Disaster risk pioneer awarded OBE

Chartered Engineer Joshua Macabuag has received an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours.

It recognises his service as an urban search and rescue engineer – a role in which he helps find and extract people from collapsed buildings after disasters.

ICE Fellow Nick Smallwood, former chief executive of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), was awarded a CBE in the honours list, published on 14 June.

Joshua Macabuag

Announcing the news, Macabuag said: “I am to receive an OBE... It honestly never entered my mind that I’d ever say something like that.”

He shared the achievement with the organisations and groups he’s been a part of, namely SARAID (Search & Rescue Assistance in Disasters) and the Global Program for Disaster Risk Analytics.

With SARAID, Macabuag has been deployed to support a number of search and rescue efforts across the world.

This includes Nepal and Turkey, after the 2015 and 2023 earthquakes, respectively, and to Turks and Caicos, following Hurricane Irma in 2017.

Macabuag is also a specialist in catastrophe modelling, using calculations of disaster risks and frequency to manage the risks they pose and advise decision makers accordingly.

Despite the complex calculations that risk management sometimes requires, Macabuag told the ICE that “it’s ultimately about people – how we’re impacted by disasters, and what we can do about it as engineers”.

“I’m proud to be an engineer, as we have a unique place in protecting lives, livelihoods and infrastructure – from response to recovery, from mitigation to preparation,” he said.

Macabuag was a President’s Future Leader (or President’s Apprentice, as it was then known) in 2009-2010, for ICE Past President Professor Paul Jowitt.

Nick Smallwood

Smallwood received a CBE in recognition of services to infrastructure and project delivery.

He led the IPA for five years, following his role in the oil industry as chief projects engineer at Shell.

At the IPA, he helped transform the Government Project Delivery Function and introduced professional accreditation and training programmes to boost the civil service’s project delivery expertise.

The IPA, a former government body, oversaw the delivery of major infrastructure in the UK.

It was replaced by the National Infrastructures and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) in April 2025.

Other ICE members recognised

Professor William Powrie has been awarded a CBE for his services to engineering.

The ICE Fellow is a professor of geotechnical engineering at the University of Southampton, known for his contributions to environmental and transportation geotechnics.

Dr Anne Kerr, chair of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, was recognised with an OBE for services to UK business and trade.

Dr Kerr, an ICE Fellow, is also the global head of cities and Asia executive adviser for engineering consultancy Mott MacDonald.

ICE Fellow Faith Wainwright received an OBE in recognition of her services to engineering. The past president of the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) is a former director of Arup, the engineering firm.

She received an MBE in 2012 for services to the built environment and engineering professions.

Dr Janet Young, ICE director general, said: “It’s wonderful to see ICE members recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours.

“Their exceptional contributions to society exemplify the ICE’s mission to improve lives through engineering. Congratulations to all!”