Speaking at his Presidential Address lthis week, Professor Balmforth - the 150th President of ICE - said early civil engineering greats like Thomas Telford came together to form a learned society for civil engineers at a point when Britain was “at the threshold of an industrial revolution that would ultimately shape the future of the world – and then went on to lay the foundations of the railways, water supply, sanitation and power systems on which modern society still depends.”
“As well as wrestling with the embryonic principles of construction, they needed to convince wary investors, persuade uninterested politicians, and accommodate a sceptical public that often viewed their ideas as absurd. Like us, they understood the importance of sharing ideas, of providing a platform for change, and for ensuring that their workforce was fit for the job in hand.” he added.
“But they also had the vision and ingenuity to look forward, see their role in addressing the difficulties that society faced and achieve progress while avoiding disaster. Put simply - they had the vision to step beyond their threshold.
“Today, we stand on a new threshold for change, in the same way as our Victorian forebears nearly 200 years ago. We must also rise to the challenge in the same way, and work for the benefit of future generations in shaping our future world.”
Professor Balmforth, an Executive Technical Director at MWH where he advises on major flood relief projects, and a national expert and media commentator on flood risk management, said the global mega trends we face, such as climate change, population growth and resource depletion “are of such scale that they stretch our ability to comprehend them. They test our ability to imagine a future where prosperity and sustainability can work in harmony.”
He added that governments, individually and collectively, have been “slow to react” because their planning horizons are short, but that civil engineers “do not work to short timeframes – building infrastructure to last for many generations.”
He called for a more radical approach to the issues of resilience, adaptability and availability - to ensure our already fragile networks can cope with the effects of climate change and population growth; ensure infrastructure can adapt in real time to a range of future pressures; and importantly, ensure that infrastructure is something that is available to all.
“Lack of appropriate infrastructure is one of the most divisive factors of modern society - it divides rich from poor, it sets apart the developing word from the developed.” he said.
He also stressed the need to foster innovation. “Innovation is a way of doing things differently, which means it encapsulates uncertainty and the chance of failure. We need a culture that welcomes new ideas, accommodates potential failure and celebrates success.”
He concluded: “Are we really any different from Thomas Telford and his colleagues when they set out on a journey that transformed society? Is our future any less certain than theirs? Are our opportunities any less than theirs? I suspect not.
“Over the generations we have shaped a truly remarkable profession which has proven time and time again, that it is able to respond the demands of society. I am confident we can prove our profession ‘fit for the future’. We have the skills and capability - and most of all, we know it is our job to make a difference.”
His calls fall amid Tomorrow’s Engineers week 2014 (3 -7 November) - a special week which aims to challenge perceptions about engineering careers among young people, their parents and teachers and celebrate the everyday engineering heroes that design, create and innovate to improve our lives.
David Balmforth Biography
David Balmforth is an Executive Technical Director with international consultants MWH, which he joined in 1999. There he has particular responsibilities for flood risk management, water pollution control and climate change adaptation.
David has acted as an advisor to governments on infrastructure development and has recently worked to alleviate flooding in London, Glasgow and Singapore. His novel approaches to managing urban river pollution have been widely adopted and he has exhibited at the Design Centre in London.
Currently his work ranges from advising governments on managing flood risk to delivering flood alleviation and pollution control schemes for the major UK water companies. He has worked previously as a County Council engineer and as an academic, and has established an international reputation for his work in urban drainage.
David is also a visiting professor at Imperial College London.
He represented ICE on the Pitt Review and chaired the Flooding Life Panel responsible for producing the ICE Flooding State of the Nation Report in 2008.
David was elected to Council in 2007 and to the Executive Board in 2008. He was elected as a Vice President in November 2009.
His vision is for civil engineering to be recognised as a high value profession and for the Institution to be referred to and trusted by the public, politicians and policy makers in the UK and overseas.
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