and technicians’ registration. Not all our members are registered and regard- less of this a key part of our mission is to provide quality training and conference opportunities that help all members stay on top of their profession, many of these including our extensive range of profes- sional certificates can open the door to professional registration. There is a small and very hard working group of paid staff but the governance, review procedure and training is undertaken almost exclusively by volunteers like myself. We do of course operate in a competi-
tive market with many sister organisations offering similar services but we are very proud of the inclusivity that a focused Institute like ours can offer to members, our extensive branch network is on the whole vibrant and very active.
What’s your background and how did you come to be the new President? I originally studied physics in Sheffield and although my father was an engineer I was focused on becoming a scientist. I worked in research and development for a time and became a director of a business manufacturing medical equipment which unfortunately ceased trading in the 1980s. Thereafter I had a variety jobs including
(believe it or not) lobster fisherman, boat fairer and Mickey Mouse (I don’t put the Mickey Mouse on my CV anymore) but after living in Australia for a year I returned to the UK and trained as an electrician. As part of the training I was placed with
a traffic signal installation and mainte- nance company and there my association with highway engineering began. As with many members at the IHE I was encour- aged to join by another member. An engineer at Doncaster Metropolitan
Borough Council (DMBC) called Dennis Beever introduced me to the IHE and I realised that to gain professional registra- tion I would need to gain more experience and consequently applied for a job as a senior technician at DMBC, which I was lucky to get. Doncaster gave me immense support and with their help I gained IEng in 2002 and CEng in 2006. Throughout my membership I was a
mentor and reviewer and served on many committees and was honoured in 2010 to be asked to stand as junior vice president. Four years later and here we are. What will your role entail? I have had the privilege of serving as a vice president under firstly Steve Spender and secondly under Richard Hayes. Both Steve and Richard have had some significant
smartHIGHWAYS Vol 2 No 1
challenges as presidents and have had to concentrate on different areas. Steve led successfully on putting the IHE on a stable and secure financial footing and signifi- cantly overhauling the way we operate to make us more professional. Continuing this work Richard also
made magnificent strides in raising the Institute’s profile with numerous media appearances and significant lobbying. I am in a fortunate position in inheriting an Institute which is strong and growing in stature. As well as the day-to-day job of representing and promoting the Institute it will be my job to steer the governance of the IHE in moving us forward in terms of membership and profile. I am looking forward to the support
of IHE Council and in particular my two vice presidents Tony Kirby and Jonathan Pearson. There will of course be numerous other duties and I have already started these by chairing the Highways Magazine Excel- lence Awards judging panel. It’s going to be a very busy two years and kicks of with our Floods and Suds Conference in Lincoln in June where I will accept my presidential nomination.
How important are Intelli- gent Transport Systems to the future of the roads industry? For my day job I am a Director of JCT Consultancy, we are a software, training and design consultancy very much at the heart of ITS. We are in a fortunate position at JCT
in that we run the annual Traffic Signals Symposium where we attract about 30 key exhibitors with their feet firmly in the ITS camp, our lecture programme which I run and which accompanies the exhibi- tion delivers astounding innovation year on year so I am very much a fan of ITS. In terms of the future of ITS to the roads industry I think it is vital. As engineers we are constantly striving to get better perfor- mance and resilience from our assets and deliver services within tight budgets. Materials and hard engineering have
an important role to play but so does the way in which we apply and use these. ITS has a long and respected history in delivering quantifiable benefits, in my area in particular smart signal control systems such as SCOOT, SCATS and MOVA have made significant contribu- tions to sweating the highway asset. I am particularly excited by new and innova- tive detection systems which are reduc- ing the need for intervention into the carriageway.
smarthighways.net
On the horizon is more wire free tech-
nology and vehicle-to-vehicle communi- cation which will bring significant safety benefits. All this and of course the UK has an excellent record in developing ITS and it’s a great export opportunity.
Does that mean that there has to be close cooperation between those who work on the road construction, and those concerned with technology to manage the roads and maintain safety? This is vital, having worked in the indus- try for over 20 years I have witnessed a significant improvement in the manage- ment and safety of highways, technology providers have risen to the challenge many times, you only have to look at the impact that things like passive poles can make to realise what practical and safety benefits can be achieved. As already mentioned Institutions like
the IHE encourage the sharing of experi- ence and this manifests itself in events such as the Traffic Signals Symposium which bring engineers, suppliers and manufac- turers together. Many ideas come from the working
engineers, technicians and operatives and the suppliers need the cooperation to deliver what is needed at an affordable price. Many of our members work in ITS effectively the industry, in
and are
turn the industry in the form of our corporate partners such as Siemens, DBI, NAL, Keysoft and others are part of the IHE and share their innovations with our members on a regular basis. We quite sim- ply learn from each other.
Tell me more about when you’ve worked with ITS yourself. With my design hat on I am seek- ing to use smart ways to deliver better performing junctions, with my teach- ing hat on I am disseminating ITS techniques to engineers; when steering the symposium I am in regular contact with a plethora of innovative thinkers both from the industry and academia and at the IHE we are very lucky to have a strong contingent of technology based members along with important corpo- rate partners engaged in ITS on a daily basis.
john.nightingale@
jctconsultancy.co.uk
theihe.org
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