IStructE, our Centenary and beyond: Attract, Support, Enthuse

摘要

To be standing in front of you all today is a great honour and I would like to thank you for placing your trust in me to be the 88th President of the Institution of Structural Engineers for the next 15 months. This a particular honour during our Centenary year. I stand here as someone with a rather different background to previous presidents. I studied engineering science rather than civil engineering; I run a small consultancy in Exeter, rather than a large household name consultancy; and I am female rather than male. I have the benefit of having had a broad education; I have worked in academia; for a local authority, for large, medium and small consultancies and I have set up and run my own business, firstly as a sole trader and then as a company; I have worked full and part time and combined work with raising a family. The only missing element is working for a contractor. This background has provided me with a broad insight into the many strands of structural engineering and I think it will be very helpful during my time as President (Fig 1).