ICE Local - November 2014

The members’ newsletter of ICE Yorkshire and Humber November 2014

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ICE Local

ice.org.uk/yorkshireandhumber

In this issue Yorkshire and Humber Infrastructure Alliance Damian Kilburn on the newly formed alliance with other built environment organisations to drive forward infrastructure investment in the region

Askham Bar, one of York’s new Park & Ride Developments

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ICE Yorkshire and Humber Region group

Your ICE Committee Welcome to the November edition of ICE Local and the first newsletter of the 2014-15 session.

I am delighted to be Chair for a second year and looking forward to the continuation of some existing initiatives over the coming months. I explained the restructuring of the ICE Yorkshire and Humber region in the last newsletter and in the Annual Report, and I am pleased at how well Penny Marshall has settled into the role of Regional Director; the Committee is benefitting from the sharing of knowledge that Penny’s joint role as Regional Director of ICE North East is bringing.

A number of successful evening meetings have already been held this year including a presentation on the 2014 Yorkshire and Humber Centenary Award winning scheme ‘Ings Beck Flood Alleviation’, an energy resilience presentation at Leeds Beckett University and an enthusiastic audience took part in our Fracking debate in Sheffield, which was hosted jointly with IMechE. We are in the process of setting up the Yorkshire and Humber Infrastructure Alliance with a number of other built

environment bodies, which I believe will provide members of all organisations with improved access to knowledge events, networking opportunities and a louder voice in the region – more details on page 2 of this newsletter.

The format of our annual awards has changed this year, with three categories of award reflecting different sizes of project. We have had a fantastic response to the call for nominations, and I am really encouraged by the number, quality and variety of submissions which showcase the impressive work we do in the region. Judging will commence shortly, with the three winners announced at our Gala Dinner Dance on 6 March 2015 in Harrogate.

Finally, please remember that the Regional Committee represents you as members, please feel free to contact us if there are any issues you wish to discuss or if you would like to support our work.

Damian Kilburn CEng MICE

ICE Y&H Chair 2013-15

Regional Education Team Matthew Brayfield looks at our most recent involvement in schools activities including Tomorrow’s Engineers Week

Graduates & Students Beers & Careers, Emerging Engineers, Tom Sheridan on the latest events run by our young members

New Fellows in 2014 Eight members were admitted to the grade of Fellowship in Yorkshire and Humber this year. Congratulations!

Partnering Dan Ladbury reports on the many benefits of collaborative working

Meet your Regional Director Penny Marshall CEng MICE

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Otley Science Fair - building a truss bridge using rolled up paper, nuts and bolts

Yorkshire and Humber Infrastructure Alliance We have joined forces with a number of built environment organisations to drive forward infrastructure investment in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

politicians presenting their policies and debating infrastructure proposals in the run up to next year’s general election.

The Infrastructure Alliance includes the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT), the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) and the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). Our vision is “supporting the Yorkshire and Humber economy by working together to influence infrastructure investment and delivery”. A press release will be issued shortly.

Whilst ICE’s Regional Support Team and Regional Committee have driven the initial discussions, we are seeking volunteers to assist in developing this exciting initiative. Please contact me at iceyandh@ice.org.uk for further information.

Key areas of joint working include: Development of a joint knowledge programme for 2015-16 Collaboration on under-19s activities and events Joint public voice activities to put Yorkshire and Humber infrastructure at the top of the regional agenda Joined-up lobbying of regional influencers Due to timeframes, the alliance’s first task is to organise and facilitate a ‘hustings’ event in the region, with prominent

Regional Education Team The Regional Education Team have recently organised and attended a number of events to promote the civil engineering profession and inspire young people to continue studying science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

As part of Tomorrow’s Engineers Week (3-7 November 2014), the team attended the ‘Make, Create, Innovate’ event at the AMRC Training Centre in Rotherham. The young attendees were challenged to build the tallest tower they could using only wooden blocks, and the exercise was used to demonstrate some of the factors that engineers have to consider in the design and construction of tall buildings. This activity was also popular at the ‘STEM in Action’ event at the KC Stadium in Hull this month, where students from local primary schools had the opportunity to take part in a number of STEM-themed interactive sessions.

ICE Ambassadors have also taken part in two science fairs in West Yorkshire, engaging the public with civil engineering-themed activities.

The popular Otley Science Fair invited both younger and older visitors to discover more about science and engineering through a range of interactive activities, and the ICE challenged attendees to build a bridge using only rolled up paper, nuts and bolts. The resulting truss bridges were tested to demonstrate the forces acting through the paper and

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I believe that this alliance has the potential to give the members of all the partners a strong voice within Yorkshire and Humber to deliver investment, support the economy, develop our members and encourage young people to enter the built environment profession.

Damian Kilburn

the importance of quality control during construction, before being compared with bridges in the real world.

Visitors were also tasked with building part of the team’s giant tetrahedron.

Thank you to everyone who has taken part in the recent events organised by the Regional Education Team, helping to inspire a new generation of engineers!

The team are already planning a number of events for 2015 and British Science Week in March, including an activity day to be held jointly with other professional engineering institutions to inspire the engineers of tomorrow.

Matthew Brayfield

The ICE Ambassador scheme If you would like to find out more about becoming an ICE Ambassador or the work of the team to promote civil engineering and the STEM subjects, please visit: www.ice.org.uk/yorkshireandhumber/education

Emerging Engineers Award - the presentation

Networking at ‘Beers and Careers’, Sheffield, held jointly with IStructE

Beers & Careers

Emerging Engineers Award

The Graduates and Students’ (G&S) Committee held three of their popular ‘Beers and Careers’ evenings in October and November to welcome new Graduate and Student members to the Yorkshire and Humber region. These successful events held in Bradford and, jointly with IStructE in Sheffield and Leeds, were a great introduction to the region, offering an informal setting to enjoy a free drink while networking with other graduates and students.

Calling all Graduate and Student members - have you got what it takes to win the Institution medal?

If you have an interesting project or discussion topic then why not enter the Emerging Engineers Award (formerly known as the Graduates and Students’ Papers Competition). Gain valuable written and presentation experience and show yourself to be among the country’s top young engineers.

The events were also an opportunity to meet the G&S Committee and find out what’s going on in Yorkshire and Humber. Once everyone had met and mingled it was time to get serious - in true engineering spirit teams of graduates and students were challenged to work together and beat the competition in the ultimate engineering quiz.

To find out more about the Graduates & Students’ Committee and the events they organise check out the regional website or follow them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/icegsyh

A paper could be based on a technical or non-technical design or university research project, or could be adapted from professional development or Professional Review reports. Entrants must be an ICE Graduate or Student member.

To enter, submit an application form (downloadable from www.ice.org.uk/ice3159) and a synopsis of your paper (max 400 words) by Friday 9 January to iceyandh@ice.org.uk Shortlisted candidates will be asked to submit their full paper (max 4,000 words) by 30 January, and to give a 10-minute presentation on their paper at the regional final on 25 February 2015.

New Fellows in 2014 The grade of Fellow is the highest and most senior grade of ICE membership and is reserved for senior civil engineers who have made a significant contribution to the civil engineering profession or have advanced the practice of engineering.

Chris Digman

Veronica Flint-Williams

Tony Gould

Congratulations to the following members of the Yorkshire and Humber region who became Fellows in 2014: Christopher Digman, Veronica Flint-Williams, Anthony Gould, Alastair Jackson, Sarah Melville-Crowe, Ian Parke, Christopher Robinson and Barry Walmsley.

Ian Parke

Alastair Jackson

Sarah Melville-Crowe

Chris Robinson

Barry Walmsley

ICE Local - November 2014 3

Partnering

The construction of Shirecliffe Primary School in Sheffield, an example of successful partnering

...more than just words Partnering – it’s a phrase that is used a lot these days. Clients want partners. Suppliers want to partner. We all want to be seen to be good at partnering. But what does this really mean, and are we actually as good at it as we think we are?

As a client, I see many organisations, including consultants and contractors professing to have a strong culture of partnering or collaborative working.

Indeed, many tenders now ask for this and most organisations are very good at writing tender submissions that extol how wonderful they are at partnering.

But scratch away at the surface and there’s often little of substance beyond the bid talk or the ubiquitous kick off/partnering workshop.

I have seen and been involved in some great examples of partnering. Sadly, I have also experienced some very poor examples.

At its best, true collaborative working has saved one of my programmes nearly £100m and over a year on a £500m programme of works. This was achieved through building a single team across multiple organisations and investing a lot of time in developing, managing and maintaining relationships. Establishing a shared ethos, expectations and effective communications all helped develop a real culture of collaborative working.

Where it hasn’t worked, the reason has often been poor communications, poor relationships and little interest from so called “partners” in making it work. This has often resulted in conflict; projects not proceeding as well as they could have and even disputes (mainly arising as a result of misunderstanding).

Where it works well, with parties committed to making it work, the organisations can both benefit greatly through reduced cost, shared

objectives, innovation and added value to all organisations.

BS11000 now sets out an approach for collaborative working but I think there is more to it than this and we all need to think about how some of our approaches may (often unintentionally) generate conflict rather than collaboration and where we need to improve as an industry.

Some common examples where conflict can be generated very early in a relationship are as follows: P ricing tender submissions with the knowledge that the requested scope may be undeliverable without raising this.

Under-resourcing works knowing it will be difficult to deliver to the required quality and timescales.

Committing to unrealistic or unachievable timescales.

Not checking what a client really requires and making assumptions.

Not understanding wider pressures or risks.

The nature of our industry and the projects we deliver does mean that many relationships can be for a short period of time, and commercial considerations and resource pressures mean that resources must be focussed appropriately. Step beyond this however and approach it with the right attitude, and the time invested can result in innovative opportunities being identified, greater success and efficiency and possibly repeat work or further opportunities.

It takes effort, it takes time, and it might be a pain in the neck at times.

There has to be a bit of give and take. But like all relationships you get out what you put in.

So, how about we look to move beyond the pillow talk and make partnering more than just words?

Dan Ladbury

Meet your Regional Director Since the last edition of ICE Local there have been some changes in the region, most notably the appointment of experienced civil engineer Penny Marshall as ICE’s new Regional Director for ICE Yorkshire and Humber, as well as ICE North East.

Penny had previously worked as Interim Regional Director for ICE North East for the past year, having joined ICE as a Membership Development Officer in 2012. Her road to a career in civil engineering began at Newcastle University, after graduating with a BSc in Civil Engineering, and she spent a brief period as a high school mathematics teacher before embarking on her engineering career, working in

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both design and site roles with a number of North East local authorities.

She later moved to the then Department of Transport Northern Regional Office and spent almost 20 years in the Civil Service. The role of Membership Development Officer saw Penny take on responsibility for advising and guiding members, graduates and trainees throughout their careers.

Penny says: “As a civil engineer, membership of the ICE can be a huge support and inspiration, so I am very excited to be taking on Directorship of both the North East and the Yorkshire and Humber regions.

This is a great opportunity to help drive forward the work of ICE in these regions and I am looking forward to the challenge.”