David Porter (ICE's 161st President)

We asked David…

Which individual project or person inspired you to become a civil engineer?

I was always the type of person who liked working with their hands and was interested in learning how things function.

And so, when I finished school, it was obvious to me that I should study engineering in some field.

I started out studying mechanical engineering and hold a Diploma in Manufacturing and Production Engineering.

Then, I started to work in a factory that made structural steel for the construction industry (for the steel frames of buildings, water treatment works, bridges, etc).

I wanted to continue developing my skills and decided to go to university, and it made sense for me to study for a degree in civil engineering.

Complete this phrase: I’m a civil engineer, but I’m also…

I’m a civil engineer, but I’m also a family man who is an outdoor enthusiast, and I particularly love the rugged north coast of Northern Ireland. In my spare time, I enjoy target shooting using air rifles.

Name one civil engineering myth you’d like to bust.

Just because there are cost or time overruns on a project, it doesn’t necessarily mean it has been a failure.

It’s usually not that simple.

There's often project creep, when new features are added to it that weren’t budgeted for initially. Many times, there are underestimations of what things actually cost and how long they take.

There’s also a whole range of unforeseen factors that can affect these estimates, such as the geopolitical issues, weather impacts, or as has happened in recent years, a global pandemic.

Major projects are complex and much more difficult to manage than people acknowledge sometimes.

I think we need to communicate this more effectively, so there is better understanding of the delivery process.

Which civil engineering project (past or present) do you wish you’d worked on?

I’d love to work on the construction of a reservoir. I’ve been involved in reservoir safety legislation, but not in building the structures themselves.

I’ve genuinely stood in awe looking at them

An example that comes to mind is Lough Erne which is downstream of County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland.

It’s a very, very large lake with a dam at the bottom in Ballyshannon, known as the Cathaleen's Fall hydroelectric power station.

It was really special to see the water being controlled, held back by a large concrete dam, then routed through a series of turbines to generate green energy.

The construction of this project was completed during the 1950s and was truly cutting-edge for its time in Ireland.

What do you think is the most important quality in a leader?

A leader who can create an environment in which others can give their best.

Sometimes that means stepping back and allowing others to develop their own leadership skills, but it’s important to do this in a way that they don’t feel abandoned or exposed.

It’s equally important to know when to step in and be a visible leader. Not because the individual is failing, but because things can escalate, and they need to know that you’ve got their back, and will lead the team through a difficult situation.

What’s your #1 piece of advice for someone just starting their career as a civil engineer?

My #1 piece of advice is to find your place in the ICE.

I became involved with the institution at a very early stage, when I was a graduate engineer, and throughout my career, I’ve felt I’ve had a place in the ICE.

As I’ve become more involved through the years, I’ve been given new opportunities and have taken on more responsibility for the running of the institution.

I can honestly say that the more I put into ICE activity, the more I’ve got out, and if that’s been my experience, I’m absolutely sure it will be the experience of others.

What are the most important skills for civil engineers today?

1. Communication – being able to explain complex engineering concepts to a non-technical audience is a very important skill.

   There will be many times when engineers will need to speak to, for example, residents who won’t be necessarily interested in or really understand the technical details of a project.

   However, they’ll want to know why the works are happening and more importantly how it’ll affect them.

2. Using technology – alongside developing core engineering skills, it’s important to keep track of technology developments.

   I know artificial intelligence (AI) seems to be a bit scary for many at the minute, but I think its potential needs to be recognised as it is another tool engineers can use and embrace for good.

3. Diplomacy – recognising how civil engineering needs to interact with the political process is another key skill.

   Engineers may need to brief ministers, or argument the need and benefits of projects. We need to develop the skills to do this in a way that actually lands, and ensure well-informed decisions are made.

Tell us how you work with people to create or foster diversity in the workplace.

Being prepared to speak up and challenge situations or decisions when needed is very important.

A practical example would be when I was sitting on a committee, and we were thinking about nominating someone for a particular post. I’d seen that the list of people being considered was all male and suggested that we take another look at the list.

We also need to guard against tokenism – it could be that in a particular scenario, an all-male list is truly representative of the most qualified people. But it’s important to question these things and challenge the status quo in a constructive way.

Also, being an ally can look very different from person to person – find a way to support others that works for you.

Tell us how you work to address the problems caused by climate change. 

I’ve worked to address climate change in a couple of different ways throughout my career.

When I was at the Rivers Agency, I was often involved in communicating the impacts of it.

When we tell people that the world is going to get a degree or two hotter, a lot of them may think that could be quite pleasant. Especially if they live in a moderate climate like in Northern Ireland.

But if you actually get them to think about the consequence of that warming, then they’ll be less keen. In particular, the increase in flood risk that could result in dirty, stinking water in their front room, destroying their worldly possessions.

In the past, I’ve been involved in managing flood events and bringing forward engineering solutions wherever possible.

More recently, I’ve been involved with the climate change legislation for Northern Ireland, and in particular, developing a sectoral plan for infrastructure.

Within this document, we are setting out how infrastructure will be developed, operated and maintained while contributing to the 2050 net zero carbon journey we are on.

What do you think is the greatest challenge the industry is facing and how can civil engineers overcome this issue?

Maintaining our existing assets is a huge challenge at present.

The quality of our buildings, roads, railways and water networks, is declining. This will make these systems unreliable, and they may even become unsafe for people to use.

This is partly because of underfunding, but also because we’ve been very successful at getting more use out of our infrastructure assets than we initially planned.

We’ve more cars on the road, which on one hand is good because more people can get where they need to be. But it puts more pressure on bridges and pavement, and also affects the environment.

We may need to shift our focus away from building new, to increase the level of maintenance we carry out.

For example, on the A6, in Northern Ireland, we’ve delivered around 33km of new road through two different major schemes in the last five years.

However, there’s 26,000km of existing road in the network which during this time has been deteriorating from a lack of maintenance due to budget constraints.

How do you spend your down time?

I'm often in the coffee shops and ice cream sellers along the north coast of Northern Ireland, particularly those in Portstewart. This is a quiet seaside town, which is a complete contrast to the environment in London when I am there on ICE business.