Briefing - September 2007

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Regional Education Milestone The Engineering Education Scheme Refugee Engineers SEPTEMBER 2007 briefing A SUCCESS STORY 100+ AMBASSADORS

description

The newsletter of ICE Yorkshire and Humber.

Transcript of Briefing - September 2007

Regional Education Milestone

The Engineering Education Scheme

Refugee Engineers

SEPTEMBER 2007

briefing

A S U C C E S S S T O R Y

1 0 0 + A M B A S S A D O R S

As I prepare to hand over the Chairmanship of the Region to Les Goddardon 11th September, when he will give his Chairman's address, I feel thatmy year is almost finished. July and August are quiet months where a lotof planning takes place but little public activity. I have greatly enjoyed myyear as Chairman and would like to thank all the Committees in theRegion for their hard work, often unnoticed, which ensures that thisRegion grows from strength to strength. You should receive the CombinedProgramme Booklet with this copy of the Briefing so if you haven't been toan event please consider doing so next year. If there is nothing in theprogramme that interests you, let us know what sort of events you wouldlike 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'sVisit, the Annual Gala Dinner Dance, which was completely sold out this year, theYorkshire and Humber Awards and the Annual Conference.

This year we held our AGM on 19th June so that our new Committee is in placebefore the start of next year's programme. Details of the newly elected and existingcommittee members are on page 5, and on the website.

If you would like to know more about the activities in the Region please refer toour website at www.ice-yorkshireandhumber.org.uk. The website is constantlybeing updated and is a good source of information on all activities taking placewithin 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.

On a personal level, I have represented the Region at many events including otherprofessional institutions' meetings and the UK Regional Affairs Committee at GreatGeorge Street. This is a new committee made up of the Chairmen of the UKRegions, Senior Vice-President of the Institution and the UK Regional CouncilMembers of ICE. Among its many responsibilities and tasks are to recommendstrategy, policies and budgets for the Regions to the ICE Council for approval. Thisvery clearly shows the willingness of Great George Street to give more autonomy tothe Regions which is something that I hope you will all welcome.

As I reflect on my year as Chairman I am struck by how active this Region is. Aswell as the Regional Committee we have an Education Team which now has over100 Ambassadors, a Geotechnical Group, Graduates and Students Section, HumberBranch, Regional Advisory Board, Retired Members' Section, and a TransportationGroup. Over the year I have had the opportunity to meet a large number ofmembers of all these groups and hope to continue meeting many more of you atnext year's events.

It gives me great pleasure to hand over to Les Goddard, who I know will continueto promote the Region both within Yorkshire and Humber, and nationally. Pleasecontinue to support him as you have me so that as a Region we continue to growin importance and stature both regionally and nationally.

Best wishes to you all

Marian Hogg Chairman 2006/7

Marian Hogg Chairman

Congratulations to the following members of theYorkshire and Humber Region who weresuccessful in passing their Professional Review inSpring 2007.

Timothy Bowers Birse

Richard Easterbrook Mott MacDonald

Stephen Fedzin Atkins

John Freeman BWB Consulting

Paul Garthwaite White Young Green

Adrian Gill Environment Agency

Edward Green Birse

Marc Heaps Balfour Beatty

Linda Horler Costain

Claire Moore Arup

Somnath Nandan Grontmij

Lee Parkinson Joynes Pike

Ryan Peel Ian Holdgate

Joanna Pullicino Arup

Paul Richardson National Grid

Timothy Simpson Arup

Gary Wyse Network Rail

Congratulations!

Eurocodes Expert Do you need help with Eurocodes? TheRoadshow is coming to Leeds on 20thNovember. To book a place, or to join theUsers’ Group to receive free newsletters, goto www.eurocodes.co.uk.

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.

With this issue of the Briefing…

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A celebrationof 100+ Ambassadors

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

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

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,

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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

From your futureRegional CouncilMember

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 andMunicipal Board, now called an Expert Panel.

As Members of Council, we are regularly reminded that we are trustees for the Institution andconsequently much of the business is of a rather mundane nature, essential though it is. As Ihave tried to report to you in each issue of the Briefing, the more interesting debates havecovered such issues as the increased budget and consequential subscription rates, particularly tosupport one of the key planks of the Business Plan, the new Regional Support Teams. Otherdebates have been about the changing and more focussed work of the Institution in its LearnedSociety Role and how better to help the members - that is you and me - in the work place and inpromoting our expertise available for the wider community to draw upon. This has beenhighlighted in the success of the State of the Nation reports, which are now moving forwardboth nationally and in the Regions with a modified but more in-depth topic base, supportedparticularly 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 beencarefully 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, particularlyto its members. Council, together with the Executive (President, Vice-Presidents and five CouncilMembers together with senior officers) now have continuity of thought as exemplified in a fiveyear rolling Business Plan.

From our Region, in addition to the Regional Council Member, wehave representatives on many of the Boards and Expert Panels and Isuggest that each contributes an occasional article to the Briefing onthe work they do for the Institution. Members and staff at One GreatGeorge Street are committed to better links to the Regions, so let usmake sure that we share our local expertise with our members andfor the benefit of our local communities.

John Branton will be our Council representative from November, andI wish him every success in that work.

Andrew McLusky

Your Regional Council Member writes…

This was the title given by the organisers of National Science and Engineering Week to the RegionalSupport Team for a civil engineering lecture for families that was delivered at the University of Sheffieldon 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 youflush? 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 apresentation which would appeal to most ages and promote the civil engineering profession. We decided toapproach the subject from the knowledge of science that a pupil might have at school. We covered a bit ofphysics, 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 managedto 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 bydemonstrating 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?!

Drains, Lanes, Trains and Cranes

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.”

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”.

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.

“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

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.

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.

For more information about the EESE go

to www.thescheme.org.uk or contact

Peter Tattersall on 01629 581298 or

[email protected]

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

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.

FloodingListed below are the members of the ICE Yorkshire and Humber Committee forthe 2007/8 session, shown alphabetically:

John BowesJohn BrantonLynden CablePeter CaldwellRichard DewRichard Gelder

By the end of the 2006/7 session, the following Committee members had left:Sarah Andrews and Wayne Metcalfe resigned, David Balmforth and Tony Putsmanreached the end of their terms, and Nick Chamberlain handed over to RhiannaWilliams as the G&S Representative.

Your new Committee

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David NeeveIan ParkeDavid TattersallPhil WeltonRhianna WilliamsJim Wilson

Les GoddardMarian HoggBen HughesSteven KeetleyAndrew McLuskyMaria Melton

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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 SomaliaNational University, I was an Assistant Lecturer inCivil Engineering. I then moved into highwaydesign with various private companies. I startedas a technician and progressed through todesign engineer.Peter: How long have you been living in Britain?Hassan: Over six years - since May 2001. Thefirst 18 months were spent obtaining thenecessary permits. The rest has been spentlearning English, attending an AutoCad course,doing some work-shadowing, volunteer workand seeking employment in civil engineering.But until now, I have been unable to obtain apermanent job.Peter: What were some of the difficulties youfaced trying to get a job?Hassan: Not having previous UK experience.Most organisations wanted this, and I struggledto get even a small amount of experience. Aftergetting in touch with RNAP in 2005, I managedto get some work-shadowing with Street Forcein Sheffield.Peter: How else did RNAP help you?Hassan: Besides enabling me to do some work-shadowing, they provide enhanced capacity with

the volunteers in the support group. Thesevolunteers provided the extra specialised helpnecessary in such areas as conducting mockinterviews and writing CVs. They also knew thekinds of organisations who would possibly beable to provide jobs. They gave me confidence.Peter: What are you doing with Mott MacDonald?Hassan: I am a Senior Highways Technicianworking on various road schemes. I am nowdoing what I was trained to do and feel that Ihave regained my dignity!Peter: What are the main differences workingin the UK compared with working in Somalia?Hassan: In Britain you take the CDMregulations seriously. In Somalia no-one is heldaccountable. Also the design offices in Britainare much bigger and deal with work on a farbigger scale.Peter: Thank you Hassan and all the best forthe future!

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

Refugee Engineers

Discussion Groups for the Written Assignment and Written Test

PreparationEach candidate needs to consider, and develop ifnecessary:

� 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 GroupsThe 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.

It has been the norm that candidates join aGroup during the year before they intend to sittheir Review. However, the CPR in particularrequires opinions, which should take account ofother points of view, and these will be formedand modified over a period of years. It would bebetter if candidates joined Groups at an earlierstage, perhaps a year after graduation, andparticipated for more than one year.

An initial meeting has been organised forThursday 13th September, the main purpose ofthis being to bring together all those interested inbeing in a Discussion Group. Groups will beformed wherever there is sufficient demand. Theevening will include some additional informationabout the Written Assignment and Written Testand some hints and suggestions on how to goabout writing one.

People attending the meeting should bethoroughly familiar with the details of therequirements and the lists of topics, which aregiven in MGN 21 (Written Assignment) and MGN22 (Written Test). Both of these, and otherrelevant Membership Guidance Notes, particularly20, 23, 24 and 25, may be downloaded from theICE website at www.ice.org.uk.

Most jobs require people to be ableto communicate effectively and thisskill is of greater importance for acivil engineer than for many others.Inadequate communication has leadto death, injury and increased short-term and long-term costs. If you'relucky, it just leads to frustration.

The ICE Professional Reviews (except TPR, forwhich the written assignment requirement wasdropped in 2002) test ability in writtencommunication, under a degree of pressure, byrequiring candidates to write underexamination conditions. One of the twoquestions set must be answered in two hours(that's the pressure!) and both will be based onthe candidate's personal experience in thecontext of aspects of importance toprofessionally-qualified civil engineers takenfrom a published list of topics.

A clear expression of facts and opinions basedon the candidate's experience and knowledgeis required.

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improve your chances of success. Make sureyour CPD is completed as specifically prescribedby ICE 3006. The 2000 word ExperienceReport, information contained in the DOs andthe appendices must all work together topresent a complete picture of evidence. TheReport should describe how you gained yourresponsible experience and the scale of projects- see the MGN for further guidance. Crucially itcross references to your DOs so make sure yourtext clearly applies to the DO that youreference. (I recently assessed one report thatlisted almost every DO to every paragraph -hardly helpful!) The DOs must offer a far morecomplete record of your experience than theReport. The key technique is to say not justwhat you did, but how you undertook thattask; what did it involve; what went right/whatwent wrong; what did you learn; how did youcontribute to a 'corporate' decision; what wasyour opinion of that decision? The spaceprovided under the DO plus no more thananother side of A4 should be ample in content.Essentially we want to know about YOU sowrite in the 'first person'!

Q How do I include examples of my own work?

A Use both your Report and your DOs to crossreference to examples of your own work, ie,the appendices. Keep them simple, keep thempersonal, and keep them totally relevant to thetext. For example, provide only a summary of acost/benefit study, not all of it; a specificdesigner risk assessment not a generic printout;a simple hand sketch and calculations as acomputer printout check etc.

Q Do I simply pass or fail the CA?

A If you submit an excellent portfolio you maywell receive simply a letter of congratulations.More usually the letter will identify success butalso include bespoke guidance on how toadjust your submission technique to bettersatisfy the PR that will follow. Occasionallymore information is called for or there mighteven be a need to have a chat with yourRegional MDO prior to being successful.

Q Does the fact I have not had a TrainingAgreement prejudice my chances of passingthe PR?

A No, not at all! All candidates cleared to gofor their PR, either by having a CompletionCertificate or a CA letter, are treated exactly the same. On average, people with TrainingAgreements qualify sooner because theirtraining has been structured but the successrate at PR is almost identical for both types of candidate.

Q That sounds very straightforward; whatcommon mistakes do candidates make?

A Usually candidates do not put themselves inthe shoes of the appraisers and simply submiteither unrelated information and masses of it,or very little. The candidate might be fullyfamiliar with the information, but fails to realise the appraisers are not. A really goodsubmission literally takes fifteen minutes toappraise because the evidence is well selectedand well cross referenced; others can take over two hours. Hopefully, you will now be inthe first group and able to produce a reallygood submission!

Q I have never had a Training Agreementbut I have the required Educational Base(academic qualification); can I go for theProfessional Review (PR)?

A Yes you can, but you must first demonstrateyou have satisfied the Development Objectives(DOs) in ICE 3005 and that your CPD issatisfactory (in quality and quantity) for thatlevel of PR - the process is called CareerAppraisal (CA).

Q How is this different to what graduatesdo under Agreement?

A Graduates under Agreement followstructured training, accumulating their evidenceof achievement of the DOs over several yearsand this is accredited by their Supervising CivilEngineer (SCE). When complete the SCE signs a Completion Certificate and, if satisfactory, this is countersigned by the MDO. The CAallows a candidate to submit to the ICE aportfolio of evidence of achievement based onthe DOs, however and whenever this may have been achieved, and this is appraised by at least one MDO and either a Reviewer or anindependent SCE.

Q What and how do I submit?

A The ICE publishes a very broad range ofMembership Guidance Notes (MGNs) on thewebsite which are freely downloadable. MGN 0gives an index to all the MGNs and MGN 11specifically deals with the CA.

Q What does MGN 11 tell me to do?

A Well, I could say, “read it”, but I can give yousome tips on how, in my opinion, you could

Ask your MDO...As Membership Development Officers, Peter and I often have toanswer questions on an individual basis but which are relevant tomany aspiring members of ICE. Here are some Q&As regarding theCareer Appraisal route to the Professional Reviews.

Who is going to

keep the UK

civilised?

An increase in the number of constructionprofessional and technical staff exceeding10% is needed over the next few years.

There will be much to do if we are to adaptto the effects of climate change, and mostof this work is civil engineering.

There is already a shortage in many of thejobs that require a knowledge andunderstanding of maths and science.

The increase in workload needed to cope withthe effects of climate change has not yet beenfully appreciated so the projected shortages arelikely to be greater than currently predicted. Aswell as a shortage of people, there will beincreasing demand from other countries onresources such as materials and plant.

The question of Skills and Capacity is probablythe most serious one facing the country and ICEis working on a new-style State of the NationReport that will focus on this important subject,rather than considering all infrastructure. ICEYorkshire and Humber will be contributing tothis Report, so anyone who has any evidencethat might usefully be included is invited tocontact us at [email protected].

We will be merely embarrassed in front of theworld if we are unable to provide the facilitiesfor the Olympics in 2012. It will be devastatingif we are unable to cope with the effects ofclimate change.

Watch out for the Report and mediacoverage early in 2008.

UKinfrastructurework isforecast toincreasearound 5% a year in thenext ten yearsor so.

Bob Bennett & Peter Shapland

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

To book local performances from 11 September to

14 October, please go to www.mikron.org.uk.

8

Printed on 100% chlorine-free pulp from sustainable forests.

Contact usFor further information about anything in this issue of theBriefing or to contact any member of the Committee or the Regional Support Team:

ICE Yorkshire and Humber, PO Box 361, Leeds, LS17 1BJ

Tel: 0113 269 2955

email: [email protected]

www.ice-yorkshireandhumber.org.uk

Regional Support TeamRegional Manager David Tattersall 0114 267 0055

Membership Development Officer Peter Shapland 0114 229 9163(West: Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield)

Membership Development Officer Bob Bennett 01977 599385(East: York, Wakefield, Doncaster, Hull)

Regional Administrator & Marketing Sarah Allen 0113 269 2955Communications Executive

Regional Administrator Derryn Potter 0114 232 5044

The Regional Support Team would like to announce a new initiative to run daytime 'surgeries' for all those people who are seeking advice on gettingprofessionally qualified. These surgeries will cover all grades of membership - Engineering Technician, Incorporated Engineer, Chartered Engineer, AssociateMember 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 Agreementhave an SCE who is responsible for their development. The surgeries will serve all levels of academic qualification and provide one-to-one advice to thoseseeking 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 thesmooth and efficient running of these surgeries, please email [email protected] to make an appointment and to put your questions in advance. Pleasequote 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 6November. The surgeries are additional to this meeting and the information given at the meeting will not be repeated at the surgeries.

Peter Shapland

Professional Qualification Surgeries