Published:
Christina (Tina) Irvine, who graduated earlier this year with a First Class MEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering, has been awarded the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers 2017 Smeaton Medal.
I am so pleased that all my hard work has paid off and I feel honoured to have been awarded this prestigious award. My next goal is to become a chartered professional engineer and play a part in developing the infrastructure to shape the world.
The Smeatonian Medal was presented to Tina by the Society’s President, Sir Frederick Crawford FREng (former Vice Chancellor of Aston University) at a Smeatonian Society lunch held at the Athenaeum Club in London on 25th October.
The lunch was attended many luminaries from the world of engineering, including Sir William McAlpine, Sir Duncan Michael (Arup) and Royal Academy of Engineering Past Presidents Sir David Davies and Lord Broers, together with six Past Presidents of the Institution of Civil Engineers. two Past Presidents of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a Past President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
Tina has been an impressive student, prior to this latest award, she has been the recipient of the J. A. Hood Prize, the Watt Club Medal and the Institution of Civil Engineers Prize for her outstanding performance as a civil engineering student at Heriot Watt.
She took full advantage of the opportunities that university life at Heriot Watt has to offer, from work experience with Schlumberger to skiing, and spending 4th year studying at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. Since graduating, Tina has taken up a graduate appointment with multinational professional services firm Arup in Leeds.
As a testament to the qualities that led to her being awarded the medal, Tina was proud but unfazed, saying “I am so pleased that all my hard work has paid off and I feel honoured to have been awarded this prestigious award. My next goal is to become a chartered professional engineer and play a part in developing the infrastructure to shape the world.”
Heriot Watt was represented at the lunch by Professor Omar Laghrouche, Head of the Institute for Infrastructure and Environment (IIE) - Omar was Tina’s mentor, and Professor Paul Jowitt (IIE). Paul is also a Smeatonian.
Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers
The Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers (originally just the Society of Civil Engineers) was founded in 1771 by John Smeaton (1724-1792) and others. Smeaton was the first person to call himself a Civil Engineer. Prior to this all engineers were deemed to be Military Engineers.
The Smeatonian Society predates the Institution of Civil Engineers and today is predominantly a Discussion and Dining Society of around sixty senior professional engineers, 'distinguished for their work in the theory or practice of design, manufacture, construction or management in the various fields of engineering'. Its most senior member – and honorary member - is the Duke of Edinburgh (1953) and the most recent honorary member is the Princess Royal (2017).
The Smeatonian Medal is awarded annually to an outstanding final-year student or young researcher.