Finalists announced for the Young Structural Engineering Professional Award 2021

Alistair Low-Macrae

Alastair graduated from the University of Strathclyde in 2013 with an MEng in Architectural and Structural Engineering. His research dissertation, “An approach to assess the embodied energy and carbon of structural elements” is continuing to develop and promote sustainable methods of design and construction.

Upon graduating, Alastair joined AKT II in London, where he worked on a broad range of projects from historical refurbishments and high-end residential towers to deep basements and contemporary engineered timber frames. Most notably, Alastair served as the project engineer for the 26th Maggie’s Centre in Leeds, designed in collaboration with Heatherwick Studio and opened in March 2020 to provide support to cancer patients and their families in a non-clinical environment. The structure and architecture are fully integrated within the design and are exposed to create an environment that supports the patients. 

As a graduate member, Alastair contributed to multiple committees including, the North Thames Regional Group and the Structural Futures Committee, and in 2019 he obtained IStructE Chartered Membership. He has commitments to the Architectural Association as a visiting tutor and a Fellowship with the Royal Society of Arts, where he is a judge for the 2021 Student Design Awards.

Alastair joined London Structures Lab in early 2020, to help build a company that matches his commitment to producing sustainable structures. He believes that structural engineers should push for a greater role in societal development, feeding into the wider context of design, construction, and development policy.

“In my view Alastair represents what should be the future of the profession, having the rare balance of excellent technical capability, industry and societal awareness, and strong communication and personal skills.”
Ed Moseley, Co-founder & Director
London Structures Lab
 

Ioana Price
Ioana first joined IStructE as a Student Member during her MEng Civil and Structural Engineering at the University of Sheffield. Membership has helped her navigate her early career, develop a comprehensive knowledge base and become an accomplished engineer. More recently, Ioana was selected as a the IStructE candidate for the 2020 Karen Burt Memorial Award, which recognises the  best newly chartered female engineers from the participating Professional Engineering Institutions.
 
Drawn to STEM subjects from an early age, a curiosity in the logic behind math and a fascination for architecture and the arts naturally led Ioana to the built environment. Driven by a passion to use her technical skills to make a positive impact on the environment and belief in the key role Structural Engineers play in shaping the world, Ioana has taken personal satisfaction from humanitarian projects working in Uganda, redeveloping a community playground of a local slum area in Kampala.
 
In her career to date, Ioana has been involved in a variety of projects in the UK and around the world. Since joining AECOM in 2017, Ioana has been involved in projects, such as a new 50,000 seat stadium in Cameroon for AFCON and a new airport terminal in Hong Kong, and in 2019 she was extremely proud to achieve Chartered Member status with IStructE.
 
Ioana believes “It’s an exciting time to be part of the engineering world and be driving the change to a more sustainable future, with the IStructE leading the way forward”. She is a member of Women's Engineering Society’s Climate Emergency Group, where she showcases the work that engineers do in response to the climate crisis. Within AECOM, Ioana is developing tools and strategies to enable the creation of low-carbon buildings and making a real difference to our world and environment.
 
“She is a highly valued member of our London structural team who can be relied upon to carry out the technical design whilst keeping mind of the “big picture” to develop efficient and practical design solutions.”
Adrian Armstrong MEng CEng MIStructE, Associate Director
Structural Engineering, Buildings and Places – AECOM

Will Rogers-Tizard
During a placement at Buro Happold, Will gained a passion for historic structures while conducting a feasibility study for alterations to the Natural History Museum in London. After completing his MEng Civil and Environmental Engineering at University College London in 2014, Will joined Price & Myers in 2015, first tackling smaller refurbishment projects, building on his understanding of how structures are built and focusing on the constructability of designs. It was during this period that Will joined IStructE as a Graduate Member, realising the value of continuing professional development, he benefited from IStructE resources and built his technical skills and gained Chartered Membership status in 2019.
 
Will has worked on many challenging projects, including the National Satellite Testing Facility in Harwell, where he developed insight into the complex systems involved in creating new infrastructure projects. Currently, he is revisiting his passion for refurbishment working on an exciting project on the corner of Oxford St and New Bond St, where the aim is to retain the majority of the existing structure.
 
Sustainability has been present throughout Will’s career, with involvement in Price & Myers’ Parametric and Numeric Design Assessment (PANDA) tool and works on the Price & Myers’ Climate Action Group, helping to drive sustainability across the practice. In 2018, Will had the extremely rewarding opportunity to work with Bridges to Prosperity to construct a footbridge in Rwanda, focusing on the significant social role that structures also hold in society.
 
Still committed to personal development, Will has recently started a part-time Master of Studies in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment at the University of Cambridge. This experience is strengthening Will’s belief in the important role that Structural Engineers can play in shaping the world we live in.
 
“Will has developed into a competent and well-respected engineer with excellent technical and communication skills. He has an incredible drive to learn and to better himself, which is inspiring to his peers and the younger engineers he mentors.”
David Lockett MEng CEng MIStructE, Partner
Price Myers

 

Robert Frostick 

After graduating from Coventry University with an MEng in Civil Engineering in 2015, Robert continued his studies in the Czech Republic and Spain, studying an Advanced Masters in Structural Analysis of Monuments and Historical Constructions at Czech Technical University in Prague and Polytechnic University of Catalonia. This unique experience drove Robert’s passion for historic buildings and started his career working with the conservation and adaption of existing buildings.

Robert joined IStructE as a Student Member at university and went on to become a Chartered Member in March 2021. Membership allowed him to use the technical resources and high-quality training to help develop his career and achieve his professional goals. As a regular attendee of the History Study Group, Robert has valued the knowledge and lectures on historic materials and construction and delivered a lecture on the inspection, appraisal and repair of historic plaster ceilings and structure.  

In 2016, Robert joined Conisbee, after researching the firm on the Conservation Accreditation Register for Engineers. Here, Robert has had the opportunity to experience a range of projects undertaking structural surveys, fabric and façade investigations, design and repair work on a series of listed buildings, scheduled ancient monuments, concert halls, and municipal and cultural venues. In doing so, Robert has worked with a notable list of clients, including the Royal Albert Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Royal Palaces, and the National Railway Museum.

A key recent project has been the construction of a new two-storey 800m2 basement below and adjacent to the Royal Albert Hall. The project included underpinning the Hall to 11m below ground level, a complex interface with the historic structure and temporary works to support the adjacent road and a 30m high freestanding Victorian chimney directly adjacent to the site.

“In my opinion, Robert is a naturally talented engineer demonstrating a rare combination of abilities. His extensive experience has provided him with a deep and wide theoretical and practical knowledge and understanding of structural engineering, in which he excels.”
Kevin Clark BSc (Hons) PhD DIC CEng MICE CARE, Director & Head of Heritage Engineering
Conisbee
 

 

Max Clayton

Displaying a keen interest in buildings and design, Max studied an MEng Structural Engineering and Architecture at Sheffield University. After graduating in 2015, Max then chose a career in Structural Engineering, as a way of fulfilling his desire to help society progress through his professional and personal contributions.

Due to the combined focus of his degree, structural engineering and architecture, Max was drawn to Structure Workshop in 2016, a consultancy that specialises in both artwork and architecturally driven buildings. Some of his early key projects included high profile public sculptures, such as the Interpretation of Movement by Conrad Shawcross, which hung from the roof of the Barlow train shed at St Pancras. Working on these exciting projects has given Max useful experience in areas such as parametric modelling, advanced manufacturing methods, and the design of unusual materials.

Since joining IStructE in 2016, Max has drawn on the resources, knowledge and skills made available to improve and develop as an engineer, gaining Chartered Membership status in 2020. Max is particularly impressed by the proactive approach taken towards the climate crisis, principally through The Structural Engineer. Max has found it invaluable to have a centre for knowledge throughout his career and finds this particularly valuable when it comes to low carbon design.

Increasingly the challenge of addressing the climate crisis has influenced Max’s work. Recent projects include Hackney Bridge with Turner Works, a development where he explored and applied circular design principles to maximise reusability of the building’s components, and Yorkton Street Workshops, a recent retrofit project where Max was part of the team that saved two dilapidated industrial buildings from demolition, resulting in a huge carbon saving, and winning the Architects Journal Retrofit of the Year Award 2021.

“Max has ability and insight and I look forward to watching him positively influence our industry and, no doubt, become an ambassador for the profession.”
Peter Laidler BEng CEng MICE, Director
Structure Workshop