Emerging Engineers Award 2025: regional winners announced

Samira Hejazi, a civil engineering student at the University of Nottingham, has won the regional heat of the Emerging Engineers Award in the East Midlands.

Her paper on Evaluating the Ageing Resistance of Bitumen Using Bio-sourced Lignin impressed the judges at the final held on 28 May.

Runners-up:

• Sylvia Okolie, a graduate civil engineer at the Environment Agency, for her paper: Early Strength of Concrete Using Metakolin.
• Emma Rhodes, a technical engineer at Jean Lefebvre, for her paper Analysis of Sustainable Asphalt Alternatives: Warm-Mix Asphalt.

Josephine Jane Joseph, sustainability analyst at AESG UAE, has been named the 2025 ICE Middle East and North Africa Emerging Engineer Award winner.

She won for her paper on Parametric Façade Design to Suit Daylighting Needs and Its Impact on the Energy Demand of an Office Building.

It investigates how parametric kinetic façades (meaning they can move to adapt to environmental conditions) on office buildings can optimise how much daylight comes in while reducing cooling loads (how much heat needs to be removed from a building to maintain a desired temperature).

This is a significant challenge in sustainable design, particularly in hot climates such as Dubai’s.

Using computational tools such as Rhino’s Grasshopper, IES-VE and Revit Insight, Joseph modelled various façade configurations to assess their performance across multiple daylighting and energy metrics. These integrated international standards such as ASHRAE, LEED v4.1, and CIE Unified Glare Rating.

Joseph's study highlights how adaptive façade solutions can enhance daylight quality, improve energy performance, and contribute to the comfort of people in the building.

It offers a promising approach for future applications in sustainable architecture.

Runners-up

• Jobin George Kachora from the University of Wollongong Dubai, UAE for Effect of bonding pressure and orientation on the adhesive bonding shear strength of hybrid Cross-Laminated Timber using Asian wood species.
• Geevarghese Mammen Koyippally from AECOM UAE for Design and Implementation of an Advanced Water Transmission Program for UAE.
• Sohrab Salehi from the Tarbiat Modares Universit in Iran for Solar Energy Meets Water Conservation: Investigating the Nexus of Floating PV Systems and Reservoir Sustainability.
• Mahmoud Abd El Aziz from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport in Egypt for Sustainable Cooling and Heat Recovery System for Concrete Structures Using Water Recycling.

Adam Smith, a graduate civil engineer at Stantec, has won the ICE North East Emerging Engineers Award.

He captured the attention of the online audience with his paper Solving the Problem Not Just the Issue: A Sustainable Approach to Spill Reduction in Berwick-upon-Tweed.

His paper explored techniques such as consolidating storm overflows, removing surface water, and using bioretention (shallow landscaped pits where pollution can be filtered out of water).

The judges were very impressed with the quality and delivery of Smith's presentation.

They said: "On the day, Adam delivered a professional presentation with excellent contextual overview of the project, he answered questions well and demonstrated his ability to expand on the subject further during the Q&A."

Corey Boyle, a final year civil engineering student at Heriot-Watt University, has been named ICE Scotland Emerging Engineer of 2025.

Boyle impressed the judges through a presentation on his paper The South Sub Tram-Train.

Growing up in Crieff, a rural Scottish market town whose railway closed in 1964, Boyle witnessed how lost transport links restrict opportunity and limit a community’s ability to thrive.

This shaped a belief that transport is not just infrastructure. It’s essential to building prosperous, connected communities.

As de facto leader of a student-led master’s group at Heriot-Watt University, the author has driven the development of a cost-effective and deliverable proposal to reopen the South Sub to passengers using tram-trains as an extension of Edinburgh Trams.

The group has succeeded where four previous feasibility studies have failed.

This student-led initiative shows how engineers can lead inclusive, sustainable urban transformation.

The South Sub Tram-Train represents a second chance for overlooked communities to reconnect, regenerate, and thrive.

Runners-up:

• Rocco Panetta for his paper: From Waste to Strength: Eggshell Powder as a Cement Replacement in Ultra High-Performance Concrete for Bridge Repair.
• Thanos Karampourniotis presented his paper: Can AI be a Structural Engineer? Evaluating AI’s Skills in Structural Engineering.

Graduate engineer, Emily Mulley, won the top prize in the South West regional final for her paper exploring opportunities for using blockchain and digital models to improve efficiency in construction.

Mulley, who works for Hochtief (UK) Construction, presented a study to determine the feasibility of implementing blockchain-based methods in BIM for a construction phase.

Blockchain is a secure, digital way to record and share information that everyone can trust. BIM, which stands for building information modelling, is used to create a shared digital model to plan, design and build infrastructure.

Mulley said: “With significant material wastage, especially within the construction industry, it is proving increasingly necessary to find methods of smart resource management.

“I believe that a key to achieving this is keeping material components at their highest value for the duration of their lifecycle over multiple projects.

“Operating with tight profit margins and demanding schedules seems to be restricting the construction industry’s ability and willingness to innovate and invest in systems such as blockchain.

“However, I am hopeful that the industry can adopt technological advances that will deliver improvements in the efficiency of resource management and the quality of project outputs.”

Runners-up:

• Sami Mustafa, an undergraduate at the University of Bath, was awarded second place for his paper, Optimising Concrete Bridge Geometry for Enhanced Seismic Resilience: A Computational Analysis.
• Oscar Davies, a civil engineering student at the University of Bristol, came third with his paper, Validation of An Analytical Model for Bridge Deck-abutment-backfill Pounding.

Shreah Bargota, a graduate urban drainage modeller at Stantec, has won the regional final of the ICE West Midlands Emerging Engineer Award.

Her paper, Exploring the Efficiency of Arsenic Removal from Water with Biochar, impressed the judges by demonstrating extensive knowledge supported by detailed experimental data and analysis.

Runner-up:

• Benediction Mbaya, final year civil engineering student at Birmingham City University, for his paper: Retrofitting of Concrete Beam Using Alkali Activated Mortar and Rubberised Alkali Activated Mortar.
• Eleanor Lee, design engineer at Tony Gee and Partners, for her paper: Carbon and Light Rail Infrastructure - Insights from Extensions to the West Midlands Metro.

Mohammed Karolia, a graduate structural engineer at AtkinsRéalis, took home the Emerging Engineers Award in Yorkshire and Humber.

Karolia impressed the judges with his paper Life Cycle Embodied Carbon And Cost Analysis Of Fibre-Reinforced-Polymer (FRP) Reinforced Concrete Slabs.

He demonstrated a practical understanding of his topic area that built on the body of work undertaken. The standard was incredibly high and he had worthy competitors.

It was his ability to listen fully, think quickly, and respond to questions outstandingly that gave him the edge on the day.