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The Milne Medal is awarded to an individual engineer for excellence in structural design, both in the overall concept and in the attention to detail in their work, and is named in recognition of the late Bob Milne, who served for many years as the Honorary Secretary of the IABSE British Group. This year, we are delighted to award the Milne Medal to John Roycroft of BDP.
John will give his Milne Medal Lecture “Send me a sketch” on the 14th November 2024 at the IStructE, Bastwick Street, London.
John Roycroft
John leads the civil and structural profession at BDP and has forged a career in the design and delivery of structurally challenging projects. John has a passion and energy for design which is central to bringing structural innovation to life.
John particularly enjoys working with architects and clients from the outset of the project to drive the best solution. He is passionate about engineers communicating effectively and runs sketching workshops that help develop this important skill and allow young engineers to build confidence to engage with the design team early. He was the Chair of the ICE Structures Expert panel from 2009 to 2014.
Having joined the University of Bath to study architecture he transferred to civil & structural engineering after the first year, having been inspired by industry greats such as the late Sir Ted Happold whose engineering history lectures demonstrated the wonderful opportunities for creativity and for bringing positive change as an engineer. At Bath within the nurturing and supportive environment that Mike Barnes led, John learnt the art of the structural engineer and embraced the skills and potential for collaborative and interdisciplinary design culminating in him winning a design award for his elegant footbridge in a final year project open to architects and engineers. John started his career with Whitby Bird & Partners and has been fortunate to be mentored by inspirational and talented leaders and engineers at the practices he has worked at during his career to date. John joined BDP in 2008 as he saw the significant potential in a company that has its routes embedded in multidisciplinary collaboration and design quality. Now Chair of civil and structural engineering at BDP, John uses collaboration as his guiding principle, promoting that amid all the technological buzz, it is still our relationships that drive the best project outcomes.
Send me a sketch
“Digital technology has transformed our industry, but I think the best tool remains the humble pen or pencil. Sketching is just a brilliant way to think, solve problems and collaborate. Working with people has been the most enjoyable aspect of my 30 plus year career to date.
“To deliver buildings and infrastructure, we first need to build strong relationships and I’m as proud of the friendships I’ve cultivated as I am with the structures I’ve designed. From undergraduate days at the University of Bath, where talented individuals such as Mike Barnes and Paul McCombie took me under their wing to leading the engineering team at BDP today, I could not have made the journey without people.
“Having fun as part of the process is also something we should embrace as an industry. So, I believe that amid all the technological buzz, it is still our relationships that drive the best project outcomes.”
Milne Medal Dinner
The lecture will be followed by a dinner at Fare (11 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HL). All are welcome to discuss the lecture with John and other IABSE members.