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