Category "Uncategorized"

In November MCE were pleased to support a recent Institution of Civil Engineers and Department of Trade and Industry breakfast with Sir Terry Morgan, Chairman of Crossrail. The Consulate General; Michael Ward and Rachel Fowler introduced Sir Terry who gave an overview of Crossrail and its achievements.  The event was well attended by a variety of senior industry leads.  Some of the key points of discussion were:

• There is a strong comparison between the UK and Sydney using the historically low interest rates to secure infrastructure projects to grow the economy.
• Hear how Crossrail introduced over 700 apprentices to the project and the engineering industry.  How this could be applied in Australia as we are currently struggling with a shortage of engineers and professionals which will get worsen over the next 5-10 years.
• The importance of System Integration on major projects and the importance of multi-disciplinary engineers to fully interface the disciplines to deliver major projects.

This morning Fellows from the ICE NSW met for an impromptu and informal conversation with Richard Threlfall, Partner Global Head, Public Transport from KPMG at MCE’s office in Barangaroo.   Richard has over 20 years’ experience in the financing and structuring of infrastructure projects. His particular focus is advising on transactions for public and private clients in the transport and utility sectors.

Richard shared his insights on the UK economy post Brexit and the work he is undertaking with the Institution of Civil Engineers, especially Project 13 as Chair of the Governance workstream.

Established by the Infrastructure Client Group, (infrastructure owners and suppliers committed to improve delivery of UK infrastructure), Project 13 is the combination of 5 workstreams which seek to deliver a step change in the way projects are managed, so that the focus is on long-term value, not simply lowest cost.

A very informal conversation flowed between the group,  where all parties were able to draw comparisons between their own experience and discussed potential solutions.   Upon reflection the situation was reminiscent of the discussions held by the founding engineers of the institution of Civil Engineers, nearly 200 years ago in the coffee shops of London.

Our thanks go to Richard for providing his time and thoughtful insights, only a few hours after arriving in Australia!

More information on Project 13 is available at https://www.ice.org.uk/news-and-insight/project-13.

Officially announced at the Annual General Meeting last week, Matthew Colton (MCE’s founding Director) has been elected to the Council of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) London and has become a Trustee of the Institution.

The Royal Charter establishes that the ICE’s purpose is to “foster and promote the art and science of civil engineering”.  Matthew’s role on Council will be to ensure that the ICE’s operations are performed in line with required governance both legally and in accordance with the Royal Charter, whilst continuing to represent the interests of the 91,000 ICE Membership.

Council is made up of 44 members from different countries and grades of membership.  Every year, certain positions on the ICE Council become available, so members can stand for these positions.  Council Members are elected after receiving votes from across the ICE Membership.  Matthew has previously served as the Chairperson for the ICE NSW Association for 5 years and then as the ICE Representative for NSW for the past two years.  He will officially take his seat on the Council in November this year.

“It will be my privilege to serve the interests of the Asia Pacific ICE members; ensuring our international view is effectively presented at Council and advancing our Institution’s worldwide growth and influence. My time as the Chairperson of the New South Wales’ (NSW) Committee, saw active membership grow by 40% and raised the Australian members profile across Asia Pacific. I will be looking to build upon this success to develop avenues to increase international membership, whilst working closely with other international reputable professional organisations to define boundaries and identify synergies to positively influence political vision for Engineering” said Matthew.

Management • Commercial • Engineering were pleased to host the Institution of Civil Engineers New South Wales Association members at our Barangeroo office last week.   ICE NSW welcomed this year’s ICE Transtasman Lecture Tour presenting the Barangeroo Headland Development presented by Kieron Little (Lend Lease’s General Manager Health and Safety & Barangeroo Project Director) and Ken O’Neill (Aurecon’s Bridge Leader & Barangaroo’s Design Lead).  The Barangeroo Headland project was also the winner of the ICE’s 2016 Edmund Hambley Medal for sustainable development.

The presentation was very interesting, well received and raised some interesting questions and discussion about the design/construction challenges, their successful approach to team building and engineers creating functional environments for socialising and enjoyment in city centres.   Ken and Kieron are still touring the presentation and are heading to New Zealand shortly.    Once they have finished their Transtasman tour their presentation will be made available to our membership.

ICE NSW also welcomed Catherine Cole the Institution of Civil Engineers International Director, who gave a presentation on the ICE’s current strategy and spent time with our membership to understand how the Institution can improve our services. Catherine also congratulated and presented Carol Hopper and Hugh Lawson with their Fellowship certificates.

Catherine also presented the runners up prizes to this year’s ICE Emerging Engineer Award (Australia and New Zealand) to Helen Brown and Amir Vaezi.

Finally, Catherine announced that Sydney won the opportunity to host the ICE’s Asia Pacific Conference in September 2018. The conference is part of next year’s celebration of the Institution’s Bicentennial anniversary.

It is with great pleasure that we can announce that Stephen Pascall has joined MCE as a Director of the business.

Stephen has over twenty years of experience gained through the delivery of landmark transport infrastructure, in Australia and internationally. He joins MCE following a year-long sabbatical with his family travelling through Asia, Europe, the United States and the Antarctic.

Stephen is a chartered civil engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a Fellow of Engineers Australia and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Stephen’s previous roles include the Rail Sector Lead for Laing O’Rourke Australia and as a Project Director at Transport for New South Wales.

Stephen will focus his business sector strategy and program delivery experience on the growth of MCE’s advisory and professional services for our infrastructure clients. We are looking forward to working with Stephen and am sure that his wealth of knowledge will be welcomed by our clients in this period of unprecedented transport infrastructure investment.