New photo competition launched to celebrate civil engineering in Wales
The new initiative was launched by Chairman Geoff Ogden at the region’s prestigious St David’s Day lecture in Cardiff and aims to deliver one of his objectives for his year as chairman: to help raise the profile of the profession in Wales.
Images of any aspect of civil engineering in Wales, taken since September 2012, can be entered and the competition is open to Members of ICE, as well as their friends, family and colleagues and to Non members. There is also a special category for under 16 years olds with an iPod Touch as the winner’s prize. The prizes, kindly sponsored by Atkins, also include £250 for the winner of the main category and £100 for the Highly Commended entry and will be presented at a special awards ceremony later in the year. The overall winning image will be used on the ICE Wales Cymru website and in our electronic enewsletter to members. All entries will be added to ICE’s image library and may be used to promote civil engineering in the future.
Geoff Ogden, Chairman of ICE Wales Cymru, said: “I hope the photo competition will give civil engineers an opportunity to present their profession to the general public in an imaginative way and that non civil engineers will be inspired to find out more about the civil engineering examples that are all around them. Wales is full of inspirational historical engineering examples like Thomas Telford’s Menai Bridge and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in North Wales, but there are also more recent examples like the Severn Bridge, the Cardiff Bay barrage, Milford Haven Port or the Millennium Stadium. Of course civil engineering isn’t just about iconic structures – our daily lives are full of examples of civil engineering from the water we drink to the transport we use… to the energy we use to light and heat our homes.”
He continued: “I am looking forward to seeing images that represent all aspects of civil engineering in Wales and look forward to the challenge of choosing the best images with the judging panel - that includes the photo journalist Steve Pope - to stage an exhibition later in the year.”
The exhibition of the best photos will be held in September under the title "This is Civil Engineering in Wales" supporting the campaign that was developed in Wales and is now spreading across the UK. The This is Civil Engineering campaign was designed to raise the profile of civil engineering by demonstrating examples of civil engineering to the general public. Schemes display campaign branding during construction on vinyl banners or sites signage that includes a QR code linking to a page on the ICE website which explains more about what civil engineering is and what civil engineers do with further links so future engineers (and therefore potential members) can find out more about entering the profession.
Keith Jones, Director ICE Wales Cymru said: “This is Civil Engineering promotes the contribution of civil engineering to society and we are proud to have developed the campaign in Wales. We have worked closely with colleagues at the Institution to roll out this campaign across the UK and are delighted to have seen in it launched in the West Midlands and in Scotland already with launches in the South West and South East imminent.”
To enter the photo competition visit: www.ice.org.uk/wales/photocompetition2013. The closing date is 16th August 2013.
For information on how you can get involved in the This is Civil Engineering campaign contact us at wales.cymru@ice.org.uk