ICE and Rochester Bridge Trust: how to inspire and mentor

Richard Brooks

Mr Richard Brooks is technical director and National Service Lead for Civil Structures at Waterman Infrastructure & Environment Ltd. He has acted as supervising civil engineer or primary sponsor to 10 engineers working towards professional development qualifications. He also engages in career development activities at local schools and colleges. 
 
Having graduated from the University of Sheffield in 1997, Richard joined Waterman Group and has progressed through the ranks attaining Chartership with the Institute of Civil Engineering and recently Fellowship. He has had the honour of working on a number of prestigious projects, both in the design office and on site. He acknowledges that his site experience, including on site for the Royal Woolwich Arsenal Crossrail box, is his driver behind his attention to buildability within design and his want that engineers grow through their career understanding this aspect, amongst others. He is looking forward to supporting engineers further as together they embrace carbon reduction initiatives to further enhance their designs.
 
The judges were impressed by Richard’s approach to mentoring, which was embedded within the day-to-day working practices of his team, improving project quality and outcomes as a whole, rather than viewing mentoring as a standalone activity. He is clearly passionate about the growth and success of his mentees, and demonstrated the value he places on inter-personal professional relationships and providing constructive, positive feedback to motivate others.
 
Richard considers mentoring to be a perk of his role, and is a great believer in ownership and responsibility so that everyone can feel their worth as part of the team and engineering as a whole.