on site during our time here – but we have certainly learnt a lot and feel the knowledge we have imparted and the contacts we have made will assist Building Tomorrow’s future work. We finalised the classroom design and site layout based on the construction capabilities we have experienced first hand, although current estimated costs are inexplicably more than a little over budget! Something to pick up when we’re back in the UK.

We’re sad to be leaving. We’ve made many friends along our journey and are already planning a return trip next year – hopefully to coincide with the opening of the school. In the meantime, two other members of our award-winning team, Farah Naz and Chris Soley, are hoping to come out to Nakaseeta and to visit some of Building Tomorrow’s other Ugandan projects in August of this year.

Hayley Maxwell and Jessica Robinson

Hayley and Jessica work for Gifford and are part of a four strong team currently in Uganda. Hayley is an ICE member and won an ICE Quest Award to assist with her trip.

Offshore Renewables: Unlocking the potential

ICE published its latest report on the challenges and opportunities behind the deployment of Offshore Renewables in UK waters. The report can be found here.

ICE also hosted a panel discussion which included Alan Simpson MP, leading campaigner on the environment and economic issues; Professor Bakr Bahaj of the University of Southampton and one of the report authors; and Chris Tomlinson of Renewable UK. Chairing the debate was ICE Vice-President Richard Coackley.

The discussion covered a variety of issues from the engineering challenges; the importance of a more effective planning system; helping secure and directing appropriate sources of private investment and delivering the amount of skilled workers required. In addition panellists and audience alike made the point that the education of, and engagement with, the public regarding the benefits of new technology and infrastructure must take place.

Notes from Uganda: Week 4

Site clearing continues. Our most useful contribution is uprooting cassava plants, which also prove quite tasty! Progress on site is slow because the community can only spend a couple of hours a day working, as they are subsistence farmers with their own gardens to tend.

Our blueprints are with the local architect, and he was meant to visit the site before signing them off, but “he failed”. In Uganda, the industry has not been fully privatised, and so it is up to the local district councils to provide major plant and equipment. Building Tomorrow has visited the council on a number of occasions and still not met with the relevant official to organise the grading of our site. Scheduling appointments in advance is not possible. This has been very frustrating.

The big excitement was the arrival of our ISSB brick-making machine from Nairobi! It was ordered in November and has taken a tortuous route to get here. The Good Earth Trust delivered the machine to site, and with their engineers, we analysed the local soil. We visited a nearby murram (local red soil) pit where we concluded that we can use the soil there, but in different ratios to achieve the required brick properties.

We have finalised the layout for the head teacher’s office / library building at the school. There will be seven classrooms for each of the primary years, and an additional building to monitor visitors and store books securely.

We also travelled to Pallisa to see John Nisbet. Pallisa is a flat, sleepy town, more rural than Mukono – 15km down an empty murram road. The bugs here are ginormous! Hayley is not happy about the size of the spiders, but we were rather impressed by discovering flying beetles the size of our hands and multicoloured preying mantis. We had our most unstable and nerve racking experience of public transport, riding on the back of bicycles side saddle.

John is out here for six months, overseeing the building of a vocational community centre. It is a £400,000 development including teaching and IT facilities, library and catering resources, and dormitories to sleep almost 100 people.

We learnt how to cut and lay tiles, as well as mixing cement using a kitchen spatula and whisk! It was good to review the local construction techniques available on bigger budgets, though we are now envious of luxuries such as a concrete ceiling to keep the building cool and paint to brighten it up.

We were invited to take a primary school class for years P6 and P7, where we encouraged the children (especially the girls) to continue their studies and strive for good jobs. We also tried somewhat unsuccessfully to play FizzBuzz with them. Explaining a mathematical game proved a little beyond us!

We glimpsed the scale of the development required at Pallisa. Locals told us of new schools, water storage and boreholes urgently needed. People were supportive of the work we are doing in Mukono.

There has been no rain this week, and whilst we have been grateful to see so much sunshine, we are beginning to wilt!

Hayley Maxwell and Jessica Robinson

Notes from Uganda: Week 2

This is the second in a series of weekly updates from QUEST award winner Hayley Maxwell and her collegue Jessica Robinson, who are currently in Uganda helping to build rural classrooms.

We have moved to our new base in the Crane Paradise ‘Hotel’ in Mukono, where we will be staying for the majority of our placement. Mukono is a small town north west of Kampala. We explored the area last week with Jimmy, the Building Tomorrow employee responsible for our school site at Nakaseeta. We had an ‘orientation’ establishing accommodation, local restaurants and amenities. The town is certainly less glamorous than Kampala but has everything we need.

Many of our plans have been disrupted by the unseasonally heavy rains and you may have heard about the fatal landslides in Uganda at the moment. It is very unusual to have this much rain. It normally arrives in a burst of an hour or so, but recently it has been pouring for whole days at a time. We had hoped to go to Gita today to meet the students at one of the completed schools but flooding put paid to that.

We have been completing the drawings for the new school (thank goodness for the Gifford laptop!). Yesterday – against all the odds including broken plotters, miscommunications and ‘Uganda time’ – we printed four full sets of blueprints ready to be delivered as our planning application to Mukono District Council.

We met the Good Earth Trust at Makerere University to discuss the implementation of the interlocking soil stabilised bricks (ISSBs) which we want to use as building materials. Having surveyed some changing rooms and auditorium seating constructed from the bricks, we feel confident the ISSB technology can be used to great effect. Training is required at our site both in how to make the bricks and how to build with the bricks before work can start. We plan to test a number of sample bricks for compressive strength and durability properties at the University.

We took a break on Sunday afternoon and strolled around Kampala, taking in the sights including the parliament building, National Theatre and crafts market – there’s always time for a spot of shopping! We are becoming ‘Uganda-fied’ travelling by matatu (local minibus taxi), immune to splatterings of red mud, with Jess even picking up the local dialect which is always greeted with a smile! (“Webale nyo sebu – thank you kindly, sir”). We have become hard bargainers on everything from soap stone sculptures to exchange rates.

The rain has delayed work at our site. Building Tomorrow held a meeting to discuss plans for the school, which was attended by 26 members of the local village – very encouraging. Site clearance is now due to take place tomorrow. Fingers crossed for better weather!

It was Hayley’s 26th birthday yesterday, and we treated ourselves to dinner at Krau Thai – maybe the only Thai restaurant in the country. Delicious! We travel to Jinja at the weekend to mountain bike round the source of the Nile, and meet Soft Power Education, who are also building schools using ISSBs. Next week we shall visit John Nisbet at Pallisa to assist with his projects.

Now to find an internet café!

Hayley Maxwell and Jessica Robinson
Hayley and Jessica work for Gifford and are part of a four strong team currently in Uganda. Hayley is an ICE member and won an ICE Quest Award to assist with her trip.

Find out more about: ICE web project

ICE’s web project was planned in response to increased dissatisfaction with the current site and ICE’s ongoing commitment to its increasing global membership. Considerable progress has been made on the project, and the new website is scheduled to launch in June.

The key to the new website is that it will be personalised for each user. When you sign in to the site it will show you material most relevant to you're personal preferences: be that the region you live in or the topics you are interested in. Each ICE region will have its own landing page:

Regional landing pages feature news and upcoming events relevant to that particular region. Each region will also have its own unique subpages with more information pertaining to events, online communities, regional committees, education, and more.

Regional news and events will be able to appear on regional landing pages as well as on the main ICE news and events sections. This ensures a broad readership while also delivering a regionalised and personalised experience for the user.

Users will also be able to navigate the site by topic:

If the user is currently signed in, the right hand toolbar will filter topics related to his or her individual preferences. In the same way that the ICE regions page will be regionalised to the user’s region, the ICE topics page will be personalised to the user’s interests.

You can find out more about the web project by following our progress on the ICE web project blog http://www.icewebproject.blogspot.com/ You will find updates on the progress of each part of the site as well as profiles of the key team members involved.

Notes from Uganda: Week 1

This is the first in a series of weekly updates from QUEST award winner Hayley Maxwell and her collegue Jessica Robinson, who are currently in Uganda helping to build rural classrooms.

We flew into Entebbe Airport where we were met by George and Joseph from the charity we are working with, Building Tomorrow, and by John Nisbet, a colleague from Gifford.

Hayley and Jessica at the airport

We are staying in the capital Kampala, a bright, bustling city, with plenty of traffic and the familiar problems with internet connections. We are currently staying at a pleasant guest house at Clement Hill; we are not sure who’s more fortunate: Hayley with a hot shower and toilet seat, or Jessica with a working fan and mosquito net with no holes!

There is a wide variety of food available including Western food, but we have been easing ourselves into local dishes sampling “tilapia” (delicious local fish), “matooke” (cooked mashed banana) and “Irish” (potatoes).

On Tuesday we visited the site for our classrooms at Nakaseeta, over an hour from Kampala. Our original plan to visit the site on Monday was delayed due to 12-hour torrential rains which even made the headlines in Uganda! Typical Brits, bringing the bad weather with them. The site is very rural, far off the beaten track down red dirt roads.

We were surprised how tropical and completely overgrown it is, and how much needs clearing before any construction work can begin. However, despite the foliage, we were able to understand the slope of the site and determine suitable positions for our eight classrooms. On the way back our Toyota 4x4 got stuck in the mud and had to be pushed out with some helping hands from the locals and a little engineering ingenuity on our part.

We have since visited three other Building Tomorrow sites, all in rural locations surrounding Kampala, and each with its own set of challenges. It has helped us to understand current building practices and to meet the teams building the new schools. We have been able to offer advice and improvements where possible. Structural engineering seems to be quite a loose term here, with sound reasoning being ‘that’s the way it’s been done before’.

We also had the opportunity to see the interlocking ISSB building bricks we plan to use being made and had a go ourselves. This is a new alternative building technology with a few teething problems we hope to iron out with the charity and the Good Earth Trust before starting on site.

We have been working with Building Tomorrow to adapt our design to meet practical buildability and budget, both of which are significantly different to what we are used to in the UK. The charity is very excited to have an innovative design to provide better teaching conditions for the students, and hopes this will be the template for future schools.

We have been welcomed wherever we have travelled, particularly warmly by the local children, who run along side us calling ‘Muzungu’ which means “white person”. We have perhaps been a little disruptive to lessons, but people are pleased to see progress in areas where the current schools cannot meet capacity or building conditions.
Tomorrow we will be visiting our site again, where the community will be starting site clearance, and introduced to the team we will be working with for the next month. At last the project will be underway!

Hayley Maxwell and Jessica Robinson
Hayley and Jessica work for Gifford and are part of a four strong team currently in Uganda. Hayley is an ICE member and won an ICE Quest Award to assist with her trip.

Bridge Design to Eurocode conference launched

ICE is pleased to announce the launch of the Bridge Design to Eurocode - UK Implementation conference, taking place on 22 – 23 November 2010 at One Great George Street, London.

From April 2010, British Standards will be replaced by the Structural Eurocodes (EN1990 – EN1999) as the principal design standards for bridges in the UK.

This two-day conference will provide the definitive background to the implementation of the Structural Eurocodes for bridge design in the UK.

The event will enable engineers to understand key technical decisions taken in the development of the National Annexes and important sources of complementary information. In addition, leading client bodies will explain their implementation strategies, technical background will be provided on companion European Execution Standards and illustrative examples presented.

Delegates will hear from a number of experts who have been at the very heart of Eurocode developments. The conference and accompanying proceedings will serve as the essential and enduring record of the UK's Eurocode implementation for bridge design.

Key Speakers

Sibdas Chakrabarti, Independent Consultant
Peter Clapham, Technical Excellence Leader, The Impact Partnership & ADEPT
Steve Denton, Director of Bridge and Structural Engineering, Parsons Brinckerhoff
Chris Hendy, Head of Bridge Engineering, Atkins
Paul Jackson, Technical Director, Gifford
John Lane, Structures Engineer, RSSB
David MacKenzie, Partner, Flint and Neill Partnership


You can find out more about the event on its website, http://www.ice-bridgeeurocode.com/ and we will be bringing you more updates as the event draws closer.

Will we see you there?

ICE hosts Infrastructure Funding Summit

A summit on infrastructure funding, hosted by the Institution of Civil Engineers, took place yesterday with industry leaders, policy specialists and senior spokespeople from the three main political parties taking part.

The Institution of Civil Engineers has been calling for the creation of a UK National Infrastructure Investment Bank or similar funding mechanism to facilitate and encourage private capital to invest in major infrastructure.
The event provided an opportunity for key stakeholders to address important issues such as the need to secure a better environment for investment through improved processes for the planning, design and delivery of major infrastructure projects.

ICE believes that any new institution must work closely within the new infrastructure framework established through the creation of Infrastructure UK and the 2008 Planning Act reforms.

ICE President, Professor Paul Jowitt “We must find a way of ensuring continued investment in our transport, energy, waste, flooding and water infrastructure, despite the restrictions the current financial situation places on government spending.”

Ian Pearson MP, Economic Secretary to Treasury, addressed an importance of infrastructure for UK’s economy growth. Speaking after the event the Minister said “The challenge now is to raise the bar by attracting new sources of private sector investment as we plan, prioritise, finance and deliver investment in a low carbon future.

“The Government will unveil its strategic approach at Budget.”

Dr Vince Cable MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, an advocate of the idea for a National Infrastructure Bank said

“It is very clear there is enormous potential demand for infrastructure investment which the existing mechanism cannot meet, because of the difficulties facing banks and the Government’s own financing problems. There is a potential source of funding from institutional investors – pension funds and insurance companies - who are looking for potential safe investment opportunities.”
Mark Hoban MP, Shadow Minister for Treasury, spoke about the approach a new Conservative Government would take if elected. Mr Hoban said “There is an important role for private sector finance in the provision of infrastructure, but we need radical reform to government if we are to make sure the UK is an attractive place for private finance and to ensure we get maximum value for money for the tax payer”

The event was sponsored by Local Partnerships and Bechtel.

Coverage of the event was gained in the Financial Times and Evening Standard

ICE press comment on OFGEM Energy Security Plans

Commenting on the OFGEM energy security plans set out last week, Tom Foulkes, ICE Director General, said:

“The UK’s energy situation is precarious and securing energy supply that is sustainable, affordable and low carbon presents a huge and urgent challenge.

“However it is increasingly clear that the current energy model is not capable of meeting this challenge. Prompt action from Government and industry is crucial in order to activate a joined-up approach between heat, transport and electricity generation, resolve funding issues and really drive forward energy efficiency. The energy sector underpins our economy - if confidence in the security of UK energy supply is lost our global competitiveness will be severely affected”

Who are GSNet and what is planned for 2010!

GSNet represents the graduate and student members of the Institution of Civil Engineers. These members, totalling around 26,000, make up over 1/3 of the total membership of the ICE. The important aspect of GSNet is that it acts as a link between the ICE's Council and the Regions on all matters relating to Graduate and Student members.

GSNet is made up of representatives from each of the 12 UK Regional G&S Committees along with representatives from Republic of Ireland and Hong Kong, members of the important ICE boards and panels and also an executive committee. Click on the GSNet webpage to find out more about the committee and related documents.

Each year GSNet compiles a business plan which sets out what is to be achieved during each year. Each region had the opportunity to feed into the 2009-'10 business plan through a survey which was circulated last summer. A similar survey will again go out to each graduate and student committee in all regions this summer.

This year particular attention is being given to the following issues:

• How the ICE supports its graduate members?
• Can a best practice be provided to obtain CPD in today’s working environment?
• How can the dissemination of information to and from GSNet be improved?
• How can GSNet assist the regions in continuing to promote civil engineering and entice students into the profession?

There are discussion/information papers being prepared at the moment and I will update on how progress is coming along with these again. Please check for updates in early March!

Kieran Owens
Kieran is the Chairman of GSNet and is responsible for chairing the GSNet committee and executive, liaising with the ICE President and representing GSNet on council. Kieran will be contributing to the blog on a monthly basis with updates about GSNET.

ICE Northern Ireland: Engineers Week 2010

ICE Northern Ireland are currently gearing up for Engineers Week which runs from 8-13 February.

Engineers Week sees the Institution of Civil Engineers and Engineers Ireland team up to bring a series of engineering related events to over 200 primary and post primary schools children across Northern Ireland.

Engineers Week has been running successfully in the Republic of Ireland for the past four years where it is an important date in the calendar of schools across the country. ICE NI and Engineers Ireland have subsequently utilised the strength of their combined membership within Northern Ireland to encourage industry to open their doors to the school population within the region.

The Northern Ireland Education Minister, Caitriona Ruane, launched Engineers Week 2010 on Monday 1st February at Victoria College Belfast, helping pupils to construct towers made from spaghetti joined by marshmallows, illustrating her hidden civil engineering skills in the process!
Image shows: (l-r) ICE NI Chairman Jonathan Hegan with Victoria College pupil Laura Doran and Education Minister Caitriona Ruane

The Minster greatly acknowledged the importance of STEM (science, engineering, technology and maths) subjects and the societal value of engineering more broadly during the launch, stating: “I am honoured to have been asked to launch Engineers Week 2010. Engineering is at the heart of modern life. That is why my Department is currently working hard to promote careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The promotion of these subjects cannot be overstated as the STEM agenda is vital for economic regeneration on an all-Ireland basis.”

To see Minister Ruane’s full comments on Engineers Week please follow this link.

Northern Ireland industries involved in Engineers Week events include:

• Northern Ireland Water
• FG Wilson Engineering
• George Best Belfast City Airport
• Queens University
• University of Ulster
• UTV Ulster Television
• Phoenix Gas
• Traffic Control and Information Centre
• NI Science Park and Titanic Pump House

For more information on Engineers Week see http://www.engineersweek.ie/

Sinead Glackin
Sinead is the Communications Executive for ICE Northern Ireland. Sinead is responsible for the planning and execution of the internal and external communication strategy of the Northern Ireland region. Sinead is particularly focused on forging closer links between ICE and Northern Ireland’s devolved administration.

Prospective Parliamentary Candidates reception

Last night a reception took place for prospective parliamentary candidates (PPCs) to meet with and learn about the engineering and construction community.

The event was hosted by the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Association for Consultancy and Engineering, Civil Engineering Contractors Association and the Construction Products Association.
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Peter Hansford, ICE Senior Vice-President, spoke for the organisations and took the opportunity to remind PPCs of the vital role that engineers play nationally and within every constituency, supplying the vital infrastructure to keep transport, water, waste and energy networks working. .
Lord Chidgey, former Liberal Democrat front bench spokesperson and ICE Fellow, welcomed those candidates hopeful of becoming part of the new Parliamentary intake when the next General Election takes place later this year. Speaking to those present he thanked them and reminded them of the importance of the UK construction sector, which represents around 10% of GDP or £110 billion a year.

The reception marks part of an ongoing programme of engagement by the host organisations seeking to maintain and increase knowledge and understanding of the sector to current and future key decision-makers.
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Those candidates who become elected were also invited to join the All Party Parliamentary Group on Infrastructure when it is reformed in the new Parliament.

The President's apprentices visit South Africa

The second workshop of the President’s apprentice scheme 2009-2010 took place on 16-20 January in South Africa.
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This scheme provides an intensive, professional development programme addressing infrastructure for international development which is supported by key engineering organisations and other professionals operating on a pro bono basis.
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Twelve outstanding graduate engineers were selected in August 2009 to act as apprentices to increase the awareness and capability of international development.

Image shows: President's apprentices with Paul Jowitt in November 2009
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The first three days were spent in Durban where the apprentices met with industry specialists to discuss topics such as millennium development goals and infrastructure delivery for capital projects.
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They also visited the recently completed Moses Mabhida 2010 World Cup stadium to discuss the participation of black owned businesses on a mega project as well as the Zibambele programme, an initiative designed to create work opportunities for destitute citizens by providing them with maintenance contracts on their own road.Image shows: The Moses Mabhida 2010 World Cup Stadium which was visited by the team

Image shows: Site visit to Zimbabele programme
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These workshops are organised so the apprentices have a chance to work on the toolkit entitled ‘An Engineering Project Delivery Plan for International Development and the UN MDGs’ which will be launched in October 2010 in London.
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International development is one of Paul Jowitt’s themes to his presidency: “Resolving the problems facing global society in future all relies on civil engineers to provide innovative solutions, adapt and build new infrastructure and to plan and design for a changing environment. .
Society can’t function without infrastructure. It is fundamental to solving these issues. Therefore it is crucial that we instil the right kind of thinking into today’s engineers. They are the ones who will have to come up with and implement these solutions.”
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For further information on the scheme, please email gloria.liu@ice.org.uk

Will you be wearing red for RedR?

International disaster relief charity, RedR calls on supporters to take part in its annual fundraising day.

RedR’s annual fundraising event ‘Wear Red for RedR’ will this year take place on Friday 12 February.

The charity is calling on all supporters to take part and help raise vital funds to ensure that RedR’s on-going programmes and future planned work can continue – improving the effectiveness of disaster response and helping the millions around the world each year who are affected by disaster.

The scale of the devastation and loss of life in Haiti has shocked the world, and currently RedR is responding to the crisis, thanks to the generosity of its supporters. Unfortunately however, disasters occur across the globe far too frequently, and the impact of them is felt for years, long after the media interest has faded. Support is needed, not only for the people of Haiti but for people in, places like Darfur, where families face daily hardships due to the ongoing conflict, and where RedR has several active programmes. In addition to its on-going programmes and current Haiti response, RedR is also finalising plans to open a programme in Pakistan to provide key technical and humanitarian skills and assist in increasing the effectiveness of humanitarian aid there.

Taking part

Companies, groups and individuals are encouraged to get involved in Wear Red for RedR by organising events, wearing red clothing or arranging a sale, having fun while raising valuable funds for RedR’s work. Over 40 companies and institutions have already signed up, including Arup, Bechtel, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Sinclair Knight Merz, Mott MacDonald, Capita Symonds, WSP, Cundall, XLN Telecom and the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Previous years’ events have included quizzes, poker nights, city runs and gala dinners. Last year was the most successful Wear Red for RedR day ever, with over 60 offices taking part and supporters raising a fantastic £21,000. This year, the charity is hoping the event will be even more successful.

All monies raised from Wear Red for RedR will have a significant impact on extending the reach of RedR’s work and will help the charity remain prepared for an immediate response to future disasters such as Haiti.

For further information about how you can get involved in Wear Red for RedR, please visit www.redr.org.uk/WearRed

For further information on RedR’s response to the Haiti earthquake or work in general, please visit www.redr.org.uk

Schools engineering challenge reaches new heights

Now in its 7th year, the Annual “ICE & SNOW” Schools Engineering Event in the French Alps has proven once more to attract wide attention.

Supported by the Institution of Civil Engineers and sponsored by leading civil engineering organisations including Aecom, Ove Arup, and Jackson Civil Engineering, the event invites children to solve engineering challenges with only basic equipment and limited time.

This year, the winning team was the all-girls team, led by Megan Charles from Aecom. They devised a robust, reliable and efficient answer to the task. Each team had to construct a mountain first, then conceive a means to transport a marble to its base in the slowest possible time, traveling the longest distance and integrating a variety of obstacles. Entries from all teams produced an innovative and original range of techniques, but it was the all-girls team which won on the day with the most reliable and efficient solution.

The triumphant team included pupils from Sheffield High School, Yorkshire, Old Vicarage School, Darley Abbey, Derby, Angley School in Cranbrook, Kent, Sutton Valence School in Kent. “My team worked incredibly well as a team. They listened, they used initiative and they had immense enthusiasm. They left feeling incredibly engaged with the possibilites engineering offers them” says Charles.

Tom Foulkes, Director General of the Institution of Civil Engineers congratulated the winners: “this highly original event has once more demonstrated its ability to engage children with engineering challenges in a highly original way. I congratulate the girls team who showed their particular strength in conceiving a reliable solution to the brief. Nonetheless, I also acknowledge the inventiveness of other entries which impressed the judges enormously. Parents strained to watch the exciting final and gasped with delight to observe their children’s achievements. The ICE is proud to be a supporter of this important event.”

Nine new windfarm zones announced in British waters

This month nine new windfarm zones were announced in British waters. Commenting on the announcement, Director General of Institution of Civil Engineers Tom Foulkes said:

“This announcement is a welcome investment in the future of our energy sector. As the events of the last month have shown the UK’s energy situation is precarious. We urgently need to shift our reliance from fossil fuels to meet ambitious renewable energy targets and address security of supply.

“This could be a significant export opportunity for the UK. We have the engineering expertise to deliver world-class wind farms but we must ensure progress isn’t hindered by planning delays, a lack of skilled engineers and supply chain constraints. Ongoing investment in supporting infrastructure and the national grid itself will be crucial to ensure these projects reach their full potential.”

“If successful, these projects could go a long way to ensure ongoing security of supply.”


The full list of zones given licences is below:

• The Moray Firth Zone Won by EDP Renovaveis and SeaEnergy Renewables. Potential energy yield: 1.3 gigawatts
• The Firth of Forth Zone Won by SSE Renewables and Fluor. Potential energy yield: 3.5 gigawatts
• The Dogger Bank Zone Won by SSE Renewables, RWE Npower Renewables, Statoil and Statkraft. Potential energy yield: 9 gigawatts
• The Hornsea Zone Won by Mainstream Renewable Power and Siemens Project Ventures, and involving Hochtief Construction. Potential energy yield: 4 gigawatts
• The Norfolk Bank Zone Won by Scottish Power Renewables and Vattenfall Vindkraft. Potential energy yield: 7.2 gigawatts
• The Hastings Zone Won by E.On Climate and Renewables UK. Potential energy yield: 0.6 gigawatts
• The Isle of Wight Zone Won by Eneco New Energy. Potential energy yield: 0.9 gigawatts
• The Bristol Channel Zone Won by RWE Npower Renewables. Potential energy yield: 1.5 gigawatts
• The Irish Sea Zone Won by Centrica Renewable Energy and involving RES Group. Potential energy yield: 4.2 gigawatts

An intro from the Director Communications and Marketing: Anne Moir

Happy New Year, and welcome to ICE’s new blog.

With the development of ICE’s new website progressing well and new technologies enabling us to reach our members far more quickly and effectively, ICE has set up a new blog to keep you updated on the latest ICE news and events.

This new blog replaces the previous Presidents’ blog and will have multiple authors bringing you news from their area of civil engineering expertise. It will feature updates from our regions both in the UK and worldwide as well as what the President is doing, news, opinions, and feature pieces from experts both inside and outside the Institution.

The blog will enable us to comment instantly on matters of interest that may impact our members and the wider civil engineering community, making it essential weekly reading for all ICE members.

We hope the blog will reach as many members as possible and cover a diverse range of civil engineering topics. If there are any topics you would like to see covered here, or if you have any questions or queries then please email blog@ice.org.uk

I hope you all have a happy and prosperous New Year.

Anne