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30 March 2009
 Congratulations go to John Ely, Construction Manager for Cambridgeshire Guided Busway who has beaten 1,000 civil engineers from across the UK to win the prestigious James Rennie Medal.
John presented his project report ‘How to build the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway’ to an audience of 250 at the Institution of Civil Engineers Westminster HQ. He highlighted the challenges encountered and difficulties overcame for the world’s longest guided busway.
A delighted John said: “Winning the award is a great honour. Although nerve-racking it was an extremely enjoyable evening”
The other finalists were Nathaniel Buckingham, from Faber Maunsell who presented his project report on delivering the first large scale malt whisky distillery in Scotland for thirty years, and Ciaran Willcocks from Mott MacDonald whose entry covered two projects he was responsible for is his role as Employer’s Representative in Iraq.
The Chair of the judging panel, Alasdair MacLennan said, “Whilst all the candidate’s adhered to James Rennie ideals we felt that John best demonstrated these ideals in his presentation. The competition was excellent with all three finalists showing exceptional talent.”
John graduated from the University of Surrey in 1993 with a BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering. Since graduating he has worked with Edmund Nuttall Ltd, Christian & Neilson Ltd and, currently, Bam Nuttall Ltd, on a wide range of projects that include major transport schemes, sewerage transfer networks and flood alleviation schemes. Initially working as a site engineer, John has progressed to running his own projects and is now Construction Manager on the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, the longest in the world. He has also taken a leading role in sourcing sustainable materials for the project and in doing so received a Chartered Institution of Wastes Management [CIWM] award for utilising 40,000m3 of shredded tyres as a drainage instead of processed aggregate.
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. 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. 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.
Francesca King
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