The Head of CSIC, Professor Lord Robert Mair will become the 153rd President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) on 7 November.
Lord Mair will make his President’s Address at the London HQ of the ICE, to an invited audience of industry professionals and others, setting out his aims and objectives for his year in office, which marks the ICE 200 bicentenary. The theme of Lord Mair’s inaugural address is 'Transforming Infrastructure, Transforming Lives – Building on 200 years'.
During his term in office, Lord Mair will bring focus to the ICE 200 bicentenary and champion public recognition of the direct impact that civil engineering has on all our lives.
“I am honoured to become ICE President for the bicentenary year. There have been many huge achievements of British civil engineering over the last 200 years but my focus will not be on the past, but on the future,” said Lord Mair. “Our digitally-abundant age brings opportunities for exciting new sensor technologies and innovations to really change the way we are doing civil engineering.”
Lord Mair, who takes over from current ICE President Professor Tim Broyd, has built a highly-regarded engineering career spanning more than 40 years. He graduated in 1971 from Cambridge University, where he read Engineering at Clare College, and worked continuously in industry until 1998, except for a three-year period in the late 1970's when he returned to Cambridge to work for his PhD on tunnelling in soft ground.
He was appointed Professor of Geotechnical Engineering at Cambridge University in 1998. He was the Sir Kirby Laing Professor of Civil Engineering 2011-2017, and Master of Jesus College 2001-2011. He was a Fellow of St John's College from 1998 to 2001.
He is also one of the founding Directors of the Geotechnical Consulting Group (GCG), an international consulting company based in London, started in 1983. He was appointed Chief Engineering Adviser to the Laing O'Rourke Group in 2011. He is Head of CSIC, which is transforming the future of infrastructure through smarter information. CSIC’s principal role is to advance research in Smart Infrastructure and create impact for infrastructure owners, operators, designers, and contractors.
The President’s Address is one of the highlights in the Institution calendar and is a gathering of ICE members, heads of institutions, peers, MPs and industry leaders. The event will be streamed live at 6pm and feature a live Twitter wall which will capture a selection of tweets about Lord Mair's themes, as he speaks. Event attendees and those watching the live stream can participate using #ICEaddress.
Working alongside Lord Mair during his year in office will be the President's Future Leaders who he has selected to join him on regional visits and participate in projects that help make a real contribution to the profession.
For further information about the ICE see https://www.ice.org.uk.
* Image courtesy of Paul Milsom on behalf of ICE