I knew being the Apprentice was going to involve getting to do some cool stuff, but the end of last week shadowing Mr G was something else.
Alun, Keith Jones and I got the train over to the big smoke on Thursday night (first class may I add!), ready for the ICE’s State of Nation Launch on Friday. We dropped our bags off at Mr Griffiths’ Chelsea crash pad (trust me – it ain’t too shabbby) and the Chairman kindly treated us to dinner and a fair few bottles of plonk in a posh Mayfair brasserie.
Friday morning and an early start for my first ever visit to One Great George Street. If the location, just round the corner from Liz’s house, wasn’t impressive enough - the grand hall certainly was. If you’re ever in London for any reason, I highly recommend waving your ICE membership card to get in and take a wander round, or have a coffee in the costa cafe.
The ‘Low Carbon Infrastructure’ report is the Institution’s guidance to our government policy makers, society and us as Engineers as to how we need to tackle this critical challenge ahead of us all. After reading his presidential address, seeing Paul Jowitt present the Report you could see he was passionate about it, and from talking to some of the other contributors to the report – so is the whole engineering community.
The seminar that followed discussed the topic of electric vehicles and their supporting infrastructure. I’d love to write more – but TopGear’s just starting and they’re building their own EV, so I think I better watch that as... research.......
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Getting on Board.....
Last night was my first ICE Wales Executive Board meeting. To be honest I was expecting a stuffy and fairly mundane affair (with maybe a few people dozing off in places). What I got was surprisingly far from it.
The Board members were clearly passionate about the ICE’s role in Wales. The Bridges to Schools Scheme was a big discussion point, as was Engineers for Overseas Development. I hadn’t previously realised that EFOD was a Welsh initiative, and although I knew a bit how they co-ordinate Civil Engineering graduates going out to Africa, it was inspiring stuff to hear more about how they are run. The proactive approach the Board members seemed to apply to everything in front of them was quite impressive, and is probably why Wales is well represented on the UK Council.
A few of the board members (Geoff, Liane, Keith and the two Simon’s) explained the difference between Executive Board and Committee. In simple terms, the Board get the formal business out of the way and make decisions on the direction of ICE Wales. The Committee is then more of an ‘action’ group to drive the initiatives and then feed back to the Board. This then links in to other groups such as Graduates & Students Committee, the Regional Affairs Committee and ICE HQ in One Great George Street. On first impression, there’s lots of cogs and lots of wheels, but everything seems to pull in the same direction!
After the meeting I got the chance to have a bit of a chat with Bob Lark (the previous Chairman who had lectured me back in Cardiff Uni), and to thank him for setting up my Summer placement with Babtie back in 2002 that led to my first job in Industry. Looking forward, I’ll be joining Alun and Keith next Friday for the State of the Nation Launch in OGGS next week so I’m looking forward to that and getting to see ICE HQ for the first time.
The Board members were clearly passionate about the ICE’s role in Wales. The Bridges to Schools Scheme was a big discussion point, as was Engineers for Overseas Development. I hadn’t previously realised that EFOD was a Welsh initiative, and although I knew a bit how they co-ordinate Civil Engineering graduates going out to Africa, it was inspiring stuff to hear more about how they are run. The proactive approach the Board members seemed to apply to everything in front of them was quite impressive, and is probably why Wales is well represented on the UK Council.
A few of the board members (Geoff, Liane, Keith and the two Simon’s) explained the difference between Executive Board and Committee. In simple terms, the Board get the formal business out of the way and make decisions on the direction of ICE Wales. The Committee is then more of an ‘action’ group to drive the initiatives and then feed back to the Board. This then links in to other groups such as Graduates & Students Committee, the Regional Affairs Committee and ICE HQ in One Great George Street. On first impression, there’s lots of cogs and lots of wheels, but everything seems to pull in the same direction!
After the meeting I got the chance to have a bit of a chat with Bob Lark (the previous Chairman who had lectured me back in Cardiff Uni), and to thank him for setting up my Summer placement with Babtie back in 2002 that led to my first job in Industry. Looking forward, I’ll be joining Alun and Keith next Friday for the State of the Nation Launch in OGGS next week so I’m looking forward to that and getting to see ICE HQ for the first time.
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
The Noobie
My first ‘official engagement’ as ICE Wales Cymru Chairman’s Apprentice took me to a lecture entitled ‘Organising Major Events’. A ‘smasual’ new evening suit (that’s smart/casual for the uninformed) was needed as this was my initial meeting with the Chair - Mr Alun Griffiths OBE - following my presentation and the challenging interview process.
A quick discussion at my Halcrow office in Cardiff determined that my year shadowing of one of Wales’ most prolific Civil Engineering Contractors was to be made up of a learning the workings of the ICE, plus the chance to gain an insight into; his company, his views on the major issues and his mindset. With my consulting background I knew the culture shock to hear opinions from the other side of the fence was going to be a stark contrast to the jointly academic roles of the outgoing Chair and Apprentice, so making the most of this would be key to as successful an Apprenticeship as the last.
Being jointly hosted by no less than 4 overseeing bodies, I was introduced to a room full of the great and the good from the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Highways and Transportation, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and the Association of Project Managers. Plus the speaker for the night – Gerry Toms, and some of Mr Griffiths’ colleagues. Challenge No.1 – Remembering all the names...…
A quick discussion at my Halcrow office in Cardiff determined that my year shadowing of one of Wales’ most prolific Civil Engineering Contractors was to be made up of a learning the workings of the ICE, plus the chance to gain an insight into; his company, his views on the major issues and his mindset. With my consulting background I knew the culture shock to hear opinions from the other side of the fence was going to be a stark contrast to the jointly academic roles of the outgoing Chair and Apprentice, so making the most of this would be key to as successful an Apprenticeship as the last.
Being jointly hosted by no less than 4 overseeing bodies, I was introduced to a room full of the great and the good from the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Highways and Transportation, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and the Association of Project Managers. Plus the speaker for the night – Gerry Toms, and some of Mr Griffiths’ colleagues. Challenge No.1 – Remembering all the names...…
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