Annual Lecture

When Dr William Henderson succeeded Sir Hubert Shirley Smith as chairman of the group in 1969 he was determined to develop IABSE’s technical work in the UK. Under his guidance he promoted both a residential colloquium – now known as the Henderson Colloquium – and an annual lecture by a prominent personality (not necessarily an engineer). The first Annual Lecture was given by then president of IABSE Professor Bruno Thulimann (Switzerland) who spoke on the evolution of structural design.

The annual lecture is usually held in May at the Institution of Structural Engineers in London, this important and hugely popular lecture is always given a high profile by the invited speaker, often from overseas.

YearDateSpeakerLecture
202318th MayBen Addy (Moxon Architects)“No one should be interested in the design of bridges”
202217th MayTina Vejrum (COWI)Record Spans – From Stonecutters to Çanakkale
202127th MaySam Price (Price & Myers)Saving the Planet – New Lives for Old Buildings
2020Postponed due to Covid pandemic
201923rd MayGuy Nordenson (Guy Nordenson Associates)What We Do
201822nd MayJohn Roberts (Jacobs)A Life of Leisure
201731st MayLaurent Ney (Ney & Partners)Old & New – Designing in an Historical Context
201619th MaySimon Wright (Crossrail)Crossrail – The Dawn of Digital Railways (Lecture Viewable Online)
201521th MayMike Schlaich (Schlaich Bergermann Partner)Elegance & Structural Engineering
201415th MayPeter Ayres (AECOM)Cool Designs: Engineering at the End of the Earth
20139th MayHanif Kara (AKTII)Engineering Attitudes
201210th MayTony Aikenhead (Sir Robert McAlpine)Designing and Constructing the London 2012 Stadium
20115th MayKeith Brownlie (Wilkinson Eyre)Where to Now? Ten Years of 21st Century Bridge Design
201013th MayBill Baker (SOM)Engineering an Idea
200921st MayJohn Armitt (ODA)Engineering at the 2012 Olympics
200827th NovemberDr Allan Mann (Jacobs)Certainty and Uncertainty in Structural Engineering
200729th NovemberMike Wade (Dorman Long Technology)Heavy Lifts
20067th DecemberBob Silman (Bob Silman Associates)Sustainability: the philosophical basis
200524th NovemberProfessor Ajit Shenoi (Southampton University)Light, but Strong and Safe? Assessing the Structural Integrity of Plastic Ships and Boats
20049th DecemberMike Glover (Arup)St Pancras – Jewel of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link
200224th NovemberAad van der HorstThe Rampsol storm surge barrier – a nylon reinforced rubber inflatable dam innovation
20016th DecemberDidier Martin (SNCF Bridge Engineering Department)The design of the steel railway bridges of the Mediterranean high speed line
20007th DecemberProfessor John Burland (Imperial College London)A Tale of Two Towers
1999Dr William Brown (Brown Beech Associates)
Presented by Dr Stafford Craig
The road to Messina – and beyond
1998Klaus Ostenfeld (COWI Consulting Engineers, Denmark)The Storebaelt Bridge
199727th NovemberRichard Snell (BP Exploration)Deep-Sea Engineering for Oil Recovery
199628th NovemberChris Davis (Mott Macdonald)Bridges of the Lantau Crossing
1995 Holger Svensson (Leonhardt, Andrä und Partner)20 Years’ Experience with Cable-stayed bridges
1994Peter Head (Maunsell Ltd)The cost-effective use of advanced composite materials in bridge structures
19865th JuneSir Norman Payne OBE (British Airports Authority)The Engineer as a Manager
  Bruno Thürlimann (ETH Zürich)The Evolution of Structural Design