ICE West Midlands Presidential Visit: Sustainable Transport Debate

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.

Phil Holliday

After graduating from University College London Phil Holliday BSc CEng FICE spent ten years working on major civil engineering projects in the UK and Europe. During this time Phil developed technical and professional competencies culminating in membership of the Institution of Civil Engineers, and recognition as a Chartered Engineer with the UK Engineering Council. Phil was also admitted to the European Federation of National Engineering Associations (Feani) as Eur Ing. Phil worked on projects including the Piccadilly Line Extension to London Heathrow Airport, Heysham Nuclear Power Station Phase 2, A406 Highway Extension in East London, a number of marine works projects to support the redevelopment of London’s Docklands and The Storebaelt Crossing West Bridges in Denmark.

Phil then transitioned into the pre-construction world, developing estimating and bidding skills, eventually leading bid teams and pre-construction teams on numerous major civil engineering projects throughout the UK and Europe. Phil’s significant achievements included Design-Build of widening London’s M25 Orbital Motorway, Design-Build of widening UK’s A2/M2 highway, Design-Build of the Dublin Port Tunnel, DBFOM of Manchester Metrolinx Phase Three, two Design-Build-Finance for the Istanbul-Ankara High-Speed Rail in Turkey and two Rail Remodelling projects for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (now UK High Speed One – HS1).

Since 2013, Phil has been engaged in a senior pre-construction role with Aecon in Toronto, Canada. Acting as Bid Director on several large and complex infrastructure projects. Notable projects were the Waterloo Light Rail DBFOM, Eglinton Crosstown DBFM, Union Station Enhancement Project Alliance and the Ontario Line South Civil, Tunnels and Stations DBF.

Phil is currently Regional Chair for the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) in the Americas and is actively involved in the activity of the ICE in Ontario, leading a committee supporting EDI initiatives in the construction community.

David Mason

David Mason, head of environment technical at Skanska UK. 

With over 20 years experience supporting a wide range of construction and infrastructure projects David has extensive knowledge of the sustainability challenges associated with the industry. As part of Skanska’s Environment leadership team David leads the development of Skanska’s Net Zero Carbon strategy and supports innovation projects to enhance sustainability outcomes. Through his detailed knowledge of construction David brings expert insight on the carbon impacts associated with construction and has a proven track record delivering carbon reductions at both project and organisation level.

Peter Walker

Peter Walker is the Canal & River Trust’s head of strategic infrastructure projects, overseeing the Grand Union Canal Water Transfer project and HS2. He chairs the Association of Inland Navigation Authorities and is a Trustee of the Waterways Pension Fund.

A Chartered Civil Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Peter has 35 years of experience in engineering and construction.

Outside work, he enjoys walking, gardening, and Parkrunning, and is a dedicated Newcastle United supporter

Sandeep Shingadia

Sandeep has over 28 years’ experience in the transport sector and currently serves as executive director at Transport for West Midlands (TfWM). 

He has responsibility for all transport functions, spanning major investment programmes, frontline operational services and transport assets. Sandeep leads an experienced directorate to improve regional connectivity, delivering transport investment under a trailblazer devolution agreement with central government.