2023

Study Tour 13-15 October to Dublin (Book Here)

We are pleased to announce the next IABSE British Group Study Tour to Dublin from Friday 13th to Sunday, 15th October 2023. We will spend a long weekend visiting some of the most distinguished and multi-award winning bridges in the city, hosted by the IABSE Ireland National Group. The itinerary is being developed, but we currently planning:

• a walking tour of all the bridges along with Liffey, with representatives from the design teams in attendance including recent and proposed crossings
• Tours and visits to eminent buildings in Dublin as part of Open House Dublin (https://openhousedublin.com/). 
• We will be based in Dublin, with travel planned via train and ferry or by air. Note that you can bring guests to the trip; they will also need to register.

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The IABSE British Group Annual Lecture: No one should be interested in the design of bridges; Ben Addy, Moxon Architects. Ben Addy (Moxon Architects) will deliver the IABSE British Group Annual Lecture on May 18th. The lecture will be held at the IStructE headquarters. Join us to learn why "no-one should be interested in the design of bridges". The lecture will be followed by the IABSE British Group annual dinner that will take place at the Compton in Clerkenwell, a short walk from the IStructE: CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

2022

On the 12th of September the Future of Design 2022 conference for young designers aimed at promoting design and inspiring young generations was finally held, back in person! Organised at the Alan Turing Building, University of Manchester, this event was attended by 76 delegates from around the country.  The event kicked off with a welcome note from IABSE British Group Honorary Secretary Mark Bulmer. In the morning, delegates heard from Laura Hannigan from Simple Works on Waste Timber & Circular Economy, Mark Bulmer from AECOM on the Humber Bridge project, and Steve Mckechncie from Arup on the future of design. The talks demonstrated the wide range of skills demanded of engineers and different ways which they can be applied.

Prior to lunch, the Young Designer’s Paper competition talks took place. All papers were interesting and were well presented. The winning entry went to Kimberley Ertl, Establishing a Bridge Post – Completion Study Methodology, and the runner up prize went to Stephen Walsh – A Flying Truss Footbridge for Brum. Audience Choice Award went to Madi Kargin – Assessment tool for precast concrete buildings. Throughout the day the Young Designer’s Design Competition was on display in the hall. Two impressive entries were shortlisted, the 'Judges winner' went to Kimberley Ertl and Pranav Darda; and in second place were Stephen Walsh, Mark Saville, Zeina-Nabulsi and Andrus Kolossov. All awards were presented by David Knight, Vice chair, of the IABSE NG, and Fernando Madrazo-Aguirre, Chair, Young Engineers Board.

In the afternoon session, Bola Ogunmefun from Tisserin spoke about examples of timber design projects and Adrian Tomor from Brunel University discussed about digital stone construction. It was insightful to learn about the diverse applications of different materials. A very interesting and passionate round table debate about the future of sustainable engineering – material use and construction followed these talks. It was clear that delegates of this year’s Future of Design conference had engaged with the session. In the end, keynote Speaker Joanna Bonnett from COWI spoke about a future of designing less, Albert Williamson-Taylor from AKT II spoke about challenging the concept of engineering and David Knight from Cake Industries spoke about Moving bridges.

The IABSE British Group would like to extend their thanks to Ian Firth, Chairman of the IABSE British NG, and the organisers (Alex Wallace, Charlotte Weatherburn, Eleanor Atherton, Zeina Al-Nabulsi and James Leung) for another superb event organised. We would also like to thank the sponsors, for their generous support and cooperation: Arcadis, Jacobs, DYSE, Stantec and Redaelli. 

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IABSE Study Tour // Belgium (this tour has been currently postponed).

The next IABSE British Study Tour to Belgium. The group will spend a long weekend visiting some of the most distinguished and multi-award winning buildings and bridges in the country, in the company of the designers and other senior engineers. A great opportunity for networking and discussion, the tour is open to all (even if you haven't been to an IABSE event you will be made most welcome!). For more details and to express an interest please click here.

2021 and 2020

The Milne Medal is awarded to an individual engineer for excellence in structural design, both in the overall concept and in the attention to detail in their work, and is named in recognition of the late Bob Milne, who served for many years as the Honorary Secretary of the IABSE British Group. This year, we are delighted to award the Milne Medal to Margaret Cooke of Integral Engineering Design.

“Less is More”; Margaret Cooke

As we head towards 2050 we need to build less and re-use more. This requires a fundamental shift in how we work, in the training of engineers, in clever use of existing buildings, materials and components. We will also need to change the way we value our work: how do we articulate our worth when no repair or change is necessary? How do we persuade clients that it takes courage and real expertise to say that an existing structure has sufficient integrity?

Margaret Cooke has been working with existing buildings for nearly 30 years and is Conservation Accredited. She is one of the founding Directors of Integral Engineering Design where the worlds of new build, conservation, reuse and sustainability are inextricably linked. She is a passionate advocate of the “minimum intervention” approach to engineering.

Nethercot Prize

DEADLINE // 15.10.2021

The IABSE Nethercot Prize is open for entries! Early career architects, engineers, and designers (expected to be under 35 and based in the UK) are invited to submit a single author paper which should cover the process of designing a new structure or adapting an old one. Further details can be found here.

How can Structural Engineering be an unending stream of goodness? // IABSE 2019 Henderson Colloquium: A Webinar

Online // 4.10.21 - 6pm

In 2019 the IABSE British Group held the annual Henderson Colloquium, where twenty invited delegates explored what characterises structural ‘goodness’ in the future, and how future changes in technology and society will help or hinder the profession’s ability to create it? Whilst the question was deliberately ‘open’ several distinct themes emerged.

How should we respond to the climate emergency?

How to balance the disruption and opportunity of digital design?

How do we attract the future skills needed by the profession?

How do we ‘tell our story’?

IABSE Talks // Annual Lecture 2021 - Saving the Planet: New Lives for Old Buildings - Sam Price and AGM

27 May 2021

In 1978 Sam founded Price & Myers with Robert Myers where a large part of his career has focused on old building. He will explain why they are both relevant, and he will conclude with thoughts on some of the difficult decisions that engineers may face in the future. Register here Online // 27.05.21 - 6 p.m

Prior to the annual lecture, the British Group will hold the Annual General Meeting. UK IABSE Members wishing to attend or stand for election to the committee should contact the Honorary Secretary. Full details here

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2020

Milne Medal Lecture Report (Nathalie Richards)​

Download here..

Report from David Knight, British Group Vice Chair, Sept. 2020:

One of the great delights of IABSE is rubbing shoulders with the best engineers and designers in the world, and learning about them in an informal and friendly setting. As lockdown kicked in, the British Group realised that this was going to be absent from our normal schedule of events (such as the Future of Design conferences for young engineers and our evening lectures with eminent designers) as they would all be online, and decided to look at other opportunities to communicate with our members. "IABSE in Conversation" was born!

A podcast is a very personal way of communicating as you are often speaking through headphones straight into the listener's head. That personal touch meant that a very informal conversation is a good way of mimicking what might happen in a chat after an event or over a drink at a dinner. It also gives you the time to get to know a person a little and talk about their career and what inspires them in a way that does not always come across in project focussed presentations or on a CV. The podcast series interviewed five different designers or engineers, each with a very different background and route through the industry to where they are today. We spoke to a designer at the forefront of the technical revolution with experience in several major consultants and contractors; an expert in masonry structures, a writer and editor who communicates about bridges, a world famous bridge designer, and a young architect just starting on her career designing bridges. However, that is just the start of their stories, and you get to hear anecdotes and favourites, childhood memories and impressions from the start of their career, and thoughts on how the industry might move forward and what their plans are for the future.

The first series of "IABSE in Conversation" is available online at https://iabse.sounder.fm, in Apple Podcasts or Google Play, or on the IABSE British Group YouTube channel. Featuring Laura Langdridge, Bill Harvey, Ian Firth, John Roberts and Helena Russell, the series is well worth listening to in full, and we have plans for a second series shortly.

April 17 - Future of Design 2020 (Full Event Video) - First Online Event!

Shared by the British Group of IABSE

The IABSE British Group held their first live event on 17 April 2020, titled 'Future of Design (FoD) 2020'. This event was originally planned to take place as a full-day conference, but due to COVID-19 was moved to a webinar. The speakers were: William Matthews (William Matthews Associates) on Tintagel Castle Footbridge; Alexandra Gkoutzidou (University of Manchester) on Novel Materials in Construction and Environmental Sustainability focusing on Graphene; Catherine Ramsden (Useful Studio) on Social Value of Infrastructure.

This was followed by a discussion on the future of design and work in a post COVID-19 environment. Hosted by David Knight (Cake Industries) Next Future of Design event is in September 2020. This webinar was sponsored by DYSE, Redaeli, Stantec and Jacobs This webinar was organised by Andrey Smirnov (Stantec), Eddy Keegan (Jacobs), Georgia Panagiotidou (Jacobs), Rebecca Morgan (Arup) and Sara Peters (Arcadis).