Southend civil engineer achieves Chartered status

Leigh on Sea civil engineer Gregg Purcell -who worked on the redevelopment of St Pancreas Station in London - has been awarded membership of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).

ICE membership can be awarded to a wide range of engineers practising in the broad area of civil engineering. Gregg has met all the requirements of the ICE’s Chartered Professional Review and can add the letters MICE to his name and adopt the Institution’s own protected title of ‘Chartered Civil Engineer’.

ICE's professionally qualified grades of membership are internationally recognised and highly valued. Attainment of these is widely viewed as a significant achievement and a benchmark of an engineer's competence and professional standing.

Gregg is a Construction Manager with Bechtel in London. Thrilled at becoming Chartered, he said:  "The title of Chartered Civil Engineer is a very respected title within the construction industry and means you are recognised as being professional. It also provides tangible proof that you have displayed all the attributes that the Institution of Civil Engineers has asked for its members to achieve."

Working towards Chartered status is a tough challenge, particularly when combining it with a busy work load.

"Finding time to complete all the elements in preparation for the professional review was hard. You need a lot of support and encouragement from your family as it takes a substantial effort and a large use of your own personal time. Also as I am 35 it was quite tough condensing all my experience into a 2000 word report. I would recommend doing this review in your 20’s when experience is less and you don’t have inquisitive little children asking you questions every five minutes!"

But what prompted Gregg to become a civil engineer in the first place?

"I was inspired to become a Civil Engineer by the major engineering projects in the 1990’s. I have always been a very practical person and enjoyed building Lego cars and diggers as a child. When I found out you could build BIG things for a living I realised that I wanted to do this.”

And he is happy to recommend civil engineering as a career.

“For anyone considering a career in engineering I would say go for it. The rewards are phenomenal. You meet some exceptional people, have the opportunity to actually change people’s lives and find out things about yourself you never knew. I have had the opportunity to work on iconic projects which will still be around when my grandchildren are grown up. That is an amazing feeling."  

The profession has certainly offered Gregg great opportunities and he is particularly proud of being involved with the one.

"I was lucky enough to work on one of the greatest Civil Engineering projects in the UK, the refurbishment of St Pancras Station. I held the role of Section Manager on a part of the station which now forms the International Entrance. Every time I walk through the station I have an amazing sense of pride as to what I helped achieve in helping bring back to life such an amazing iconic building."

Glen Owen, ICE East of England Regional Director, welcomed Joseph to ICE: “Achieving Chartered Civil Engineer status is a significant personal and career achievement. Civil engineering is an important engineering discipline sitting right at the heart of society. It is all about creating, improving and protecting the infrastructure that we all depend on in our day-to-day lives – from bridges, roads and railways right through to energy networks and water and waste infrastructure. The 2012 Olympic venues and surrounding infrastructure is a showcase for the work of our civil engineers.”

The opportunity to join ICE is available to civil engineers, technicians and technical/scientific specialists at every stage of their professional career, from students and apprentices to senior board directors.

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