Structural engineers declare summit 2024

Gary has long championed reform of the built environment industry as the CEO and Founder of Elliott Wood structural engineers. As a purpose-led organisation, the practice is committed to Engineering a Better Society and bringing about societal and environmental reform. Gary uses his inquisitive approach to question, test and realise ambitious schemes.  Relishing the challenge of complex buildings and structures, he draws on three decades of experience in engineering award-winning structures both in the UK and overseas to ensure that projects deliver maximum value to clients and with minimal impact on the planet.
 

Duncan is an architect, academic, and environmental activist. As the author of ‘The Re-Use Atlas: a designer’s guide towards a circular economy,’ he has over 25 years of experience in sustainable development and closed-loop systems. His second edition is due by RIBA in July 2024. He founded BakerBrown, an architectural practice addressing the challenges of the climate crisis and post-COVID design. His work has garnered multiple RIBA National Awards and a special Stephen Lawrence Prize for the Brighton Waste House, which funded a student prize at the University of Brighton for circular design.
 
At the University of Brighton, Duncan leads the NW Europe INTERREG FCRBE project and co-edited ‘The Pedagogies of Re-Use,’ a book on educational strategies for sustainability, to be published by Routledge in June 2024, with Prof. Graeme Brooker.
 

Dr Mike Bather CEng, MIStructE, MICE, SFHEA. I previously worked as a consulting structural engineer in small to medium-sized practices over a couple of decades. I am now Programme Director of Civil Engineering (undergraduate studies) and teach structural analysis and design at the University of Liverpool. I am also serving as Chair of the Joint Board of Moderators, a body representing five professional civil engineering institutions accrediting university programmes on behalf of the Engineering Council. I believe that in the UK we have a developed infrastructure that has benefited enormously from our colonial history combined with our leadership in the Industrial Revolution. This also means that our contribution to global warming is large and our rate of decarbonisation in the UK should reflect this. I also believe that dealing with climate change is strongly linked to social justice. These are my personal views and do not represent the views of the
JBM or University of Liverpool.

Oliver is 1851 Fellow in Regenerative Design and is an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers. He is co-author of the Regenerative Structural Engineer. Oliver is director of training company Constructivist and leads the IStructE’s conceptual design training.
 

Rosie's passion is to make the world a better place. As an inspiring and supportive leader who is committed to the values of SED, she believes engineers have the skills to deliver on one of the most important challenges of our generation. By creating safe collaborative environments for creativity and evolution, she hopes to help foster ideas and continue to develop an enduring foundation, as a collective, for this much needed change. Before joining Ridge & Partners, a multidisciplinary consultancy, she thrived at a small boutique practice, a large international firm, and the Army. She has delivered projects of varying sizes and complexities on six continents and leverages her strong credentials to drive the climate and biodiversity agenda. Her proactive approach to creating positive change has led to previous roles on Council, TVRG Chair and Founder of EWB Newcastle. She feels privileged to be a SED co-chair.
 
 

Marika is a Structural Engineer turned Decarbonisation Consultant at WSP, whose role spans sustainability advisory and R&D.
 As a sustainability consultant and Whole Life Carbon (WLC) specialist within WSP’s building performance group, she is leading the development of digital tools that enable early-stage carbon optioneering assessments – aiming to bring carbon data to the forefront of decision making. Marika additionally manages the development of sustainability, WLC, and Circular Economy strategies for various commercial, residential, and mixed-use development projects.
 
Marika is a WSP Structures representative for ConcreteZero, part of the UK NZC Building Standard Embodied Carbon Task Group, and was co-chair of Structural Engineers Declare 2023.
 

Megan is a Chartered Structural Engineer and Head of Digital Design at Elliott Wood. A structural and computational design leader, she has a wealth of experience delivering projects with complex geometries and novel building materials. Using parametric design, machine learning and automation, she is incorporating digital design capabilities across Elliott Wood’s services to create more efficient and sustainable structures. Her work sits at the intersection of design, innovation, and sustainability and explores how we might use emerging technologies to improve the way we work.

Phil is a co-founder of the community focused structural engineering consultancy Simple Works and community interest company Scale Rule CIC. He is a Visting Lecturer at the University of Bath, where he obtained his PhD in Civil Engineering, and is a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers. He co-founded Simple Works in 2019 to focus on projects with socieity and the environment at their heart. He leads the research agenda in the practice which includes a focus on regenerative design principles particularly low carbon materials and circular construction.

Dr Fragkoulis Kanavaris is Arup's global concrete materials and decarbonisation lead with a strong background in structural engineering, based in the Specialist Technology, Analytics and Research (STAR) team in London, UK. He is an expert on concrete materials, sustainability, cracking, durability, concrete technology, specification, condition assessment, and remediation of concrete structures. Fragkoulis has contributed to more than 300 projects worldwide, from buildings, bridges, and tunnels to nuclear, renewable energy, and maritime structures as well as research projects and has held leading positions in major projects such as Materials and Durability design lead on High Speed 2 (£45bn). He is chairing and actively participating in several technical committees and has published more than 60 articles in journals, conferences, books and policy documents. He has received several awards including the 2022 Engineer of the Year award by the Royal Academy of Engineering of the UK and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. He is a Chartered Engineering (CEng), Scientist (CSci) and Environmentalist (CEnv).
 

Brogan is the Head of Sustainability in Ramboll Building Structures UK, where she leads a team of 200 engineers and technicians to champion carbon reduction and circularity. Prior to her sustainability role, she specialised in complex structural refurbishments, and has worked in both the London and Singapore offices
 
She was the winner of ‘Best Young Woman Engineer’ in 2020 Women in Construction and Engineering Awards and she was also awarded the Women’s Engineering Society: Top 50 Women in Engineering & Sustainability 2020. Brogan is one of the authors of the Circular Economy and Reuse Guide.  
 

James is an award-winning engineer and teacher. He has worked on many landmark buildings including the extension to the Tate Modern and John Henry Brookes building. He has worked with several materials including timber, straw and earth as well as steel and concrete. He has been involved in a number of reuse projects. In 2015 James became a full time academic and has published The Regenerative Structural Engineer, Conceptual Design of Buildings, Structural Timber Elements and Designing Timber Structures. He takes an innovate and practice-based approach to teaching and was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship in 2020. The combination of his teaching, research and practice is changing approaches to sustainable building design across industry
 

 

As a Decarbonisation Lead Diego works towards creating zero carbon buildings to address the climate emergency. Diego has led the creation of WSP’s Structures decarbonisation roadmap and continues to deliver on its commitment to half the emission of their designs and advice by 2030.
Diego’s current focus is on digital innovation, harvesting the power of AI to create tools and processes that help engineers, designers, and clients to create better buildings.
As a structural engineer his experience varies from tall building design to complex basements, from office refurbishments to cultural venues. He was the lead engineer for the design and delivery of 22 Bishopsgate, London.

Kiran is a PhD Candidate at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University. Her research focuses on risks and opportunities of sand for global sustainability. She is the author of the book Sand Stories: Surprising Truths about the Global Sand Crisis and the Quest for Sustainable Solutions and the Founder of SandStories.org. Her work has previously been featured in the award-winning documentary Sand Wars and media such as The Economist, BBC Radio5, Al Jazeera, Financial Times, ZDF Magazin Royale, CNBC digital among others.