- Date
- 19 May 2021
- Time
This event has now ended
Overview
Mark Bannister has a challenging Disability called Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2 which requires his use of an electric wheelchair – occasionally exchanged for a quad bike when the terrain gets tough where he now lives in South Africa.
Mark is a very high profile, and internationally respected Chartered Mechanical Engineer with a B.Eng (Honours) Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Loughborough University (UK). He has some 31 years experience in the planning, design and implementation of multi-disciplinary water and sanitation, health and education related programmes. In 2020, he re-published a book entitled ‘Eyes Wide Open’, which is a light hearted perspective of his life, growing up with a disability and how he turned challenges into opportunities to achieve a very exciting and rewarding life journey using disability as a key driver – the book considers many of life’s human right issues and is designed to educate and motivate others. He is now working as the Chief Engineer within the Department of Water and Sanitation in Johannesburg, South Africa where he is the National Coordinator for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6) programme, besides developing legislation, policies and guidelines for the provision of water and sanitation across the business chain – source to tap and back again.
Join Mark in this conversation where he will take you through his journey from a little boy in a wheelchair on the streets of Liverpool, his passion for engineering and desire to use his skills to help others, and how he ended up becoming a key expert in the delivery of water and sanitation infrastructure in South Africa!
More like this

- Type
- Webinar
Careers talks
Aimed at students, this series of seven webinars which runs until May 2025 will enable you to learn about professional life from recent graduates from across the industry.

- Type
- Webinar
5-week course: health and safety
A five session course delivered by industry experts to develop in-depth knowledge of health, safety, and wellbeing in civil engineering within the UK.

- Type
- Webinar
AI-driven tunnel safety innovations for resilient SDG-aligned infrastructure
Explore AI-driven solutions for tunnel safety in seismic zones, focusing on the Himalayan Tunnelling Project. Learn how predictive models enhance resilience through data integration and machine learning, empowering smarter, risk-informed decisions for infrastructure design and maintenance.