ICE NI Graduate and Student Conference 2022

Dr David Woodward

David has over 30 years’ experience, is Reader in Infrastructure Engineering at Ulster University and leads the Highway Engineering Research Group (HERG) which specialises in applied research into better understanding tyre / road surface characteristics.

David is a member of British Standard committee B/510/05 dealing with Road Surface Characteristics. He has been involved in the supervision of about 30 postgraduate students, is the author of over 200 technical papers and has presented research at conferences throughout the world. In 2019 David helped found R3 Ltd who specialise in the transfer of specialist knowledge of the tyre / surface interface to projects around the world such as the new F1 circuit in Miami Florida.

Samuel Donaldson

Samuel leads the wastewater infrastructure team within the Ireland Water Ports and Power Team. Samuel has extensive experience working with public sector clients such as Northern Ireland Water, Belfast City Council and Mid and East Antrim Council. He is experienced in the design of wastewater infrastructure including large wastewater pumping stations, and Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDs). Samuel is also an accomplished Project Manager and has applied these skills across a broad range of projects. Samuel is a Chartered Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers and takes a keen interest in his own professional development and the development of team members.

Simone Reynolds

Simone is a Chartered Civil Engineer with 17 years’ experience. She joined Atkins as a graduate and, during her 17 years, she spent two years in Atkins Ireland as Dublin Water Team Lead and has undertaken multiple visits to Atkins offices in India, Middle East, Canada and America.

Simone spent a year as site supervisor on the Belfast Sewers Project Tunnel Construction. Simone is a Design Manager in the Project Delivery Team of Atkins. She manages the technical delivery of Major Projects in the South of England. These include Hinkley Point C, Devonport and Sizewell C.

Michael McCusker

Michael has over 28 years experience working in quality assurance and auditing in construction. Over 20 of those years were in construction materials testing laboratories with Mattest in NI & RoI before joining GRAHAM in 2015 on the Nuclear Energy team working on the Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR) Framework project. With GRAHAM Michael has implemented quality systems within road/bridge, nuclear, rail, energy, marine, laboratory and framework environments collaboratively working with site teams, clients, stakeholders and suppliers alike. He has substantial experience auditing staff and creating training schedules to maintain quality standards and has been a driver of the GRAHAM “Back to Basics” Graduate Training programme which was selected as a finalist in the World Quality Awards in 2019 and continues to develop to date. 

Celene Sobczak

Celene has worked within GRAHAM Construction since 2015 alongside Emer Murnaghan and Michael McCusker. Celene focusses in administrative technology and is an integral member of the Civils Quality department responsible for the background day to day running of the Civils Quality processes and systems and in tracking performance and improvement throughout the GRAHAM Civils portfolio of projects. Her colourful personality is always reflected in the colourful work, attention to detail and organisational skills.