Natural Disasters: the Engineer's role in preparedness, mitigation and recovery
The 6th ICE Asia Pacific Convention 'Natural Disasters: the Engineer's role in preparedness, mitigation and recovery' took place on 24-27 January 2013, in Mt Lavinia, Sri Lanka. Over 200 people attended the conference day on 25 January.
These conventions are held biennially and serve to strengthen communications between ICE and its representatives in Asia Pacific. ICE representatives have the opportunity to meet in person, compare different approaches and share new ideas for delivering the ICE international strategy for their region. The event was hosted by ICE President Barry Clarke along with Gordon Masterton in his role as Chair of the Asia Pacific Sub Committee.
Conference day 25 January
Over 200 people attended the conference day on the theme Natural Disasters: the Engineer's role in preparedness, mitigation and recovery. Brunel lecturer Jo da Silva delivered the key note lecture on Shifting agendas: from response to resilience - the role of the Engineer in disaster risk reduction. This was followed by speakers from around the Asia Pacific region including Japan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
The conference day was followed with an evening reception at the British High Commissioner's Residence hosted by His Excellency John Rankin. This provided the ideal setting to allow the invited conference delegates the opportunity to meet and discuss the day's events in further detail, as well as for ICE to discuss further collaboration with the Foreign Commonwealth Office on international events and to raise the profile of British Professional Qualifications amongst the regional engineering community.
ICE business day 26 January
The ICE business day provided the opportunity for ICE Reps from around Asia Pacific to share best practice and pick up new ideas for the ICE in their region. Director of Membership David Lloyd-Roach gave an overview of routes to membership which all the Reps found very useful. Tim Warren, Asia Pacific member on Council lead a discussion on the Asia Pacific strategy for the future based on the key focus areas from Council.
The gala dinner was opened by a series of cultural performances and was a lovely end to the formal part of the convention. A site visit to the Colombo South Harbour project took place the following day. The scale of the new harbour impressed all the delegates and the hospitality of the China Harbour Engineering Company was most appreciated.
What they said
I would like to congratulate you on the successful conference. The conference attracted huge audiences and the presentations were at a high standard. Everything went smoothly and the outcome was very fruitful. I appreciate your efforts and endeavours that were the basis of the successful conference.
Dr In Keun Lee, South Korea
I found it absolutely inspiring, and have come away with lots of ideas. Thank you particularly Kathryn for making it such a wonderful, stress free conference!
Sarah Sinclair, New Zealand