SYNOPSIS

Much is talked about innovation but often time the key factors that can foster or block innovation are not appreciated. This talk will start by looking back over the last 200 years of the development of civil engineering and then fast forward to the future. It identifies the challenges that the world faces and explains why civil engineers must innovate if we are to address those challenges. The presentation will cover the lessons personally learnt by the speaker from over 45 years as a professional civil engineer about the enablers and blockers to innovation. It will include important messages for all levels in the industry from new graduates right up to company CEOs. The talk will be fully illustrated with slides and will cover the cultural, human and technical elements of innovation. The presentation will provide practical guidance for practitioners and follow by questions and answer at the end of the talk.

BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Prof David Balmforth is the current outgoing president of The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) UK. Prof David Balmforth is also an Executive Technical Director with the international engineering company MWH, which he joined in 1999. He is an accomplished civil engineer specializing in flood risk management and urban pollution control. Formally an academic, his recent work ranges from the delivery of multi-million engineering programmes, to flood advisory work for municipalities in the UK and overseas. He has acted as an advisor to governments on infrastructure development, and has recently worked to alleviate flooding in London, Glasgow and Singapore. His novel approaches to managing urban river pollution have been widely adopted and he has exhibited at the Design Centre in London. Formally a non –executive director of the Construction Industry Research and Information Association and Editor of the Journal of Flood Risk Management, Prof David Balmforth is a visiting professor at Imperial College, London.