The President's Future Leaders Scheme

What they did:

Rachel’s Future Leaders joined one of the newly formed Community Advisory Boards. This meant that they embedded into the core knowledge programme linked to the Institution’s Business Plan, which ensured that the talents and energies of the Future Leaders were aligned directly with the work of the Institution.

As the coronavirus pandemic continued into Rachel’s presidential year, all group meetings (apart from the last one), regional presidential visits, and events were online. This did enable the Future Leaders to participate in many visits and events, including international ones.

The Community Advisory Boards (CABs) were established to identify problems and challenges faced by engineers, the environment and society and to drive the production of trusted, authoritative, independent insight into the major issues facing the industry. The CABs provide direction to creating engaging digital knowledge programmes for ICE members. In addition, the CABs identify gaps in knowledge or dissemination and propose the creation of new professional or knowledge networks to fill them.

• Rachel joined the Community Advisory Board which was focused on technical excellence. The remit of this CAB is to enhance the technical knowledge, insight, and ethical understanding of engineers wherever they work across the world, through a lessons-learned programme.
• Cliff joined the Data & Digital Community Advisory Board. This CAB is focused on advancing better solutions through the exploitation of data and digital solutions.
• Micheala joined the Community Advisory Board which was focused on water. This CAB is looking at transforming the availability of potable water and sanitation solutions.
• Tondup joined the Climate Community Advisory Board. The remit of this CAB is to place the decarbonisation of the industry at the heart of the agenda and work with others to mitigate and provide resilience to the significant effects of climate change.
• Kaye joined the Community Advisory Board which was focused on Procurement. This CAB is focussed on transforming the productivity of the industry by driving modern methods of procurement and manufacture.
• Bianca joined the Transport Community Advisory Board. The remit of this CAB is to focus on mobility and access to safe and affordable transport.

All of them also participated in Rachel’s Shaping Zero and Shaping Zero: The Big Questions videos.

What they did:

Paul’s Future Leaders worked on some of the Institution’s strategic projects linked to the Institution’s Business Plan. This ensured that the talents and energies of the Future Leaders were aligned directly with the work of the Institution.

Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic hit five months into Paul’s presidential year. This meant an immediate stop to activities and events whilst everyone adjusted to solely online working and visits. The efforts of the staff and members were applauded by Paul as online regional presidential visits began again in May. The move to online visits did mean that the Future Leaders were able to participate in the international presidential visits as well as those in taking place in the UK.

• Hayley worked on the Future Skills & Work 4.0 project, which morphed into the Engineering Rebellion campaign. Hayley was a panellist in the Engineering Rebellion strategy session. She also got involved with SoN workstream one which focussed on capability building in low carbon design and delivery. And was a panellist for an International Women in Engineering Day event.
• Holly and Chris worked on the State of the Nation (SoN) report – Infrastructure and the 2050 net zero target. The final section of the report introduced three workstreams. These workstreams meant that there would be outcomes and actions for individuals as well. Following the publication of the SoN, Holly and Chris got involved with three workstreams. The workstreams fed into the carbon project.
• Tim chose to work on the Sustainability Route Map, which was aimed at transforming the way engineers interacted with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Tim also joined one of the SoN workstreams. Additionally, he got involved with an international project that was reviewing the requirements for accrediting ICE knowledge in America and Canada. Tim also worked on the David Butler Award project, which was the development of an interactive competition for school students aged 16-18 year olds to provide a valuable insight into civil engineering.
• Louise and Joe worked on the Policy Insight Events. They supported the work of the Policy Team in hosting and contributing to policy roundtable events and All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infrastructure events. Both Joe and Louise joined the covid-19 recovery steering group. This group focussed on how covid-19 had affected the industry and the response to it, which was turned into a white paper. Louise also, with significant support from Joe, participated in the Graduate Voting Rights debate.

All of them contributed to an article written halfway through the year detailing the activities they have taken part in. They also took part in an online discussion about the scheme and why they applied.

What they did:

Andrew’s Future Leaders worked on their own projects. They were appointed earlier than usual, as Andrew wanted them to feature on video in his Presidential Address. Their video focused on what drove them as a civil engineer.

What they did:

Robert’s Future Leaders worked on some of the Institution’s strategic projects linked to the Institution’s business plan. This ensured that the talents and energies of the Future Leaders were aligned directly with the work of the Institution. The Future Leaders accompanied Robert on his regional presidential visits. They also had a group visit to the Laing O’Rourke Ferrovial Agroman Thames Tideway site. 

What they did:

Like Sir John’s Apprentices, four of Tim’s Apprentices worked on the Institution’s strategic projects, as outlined in its business plan. The other four worked on their own projects, which aligned with one of the main themes of the Institution.

The Apprentices accompanied Tim on his regional presidential visits. Sorrella also arranged a group visit to the Laing O’Rourke’s DfMA factory, which uses digital engineering to pre-fabricate reinforced concrete elements that can be shipped to the site.

What they did:

This year, rather than work on a project set by the President, the Apprentices worked on some of the Institution’s strategic projects, as outlined in its business plan. This ensured that the talents and energies of the Apprentices were aligned directly with the work of the Institution. The Apprentices worked with staff leads on a project of their choosing. Sir John supported and encouraged them but did not manage any of the projects directly.

The Apprentices accompanied Sir John on his regional presidential visits. Sir John also arranged a visit to the Laing O’Rourke’s Centre of Excellence for Modern Construction (CEMC).

Aaron worked on the development of the “This is Civil Engineering” public awareness campaign. The aim was to increase public awareness of civil engineering projects and improve employer/client engagement with the campaign. Additionally, he came up with the concept of the Pitch180 competition - a new competition for ICE members to take on the challenge of explaining an aspect of civil engineering in just 180 seconds. During the ICE200 celebrations in 2018, the concept was adapted to reflect the milestone anniversary and became Pitch200. The competition continues today.

Alex and Emma worked on the Station of the Nation (SoN) 2016 report, which focused on devolution. They were part of the core steering group that produced the SoN.

Michelle worked on a project to raise the profile of civil engineering and the Institution through vlogging and social media. Aaron helped with this work as it aligned with his project.

Musa opted to work on the International Project – a research project about the Middle East. The focus was to better understand the market conditions within the region, with a particular focus on the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman, and to understand the appetite for a tailor-made partnership offer. He also accompanied ICE staff to undertake a field research trip in the region.

Nick worked on the “Representing the next generation on the Engineering Collection working group” project. This focussed on transforming how ICE created and disseminated knowledge and how to make infrastructure and civil engineering more attractive to the next generation. The project was based around bringing the stories and information contained within the ICE archives to life in an informing, engaging and educational way.

Sam originally worked on a project aimed at attracting more young people into civil engineering. However, his true passion lay within diversity and inclusivity, so he changed projects to work with the ICE ED&I lead to investigate ways to increase diversity in the industry. He also joined the Institution’s Fairness Inclusion Respect (FIR) Committee.

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What they did:

David set his Apprentices a specific task – identify and communicate ways in which the industry can improve/increase innovation. David and his Apprentices believed that the construction industry could meet the challenges of the future through innovation.

The manufacturing, pharmaceutical and technology sectors all boast reputations as leaders of innovation, yet the construction industry lags behind. Were these industries doing something different, or has construction just not seen the same opportunities? The UK Construction Industry was moving forward under a joint strategy with the UK government, Construction 2025, to transform the industry into a global leader by reducing costs, improving delivery time frames, and reducing carbon within construction. To achieve these goals innovation has vital role to play.

Transforming construction was about more than just changing what we build. It was also about the way that we think about our problems and turn them into projects. Diverse teams, flexible project scopes and support from the top were all ways that we could encourage fresh, creative thinking and drive innovation.

To make the project manageable the year was split into quarters. In the first quarter, the Apprentices focussed on answering the question “where does innovation come from?”. The second quarter concentrated on the blockers to innovation. In the third quarter, the Apprentices looked at the opportunities for innovation. And in the last quarter, they answered the question “how to unlock innovation”. They looked at each area from a capacity (technology/technical aspect, processes) and capability (the human dimension, working practices, individual’s abilities) view. They always kept the bigger picture in mind.

The Apprentices also considered three key questions:

• What would it take for me to innovate more?
• What would it take for my company to innovate more?
• What would it take for my clients to innovate more?

They conducted interviews with key industry and non-industry individuals, people from within their companies, and their peers. They also considered organisations and clients that do innovate and those that don’t. In both instances, they looked within and out with of the construction industry.

The final report looked at the culture of our industry and set outs the building blocks that will help individuals, teams, businesses, CEOs, government, clients, and institutions deliver value through innovation.

What they did:

Geoff's Apprentices focussed on inspiring the next generation of engineers.

Geoff challenged Chris and Jamie to think about ways to encourage students aged 17 and 18 to continue with science and maths subjects and how the industry could avoid losing 40% of engineering graduates after graduation. They found that many of the issues with the profession lay around the lack of understanding about what civil engineers do. Better informed and consistent careers information, advice, and guidance for all ages that promoted the diversity of engineering careers available and the variety of routes in would help. The perception of engineering careers and civil engineering needed to be improved and the relevance of engineering to modern-day life fully explain.

Melanie and Helen produced a paper for Geoff with their thoughts about better informing teachers and parents about the role of civil engineers. One idea was to provide lesson plans and resources to teachers about civil engineering. There was a lot of information already in existence under a generic Royal Academy of Engineering’s brand of “Tomorrow’s Engineers”. The pair found that parents had the biggest influence over teenagers and their decisions. To educate parents about the benefits of a civil engineering career, a “parents evening” style event was proposed, which would educate parents and students at the same time.

Michael and Sakthy investigated what practical steps could be taken to simplify the process to professional qualification. Their aim was to simplify the route to becoming a chartered civil engineer, by creating a training framework that is managed and regulated by ICE. They looked at other industries that had best practice in this area. However, these industries are regulated so direct comparisons were unrealistic. Within their proposed framework the aim was to simplify the route by providing tools and a number of set choices so the individual who is struggling to choose topics or areas within their work environment can have concrete guidance and a pathway to achieving chartership.

As a group, they created a video competition for members and the public to say why "I love civil engineering". The results can be viewed on the ICE YouTube channel.

What they did:

Barry’s Apprentices designed and developed an ethics toolkit. They researched members' experience of dealing with ethical issues in their working lives and developed an ethics toolkit for practising civil engineers.

“How ethics impact on engineering practice is a topic I was keen to weave through my Apprentice scheme. It’s an area that throws up many questions and challenges and I am looking forward to hearing the inspirational, innovative views of young engineers who aspire to be Apprentices. I am looking for applicants who value teamwork but aren’t afraid to show their individuality.”
Barry Clarke

What they did:

Each Apprentice joined Richard on at least one regional visit, attended three group meetings, had individual mentoring sessions, and shadowed him for one day during his business at ICE. Additionally, they attended the joint ICE/Halcrow lecture where Prince Charles was the keynote speaker and they had an opportunity to meet him afterwards. Over the course of the year, all Apprentices were encouraged to contribute to the development of the theme “Harnessing Energy” – specifically the energy of the ICE membership, the civil engineering industry, and our natural resources.

Caroline went on the Northern Ireland and Wales presidential visits. Lydia joined Richard on the North West and South East presidential visits. Angela attended the Yorkshire & Humber presidential visit with Richard. Sebastian went on the East Midlands and East of England presidential visits. Kieren joined Richard on the North East and South West presidential visits. Yan attended the West Midlands presidential visit.

During the first group meeting, the plan and objectives for the year were developed. The second meeting focussed on Richard’s theme for the year – “Harnessing Energy”. In addition to this, there were discussions about effective communication to engineers and the public and the best methods to use, and how to attract young civil engineers into the Institution. The idea of an ICE photo competition was discussed and developed.

The third meeting was a group mentoring session followed by the ICE/AECOM lecture. The final meeting was a review of the year with conclusions and outcomes being highlighted.

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What they did:

Peter and his Apprentices created and developed the Create Sport Challenge.

The Create Sport Challenge was a free national competition, which showed students that Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) GCSE subjects can be engaging and fun as well as a crucial step towards a fulfilling career in engineering. It allowed year 8 students to work in teams with a built environment professional to complete a challenging project that introduced real-world problems to the classroom. The school children were guided by an industry professional as they planned, designed, and built a model of their community sports venue.

The project work involved project management skills. It also challenged the students to think about the project from an engineering perspective. They had to consider real technical, infrastructure and sustainability constraints and concerns such as transport links, flooding, energy use and generation, environment (biodiversity), and safety aspects.

The overall aim was to impress upon the students the importance of STEM curriculum options in an approachable and fun context and allow find out about career options within the realm of the built environment. The challenge was designed to stimulate students’ creative nature and to use their knowledge to encounter and overcome a range of engineering problems. It also raised their awareness of the world around them and highlighted the things that civil engineers do every day to solve problems both locally and across the world.

The project work of all school teams was assessed independently and when a school excelled, they had the chance to go to London to compete against other schools at a grand final and prize giving ceremony.

Running in parallel with the Create Sport Challenge was Create Sport Go4SET. The final six teams from the Create Sport Go4SET competition met the final six teams from the Create Sport Challenge at a grand final in One Great George Street.

What they did:

Paul and his Apprentices created and developed the International Development Toolkit.

The toolkit was the output of an educational and professional development initiative that sought to increase the awareness of international development amongst our young engineers. ICE works to embed sustainability competencies throughout the education and training of young engineers. Yet few graduates would have experience within the context of international development, either during their undergraduate course or early graduate employment.

The year’s programme was divided into three sessions and each focused around a workshop. One workshop took place in London, another in Durban and one at the UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris. The workshops comprised of intensive tutorials delivered by industry specialists and academics on a variety of subjects including climate change, urbanisation, water & sanitation, sustainability, development financing, corruption, and procurement.

In South Africa, the Apprentices also visited local infrastructure projects ranging in scale and sophistication, in which social aims were deemed as important as the engineering outcomes themselves. Based on that training, and with guidance from Paul, the two principal tutors (Charles Ainger and Ron Watermeyer) and many others from the world of civil engineering, the Apprentices defined the key elements of an Engineering Project Delivery Plan for International Development. The toolkit also captures the UN MDGs (Millennium Development Goals). This was a first in the civil engineering field as an open-source set of materials and ideas to help engineers plan and deliver infrastructure for international development, poverty alleviation and UN MDGs.

The toolkit is divided in four sections, mirroring project delivery planning:

• Policy - Policy sets the agenda for the planning, procurement, delivery, maintenance, and disposal of infrastructure that is sustainable.
• Planning - Planning links infrastructure needs to organisational objectives, policies, and strategies.
• Implementation - The implementation phase is where decisions are made regarding the design, procurement, and delivery of infrastructure.
• In-use - The in-use phase of the infrastructure life cycle is the longest phase of all.

About a year after Paul’s Presidential year, he received funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Ingenious Awards scheme to run a series of launch events - one in each of ICE’s 12 regions with a final event in Portcullis House hosted by Anas Sarwar MP (Member of the International Development Select Committee 2010-12 and former Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party). Many of the Apprentices helped with these events. Ben Bampoh, who was from Ghana, also organised and raised the funding for a similar event in Ghana, which involved six of the overall team (three Apprentices (Ben, Abi Akinyemi, Lorna Brady), Paul and mentors Ron Watermeyer and Charles Ainger).

What they did:

All of Jean’s Apprentices attended a Council meeting individually and as a group. They also accompanied Jean on at least one regional visit. They also all had a group breakfast with Jean.

Alistair accompanied Jean on the presidential visit to Wales. There, they attended the joint ICE, IHT and CILT 9th Transport Conference. Alistair also joined Jean on the North East presidential visit during which Jean had an interview about flooding with BBC Radio Newcastle. This was followed by a walk around the main areas affected by the previous year’s flooding, which had affected more than 1000 properties. Ben joined Jean on the West of Scotland presidential visit, which included a site visit to the White Cart Water Flood Alleviation Scheme. Ben also hosted Jean at his offices in Exeter after her presidential visit to Devon and Cornwall and accompanied Jean on a trip to the Olympic Park in September to see the progress being made.

Blessing joined Jean on the East Midlands presidential visit. This included visiting Severn Trent Water’s Stoke Bardolph Education Centre and Nottingham Trent University’s School of Architecture and the Built Environment. Blessing also accompanied Jean on the East of England presidential visit which included a visit to Denver Sluice where Jean unveiled a plaque commemorating the role of civil engineers in the development and construction it. Emer accompanied Jean on the Northern Ireland presidential visit, which included a breakfast discussion at the Waterfront Hall about local infrastructure needs and a site visit to NI Roads Service’s Westlink Project; and attending the regional annual dinner where Jean was interviewed by TV journalist Noel Thompson.

Lili’s first opportunity to join Jean at a function was to attend the Graduates and Students centenary ball at ICE. This celebrated 100 years of graduates’ and students’ activities in the London. She also accompanied Jean on the presidential visit to the South East.

What they did:

All of David’s Apprentices attended an ICE Council meeting, to understand the workings of the Institution better, and provided him with their thoughts on nuclear power to help him prepare for a senior industry leaders forum on the matter.

Molly joined David on the East Midlands and Scotland presidential visits. During the Scotland visit, she gave a vote of thanks after a debate on “Scotland’s Route to Sustainable Energy”. Siobhán accompanied David on the East of England and the Northern Ireland presidential visits. During the Northern Ireland visit, Siobhán attended a group meeting led by the Minister of Finance and Personnel for the Northern Ireland Government. John went on the North West and the South West presidential visits with David. During the North West visit, he addressed a large student audience and spoke about his experiences since graduating. Hayley attended the Vice Presidents’ Dinner, which included John Armitt as the guest speaker. This enabled her to ask some very insightful questions about his role of Chair of the Olympic Delivery Authority.

Kate accompanied David on the Yorkshire & Humber and Wales presidential visits. During the Yorkshire & Humber visit, David and Kate went to the University of Bradford where students and graduates from local universities had gathered to hear David speak about his career and things that had inspired him. Kate also addressed the audience and spoke enthusiastically about her passion – the railway bridge over the Rive Worth in Keighley, which she designed and supervised on site. Chris joined David on the North East and West Midlands presidential visits. During the North East visit, Chris accompanied David on school visits and spoke to the local graduates and students committee about his experiences since graduating.

What they did:

All the Apprentices attended the Telford Apprentice training day. This consisted of learning about the workings of the Institution and discussing various topics in breakout groups, from identifying the strengths and weaknesses in their companies’ mentoring programmes to raising the profile of chartered engineers.

Quentin set his Apprentices various tasks. These included producing a briefing note on sustainability - “Young engineers face up to delivering sustainability” - which was published in the ICE Proceedings Journal in May 2007 (volume 160 issue 2); developing mentoring guides for both mentors and mentees; and developing a jointly produced ICE-Dreamworks board game, based on the film “Flushed Away”, for primary schools to teach children about civil engineering.

What they did:

Helen attended one of ICE’s prestige lectures and delivered a vote of thanks to 250 people. She later joined Gordon on a tour encompassing Keele University, Ironbridge and Portsmouth, helping with logistics and planning. Jonathan attended the Triennial Conference on ‘Safety, Security and Sustainability of the Planet’. He was asked to speak at short notice on a number of occasions and responded to the challenge with great ease. Jonathan also attended the Brunel Bicentenary Conference. Liz and Kate accompanied Gordon on his visits to Scotland and Northern Ireland, respectively. They assisted him with presentations to graduates and students, attended the Annual Dinner, and accompanied Gordon throughout the entire tour. On several occasions, they gave presentations to large groups of graduates and students, and committee members.

Kin attended a networking dinner with major employers, clients and academics addressed by Sir David King, the Government’s Chief Scientist. He gave an excellent vote of thanks at short notice. Kin also attended the South West region’s presidential visit and participated in discussions with students at Exeter and Plymouth universities and attended the Region’s Annual Dinner. Sjouke accompanied Gordon to a seminar for UK heads of civil engineering departments. She addressed them describing her overseas experience in higher education. She also joined Gordon when he met the Benevolent Fund and helped him to prepare for a meeting with the Government Chief Scientist, Sir David King.