The President’s Medal is awarded annually by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) to an outstanding civil engineer. This year it was presented to Dr Jennifer Schooling OBE by Andrew Wyllie CBE, President of ICE, at the 2019 ICE Awards.
Jennifer is operating at the very leading edge of this Fourth Industrial Revolution. Leading by example, she is a tremendous role model, working in a strategic and collaborative manner with research associates, academics and leading industry professionals.
ICE President Andrew Wyllie
The citation for the Medal describes Dr Schooling, Director of the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC), as ‘a tremendous role model, working in a strategic and collaborative manner with research associates, academics and leading industry professionals…The ICE is pleased to recognise the outstanding work being done by Jennifer in shaping the future of civil engineering’.
The citation defines CSIC as ‘operating at the very leading edge of our new industry, helping to create a wealth of new opportunities for civil engineers around the world to fulfil our purpose of improving lives in our global society’.
On receiving the Medal, Dr Schooling said: “It is a real honour to be given this award. However, these achievements are never down to just one person and this award reflects the dedication and support of everyone in the team at CSIC over the past seven years, who continue to work so hard to ensure the outputs of our research are adopted into industry practice. I would like to thank each and every one of them.”
ICE President Andrew Wyllie said: “I’m delighted that this year’s President’s Medal has been awarded to Dr Jennifer Schooling OBE. As detailed in my Presidential address, civil engineering has now entered a new era, one that is characterised by a fusion of technology breakthroughs that is blurring the lines between the physical, biological and digital spheres. Technology breakthroughs in areas such as quantum computing, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, robotics and biotechnology, are redefining our industry and creating an array of new possibilities for innovative and entrepreneurial civil engineers.
“Jennifer is operating at the very leading edge of this Fourth Industrial Revolution. Leading by example, she is a tremendous role model, working in a strategic and collaborative manner with research associates, academics and leading industry professionals.
“Jennifer’s work as Director of CSIC, her involvement in helping to establish the newly formed Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB), her recent service as a member of the PAS185 smart cities security standard steering group and her role as founding Co-Editor-in Chief of the Smart Infrastructure and Construction Proceedings journal make her a worthy recipient of this prestigious award. ICE is pleased to recognise the outstanding work Jennifer is doing to shape the future of civil engineering.”
Telford Premium award
CSIC Investigator Dr Giovanna Biscontin and former Cambridge researcher Dr Yingyan Jin also received an award on the day – the Telford Premium award in recognition of best papers presented to the Institution. The winning paper ‘A Bayesian definition of ‘most probable’ parameters’ was published in Geotechnical Research: Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2018, pp. 130-142. DOI: 10.1680/jgere.18.00027
Yingyan and I accepting the Telford Premium at the #ICEAwards in London today! pic.twitter.com/xQ9FFRQ4tq
— Dr Giovanna Biscontin (@giobiscontin) October 4, 2019
Environmental Engineering and Science Prize
PhD students Christiana Smyrilli and Sakthy Selvakumaran were among the recipients of the Environmental Engineering and Science Prize in recognition of their co-authored paper ‘Sustainable decentralised wastewater treatment schemes in the context of Lobitos, Peru’. It was published in the Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science: Volume 13, Issue 1, March 2018, pp. 8-16. DOI: 10.1680/jenes.17.00023
Great to have @EcoSwell_ and our work recognised by winning the @ICE_engineers Environmental Engineering & Science Prize 2019 for our paper...and even better having the opportunity for an international reunion with @CSmyrilli and Diego! pic.twitter.com/4shRYNjOel
— Sakthy Selvakumaran (@sakthys) October 4, 2019
This article has been edited from the CSIC website.