Features on saving planet Earth and NEC win CICES Publishing Awards
The 2022 recipients of the CICES Publishing Awards have been announced. The geospatial category was won by Mike Hopkins at Storm Geomatics for his article ‘Why the geospatial profession is critical to saving planet Earth’ which featured in the October 2022 issue of Civil Engineering Surveyor. The award was judged by members of the Geospatial Engineering Practices Committee, led by its chair, Mark Lawton.
The commercial management category was won by Andrew Wooldridge-Irving, Associate Director and Alex Tolson, Consultant Surveyor, GVE for their series on ‘NEC X options’ which featured in Civil Engineering Surveyor from May 2022 to December/ January 2023. The award was judged by members of the Commercial Management Practices Committee led by its chair, Jim McCluskey. The prize comprises £250 and a certificate for each category.
New chair of Commercial Competencies Steering Group
Darran Queenan FCInstCES has been appointed as the new chair of Commercial Competencies Steering Group. Mr Queenan has worked in the civil engineering industry for 34 years, with a variety of experience in highways, flood risk management, and utilities. He also holds voluntary roles within CICES as a chartered engineer examiner, reviewer, auditor, and moderator, enabling him to have a sound understanding of the professional review process within the institution.
Mr Queenan said on his appointment: “I am hoping with this experience I can add value to the yearly reviews of the commercial competencies in conjunction with the individual chairs of each working group, supporting consistency and collaboration with CICES”....
...and new project manager competencies
CICES has announced newly approved project manager competencies, offering a route to professional membership at both member and technical level in project management. This offers a real alternative to those working in the industry, enabling project managers to join the institution – an inclusive organisation that offers valuable networking with civil engineering and infrastructure focus.
Chair of the Project Manager Working Group Bill Edwards commented: “I would like to thank the members of the working group, Agnieszka Duczkowska, Ian Heaphy, Andrew Kimmance, Barry Trebes and Eileen Longworth for their contributions. In preparing the PM competencies we concluded that the specialism should reflect the project life cycle from project inception to project close. Hopefully members will be familiar with this concept”.
Webinar roundup
Thanks to the presenters who have taken part in recent webinars over the last couple of months: Ruth Cookman and Abigail Page, with William Kelly, University of Glasgow for fielding the Q&A for the Geospatial Commission and Edward Quigg of Quigg Golden.
CICES partners with Marine Civils Seawork and the UK Light Rail Conference
The institution has agreed with partnerships to support two forthcoming conferences. Marine Civils Seawork is Europe’s largest on-water commercial marine and workboat exhibition that takes place in Southampton from 13-15 June. The UK Light Rail Conference is the leading UK light rail and urban transit conference and takes place in New Castle from 11-12 July.
To book your ticket for the events please visit:
www.mainspring.co.uk/products/events/uk-light-rail-conference/
NUAR available to users in first UK locations
The National Underground Asset Register (NUAR) – a digital map of underground pipes and cables that will revolutionise the way we install, maintain, operate and repair our buried infrastructure – can now be accessed in its first UK locations. This is a major step in the delivery of NUAR. The service is now starting to deliver the core functionality to meet the intended ‘safe dig’ use case, as well as data from over 80 asset owners in the first three regions (North East England, Wales and London).
This includes all of the major energy and water providers, as well as smaller providers of these services, telecommunications companies, transport organisations and local authorities. This minimum viable product (MVP) release is not a final end product, it is a key, exciting stage in the design and development of NUAR involving real users as part of an interactive learning process to refine functionality and processes in preparation for business use.
Whilst the MVP can be used in business-as-usual practices, it is intended to complement rather than replace them at this stage, and allows users to both plan for future adoption and provide valuable feedback to enhance the service further.
Revised standard on the use of GNSS
The third edition of the ‘Use of GNSS in land surveying and mapping’ has been prepared by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in partnership with Newcastle University, and with the help of an extensive peer review process. The standard forms part of a series of specifications and guidelines intended to assist all those connected with the requesting, purchase and production of surveys and mapping material at all scales, by spreading good practice and seeking to avoid duplication of effort.
The edition features fully revised and updated sections on GNSS survey methods, control and errors, coordinate reference systems and projections, and an emphasis on quality control and office procedures.
Thank you
The institution would like to express its thanks to the sponsors of the recent Manchester Lecture. The lecture was a joint event between CICES North West & North Wales and CIArb North West and was kindly sponsored by Damian James – Delay & Quantum Experts; Decipher Consult & Construct; Hanscomb Intercontinental; KOREC and Kuits Solicitors. The sponsorship of these organisations contributed greatly to what was an extremely successful event.