An up and coming civil engineer is in the running for a global award after winning an Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) North East competition.
Beth Barnes, who is studying for her PhD at Newcastle University, was presented with the ICE Emerging Engineers Award, in recognition of her paper on disaster management, titled: ‘Is agent based modelling the solution to improving disaster management?’
She also was awarded £250 for winning the regional heat and has been shortlisted for the global final, which takes place on September 29 in London. The overall winner will take home a grand prize of £1,500 as well as an Institution Medal.
The ICE Emerging Engineers Award promotes and rewards excellent communication of civil engineering issues and ideas. It is open to all current ICE graduate and student members, who live, work or study in the region.
Comments from the competition’s judging panel, which comprised a number of experts and academics from across the region, included: “In her presentation Beth was able not only to engage the audience with the subject, but to do so in a way that demonstrated both her sound grasp of the topic and the need to be creative in delivery. The presentation offered insight into Beth’s depth of understanding, further evidenced by her ability to respond to some challenging questions from the panel.”
Beth said: “I am proud and delighted to have won this award, which came as a very pleasant surprise. It was also humbling to read the judging panel’s kind words, which have given me great encouragement as I seek a long and prosperous career within civil engineering. I now am looking forward to the global final and will hopefully celebrate further success come September!”
Penny Marshall, ICE Regional Director for the North East, added: “The ICE Emerging Engineers Award is a highly competitive annual competition, which showcases the talents of our region’s young civil engineers. Beth was a deserving winner of the regional heat and I am sure she will do the North East proud when she competes for the global prize in September. I would like to wish her all the best in what is going to be a very promising civil engineering career.”