ICE Summer Prestige lecture: transport

Prof. Anusha Shah

Anusha Shah is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and its president for the 2023-24 session. She’s the third woman and first person of colour to be elected as president in over 200 years of ICE history.

She’s a senior director for resilient cities and UK climate change adaptation lead at Arcadis, a global sustainability, design, engineering and management consulting firm.

She’s also a non-executive director at the Met Office, a trustee at the Green Alliance and a visiting professor at Edinburgh University. She was awarded honorary professorship by the University of Wolverhampton for knowledge transfer and an honorary doctorate of engineering by the University of East London for her services to address climate change.

Anusha specialises in water and environmental engineering and has over 22 years of experience in designing, managing and leading projects and programmes in the UK and internationally.

Anusha sits on various industry climate change groups. She represents Arcadis at the London Climate Change Partnership and the 50L Home Initiative of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. She’s a past chair of the Thames Estuary Partnership Board.

Anusha is the recipient of several awards, including the 2020 Top 50 UK Women Engineers Sustainability Award and the CECA Inspiring Change Award. She was recognised by Climate Reframe as one of the UK’s leading Black, Asian and minority ethnic voices on climate change.

Nick Harris

Nick is a Chartered Civil Engineer with more than 30 years’ experience working in regulated utilities and construction in the United Kingdom and overseas and joined National Highways as Executive Director of Operations in September 2016. 

Prior to joining the company Nick was Chief Executive Officer at UKDN Waterflow based in the United Kingdom and was at Thames Water before that in operational director roles. Nick’s background in operations is a continuous point of reference as he develops new health, safety, and wellbeing strategies.

Nick was appointed Chief Executive in August 2021 and is responsible for the operational leadership of National Highways, including day-to-day operation of our network, customer service and maintenance services, and our company's five-year capital maintenance and renewals programme.

Andy Falleyn

Andy Falleyn BSc CEng MICE
Andy is a Welsh Government Deputy Director and Chief Highway Engineer and leads the Strategic Road Network Division responsible for the maintenance, operation and enhancement of the Welsh strategic trunk road and motorway network.

Lucy Davison

Lucy is one of ICE President Keith Howells’ Future Leaders (2022-23) and a design do-ordinator at SYSTRA, with nine-years’ experience working in the rail sector.

Lucy is a Level 7 Degree Apprentice studying the MSc (Eng) Railway Systems Engineering and Integration at the University of Birmingham and is working towards Chartership.

Since commencing her career in 2014, Lucy has worked across a variety of high-profile projects in the UK and successfully acted as lead engineer on five projects.

Lucy has recently redefined the way SYSTRA deliver projects through developing a new digital tool and process.

Lucy’s qualities have been rewarded through several national and company awards.

Blake Scott

Blake Scott, GMICE, is a consultant civil engineer at WSP and works in the water industry. Since graduating from Newcastle University in 2020 with an MEng in Civil and Structural Engineering, Blake has worked on projects around the UK including spending 12 months on the North London Heat and Power Project working as a NEC 4 supervisor.

He spent the last half of 2022 completing the detailed design of major upgrades to the Howdon Sewage Treatment Works, Northumbrian Waters second largest asset.

He is currently working on design and build completing detail design for a Yorkshire Water project.

Blake is one of Keith Howell’s ICE Presidents Future Leaders for 2022/2023.

Jonathan Spruce

Jonathan is a Chartered Engineer with 30 years’ experience at a senior level in both industry leading consultancies and local authorities.

His specialism is in taking conceptual projects through the initial design stages and securing funding, as well as supporting their delivery on site. He is also Chair of the Institution of Civil Engineers’ National Transport Expert Panel.

Serena Gough

Serena is a Senior Engineer working in the Urban Highways team at Arcadis in Birmingham.  She has worked in the highways transportation sector since graduation and prior to this was an ICE QUEST Undergraduate Scholar.  Serena has experience in the design and delivery management of active travel, bus rapid transit, park and ride design and corridor and junction improvement schemes.  She has worked on projects across the United Kingdom, particularly in the West Midlands and has also worked internationally in Dublin.  

In 2021/22, Serena was Chair of the ICE International Early Careers Network and also Chair of the West Midlands equivalent group, having first held an Early Careers Network committee position in 2016, whilst studying at university.  She is a MEng graduate with a First Class (Hons) in Civil Engineering from the University of Nottingham.  In her third year, she studied abroad at the University of Arizona, where she gained a new and different perspective on civil engineering design.  In her spare time, Serena enjoys countryside walks, photography and travel. She is also an active STEM Ambassador and mentor.  She is passionate about promoting civil engineering to young people, especially to those groups who are underrepresented in the industry. 

Mark Kemp

Mark Kemp is the Executive Director of Environment and Transport at Hertfordshire County Council having previously worked as a Service Director at Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

Mark has over 30 years’ experience in the industry and is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of both the Institution of Civil Engineers the Chartered and the Institution of Highways and Transport. He is the Immediate Past President of ADEPT, is the Chair of the UK Network Management Board, a member of the UK Roads Leadership Group and a member of the Roads Expert Panel for the Office of Rail and Road. 

Mark was the inaugural Chair of the National Traffic Managers Forum, immediate past Chair of the Adept Transport and Connectivity Board and has given evidence to Transport Select Committee on highway congestion and maintenance issues.  

Ben Plowden

Ben is an Associate at PA Consulting, an Associate at LSE Cities, and a Visiting Professor at the UCL Centre for Transport Studies.  Prior to joining PA, Ben spent twenty years in a number of senior transport planning and project sponsorship roles in TfL and was the founding CEO of Living Streets.