The best and brightest from the civil engineering community were recognised today at the ICE Annual Awards Ceremony held in the prestigious Great Hall at One Great George Street this afternoon.
The Awards, an annual fixture of the Institution's events calendar, recognise both outstanding civil engineering achievements and contribution to the profession and the Institution.
Ceremony attendees enjoyed the chance to network at ICE's London headquarters, before being welcomed by ICE Director General Nick Baveystock.
Gold Medal
The most prestigious medal awarded by the Institution is the Gold Medal, which is awarded for civil engineering excellence to an individual whose sustained contribution to civil engineering over many years is of particular magnitude and stature.
This year's award went to Alistair Borthwick who is a Professor of Applied Hydrodynamics and Head of the Institute for Infrastructure and Environment at the University of Edinburgh.
Professor Borthwick has spent over 40 years in the industry during which time he has made a significant contribution to civil engineering.
The Awards committee noted:"Professor Borthwick has made outstanding contributions to the civil engineering profession through his roles as an educator, through the impact of his research and through his specific involvement in professional activities including his work for the Institution of Civil Engineers."
Warren Medal
The Warren Medal, awarded to a member for their service to their region, went to Mike Gardiner, ICE North East.
Gardiner has been a valuable member of ICE since 1963. He first joined the Graduates and Students Committee, moving on to Northumbria Branch and then Northern Counties Regional Committee. He was the Regional Education Coordinator for the North East for over 25 years.
International Medal
The International Medal is awarded to a civil engineer in one of the following categories:
- a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, or a civil engineer who is not a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, who had prime responsibility for an outstanding contribution to civil engineering outside the United Kingdom, or;
- a civil engineer resident outside the United Kingdom and not a citizen of the United Kingdom, who had prime responsibility for an outstanding contribution to civil engineering inside the United Kingdom
The committee were impressed by two nominations so decided to award the International Medal to two worthy candidates: Professor Steve Denton, Executive Director & Head of Civil, Bridge and Ground Engineering at WSP, and Sir Gordon Wu, Chairman and Director Hopewell Holdings.
"Based on his exceptional work in leading the evolution of the Structural Eurocodes, Steve Denton has gained tremendous respect among his peers which led him to become the youngest ever Chairman of CEN Technical Committee 250 (CEN/TC250) Structural Eurocodes and demonstrates his outstanding contribution to civil engineering outside the United Kingdom," the judges said.
They also said:"Knighted in 1997 by HM The Queen, Sir Gordon WU’s infrastructure vision also extended to Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan which have played a major role in East Asia’s rapid economic growth in the latter part of the 20th century.
"Sir Gordon Wu is a civil engineer who is not only conversant with the technical details of projects, but also sees the big picture of the “why” and “what”."
Garth Watson Medal
The Garth Watson Medal is for dedicated and valuable service to the Institution by a member or a member of staff.
This year the Garth Watson Medal was awarded to Shelia Billet, Admission & Transfers Manager at ICE.
Since joining the Institution almost 30 years ago Billet has proved to be a loyal and invaluable addition to ICE staff. Over the past 10+ years she has managed the Admissions and Transfers team and is seen as a lynchpin of the wider Qualifications team.
Brunel Medal
The Brunel Medal is awarded to recognise excellence in civil engineering. All teams, persons or organisations operating within the built environment will be eligible.
This year, the Brunel Medal was awarded to Chith Export facility project in Queensland.
Rio Tinto’s Amrun Project located south of the Embley River, between Weipa and Aurukun in Far North Queensland, has revolutionised the design, fabrication and construction of wharf infrastructure through a collaborative approach between Rio Tinto, its EPCM Bechtel, Jacobs, and McConnell Dowell Constructors.
The bauxite export jetty was built in record time with clear engineering focus on modularisation.
The project has already managed to achieve: an excellent safety performance, capital expenditure was reduced by $40m due to modularisation and prefabrication and the number of permanent wharf and dolphin piles was reduced from 100 to 28, minimising the environmental impact.
Other winners
President’s Medal
Jennifer Schooling OBE
Emerging Engineers Award
Kawthar Aljufairi, MICE
Paper Title: Evaluating the introduction of a virtual currency to improve traffic conditions in Bahrain
James Rennie Medal
Stephen Thompson, MICE
Project: Ocado Project
Jean Venables Medal
Mini Sreekumar, MICE
Project: Technician Professional Review in December 2018
Renée Redfern Hunt Memorial Prize
Alice Elizabeth Ridgway, MICE
Paper: Written Exercise at Professional Review in Autumn 2018 - "Discuss the key steps to be taken to attract sufficient numbers of diverse, competent and enthusiastic young people to become civil engineers”
Andrey Smirnov, MICE
Paper: Written Exercise at Professional Review in Spring 2019 "Following suggestions of re-nationalisation, looming climate change, disruptive timetable changes and booming passenger numbers, how do you see the future of Rail in the UK?"
Tony Chapman Medal
Alex Gillespie
Project: Member Professional Review (IEng) in 2018
Chris Binnie Award for Sustainable Water Management
Manuela Di Mauro
Paper: Preparing for a Drier Future - National Infrastructure Commission
A number of prizes and awards were also issued for papers published by ICE Journals.
