ICE NI Early Careers Network Conference 2025

Gareth Briggs

Gareth is a Technical Director within AECOM and has spent the majority of his career to date working on dam related projects in Ireland, the UK and Africa.  He has been involved in dams for a range of functions including water supply, hydropower, flood storage and mining.  He is currently involved in the a number  of pumped storage hydropower projects in the UK and Ireland.

David McKillen

David McKillen is the technical head in AECOM responsible for Dams and Reservoir work throughout the UK&I. This involves coordinating Civil Engineering Teams specialist in all aspects of Reservoir works. He has specialisms in reservoir safety and construction, geotechnical engineering, foundation design, design of hydraulic structures, hydrology and in all aspects of water engineering

Rosie Hanlon

Rosie is a Civil Engineer working at Arup in Belfast, based in their Water Team. Since graduating in 2022, Rosie has been involved in a range of projects within the water industry and is heavily involved in delivery STEM programmes to young people in Northern Ireland and further afield.

Richard Nicholl

Richard Nicholl is head of civil engineering at the National Trust. Richard is a Fellow of both ICE and IStructE.

He joined the National Trust in 2019 following over eighteen years with AECOM and legacy consultants, which included technical director positions on London Underground’s £600 million Bank Station project.

Jayne Walker

Jayne Walker is an environmental sustainability manager at construction company GRAHAM, who operate a PAS 2080 verified Carbon Management System across their construction arm. 

Passionate about advancing sustainable construction Jayne is a champion for low carbon solutions, circular economy principles and environmental best practice in the industry.

Emma Crane

Emma Crane is an environmental sustainability assistant at GRAHAM, where she has supported the development of carbon management processes to promote PAS 2080 alignment. She ensures compliance at both project and corporate levels, and tracks performance across the company’s construction portfolio, leading to GRAHAM recently achieving PAS 2080 re-verification.

Brendan Harkin

Brendan is head of Translink’s portfolio management office and P3O function with responsibility for Translink’s capital investment plan and programme and project governance.

Brendan has been actively involved throughout the development of the All-Island Strategic Rail Review and ongoing implementation strategies.

Ciaran Coulter

Ciaran has been a project manager with Translink for 4 years focusing on strategic network development projects at various stages of delivery.

Ciaran is the PM responsible for delivering the 2025 Network Development Study.

Ciaran has a background working for contractor, consultant and client organisations on civils schemes throughout Ireland.

Stephen Smalley

Steve Smalley is a sustainability director at Design ID, steering committee member at UK Civil Engineers Declare and a signatory of Structural Engineers Declare, he is dedicated to embedding environmental responsibility throughout the project lifecycle. He spearheads modular construction initiatives, promoting low-carbon solutions that improve efficiency, reduce waste and support the circular economy.

Helen McGarry

Helen McGarry is a pragmatic, technical, and creative structural engineer, with experience spanning from small-scale refurbishments to large-scale infrastructure projects. Helen supports clients in reducing the environmental impact across projects with specific expertise in concrete decarbonisation. She is the co-author of the ‘Concrete’ chapter in Materials: An Environmental Primer (RIBA, 2024).

Sophie Hughes

Sophie is an environmental sustainability engineer, and BREEAM Infrastructure Assessor, ensuring that all projects meet the highest environmental and sustainability standards. With a background in environmental management, policy development, and carbon reduction strategies.