SEPTEMBER 2007
briefing
Regional Education Milestone 100+ AMBASSADORS
The Engineering Education Scheme Refugee Engineers A SUCCESS STORY
Marian Hogg Chairman As I prepare to hand over the Chairmanship of the Region to Les Goddard on 11th September, when he will give his Chairman's address, I feel that my year is almost finished. July and August are quiet months where a lot of planning takes place but little public activity. I have greatly enjoyed my year as Chairman and would like to thank all the Committees in the Region for their hard work, often unnoticed, which ensures that this Region grows from strength to strength. You should receive the Combined Programme Booklet with this copy of the Briefing so if you haven't been to an event please consider doing so next year. If there is nothing in the programme that interests you, let us know what sort of events you would like to see organised. Over the year your Regional Committee has been very active on your behalf, organising the regional input to the State of the Nation Report, the President's Visit, the Annual Gala Dinner Dance, which was completely sold out this year, the Yorkshire and Humber Awards and the Annual Conference. This year we held our AGM on 19th June so that our new Committee is in place before the start of next year's programme. Details of the newly elected and existing committee members are on page 5, and on the website. If you would like to know more about the activities in the Region please refer to our website at www.ice-yorkshireandhumber.org.uk. The website is constantly being updated and is a good source of information on all activities taking place within the Region, including a reminder of events taking place in the near future. Another innovation this year has been the e-newsletter. If you haven't received it, log on to MyICE and register.
With this issue of the Briefing‌ Once again, the Briefing has been distributed with NCE magazine to all Yorkshire and Humber members. In addition, we have also included the new Combined Programme Booklet 2007/8, listing all the events for the forthcoming year. If your Booklet was missing, please contact the RST. The Benevolent Fund of ICE has also asked us to distribute their much in demand Where do I keep it? document; a very useful way in which to organise your important personal papers and information, and an easy way to inform your loved ones about how the Benevolent Fund can assist in times of need. For more information on what the Fund can do for you, go to www.bfice.org.uk.
Congratulations! Congratulations to the following members of the Yorkshire and Humber Region who were successful in passing their Professional Review in Spring 2007. Timothy Bowers
Birse
Richard Easterbrook
Mott MacDonald
On a personal level, I have represented the Region at many events including other professional institutions' meetings and the UK Regional Affairs Committee at Great George Street. This is a new committee made up of the Chairmen of the UK Regions, Senior Vice-President of the Institution and the UK Regional Council Members of ICE. Among its many responsibilities and tasks are to recommend strategy, policies and budgets for the Regions to the ICE Council for approval. This very clearly shows the willingness of Great George Street to give more autonomy to the Regions which is something that I hope you will all welcome.
Stephen Fedzin
Atkins
John Freeman
BWB Consulting
Paul Garthwaite
White Young Green
Claire Moore
Arup
As I reflect on my year as Chairman I am struck by how active this Region is. As well as the Regional Committee we have an Education Team which now has over 100 Ambassadors, a Geotechnical Group, Graduates and Students Section, Humber Branch, Regional Advisory Board, Retired Members' Section, and a Transportation Group. Over the year I have had the opportunity to meet a large number of members of all these groups and hope to continue meeting many more of you at next year's events.
Somnath Nandan
Grontmij
Lee Parkinson
Joynes Pike
It gives me great pleasure to hand over to Les Goddard, who I know will continue to promote the Region both within Yorkshire and Humber, and nationally. Please continue to support him as you have me so that as a Region we continue to grow in importance and stature both regionally and nationally.
Adrian Gill
Environment Agency
Edward Green
Birse
Marc Heaps
Balfour Beatty
Linda Horler
Costain
Ryan Peel
Ian Holdgate
Joanna Pullicino
Arup
Paul Richardson
National Grid
Timothy Simpson
Arup
Gary Wyse
Network Rail
Eurocodes Expert Do you need help with Eurocodes? The Roadshow is coming to Leeds on 20th November. To book a place, or to join the Users’ Group to receive free newsletters, go to www.eurocodes.co.uk.
Best wishes to you all Marian Hogg Chairman 2006/7
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A celebration of 100+ Ambassadors The Regional Education Team has arrived at a significant benchmark this year. For the first time in our seven year history the number of Ambassadors has exceeded 100. This is a true indication of the support from organisations in Yorkshire and Humber and the commitment of individuals to our pursuit of raising the profile and status of the civil engineering profession. It is not a point of debate that our members believe our profession is still not as widely recognised as it should be for its role in society and the role it plays in individuals’ everyday lives. Through the support of Ambassadors and their employers we are able to plant a seed of knowledge, to nurture imagination and inspire a future generation not only of civil engineers but also of clients, politicians, accountants, financiers and lawyers, to name a few other professions whose paths can be inextricably linked to the construction industry. To raise the awareness of civil engineering in these professionals is of course as important to our work as is raising our own status. It will undoubtedly be of benefit to future generations of civil engineers; to educate society about the work we do; to the legacy of the infrastructure we leave behind; and to the responsibility we have in preserving and protecting our environment. Of course another by-product of our work may be to produce a future Telford, Brunel, Smeaton, Stevenson, Bailey or Locke, if we are very lucky! So from our universities, consultants, contractors, local authorities, government agencies and utility companies, let us together celebrate the achievements of fantastic individuals who are achieving the above for ICE Yorkshire and Humber and society, the engineers of civilisation today: Al-Amin Al-Hassan, Khasif Ali, Amjad Ali, Naveed Anwar, Jenny Appleton, Anthony Armitage, Jamil Aziz, Gurdip Bahi, Vicky Belton, Niall Bourke, Clare Brannan, Chris Brown, Michael Brown, David Bull, Trevor Cadieux, Hannah Carrington, Anne Carroll, Lucy Carter, Nicholas Chamberlain, Josie Chandler, Shankar Chaudhari, Victoria Chleboun, John Clark,
Debbe Clarkson, Sharon Coles, Lucy Collins, Andrew Davison, James Dickerson, Barry Dooley, Ruth Fain, Lee Fisher, Sandra Forte, John Freeman, Stephanie Galbraith, Dean Gibson, Adrian Gill, Kate Gower, Lauren Green, Amy Green, Avik Halder, Ingrid Harrison, Victoria Havercroft, Alice Hearne, Mark Hesketh, Alex Holt, Stuart Hunter, Rashid Hussain, Javed Hussain, Chris Jones, Andrew Kaye, Sabby Khaira, Thomas Knowles, Kumaravel Kurusamy, Lee Laherty, Thomas Langridge, James Leeming, Sally Leng, Nick Lupton, Dan Metcalfe, Josephine Miejluk, Louise Milner, Katherine Moir, Claire Moore, Jennifer Morgan, Ivan Nip, Michael Norris, Susan O'Neill, Vicky Patterson, Daniel Preston, Will Preston, Elizabeth Raymond, Ben Raynes, Andy Reeves, Jon Rimmer, Alison Roberts, Helen Robinson, Neil Russell, Adnan Salman, Sivasakthy Selvakumaran, Vicki Singleton, Andrew Smith, Yee Tan, Susan Taylor, Andrew Thompson, Matt Thomson, James Tweddell, Paul Vause, Bobby Virdi, Lorna Wadwell, Alison Ward, Helen Watson, Phil Welton, Beth Willoughby, Georgina Wong, Hannah Wood and Ben Woodwiss. In typical annual fashion, we celebrate the efforts of a number of individuals who have surpassed the expectations of our team and dedicated significantly more time to attain our objectives. The following individuals will receive special certificates of merit to acknowledge their particular contributions: Amri Denton, Charlotte Burnett-Wood, Emma Grayshon, Adrian Hill and Rhianna Williams. Of course we recognise those organisations that have been the most proactive in support of Ambassador work in our region, allowing their employees the time to promote civil engineering, to raise the status of civil engineers and to address the issue of a sustainable number of future civil engineers. To recognise this we annually award three certificates, Gold, Silver and Bronze to the three most supportive organisations. This year we are pleased to award these to: JMP Consulting - Gold Mason Clark Associates - Silver White Young Green Consulting - Bronze Our team consists of 105 Ambassadors from all disciplines of the profession and we now finalise our Celebration of Ambassadors by mentioning here all the remaining organisations that have supported our endeavours this year. In 3
reverse alphabetical order (just to be different) these are: WSP Group, University of Southampton, University of Cambridge, Sinclair Knight Merz, RCB Associates, Poss Ltd, Mouchel Parkman, Leeds City Council, Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council, Kaye Consulting Limited, J N Bentley, Grontmij, Faber Maunsell, Environment Agency, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, BWB, Buro Happold, Bryan G Hall, Atkins and Arup. It truly is an amazing feat that we now have over 100 Ambassadors and this is despite 12 of our number moving on to pastures new; the number of supporting organisations has increased to 40; we now have the support of more QUEST Scholars and students from universities; and finally we have made a significant breakthrough by beginning to recruit Ambassadors from the construction side of the profession, a relationship we hope will mature over the coming years. Further to these achievements ICE Yorkshire and Humber has begun to work cooperatively on the education initiatives with a number of other professional bodies. This year we have begun with IMechE and IStructE and are looking to formalise arrangements with other bodies such as IHT, RICS, CIOB and others. I now finish by adding my own personal thanks to all those mentioned above, the Committees and Branch of the Region, the staff at ICE and of course my employer, White Young Green Consulting. Without the support of all these I am sure attaining all that the team has over recent years would have been infinitely more difficult! I do however envisage that we can sustain this success and look forward to compiling a comprehensive submission on the activities of the Regional Education Team for inclusion in the Annual Report.
Lynden Cable
Your Regional Council Member writes‌ As my term of office on Council draws to a close, I would like to reflect on what has been achieved. Firstly, it has been a privilege to represent you on Council as well as on the Transport Board and Municipal Board, now called an Expert Panel. As Members of Council, we are regularly reminded that we are trustees for the Institution and consequently much of the business is of a rather mundane nature, essential though it is. As I have tried to report to you in each issue of the Briefing, the more interesting debates have covered such issues as the increased budget and consequential subscription rates, particularly to support one of the key planks of the Business Plan, the new Regional Support Teams. Other debates have been about the changing and more focussed work of the Institution in its Learned Society Role and how better to help the members - that is you and me - in the work place and in promoting our expertise available for the wider community to draw upon. This has been highlighted in the success of the State of the Nation reports, which are now moving forward both nationally and in the Regions with a modified but more in-depth topic base, supported particularly in our Region by the Regional Advisory Board. The IMechE debate took a lot of Council's time, but the reports presented to us had been carefully prepared and researched and so helped clarify more easily the best way forward. The Institution is working hard in its efforts to be more open and transparent to all, particularly to its members. Council, together with the Executive (President, Vice-Presidents and five Council Members together with senior officers) now have continuity of thought as exemplified in a five year rolling Business Plan. From our Region, in addition to the Regional Council Member, we have representatives on many of the Boards and Expert Panels and I suggest that each contributes an occasional article to the Briefing on the work they do for the Institution. Members and staff at One Great George Street are committed to better links to the Regions, so let us make sure that we share our local expertise with our members and for the benefit of our local communities. John Branton will be our Council representative from November, and I wish him every success in that work.
From your future Regional Council Member I am delighted to have been elected to represent the Yorkshire and Humber Region on Council, taking over from Andrew McLusky in November. Can I thank all those who voted for me in the recent election. Andrew has done a tremendous job over the past three years, standing up for Yorkshire and Humber, providing an effective communication link between Council and the Regional Committee and keeping you informed through his articles in the Briefing. As our regional team becomes more established, with the help of the Regional Support Team, and communication links with the regional membership improve, we will be able to keep you up-to-date with national issues and gather regional issues to take back to the national forum. I am certainly looking forward to my time as your Council Member, and you can be assured that I will certainly give it my very best shot! John Branton
Andrew McLusky
Drains, Lanes, Trains and Cranes This was the title given by the organisers of National Science and Engineering Week to the Regional Support Team for a civil engineering lecture for families that was delivered at the University of Sheffield on 12th March this year! We were asked to pitch the evening for children 10 years old and above! The advertising posed such questions as: how does safe water get to your tap? What happens after you flush? Why don't you fall through a hole when you travel to school or work? Rising to the challenge, David Tattersall, Bob Bennett, Peter Shapland and Vicky Singleton put together a presentation which would appeal to most ages and promote the civil engineering profession. We decided to approach the subject from the knowledge of science that a pupil might have at school. We covered a bit of physics, chemistry, and biology, and then threw in a bit of maths! The children were invited to make concrete (very messy!), pump water up hill and guess the weight required to make a paper bridge collapse! Bob managed to get the bridge to carry 14kg over a span of 0.75m, much to everybody's amazement. Somehow we persuaded 'Mr Brunel' to make a visit and contribute to proceedings, and we closed the evening by demonstrating how Wembley Stadium could have been built in less than two minutes! Approximately 100 people attended, and the evening was very successful.
The big question now is‌ when does the show go on tour?!
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Executive of epm:technology said “it's inspiring to see a fresh approach to problem solving in an engineering environment. On top of this, it's great to see young adults interacting with industry. Giving students a platform to understand engineering at work can only be good experience. I think it is also an eye opener to the industry, given the detailed presentations of the projects and concepts. It's a quick demonstration of how we will all be using technologies in the future to help us.”
The Engineering Education Scheme in England (EESE) celebrated its 21st Anniversary last year, providing a quality education enrichment experience for over 19,000 students. The scheme matches teams of four bright Year 12 (16-17 yr old) students and their teacher with local companies to work on real scientific, engineering or technological problems. During the programme, students work on a real project set by the link company and are encouraged to show industrial enterprise, creativity and innovation whilst gaining extensive experience of problem solving, teamworking and project management. The EESE provides three special events; the Scheme Launch, a three-day university Residential Workshop, and a Celebration and Assessment Day. The celebration event is the showcase of six months of hard work by the teams who demonstrate their projects to leading businesses, engineers, educationalists and guest speakers and are rigorously assessed by a panel of selected representatives. 90% of students receive BA CREST Gold Awards. The guest speaker at the Celebration & Assessment Days, Graham Mulholland, Chief
Alan Curtis is one of the many students who gained hands-on experience through the EESE. Alan took part in the scheme in 1999/2000 working on a project with JCB. He studied Mechanical Engineering at Loughborough and is now employed as a Graduate Research Engineer at JCB, mentoring an EESE team in the West Midlands this year. Before EESE Alan was interested in accountancy and his perception of engineering was always confused with that of an engineer with dirty hands and spanners. Through taking part in the EESE in the lower sixth, Alan's perception of engineering changed. “I soon began to realise that engineering was about much more and in fact the required skills for a professional engineer seemed to fall directly in line with what I wanted to achieve”.
not be where I am today. The scheme allowed me to see first hand how an engineering company works and how a project is orchestrated. It also gave me fantastic exposure to a multinational company and the collaboration of these factors was key to my success at Loughborough University. I am a firm believer that in order to make the best decisions in life, we must know what our options are. The EESE opened my eyes to engineering as an option, and I hope I can do the same for others”. The scheme invariably brings multiple benefits to companies from cost effective project solutions (75% of recent projects have saved companies money) to high quality professional development of the organisation's engineers and scientists. 97% of engineers participating in the scheme considered it to be relevant to their company's needs.
Alan is confident that by being an EESE mentor he is able to transmit his enthusiasm to the students and encourage them to pursue an engineering career.
The Engineering Education Scheme is part of the Engineering Development Trust, supported by The Royal Academy of Engineering and is one of the schemes in The Royal Academy of Engineering's Best Programme.
“I am thrilled to be able to be involved in the EESE again this year, and hope to be involved for many years to come. I firmly believe that if I had not taken part in the EESE I would likely
For more information about the EESE go to www.thescheme.org.uk or contact Peter Tattersall on 01629 581298 or p.tattersall@thescheme.org.uk
Flooding Working with ICE's Water and Maritime Boards, Yorkshire and Humber's Regional Advisory Board (RAB) has had input into the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee enquiry into flooding and the review announced by Hilary Benn and Gordon Brown. At a local level, we have also offered our help with the review of the response to the flooding in Hull. The recent floods in several parts of the Region may at least serve as a reminder that the warnings we give are not sensational or fanciful.
Your new Committee Listed below are the members of the ICE Yorkshire and Humber Committee for the 2007/8 session, shown alphabetically: John Bowes John Branton Lynden Cable Peter Caldwell Richard Dew Richard Gelder
Les Goddard Marian Hogg Ben Hughes Steven Keetley Andrew McLusky Maria Melton
David Neeve Ian Parke David Tattersall Phil Welton Rhianna Williams Jim Wilson
By the end of the 2006/7 session, the following Committee members had left: Sarah Andrews and Wayne Metcalfe resigned, David Balmforth and Tony Putsman reached the end of their terms, and Nick Chamberlain handed over to Rhianna Williams as the G&S Representative. 5
Refugee Engineers In autumn of 2006, ICE Yorkshire and Humber was approached by Refugee New Arrivals Project (RNAP) - a charity based in Sheffield that helps refugees and asylum seekers to access appropriate education, volunteering, mentoring and employment opportunities - to ask for help in their work with engineers. Marian Hogg and David Tattersall recruited Peter Shapland, Roger West and David Soye as fellow volunteers to participate in a professional support group for refugee engineers living in Sheffield. The support groups meets monthly with up to 10 refugee engineers of various disciplines, and assists them in such cases as understanding UK Health and Safety legislation, interview techniques, and writing CVs. We also visit offices and construction sites in Yorkshire. We have made contact with various organisations in the Region that have the desire to assist in providing work experience and educational opportunities. In June this year, we were thrilled to achieve a major success when one of the engineers, Sharif Hassan, managed to obtain a permanent position with Mott MacDonald in Sheffield. Peter Shapland visited Hassan and talked to him
about his experiences. Peter: Where do you come from, Hassan? Hassan: Somalia. Peter: What work did you do in Somalia? Hassan: After graduation from the Somalia National University, I was an Assistant Lecturer in Civil Engineering. I then moved into highway design with various private companies. I started as a technician and progressed through to design engineer. Peter: How long have you been living in Britain? Hassan: Over six years - since May 2001. The first 18 months were spent obtaining the necessary permits. The rest has been spent learning English, attending an AutoCad course, doing some work-shadowing, volunteer work and seeking employment in civil engineering. But until now, I have been unable to obtain a permanent job. Peter: What were some of the difficulties you faced trying to get a job? Hassan: Not having previous UK experience. Most organisations wanted this, and I struggled to get even a small amount of experience. After getting in touch with RNAP in 2005, I managed to get some work-shadowing with Street Force in Sheffield. Peter: How else did RNAP help you? Hassan: Besides enabling me to do some workshadowing, they provide enhanced capacity with
the volunteers in the support group. These volunteers provided the extra specialised help necessary in such areas as conducting mock interviews and writing CVs. They also knew the kinds of organisations who would possibly be able to provide jobs. They gave me confidence. Peter: What are you doing with Mott MacDonald? Hassan: I am a Senior Highways Technician working on various road schemes. I am now doing what I was trained to do and feel that I have regained my dignity! Peter: What are the main differences working in the UK compared with working in Somalia? Hassan: In Britain you take the CDM regulations seriously. In Somalia no-one is held accountable. Also the design offices in Britain are much bigger and deal with work on a far bigger scale. Peter: Thank you Hassan and all the best for the future!
Discussion Groups for the Written Assignment and Written Test Most jobs require people to be able to communicate effectively and this skill is of greater importance for a civil engineer than for many others. Inadequate communication has lead to death, injury and increased shortterm and long-term costs. If you're lucky, it just leads to frustration. The ICE Professional Reviews (except TPR, for which the written assignment requirement was dropped in 2002) test ability in written communication, under a degree of pressure, by requiring candidates to write under examination conditions. One of the two questions set must be answered in two hours (that's the pressure!) and both will be based on the candidate's personal experience in the context of aspects of importance to professionally-qualified civil engineers taken from a published list of topics. A clear expression of facts and opinions based on the candidate's experience and knowledge is required.
Preparation Each candidate needs to consider, and develop if necessary:
content (knowledge and opinions)
planning of a written piece of work and technique (including timing)
handwriting (including the physical aspects of writing for a long time) or typing skills.
A Discussion Group could help with any of these and English but most Groups will be concerned mainly with the content and planning. There is more 'content' for CPR candidates to discuss because there are 24 more, or different, topics than listed for the MPR candidate. Bear in mind that these topics may well come up during the interview at both CPR and MPR. Discussion Groups The best Discussion Group is one that contains members from a variety of backgrounds, ie, of differing disciplines and from different types of employer, and it is these that the Graduates and Students Section has set up each year. 6
It has been the norm that candidates join a Group during the year before they intend to sit their Review. However, the CPR in particular requires opinions, which should take account of other points of view, and these will be formed and modified over a period of years. It would be better if candidates joined Groups at an earlier stage, perhaps a year after graduation, and participated for more than one year. An initial meeting has been organised for Thursday 13th September, the main purpose of this being to bring together all those interested in being in a Discussion Group. Groups will be formed wherever there is sufficient demand. The evening will include some additional information about the Written Assignment and Written Test and some hints and suggestions on how to go about writing one. People attending the meeting should be thoroughly familiar with the details of the requirements and the lists of topics, which are given in MGN 21 (Written Assignment) and MGN 22 (Written Test). Both of these, and other relevant Membership Guidance Notes, particularly 20, 23, 24 and 25, may be downloaded from the ICE website at www.ice.org.uk.
Ask your MDO... As Membership Development Officers, Peter and I often have to answer questions on an individual basis but which are relevant to many aspiring members of ICE. Here are some Q&As regarding the Career Appraisal route to the Professional Reviews. Q I have never had a Training Agreement but I have the required Educational Base (academic qualification); can I go for the Professional Review (PR)? A Yes you can, but you must first demonstrate you have satisfied the Development Objectives (DOs) in ICE 3005 and that your CPD is satisfactory (in quality and quantity) for that level of PR - the process is called Career Appraisal (CA). Q How is this different to what graduates do under Agreement? A Graduates under Agreement follow structured training, accumulating their evidence of achievement of the DOs over several years and this is accredited by their Supervising Civil Engineer (SCE). When complete the SCE signs a Completion Certificate and, if satisfactory, this is countersigned by the MDO. The CA allows a candidate to submit to the ICE a portfolio of evidence of achievement based on the DOs, however and whenever this may have been achieved, and this is appraised by at least one MDO and either a Reviewer or an independent SCE. Q What and how do I submit? A The ICE publishes a very broad range of Membership Guidance Notes (MGNs) on the website which are freely downloadable. MGN 0 gives an index to all the MGNs and MGN 11 specifically deals with the CA. Q What does MGN 11 tell me to do? A Well, I could say, “read it�, but I can give you some tips on how, in my opinion, you could
Who is going to keep the UK civilised?
UK infrastructure work is forecast to increase around 5% a year in the next ten years or so.
Bob Bennett & Peter Shapland
improve your chances of success. Make sure your CPD is completed as specifically prescribed by ICE 3006. The 2000 word Experience Report, information contained in the DOs and the appendices must all work together to present a complete picture of evidence. The Report should describe how you gained your responsible experience and the scale of projects - see the MGN for further guidance. Crucially it cross references to your DOs so make sure your text clearly applies to the DO that you reference. (I recently assessed one report that listed almost every DO to every paragraph hardly helpful!) The DOs must offer a far more complete record of your experience than the Report. The key technique is to say not just what you did, but how you undertook that task; what did it involve; what went right/what went wrong; what did you learn; how did you contribute to a 'corporate' decision; what was your opinion of that decision? The space provided under the DO plus no more than another side of A4 should be ample in content. Essentially we want to know about YOU so write in the 'first person'!
Q Do I simply pass or fail the CA?
Q How do I include examples of my own work?
A Usually candidates do not put themselves in the shoes of the appraisers and simply submit either unrelated information and masses of it, or very little. The candidate might be fully familiar with the information, but fails to realise the appraisers are not. A really good submission literally takes fifteen minutes to appraise because the evidence is well selected and well cross referenced; others can take over two hours. Hopefully, you will now be in the first group and able to produce a really good submission!
A Use both your Report and your DOs to cross reference to examples of your own work, ie, the appendices. Keep them simple, keep them personal, and keep them totally relevant to the text. For example, provide only a summary of a cost/benefit study, not all of it; a specific designer risk assessment not a generic printout; a simple hand sketch and calculations as a computer printout check etc.
An increase in the number of construction professional and technical staff exceeding 10% is needed over the next few years. There will be much to do if we are to adapt to the effects of climate change, and most of this work is civil engineering. There is already a shortage in many of the jobs that require a knowledge and understanding of maths and science. The increase in workload needed to cope with the effects of climate change has not yet been fully appreciated so the projected shortages are likely to be greater than currently predicted. As well as a shortage of people, there will be increasing demand from other countries on resources such as materials and plant. 7
A If you submit an excellent portfolio you may well receive simply a letter of congratulations. More usually the letter will identify success but also include bespoke guidance on how to adjust your submission technique to better satisfy the PR that will follow. Occasionally more information is called for or there might even be a need to have a chat with your Regional MDO prior to being successful. Q Does the fact I have not had a Training Agreement prejudice my chances of passing the PR? A No, not at all! All candidates cleared to go for their PR, either by having a Completion Certificate or a CA letter, are treated exactly the same. On average, people with Training Agreements qualify sooner because their training has been structured but the success rate at PR is almost identical for both types of candidate. Q That sounds very straightforward; what common mistakes do candidates make?
The question of Skills and Capacity is probably the most serious one facing the country and ICE is working on a new-style State of the Nation Report that will focus on this important subject, rather than considering all infrastructure. ICE Yorkshire and Humber will be contributing to this Report, so anyone who has any evidence that might usefully be included is invited to contact us at iceyandh@ice.org.uk. We will be merely embarrassed in front of the world if we are unable to provide the facilities for the Olympics in 2012. It will be devastating if we are unable to cope with the effects of climate change. Watch out for the Report and media coverage early in 2008.
Programme highlights
HS&W as an integral part of our work, and acceptance on the Register is a demonstration of our competence. This meeting is designed to ensure that attendees understand the review process and the level of knowledge and ability required to be successful. This is an excellent opportunity for CDM Coordinators but is equally relevant to all construction professionals who want their expertise in HS&W to be independently verified. It is relevant to designers, contractors and managers.
You should have received your new Combined Programme Booklet for 2007/8 with this issue of the Briefing. The Booklet is also available to download from the website, where more detailed information on the events and all up-to-date changes can be found. Always check the website or your latest e-newsletter for the latest information.
Technical Report Route seminar Tuesday 18 December, Darrington Drawing on the experience of an ICE Reviewer, the Regional Support Team and a successful candidate, the aim of the seminar is to advise on all aspects of the TRR, including: the Technical Report, Mentor, Sponsors, CPD, the Experience Report, Presentation, Academic Review, and Professional Review interview. Booking is essential.
Chair's Address Tuesday 11 September, Leeds This will be an ideal opportunity for everyone to find out what we are planning to do in the Region and what ideas we have had. We are hoping for some additional input and suggestions from members and look forward to a lively debate and some stimulating ideas and questions! Come along to the Queens Hotel, Leeds, for the first evening meeting of the new session!
Professional Review seminar part 2 Thursday 31 January, Darrington Aimed particularly at those intending to sit CPR, CPRP or MPR, this seminar, organised by the Regional Support Team, will concentrate on the day of the Review itself, ie, the Presentation and the Interview and the preparation for these. This seminar will also be useful for non-candidates who need to understand ICE Reviews better, ie, SCEs. Booking is essential.
Written Assignment & Written Test Discussion Groups Thursday 13 September, Darrington Read all about how the Discussion Groups can be of invaluable help in working towards your Professional Review, in the article on page 6. Then come along to this evening meeting so you don't miss your opportunity to be included in a Group.
Married to the Job! In a production laced with humour and original songs and music, Married to the Job tells the story of Thomas Telford, and challenges the assumption that engineering is merely a job for the boys!
SCE Forum Tuesday 23 October, Darrington Calling all ICE registered SCEs: this is your next forum and opportunity to get together! The Health & Safety Register Wednesday 31 October, Darrington The ICE has been given responsibility by the Construction Industry Council (CIC) to maintain the Construction HS&W Register on behalf of all construction professionals. Many of us have increasing responsibility for
To book local performances from 11 September to 14 October, please go to www.mikron.org.uk.
Professional Qualification Surgeries The Regional Support Team would like to announce a new initiative to run daytime 'surgeries' for all those people who are seeking advice on getting professionally qualified. These surgeries will cover all grades of membership - Engineering Technician, Incorporated Engineer, Chartered Engineer, Associate Member and Member. They will be held in November and December 2007 at various centres throughout Yorkshire and Humber: Leeds: Tuesday 13 November, Bradford: Tuesday 20 November, Hull: Tuesday 27 November, Sheffield: Tuesday 4 December, York: Tuesday 11 December The objective is to help potential candidates, at any stage of their development, who are not training under agreement. People with a Training Agreement have an SCE who is responsible for their development. The surgeries will serve all levels of academic qualification and provide one-to-one advice to those seeking help 'getting there'. For further information regarding the venues, please refer to the website www.ice-yorkshireandhumber.org.uk in October. In order to facilitate the smooth and efficient running of these surgeries, please email iceyandh@ice.org.uk to make an appointment and to put your questions in advance. Please quote Surgery - (and the city location you wish to attend) in the subject line of the email. The qualifications available and the various requirements will be described at an evening meeting at the Parkside Hotel, Pontefract, on Tuesday 6 November. The surgeries are additional to this meeting and the information given at the meeting will not be repeated at the surgeries. Peter Shapland
Contact us
Regional Support Team
For further information about anything in this issue of the Briefing or to contact any member of the Committee or the Regional Support Team:
Regional Manager
David Tattersall 0114 267 0055
Membership Development Officer (West: Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield)
Peter Shapland 0114 229 9163
ICE Yorkshire and Humber, PO Box 361, Leeds, LS17 1BJ
Membership Development Officer (East: York, Wakefield, Doncaster, Hull)
Bob Bennett
01977 599385
Regional Administrator & Marketing Communications Executive
Sarah Allen
0113 269 2955
Regional Administrator
Derryn Potter
0114 232 5044
Tel: 0113 269 2955 email: iceyandh@ice.org.uk www.ice-yorkshireandhumber.org.uk Printed on 100% chlorine-free pulp from sustainable forests.
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