Pai Lin Li Travel Award
Providing research grants between £1000 and £3000 for Institution members
The Pai Lin Li Travel Award provides grants of between £1,000 and £3,000 to members of the Institution who wish to spend four to six weeks outside
their own country studying current practice or trends related to the use of any construction material in the field of structural engineering.
The award provides an unrivalled opportunity to sample the technical, economic, social and political conditions in another country and to examine how these
various factors affect the practice of structural engineering.
The study
The subject for the proposed study can be related to the use of any construction material in the context of structural engineering - concept, design,
fabrication, erection or management/financing of the construction process. Proposals may be based on the needs of an employer, but the results of the study should
be of general interest, must be fully available, and the report should be comprehensive in covering all aspects of the study.
Awards are for a sum between £1,000 and £3,000, depending on the detailed programme agreed. Successful candidates will be required to complete a
report of 5,000 to 10,000 words detailing what has been undertaken and setting out the conclusions drawn.
An edited version may be published in The Structural Engineer and/or placed on the Institution’s website. In suitable cases the report may be
made the subject of an appropriate Institution meeting and may be required for presentation at a local branch.
Applicants
The Pai Lin Li Travel Award is open to applicants from all grades of the Institution membership but it is likely that the assessors will give preference to
younger members.
For candidates in employment, it will be expected that any application is made with the agreement of the employer and that the employer undertakes to maintain
the successful candidate in employment during the period of the study.
Applications must include:
- where appropriate, a supporting statement from the employer
- the names of two referees
- a brief CV of the applicant
- a detailed proposal (of around 800 to 1,200 words) giving the objectives of the study, an itinerary of places and people to be visited (who should have
already been contacted), and a statement of expected costs
Applications will be assessed by a panel involving representatives appointed by the Institution of Structural Engineers' Educational Trust.
The decision of the assessors will be final, and no correspondence will be entered into with unsuccessful candidates. The Educational Trust reserves the right
to withdraw or reclaim funds from winners who do not comply with the award’s terms and conditions.
About Mr Pai Lin Li
The Pai Lin Li Travel Award is donated by the family of the late Pai Lin Li, a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers. Born in Canton, China, Pai Lin
Li started his professional training in civil and structural engineering in Glasgow with Babtie, Shaw & Morton. He held a BSc in Civil Engineering from Hong
Kong University and a Master of Building Science from the University of Sydney. Pai Lin Li was Chief Building Inspector and Head of Building Regulations Division
for the City of Calgary, Canada and President of the Alberta Building Officials Association and the Canadian Building Officials Association.
A Fellow of the Institution and the Institution of Civil Engineers, he was Chairman of the Canadian Prairies Group of Chartered Engineers, a multi-disciplinary
group of members of British Engineering Institutions who live and/or work in Alberta, Saskatchewan or the Northwest Territories. Pai Lin Li was the Institution
epresentative in Alberta, and received a Service Award in 2003 in recognition of his long and loyal service.