Speaking at the ICE East Midlands regional AGM and Audience with the Director General event, Nick, who took over as ICE Director General in January, outlined his future vision for the Institution which has 3,500 members in the region and more than 80,000 world-wide.
He challenged members to allow junior engineers the space, freedom and tools to solve problems and to take a wider view than merely looking for short-term solutions.
Key outcomes include: influencing government to implement the National Infrastructure Plan; encouraging more female members into the Institution; and broadening the opportunities for young people to gain good qualifications in maths, science and technology subjects.
2012 has seen ICE East Midlands welcome two new female Fellows (Fellowship is the highest grade of ICE membership) and engage with under-19s across the region through the Bridge to Schools programme, offering practical bridge-building opportunities for young people to put science, maths and technology skills into action.
Nick’s aim for the future is for ICE to be more widely recognised as a public benefit charity focused on continuous improvement of the profession, and to be the first port of call for government when seeking advice on infrastructure issues.
In offering his vote of thanks, ICE East Midlands Regional Chairman, Robert Armitage, agreed with Nick’s observation that civil engineers tend to undersell their skills and knowledge.
Robert commented, ”Our training and experience means we are ideally suited to problem solving, and we should all be prepared to influence members of other professions, politicians, and the general public.
"Engineers should not hold back in allowing our younger members to take responsibility for developing solutions – they have the talent and are prepared to question perceived wisdom – the more senior members should be there to provide support and guidance.”