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.
Year | Date | Speaker | Lecture |
---|---|---|---|
2024 | 21st May | Ted Zoli (HNTB) | Adaptation and the practice of bridge design in North America |
2023 | 18th May | Ben Addy (Moxon Architects) | “No one should be interested in the design of bridges” |
2022 | 17th May | Tina Vejrum (COWI) | Record Spans – From Stonecutters to Çanakkale |
2021 | 27th May | Sam Price (Price & Myers) | Saving the Planet – New Lives for Old Buildings |
2020 | Postponed due to Covid pandemic | ||
2019 | 23rd May | Guy Nordenson (Guy Nordenson Associates) | What We Do |
2018 | 22nd May | John Roberts (Jacobs) | A Life of Leisure |
2017 | 31st May | Laurent Ney (Ney & Partners) | Old & New – Designing in an Historical Context |
2016 | 19th May | Simon Wright (Crossrail) | Crossrail – The Dawn of Digital Railways (Lecture Viewable Online) |
2015 | 21th May | Mike Schlaich (Schlaich Bergermann Partner) | Elegance & Structural Engineering |
2014 | 15th May | Peter Ayres (AECOM) | Cool Designs: Engineering at the End of the Earth |
2013 | 9th May | Hanif Kara (AKTII) | Engineering Attitudes |
2012 | 10th May | Tony Aikenhead (Sir Robert McAlpine) | Designing and Constructing the London 2012 Stadium |
2011 | 5th May | Keith Brownlie (Wilkinson Eyre) | Where to Now? Ten Years of 21st Century Bridge Design |
2010 | 13th May | Bill Baker (SOM) | Engineering an Idea |
2009 | 21st May | John Armitt (ODA) | Engineering at the 2012 Olympics |
2008 | 27th November | Dr Allan Mann (Jacobs) | Certainty and Uncertainty in Structural Engineering |
2007 | 29th November | Mike Wade (Dorman Long Technology) | Heavy Lifts |
2006 | 7th December | Bob Silman (Bob Silman Associates) | Sustainability: the philosophical basis |
2005 | 24th November | Professor Ajit Shenoi (Southampton University) | Light, but Strong and Safe? Assessing the Structural Integrity of Plastic Ships and Boats |
2004 | 9th December | Mike Glover (Arup) | St Pancras – Jewel of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link |
2002 | 24th November | Aad van der Horst | The Rampsol storm surge barrier – a nylon reinforced rubber inflatable dam innovation |
2001 | 6th December | Didier Martin (SNCF Bridge Engineering Department) | The design of the steel railway bridges of the Mediterranean high speed line |
2000 | 7th December | Professor John Burland (Imperial College London) | A Tale of Two Towers |
1999 | Dr William Brown (Brown Beech Associates) Presented by Dr Stafford Craig | The road to Messina – and beyond | |
1998 | Klaus Ostenfeld (COWI Consulting Engineers, Denmark) | The Storebaelt Bridge | |
1997 | 27th November | Richard Snell (BP Exploration) | Deep-Sea Engineering for Oil Recovery |
1996 | 28th November | Chris Davis (Mott Macdonald) | Bridges of the Lantau Crossing |
1995 | Holger Svensson (Leonhardt, Andrä und Partner) | 20 Years’ Experience with Cable-stayed bridges | |
1994 | Peter Head (Maunsell Ltd) | The cost-effective use of advanced composite materials in bridge structures | |
1986 | 5th June | Sir Norman Payne OBE (British Airports Authority) | The Engineer as a Manager |
Bruno Thürlimann (ETH Zürich) | The Evolution of Structural Design |