Launch of ICE’s State of the Nation 2024

Andy Cross

Andy is currently leading an R&D funded development of the multi award winning FLOW bridge, an innovative lightweight low-cost footbridge solution.

Andy is a chartered engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Andy has over 30 years’ experience of railway civil engineering, having started as a graduate trainee with London Underground, then going to Scott Wilson Consultants before joining Railtrack, subsequently Network Rail, in 1999. During this time Andy has held various roles including design manager.

His main area of expertise is bridges however he has been involved with track, geotechnics, buildings and off-track as well as leading on introducing innovation to projects, notable successes include the FRP footbridge at Dawlish Station and the development of standard designs.

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.

Fay Bull

Fay Bull is a regional director in AECOM’s Water Business Line. She manages a diverse team of scientists and engineers who provide a range of consultancy services to the private and public sector, in particular the Environment Agency, Local Authorities and Water Companies.

Before joining AECOM, Fay held a number of positions in consultancy, the Water Industry and Local Government. She is passionate about partnership working and community engagement and has worked as part of several partnerships across the UK to deliver flood risk management solutions for communities.

Fay has a particular interest in urban flood risk management and the technical, economic and societal opportunities and challenges that urban environments present. She has worked for many years in the implementation of sustainable drainage systems, gaining direct experience of responding to changing legislative frameworks that this practice area has encountered over recent years.

Fay is a chartered scientist and vice chair of the CIWEM Rivers & Coastal Group Committee.

She is passionate about improving diversity in the sector, in particular improving the number of women in science and engineering.

Sir John Armitt

Sir John Armitt is the Chair of the National Infrastructure Commission. He is also Chairman of National Express and serves on the Boards of the Berkeley Group and Expo 2020.

In September 2013, Sir John published an independent review on long-term infrastructure planning in the UK. The recommendations in the Armitt Review received widespread support and resulted in the creation of the National Infrastructure Commission in 2015.

After leaving John Laing plc in 1993, where Sir John had been Chairman of Laing’s International and Civil Engineering divisions, he became Chief Executive of Union Railways. In 1997 he became Chief Executive of Costain, a position he held until 2001, when he became Chief Executive of Railtrack (later Network Rail) until 2007. Sir John was also a former President of the ICE.

Jo Parker

Jo Parker is a chartered civil engineer who works as an independent consultant, having worked in the water industry for more than 40 years. She has held senior roles with UK water companies up to director level and has also worked in a range of other countries as varied as Afghanistan and Australia.

Jo was awarded an MBE in 1994 for services to the water industry. She is chair of the ICE’s Water and Sanitation Community Advisory Board, vice-president for engineering at the Institute of Water, and a fellow of the International Water Association. She was voted one of the UK’s top 50 women engineers in 2020 by the Women’s Engineering Society.

David Porter

David Porter is current ICE Senior Vice President. Porter is a trustee of the ICE and, until recently, held the learning society portfolio.

Porter is currently the director of engineering with the Department for Infrastructure (DfI), which is the roads authority for Northern Ireland. He’s the chief highways engineer.

He is also the head of the civil engineering profession with the Northern Ireland civil service.

He’s 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, Porter was the chief executive of the Rivers Agency, the flood defence and drainage authority for Northern Ireland. He also held the posts of director of development and director of operations with the agency.

Porter is a past chair of the Northern Ireland region of the ICE. He’s been on the ICE Council three times: two terms as the Northern Ireland representative, and one as a general member.

He has also served on numerous committees and panels:

• He was a member of the Presidential Commission on the ICE Governance (the Orr Review).
• He chaired the member-led review of NOMCO, the Audit Committee, and the Qualifications Panel.
• He has been on the Committee of Management of the ICE Benevolent Fund.

Amongst various distinctions, Porter is a Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering, was awarded the Poskitt Medal by the ICE Northern Ireland Region in 2017, and the Engineers Ireland President’s Award in 2018.

Ian Parke

Ian is currently the co-chair of the ICE’s Low Carbon Energy Community Advisory Board (CAB). He is also a reviewer of candidates for CPR & IPR and a Policy Fellow at the ICE.

Ian is the current UK president of the American Society of Civil Engineers and liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Engineers.

His recent experience has been in renewable energy, working for EDF Renewables on a variety of projects including Battery Storage, solar, and on and offshore wind turbines. Ian worked at EDF for twelve years where in addition to working on renewables, he was the Fleet Civil Engineer for EDF thermal generation. Prior to EDF Ian was working on several energy related projects including underground gas storage and transmission.

Ian is an accredited storage tank inspector working within Nuclear and petrochemicals.

Ian is a former director of the Engineering Equipment and Materials Association and a former chair of the Civil Engineering Advisory Board for GENSIP (Coal Generators Safety & Integrity Programme).

Jonathan Spruce

Jonathan is a civil and transportation engineer with almost 30 years’ worth of wide-ranging experience working for the public and private sectors.

He is an experienced advisor to the public and private sector, and regularly provides advice at a senior level to local authorities and partnerships in the UK, aimed at the development of integrated transportation and regeneration solutions aimed at supporting economic growth in towns and cities.

He led the team that developed the first pan-Northern Strategic Transport Plan and associated 30 year Investment Programme as part of a secondment to Transport for the North. More recently, he has been providing support to a number of local authorities on the outputs of the Integrated Rail Plan for the Midlands and the North, the implementation of Bus Service Improvement Plans and the roll-out of active travel improvements.

He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, currently acting as chair of the policy and External Affairs Committee. He chaired the Steering Group that led the ICE’s recent policy paper on a National Transport Strategy, as well as having been part of the steering groups for a number of State of the Nation reports and the Delivering a Northern Infrastructure Strategy report. He often gives evidence on behalf of the ICE to House of Commons Transport Select Committee inquiries, such as those into Major transport infrastructure projects: appraisal and delivery and Smart motorways.

Prof Priti Parikh

Priti Parikh is a professor in Engineering Infrastructure and International Development at director of UCL’s Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction.

She is the founder director of UCL’s Engineering for International Development Centre. This centre focuses on engineering solutions for human development and wellbeing; and researches locally acceptable water-sanitation-energy solutions in low-middle income countries.

She has over 15 years of engineering industry experience in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the UK with consultancies to include hands-on experience of designing infrastructure for slums in partnership with local communities. She was awarded the prestigious BBOXX/Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair fellowship that focuses on energy access in sub-Sahara Africa through smart solar solutions.

Priti was the editor-in-chief of ICE’s Engineering Sustainability journal for three years. She then went on to get elected to ICE Council and is a member of the Learned Society Committee. She also sits on the board of Happold Foundation and Engineers Against Poverty to influence strategy on engineering and development.

Priti was named as one of the 100 most influential academics in the UK Government for her work in climate and sustainability by Apolitical and as the top 50 women in engineering in 2022. Priti’s research has influenced policy and practice especially the work around evidencing links between infrastructure and Sustainable Development Goals with governments and charities.

Mike Seaton

Mike has over 25 years experience of developing and delivering renewable energy projects for SSE.  

Since July 2023 he has held the position of director of development for SSER leading on the 1500MW Coire Glas Pumped Storage Scheme in Scotland.  

Prior to this he spent 2 years in Japan as CEO of SSE Pacifico, a subsidiary of SSER responsible for developing a portfolio of offshore wind  projects.    

Before heading out to Tokyo, Mike was director of development for SSER responsible for a significant portfolio of projects in the UK and Ireland which included the development of the 4.1GW Berwick Bank offshore wind farm in the North Sea, the development and construction of the 443MW Viking onshore wind project on the Shetland Islands as well as holding senior roles in large offshore projects such as Doggerbank and Seagreen. 

Mike has been a chartered civil engineer for over 30 years and was director of engineering for SSER for 6 years where he was responsible for the design development of SSER’s significant portfolio of projects both on and offshore,  including the 588MW Beatrice offshore wind farm.  

In his time with SSE, Mike has also held positions as project director on the Glendoe hydro scheme, the largest hydro scheme built in the UK for 40 years and business development manager for Airtricity where he took the lead on the acquisition of several onshore wind projects in GB.  

Prior to joining SSE in 1993, Mike gained experience working in the UK and South East Asia on the design and construction of ports and harbour facilities.    

Helen Littler

Helen is an associate at WSP within the Liveable Places team having previously worked within their transport planning and infrastructure team.  In doing so she has gained a wide variety of skills and experience. Helen has developed into a specialist in the design of infrastructure for active modes of travel, especially for cyclists. She has experience in developing strategies for improvement of infrastructure, taking them through to on-site delivery.