Category: Chair’s Blog

I recently had the pleasure of being asked to write in the international publication New Civil Engineer. Although this is very much targeted at UK members of the Institution of Civil Engineers it is in fact very relevant to all institutions and groups.

The time has never been better to encourage more people to get involved to enhance the great work being done as well as your own CV. And as you will see from the ICE’s experience is will likely make you happier and start engaging like you have always said you wanted to 🙂

I do hope you enjoy reading the encouraging messages that we are heading in the right direction. And more importantly consider that this really can be a trigger to get you help accelerate positive change in your industry.

Get in touch with your institution or indeed feel free to get in touch with us.

Trustee’s View | The opportunity you have been waiting for… | New Civil Engineer

Delighted to have attended our first blended meeting. This is a quite a milestone after a few years away. Massive thanks to Paul Ingram who kindly let us use the Bath Street Centre.

I am pleased to support this great local foundation as a Trustee. The digital offering continues to grow helping young people in the Tees Valley even greater access to inspiration.

This website has lots of resources and offers virtual work experiences in many sectors.

High Tide Foundation – For Young People on Teesside High Tide set to rise, with key appointments and plans for digital growth – High Tide Foundation – Working to Inspire and Empower the Teesside of Tomorrow

Reflecting on another difficult year as Chair I am extremely proud of what we have achieved.  

My personal highlights include:

• Our series with After The Pandemic which has given the youth a voice regarding climate change
• Our extremely well attended and well watched event on Menopause which is helping people to show they are not alone
• Unsolicited feedback including Alice’s family which demonstrates the impact of the website
• Working together to get the Transporter Bridge Award reinitiated which has allowed our region to shout about our talent
• Our amazing In It Together series which helped lots of people with practical skills and confidence
• And all the way back to January (seems much more than 11 months ago!) we announced our first competition winners

And of course we were shortlisted as Best New Community Champions in the first ever Best New Tees Business Awards and featured in WES’s December issue of The Women Engineer.

I hope 2022 is a good year for us all.

Paula

I jumped at the chance to work together with After the Pandemic to provide a platform for young people to have a voice in and around COP26.

Working with ATP to agree topics I then set off to develop the ‘Together we have one voice’ series.

The four events saw students from the north east of England and Scotland get together like never before for this exciting project. Current students and former students from 8 separate schools, colleges and universities took part.

Many of them have since gone onto further collaborations and STEM work proving that we can all inspire each other 🙂

All are available on the dedicated EngTog/ATP YouTube channel but also on the ATP COP26 Channel.

Going in circles – Frustrations about wasteful past generations.  Waste prevention through the circular economy.

City Design for tomorrow – How can cities be more inclusive to communities? What the future holds?

What future will you leave for me? – Concerns of young people. What changes are needed in your town?

Are we training for a greener future? – What skills are needed to enable action? Is my education fit for the future?

Some of the key messages from our wonderful panellists and chairs…

I do get to do some fabulous things. This one was a personal fave…

I got to speak at the same event as Dallas Campbell and Andy Aldrin AND got photos with my Lottie Books (and it was you can see how super-chuffed I was!) AND got some wonderful feedback.

What a day!

I was delighted to be asked to feature in this campaign which started in the Tees Valley. Together we can show the next generation what it possible.

Read my story alongside others here… Paula McMahon – Power of Women

I feel very privileged to get involved with many different groups who all want to work together to help solve our biggest challenge; climate change. These resources are useful for all engineers everywhere…..

The Institution of Civil Engineers 2021 State of the Nation report gives Six ways for civil engineers to act on climate change. The full document is available to download.

The Constructing Excellence in the North East (CENE) OneVoice campaign puts people, value and climate at the heart of the changes needed. Paula McMahon backs OneVoice campaign – CENE

We are delighted to host ‘How citizens, cities and countries access affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy.; from the WES Climate Emergency SDG7 Energy Sub-group in association with the IET and its Hud-IET group.

This is one of the WES group’s activities in preparation for the upcoming COP26 which showcases the Group’s expertise in Energy with a series of lighting talks introducing the impacts of climate change from the energy sector.

Case studies were discussed highlighting how citizens, cities and countries are responding to the climate emergency with regards to mitigation and resilience as well as providing insights into everyday actions we all can take in our lives and in our homes to be part of the solution.

Watch at https://youtu.be/pn2Kx9A_N9U

As Chair, I was delighted to have been invited to see the Green Power electric car build by the two teams at Harrow Gate Primary Academy.

Green Power helps young people around the world to excel in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) through a unique challenge: to design, build and race an electric car.  By building this it helps unlock potential and spark enthusiasm for STEM through the excitement of motorsport.

Harrow Gate Primary have two teams this year who are sponsored by the Cleveland Scientific Institution (CSI).  The CSI also sponsor teams at Easterside Primary Academy and Wynyard Church of England Primary School.

Harrow Gate Primary have been keeping people informed of their progress via their blog.  At the time Paula visited spoke to the teams the cars were almost built; just come last electrical wiring checks to complete. 

The all-boys team include Alex, Filep, Sonny, Theo, Zak and Owen and their car is called ‘Lightening Bolt’.  The final decoration was to, of course, include some lightning bolts.

The all-girls team include Lilly, Olivia, Georgia, Lainey, Bethany, Tia, Kelci and Amber would have named their car ‘Speed and Beauty’.  The girls were planning to decorate their car with smiley faces.

The girls teams loved building the car and said they enjoyed working in a team.  These are not the first ever all girls team, Longfield Academy all Girls’ team previously raced in an F24 senior level car.  However, this team are believed to be the first ever Goblin all Girls’ team.

The Harrow Gate Primary teams raced their cars at Croft on 22^nd June.   Not only did the teams build the car but they all get the chance to drive it and one team member then races it.