James Rennie Medal Award

What is the James Rennie Medal Award?

The aim of the James Rennie Medal Award is to promote general awareness of the role and achievements of newly qualified engineers.  The competition was first held in 1996 and it is now awarded to the best Chartered Professional Review (CPR) candidate.

Candidates are nominated by their Reviewers on the basis that their submitted Project reports and presentations at Review have to demonstrate outstanding qualities in all attributes and show a significant contribution in the promotion and development of civil engineering. Additionally, their submitted Project Reports and presentations at Review also have to show a meticulous, thorough and broad understanding of their subject matter.

Three shortlisted finalists present their reports in front of a panel of judges and general audience at the annual James Rennie Medal Award. Attendance to this event is recommended for any Graduate Member aspiring to become Chartered as it provides an ideal opportunity to see the year's top Chartered Professional Review candidates present their projects and take questions similar to those posed at CPR.

The award comprises of the James Rennie Medal and a £500 cash prize which are presented at the ICE Annual Awards Dinner.

Who is James Rennie?

James Rennie passionately believed that high quality civil engineering could only be carried out by civil engineers who had undertaken in-depth and thorough training. He was a stickler for detail, not only in design but also in the programming and planning of the construction of works. He spent much of his 70 year career carefully tutoring his pupils, with the aim of making them great civil engineers; included amongst his pupils is ex-President Douglas Oakervee.

James Rennie undertook many projects which include the Rosyth Royal Naval Dockyard, Scotland, the Aswan Dam, Egypt, and the Queen Elizabeth Bridge, Belfast. After his death in 1994, this new award was created to celebrate Rennie´s commitment to training young engineers and encouraging their membership of ICE.

2008 James Rennie Medal Award Final

This year's final took place on 22 April 2008 with the shortlisted finalists Robert Dale, Sarah Glover and Paul Wewer presenting their project reports and taking questions from the Judging Panel, the audience and an external audience via Interwise.

View a recording of the 2008 James Rennie Medal Award Final online >>

David Lloyd-Roach, Director of Membership, commented, "This was a great evening and opportunity for Graduates in a packed Telford Theatre to witness, first hand, the style and content of presentations delivered in support of the Chartered Professional Review."

Douglas Parkes, a previous colleague of James Rennie, remarking on the exeptional quality of the finalists said, "The James Rennie Medal Award goes from strength to strength. The quality of candidates' presentations has always been high and, at each event, the presentations seem to improve. This year's performance was no exception: we had three very different, but outstanding, presentations from candidates who had obviously made substantial contributions to their chosen projects and who told us about this with enthusiasm and professionalism. James Rennie would very much have approved of their performance and would have been gladdened to see the peer interest marked by such a full attendance at the event.

The Winner

Sarah Glover (ICE London), a Senior Geotechnical Engnineer at Arup, on winning the award for her presentation More London Plots 3 and 4, said "It is important to recognise the achievements of newly qualified engineers. Winning the award is a great honour, especially given the quality of the competition. More London Plots 3 & 4 was a challenging project and it was hugely rewarding to be part of the team that delivered it so successfully.

Robert Dale (ICE Yorkshire and Humber), who presented his Project reports on the Upgrade of a Steel Process Mill, and Paul Wewer (ICE UAE), whose presentation discussed his impact on both the safe installation of state of the art studios in the 1930s BBC Broadcasting House and the design and construction of the award winning British Embassy in Yemen, were both highly praised by the Chair for the event, ICE Vice-President, Peter Hansford, who told the audience, "All three finalists must be congratulated for delivering such impressive performances and for contributing so much, so early on in their professional careers, to the promotion and development of civil engineering."

For further information on the James Rennie Medal Award please contact the Awards Executive.