BGA Fleming Award Event 2018

Introduction

Fleming Award 2018

Thursday 6th December 2018 at 18:30 hours

Institution of Civil Engineers, One Great George Street, Westminster, London SW1P 3AA

This event is free to attend, but advance booking is required, via the link at the bottom of this page.

An event flyer can be downloaded here.

The Fleming Award competition is held at an evening meeting of the BGA each December, with entries being invited during the autumn of each year. The award recognises excellence in the practical application of geotechnics in a project or a part of a project, and is awarded to project teams who have worked on geotechnical projects that have been substantially completed within the two years prior to the award date of December. Each Team is expected to comprise between 3 and 6 people, at least one of whom must be a member of the BGA.

Submitting teams typically include representatives from Clients, Main Contractors, Consulting Engineers, Specialist Contractors and so on. The award is presented to the Project Team which most demonstrates excellence in geotechnical design & construction. There is an emphasis on teamwork across the different disciplines involved in the project, innovation is also a strong consideration.

Finalists

During judging a keynote presentation will be given by

Yvonne Ainsworth of JRL Civil Engineering

on

Pay Peanuts, Get Monkeys

Summary

Disaster is a dramatic word, but its meaning is not lost on those examining or evaluating risk within the construction industry. The sector’s drive to drive down costs, yet deliver ever better value for money, presents something of a paradox; all civil engineers are faced with having to achieve this, but at the same time without increasing risk.

In a post-Brexit environment, contracting geotechnical engineers are being pushed ever further towards accepting more and more risk in order to secure a contract. This pressure is not solitary impacting as it comes together an increasing desire to achieve a work-life-balance and stagnating salary levels, which collectively mean that many intermediate-to senior-level engineers are leaving the industry in rapid numbers. The consequences of this can be severe and means the construction industry is heading close to a strategic tipping point beyond which there is no return.

This short presentation looks at these issues, their root causes and proposes what we, as an industry, can do to avoid disaster.

Speaker biography

Yvonne started her engineering life in 1995 in Aachen, Germany where she qualified as a civil and structural engineer specialising in Geotechnics, Water and Wastewater Management, Highway Design and Tunnelling. She started work in 2001 in the UK as a consultant with Atkins and insisted on a site placement resulting in nine months working at Westfield Shopping Centre. However, she decided she belonged in the contractor’s world and remained working for Cementation which allowed her more time on site, and she progressed to Section Manager before taking up a role as Design Team Leader.

After a short career break travelling through India, Nepal, South East Asia and Australia, she joined the newly formed BAUER subsidiary in the UK where she progressed from Project Manager to Construction and Technical Director. During this time she was involved in extremely challenging projects and took part in the Fleming Award 2011 with the construction of the D-shaped pile.

In 2016, Yvonne set up her own business, ATD Engineering. Since then, she has worked on other interesting projects such as London City Airport, Thames Tideway and Gothenburg Central Station. She now works as General Manager for JRL Civil Engineering. Within the industry, she is known as a strong leader with a passion for the practical application of geotechnical engineering and her attention to detail.