Smeaton Lecture 2023 - sustainable development: from Smeaton to the 21st century

Prof. Peter Guthrie OBE FREng

Peter is professor of engineering for sustainable development at the University of Cambridge. A civil engineer with geotechnical specialisation by background, Peter was a practising engineer on infrastructure projects before coming to Cambridge in 2000, and has worked extensively in Africa and Asia.  

He developed approaches to integrating social and environmental considerations into engineering design on projects such as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, international airports, nuclear decommissioning, the London 2012 Olympic Park, Orange County Great Park in California and new cities in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. His research is focused on energy efficiency and sustainable development in infrastructure projects internationally.  

In 1980, Peter founded RedR Engineers for Disaster Relief, of which he is now a vice-president. He is a non-executive director of Buro Happold. Previously, he was a member of the UK Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Science Advisory Council from 2004 to 2011, and was a member of the UK government’s project board for the Severn tidal power study. He is a member of the Global Agenda Council on Catastrophic Risks in the World Economic Forum. 

Prof. Anusha Shah

Anusha is a senior director-Resilient Cities at Arcadis. She is also a Royal Academy of Engineering visiting professor at King’s College London on Climate Adaptation, Sustainability and Inclusive Design and a non-executive director at the Met Office. A Fellow with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), she is the third woman and only BAME succeeding Vice President in over 200 years of ICE’s history and is set to be President in 2023 (subject to final council approval). In 2021, she was conferred an honorary professorship for knowledge transfer by University of Wolverhampton and Doctorate for her services to climate change in engineering by University of East London.

She has specialisation in Water & Environmental Engineering with 22 years’ experience in designing, managing and leading projects and programmes both in the UK and internationally. Anusha is also past chair of the Thames Estuary Partnership Board, a charity working towards sustainable management of the Thames Estuary. She has held various roles at the ICE including youngest and first female chair of ICE London and Co-Chair of ICE London & South East Diversity Task Force. Anusha sits on various industry NetZero groups and represents Arcadis at the London Climate Change Partnership and 50L Home Initiative of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. A recipient of several awards including 2020 - Top 50 UK Women Engineers Sustainability Award and CECA FIR Inspiring Engineers Award 2019, Anusha is regularly invited to panel discussions, media interviews and for delivering keynote speeches at various high profile industry events. In 2020, she was recognized by Climate Reframe as one of the UK’s leading BAME voices on climate change.