RCEA annual conference: HS2 in construction - Colne Valley Viaduct & the Chilterns Tunnels

David Coles

David Coles is chief engineer at the UK Department for Transport, having joined its High Speed 2 Rail Group in 2016 as sponsor for all the railway systems.

He leads technical and operational advice on major infrastructure projects, focusing on cost, value, risk and innovation.

He previously oversaw the infrastructure carbon reduction programme supporting Net Zero goals for construction.

David spent 13 years as engineering director in two consultancy firms, working internationally and acting as an expert witness in a major metro arbitration case.

Earlier, he managed major renewal and maintenance projects for British Rail, Railtrack and Network Rail.

He is a chartered engineer, chartered director, ICE and IoD Fellow and in 2020 graduated from Oxford Business School’s Major Projects Leadership Academy.

In 2026 David was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering 

Tom Wilne

Tom is a Programme Director with Jacobs and currently leads the HS2 Engineering Delivery Partner JV (EDP) on behalf of Jacobs, Atkins and Sener. 

Tom’s career spans high speed rail, aviation, infrastructure, and oil and gas, in both client and consultant roles. Prior to joining Jacobs Tom was the Project Delivery Director for Manchester Airport Group, leading matrixed multi-discipline teams across the group’s airports to develop and deliver the capital investment programme. 

Previously Tom worked across Shell’s exploration, production and refining businesses, through numerous commercial, project and technical roles, operating on both a global and local scale.

Aimee Davies O’Grady

Aimee is a Chartered Civil Engineer, who joined the Align JV in 2020, leading the Sub-Structure Methods team for the Colne Valley Viaduct. She joined the Methods Team, having worked previously for 12 years as a Project Manager with Lendlease.

Alice Williams

Alice is Environmental Manager for Surface works at the ALIGN JV South Portal and Western Valley Slopes site covering earthworks, drainage, civils and landscaping. She has been with ALIGN Since August 2019, starting as an Environmental Advisor. Prior to working on the ALIGN JV, Alice was an Assistant Ecologist for CSA Environmental – an Ecology, Landscape and Urban Design Consultancy.

Carl Baker

Carl is the Sustainability and Waste lead at Align JV. He has worked within Waste and Sustainability across both the public and private sectors for over 12 years.

George Isitt

George is Civil Engineer and Design Manager working with a 10-year history in heavy civil and infrastructure projects. He spent 5 years in the Nuclear Energy sector, working on HPC from project development through to Civil Delivery phase. He has since spent 5 years on HS2 C1 working as a design manager on underground works including tunnels and shafts.

George Kapos

George is a Chartered Civil Structural engineer with 18 years of experience in major transport infrastructure and process industry projects in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Australia. He has key knowledge and expertise in the design of concrete and steel structures ranging from buildings to bridges.  George has worked on several significant transportation projects, notably the North West Rail Link (NWRL) in Australia; the New Tyne Crossing in the UK; The New Europe Bridge in Bulgaria - Romania and the Shah Amanat Bridge in Bangladesh.

Natalia Ximenes

Natalia is a Civil Engineer working towards Chartership, who joined Align JV in May 2021 as a Sub-Structure Methods Engineer for the Colne Valley Viaduct. Currently working as Section Engineer, leading the Viaduct’s Internal Drainage Package. Previously working for 3 years as Engineering and Utilities Coordinator at Lenovo Brazil.

Nick Podevyn

Nick is an Innovation Manager at Sir Robert McAlpine, currently working in the Align Joint Venture. He has worked for 20 years in frontline engineering projects. Nick has worked across defence, civils and renewables and previously served as an officer in the Royal Engineers which included operational deployments to Afghanistan to conduct combat engineering projects.