Mark Armstrong attended the recent Presidential Address by Sir John Armitt to the Auckland Branch of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).

With over 13,500 members living and working throughout Asia Pacific, and 25 volunteer representatives working in 17 countries in the region, as well as many local committees, ICE is an important organisation for enabling engineers to learn from one another and debate and promote ideas and best practice throughout the world.

A key theme of Sir John’s presentation was his passion for ICE to be relevant in society, especially to the broader engineering disciplines, and to embrace change.  He hoped to empower the membership to be relevant and to provide value and innovation, within both the ICE and society. He cited the ICE’s current public awareness campaign, ‘This is Civil Engineering,’ designed to raise the public profile of civil engineering and the benefits of infrastructure to the local community at a time when there is a shortfall of engineers.

Sir John reflected that engineers were at their best when under pressure, delivering innovation and benefits to clients and society. He referenced the London Olympic delivery between 2007 and 2012, where initial cost estimates had led to many assets being completely redesigned, driving efficiencies, savings and environmental benefits to the games.

He also discussed the unknown market reaction to Brexit, and its effect on political policy and future funding. He asked what role the ICE would play in the future and asked that members be dynamic, flexible and adaptable in the coming years of uncertainty. The management of a country’s infrastructure is a key role where the ICE can bring large value. On its own initiative, the ICE will be publishing a report on the state of British assets in October this year. This document will be used to guide future political requirements in infrastructure.

Sir John wanted the membership to realise that as university costs rise and places reduce, not all future charted civil engineers will come via university; many will be promoted from within. The ICE needs to recognise this and respond accordingly, allowing ability to be nurtured and recognised. He also wanted the ICE to embrace other engineering disciplines and forge a better understanding and stronger ties, enabling lessons learned to be used and understood.

He concluded that engineering needed skills at all levels, that civil engineers needed to keep questioning the “why” in their everyday professional roles, and that the ICE and its members needed to remain dynamic, flexible and adaptable to meet the needs of the modern engineering world.

We are delighted to say the highly experienced Peter Bailey is joining Resolve Group this month. Coming from 14 years as a General Manager with Porirua City Council, first in Utilities Policy and then Asset Management and Operations, Peter will be working from Wellington, alongside Rick van Barneveld.

In his time at Porirua City he oversaw the reduction of major water main breaks from 52 a year down to just two, the reduction of dry weather sewer overflows from 300 to zero in the last year, the development of a Regional Waste Management and Minimisation Plan, the halving of the road accident rate, a reduction in graffiti in the City and the start of the 1 billion dollar Transmission Gully project.

Prior to Peter’s appointment to Porirua City Council he worked in various roles for Transit New Zealand from its formation in 1989. His final role in Transit was as Highways Engineer for the Wellington Region, which covers the bottom of the North Island and top of the South Island. In this role, Peter was responsible for the operations and maintenance of the highway network, and the planning and development on projects other than SH 1. Notable achievements in this role were the completion of the Thorndon Overbridge strengthening at 22% under the contract price, development of the business case for the construction of the Stoke Bypass and the setting up of the Marlborough Roads.

Peter has extensive experience in management and strategic business planning and won a Business Excellence Award in 2004. He has worked for both national and local government organisations in the areas of asset management, transportation, project management, contract administration and procurement. He has provided both strategic leadership and technical knowledge locally, regionally and nationally.

He is skilled at resolving issues and disputes so that all parties accept solutions. He is strong on innovation and initiative, as his Excellence in Building Professions Innovation Winner Award (1999) shows. He has volunteered as an IPENZ Assessor and sat on the Executive Road Controlling Authority Forum managing research and guidelines development.

Peter and his wife, Margaret, have three adult children, Anna, Tim and Joseph, who all live in Wellington. He is a keen dinghy sailor and competes with Joseph in the Flying Dutchman class.