ICE Connects: growing the Women in Fellowship network, Exeter

Dr Michѐle Dix CBE

Dr Michѐle Dix CBE FICE has 47 years’ experience in transport in the public and private sector. At Transport for London she developed and delivered the Central London Congestion Charging Scheme with her job share partner. As the managing director for planning she was responsible for London wide strategies and policies and developing major schemes. Most recently she was the managing director of Crossrail 2.

Today Michѐle is a non-executive director of the Major Projects Association, a non-exec on Crossrail International, a visiting professor at UCL, programme board member for the restoration and renewal of the Houses of Parliament and an ICE Policy Fellow. Michѐle is chair of the ICE Connects: Women in Fellowship focus group and was appointed a UK Infrastructure Commissioner in 2023.

David Porter

David Porter is director of engineering with the Department for Infrastructure, which is Northern Ireland’s highways authority. In this role, he is also the chief highways engineer and head of the civil engineering profession in the Northern Ireland civil service.

Porter is responsible for the development of the department’s professional and technical staff, engineering policies and standards, and health and safety. He also leads on procurement and the internal consultancy.

Previously, he was chief executive of the Rivers Agency, Northern Ireland’s flood defence and drainage authority.

Porter has served on the ICE Council three times, twice as the Northern Ireland representative and once as a general member. He is a trustee who, until recently, held the learning society portfolio. He has also served on several institution committees and panels.

A fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering, Porter was awarded the Poskitt Medal by ICE Northern Ireland in 2017 and the President’s Award by Engineers Ireland in 2018.

Sita Shah

Sita is a Chartered Civil Engineer and has recently become a Fellow of the Institution. She is the founder and director of her own independent construction engineering business, CETA Ltd, where she develops construction strategies supported by temporary works designs at tender and preconstruction stages for her clients; bringing the benefits of early contractor involvement without the bias of being affiliated to any individual main contractor. She has been running her business for just over 2 years, building on over a decade of prior experience within construction operations, work-winning, temporary works design and training with two well-established international Tier 1 contractors

Claire Carr

Claire Carr is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. She is a Project Leader at Laing O'Rourke with nearly three decades of experience in the contracting side of the industry, leading complex, high-profile infrastructure programmes, her career spans major rail and transport projects, where she has combined technical excellence with collaborative leadership and a strong commitment to developing people.

Claire has been recognised by The Times, as a "Top 35 Leader" for her strategic leadership and operational excellence skills. As a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Claire is passionate about encouraging more women to put themselves forward for Fellowship and to recognise the impact and value of their professional contribution.