The engineers of a sustainable future have a home in the ICE, says new president

“We engineers will create and operate the infrastructure systems for a sustainable future,” the new president of the ICE has said.

Professor Jim Hall, the ICE’s 160th President, highlighted that the industry needs to be at the forefront of the changing nature of infrastructure during his Presidential Address.

“Infrastructure [systems] increasingly entwines the physical and the digital,” he said during his speech on 5 November at One Great George Street in London.

“All engineers who dedicate their careers to those systems now have a home here, thanks to the new qualifications of Infrastructure Engineer.”

Infrastructure engineers share characteristics with civil engineers, Prof Hall said.

Namely, “to be able to plan, design and implement infrastructure safely, reliably, efficiently and sustainably.”

Watch Prof Hall's Presidential Address

Infrastructure strategy for a sustainable future

Prof Hall is an internationally recognised expert in strategic infrastructure planning.

He is a professor of climate and environmental risks at the University of Oxford, and a commissioner of the UK’s National Infrastructure Commission.

To build a sustainable future, Prof Hall called on members to ask themselves, “does the world have the infrastructure that it needs?”

He also said that to create systems that work, engineers need to act purposefully.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an excellent place to start, Prof Hall said, echoing ICE Past President Keith Howells.

However, he warned that, like with net zero, the world is currently failing to meet its SDG targets.

How to create infrastructure for a sustainable future

Certain factors have led to “underperforming, over-expensive infrastructure”, Prof Hall said.

For example, stop-start investment and lack of maintenance.

“That’s not a great story for us as infrastructure professionals,” he said. “But it does represent a great opportunity.”

While there are “precious few quick wins in infrastructure”, Prof Hall said, there are ways to make infrastructure work.

One such example is to plan for the long term.

“Infrastructure takes a long time to create, and the benefits may take even longer to materialise, so we shouldn't be afraid of looking decades ahead,” he said.

Global outlook

Attendees also heard perspectives from around the world on what best practice looks like:

• Ir Eric Ma, 2024-2025 President of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, spoke about how Hong Kong has achieved a world-leading infrastructure system using long-term planning.
• William Yeo from Singapore’s National Water Agency talked about the country’s approach to water security through its ‘four national taps’.
• Julia King, Baroness Brown of Cambridge, explained the UK’s system-wide strategy to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

Learning from and helping other countries underpins the work of the ICE-led Enabling Better Infrastructure programme, which Prof Hall chairs.

Learn more about the EBI programme

What can members expect from Prof Jim Hall?

1. Knowledge-sharing

As president, Prof Hall committed to dedicate himself to the ICE’s role as a knowledge-sharing organisation.

“There’s incredible expertise within our membership,” he said.

He talked about the ICE’s three expert Community Advisory Boards which deliver standards, guidance and continuing professional development (CPD) learning.

He also mentioned the ICE’s role in developing the board-level design champion role – someone with the expertise to stand up for the quality of design when important project decisions are made.

“We need to get better at drilling down into the incredible expertise within our membership and helping busy people to share their knowledge in a more efficient way,” he said.

2. Infrastructure Engineer

Prof Hall said that in support of the Infrastructure Engineer qualification, a focus for the institution will be recruiting enough professional reviewers.

Especially since infrastructure engineers will be qualified across a broad range of disciplines that relate to civil engineering.

3. Communicate the importance of infrastructure

Lastly, Prof Hall said members can count on him to constantly communicate the importance of infrastructure, “in this country and around the world, with everyone I meet”.

“The wider our reach, the stronger our partnerships around the world, the better the world is going to be.”

President’s Future Leaders

Prof Hall has also unveiled the six Future Leaders he has chosen to support him during his presidency.

Each ICE president chooses a group of the brightest graduate and technician members to work on projects that are key to the ICE’s plan.

This year’s President’s Future Leaders are:

• Ellie Thomas, assistant civil engineer at AtkinsRéalis
• Helen Marriner, graduate engineer at WSP
• Kathryn Tyley, environmental engineer at Pluviam Environmental Ltd
• Romilly Bobby, temporary works design manager at Eiffage Génie Civil UK
• Rhys Cotterell, assistant engineer at AtkinsRéalis
• Samuel Jones, senior policy and strategy advisor at the Infrastructure Projects Authority