ENGINEERS AGAINST POVERTY - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Chartered Civil Engineer and Associate Professor in Engineering and International Development at University College London

Dr. Priti Parikh is a chartered civil engineer and Associate Professor in Engineering and International Development at University College London. She has over 15 years of engineering industry experience in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the UK with consultancies to include hands-on experience of designing infrastructure for slums in partnership with local communities. Dr Parikh received her PhD in Engineering from the University of Cambridge in 2008. Dr. Parikh has successfully championed the need for high quality research and engineering education to meet global challenges and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in resource challenged settings. She created a novel MSc programme in Engineering for International Development (EFID) and the EFID student hub, which harnesses engagement and interest from students addressing developmental challenges through joint activities with the UCL chapter of Engineers Without Borders, Global Water Brigades, Engineers in Action, UNICEF summer schools and engagement with the Royal Academy of Engineering. She won the UCL Provost Education Award for her contribution to Engineering Education. Dr. Parikh created and now leads the interdisciplinary EFID Research Centre which focusses on research in relation to water, sanitation and energy infrastructure in low-middle income countries. She was awarded the prestigious BBOXX/Royal Academy of Engineering Senior Research fellowship which focuses on energy access in sub-Sahara Africa through smart solar solutions. Dr. Parikh and her team of doctoral and post-doctoral researchers use mixed-method approaches for research focusing on the provision of sustainable and resilient infrastructure, environmental improvements and business models for resource constrained settings (slums and rural communities). Dr. Parikh is a key influencer in her field, and has been recognised as an Engineers Without Borders Changemaker, as well as serving as chair of the editorial panel for the Institution of Civil Engineers Engineering Sustainability Journal. She is a member of the board of trustees for the Happold Foundation and is a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Job Titles:

• CoST Head of Members and Affiliates
• Governance Specialist
• Head of Members

Evelyn is Head of Members and Affiliates for CoST - the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative which is hosted by Engineers Against poverty. In this role Evelyn engages potential members and supports and provides technical assistance to current members on the design and implementation of their programmes. Prior to her role as Head of Members and Affiliates, Evelyn was CoST Honduras Manager and she led the implementation of strategic and operational plans. During this time the programme obtained an Open Government Award in 2016, amongst other international recognition. She also played a key role in the design of the CoST Honduras disclosure platform for public and public-private partnership infrastructure projects which complies with international standards and which is being used as a model for other CoST member platforms. Evelyn is an open governance specialist with extensive experience in transparency, accountability and citizen engagement programmes in Latin America. Before joining CoST Evelyn consulted for international development organisations, delivering technical assistance, research and policy analysis.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board
• Professor at the London South Bank University

George Ofori is currently a Professor at the London South Bank University. He is Director of Research at the School of the Built Environment and Architecture at LSBU. He was formerly a Professor at the National University of Singapore. He is a Guest Chair Professor at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. He is also a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, UK; Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, UK, and Fellow of the Society of Project Managers, Singapore. He is a Member of the Board of Trustees of CoST - the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative (CoST). George has authored many books, international referred journal papers, conference papers, book chapters and published reports. His main research areas are construction industry development, leadership in construction, and professionalism and ethics. His special interest in these areas lies in the improvement of the construction industries of developing countries. He was the Founding Co-ordinator of the CIB Working Commission 107 (W107) on Construction in Developing Countries of the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) (1997 to 2007); and currently a Joint Co-ordinator of the CIB Task Group 95 on Professionalism and Ethics. For nearly four decades, he has been a consultant to international development agencies (including Australia Aid, Department for International Development, UK, and Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs); international organisations such as the International Labour Office, United Nations Human Settlements Programme and Commonwealth Secretariat); and governments. He has undertaken consultancy assignments in Malaysia, Bahrain, Botswana, Ghana, Indonesia, Malawi, Singapore, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tanzania.

Job Titles:

• Senior Policy Adviser
• Social Scientist

Jill Wells is a social scientist with a significant record of research and publications on economic, social and labour issues in the construction industry. She has had a long career that has straddled work in academia, government, international agencies, the private sector and civil society. Jill has done major work on labour issues for the International Labour Organization (ILO), notably an extensive study of labour migration for work in the construction industry in three regions (the Gulf, East Asia and Europe) as well as a major survey of changes in employment relationships in the construction industry worldwide. After retiring from the ILO she has been employed by Engineers Against Poverty, from where she continues to research a range of issues (investment, procurement, corruption) which are linked to employment in construction. In the past few years she has been working on migrant worker welfare issues in the countries of the Gulf, culminating in the publication in 2018 of an ILO White Paper: Exploratory study of good policies in the protection of construction workers in the Middle East.

Job Titles:

• Treasurer
• Treasurer of the Board

Jo is the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE ) Finance and Business Support Director, heading up the finance, HR and facilities management functions of IChemE in the UK and internationally. Other areas of responsibility also include IT, governance, legal, and the maintenance of IChemE's risk register. She is also the secretary of IChemE's staff pension scheme, the Chemical Engineers' Benevolent Fund and IChemE's trading subsidiary IChemE Ltd. Jo graduated in European Finance and Accounting from Leeds Metropolitan University in 1995, which included a year at the Hochschule Bremen in Germany. On joining IChemE, Jo started studying for the CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) qualification, which she completed and qualified in 2005. She subsequently went on to study for the ICSA (Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators) qualification and became Chartered in 2014. Though her work with IChemE, Jo also sits on the Disciplinary Committee for the Royal Society of Chemistry and Finance Board for the Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Job Titles:

• Programme Director

Since 2008 John has played a central role in CoST, first as Policy Adviser to the International Secretariat during the CoST pilot and then as Programme Manager. In his current position as Programme Director, John is responsible for strategic development and oversees member programmes. John is a specialist in UK and international procurement policy and governance in the infrastructure sector. He has extensive experience in researching the interaction between infrastructure procurement and social development and in developing transparent procurement and contract policy for infrastructure. In addition to his role in CoST, John is Head of Programmes at Engineers Against Poverty. Prior to working with CoST and Engineers Against Poverty, John was responsible for knowledge creation and transfer in civil engineering best practice at the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board

John has extensive experience of working in the infrastructure sector in low-income countries and over recent years he has specialised in developing approaches to bring private sector investment to the sector. John worked with the UK's Department for International Development for over three decades, including as Chief Engineering Adviser and Head of the Infrastructure Department. In these roles he was instrumental in the establishment of several multi-donor mechanisms to help overcome constraints to poverty reduction in low-income countries, including Engineers Against Poverty (which was originally titled The Telford Challenge). John was closely involved in the founding and development of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), including being part of initial thinking around its establishment and acting as its Special Adviser, before being appointed as non-executive director on the Board of one of the PIDG companies. Prior to these roles, John worked as Principal Engineer with the UK Transport Research Laboratory and as Executive Engineer in the Roads Department of the Government of Zambia. a role in which he resided in Zambia for three years. He has also lived in Barbados, Kenya, Malawi, Thailand and Fiji and has worked in many other countries worldwide. He is a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) and a fellow of the UK Institution of Civil Engineers. He has sat on the EAP Board since June 2019.

Job Titles:

• Senior Policy & Research Adviser

Maria is responsible for the analysis and evaluation of the various programmes delivered by Engineers Against Poverty (EAP), providing evidence-based advice to increase accountability and transparency in infrastructure governance and helping EAP to develop policy positions to advance its mission. Maria is legal professional whose experience has focused on construction and infrastructure and has advised on contract management, compliance and dispute resolution. Her academic researches include the policy design evaluation of the Brazilian Infrastructure Policy and of the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) sustainable infrastructure project Cairu-2030, where she helped re-designing its legal safety programme. Previous experience has also included advising on employment rights, routes to exit in-work poverty and the protection of labour rights particularly in the infrastructure sector. Maria holds a BA in Law from the University of São Paulo (First Class Honours), a Research Master in Law from the Université Paris II (Mention Assez Bien); a MSc in Development Management (Distinction and Award) from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D in Economic Law (Distinction) from the University of São Paulo.

Job Titles:

• Chairman
• Chairman of the Board
• Professor of Civil Engineering Systems and Executive Director of the Scottish Institute of Sustainable Technology

Paul is Professor of Civil Engineering Systems and Executive Director of the Scottish Institute of Sustainable Technology at Heriot Watt University. He is also a Board Member of Scottish Water. He graduated from Imperial College, and was a Lecturer there from 1974 until he moved to Heriot Watt in 1987, becoming Head of Civil Engineering from 1989 to 1999. In 1997 he was an Erskine Fellow at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, where he still has strong connections with the engineering community. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2005.Paul's major interests are sustainable development and systems-level solutions in engineering and the environment, particularly in water resources, asset management and water distribution systems. Paul was Chair of the ICE Presidential Commission - "Engineering without Frontiers" - that examined the engineer's contribution to meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals. Paul also has a strong interest in the educational and professional formation of the civil engineer, chairing an ICE/JBM Task Group to embed sustainable development into engineering curricula and professional development. He is currently a Vice President of the Institution of Civil Engineers and serves on its Environment and Sustainability Board.He is Editor of "Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems", a former Editor of the ICE's Water, Maritime and Energy Journal and currently a member of the Editorial Panel of the ICE Journal "Engineering Sustainability". Paul is a trustee of the Forth Bridges Visitor Centre. He is a member of "The Edge" - an ICE/RIBA/CIBSE Ginger Group created to increase public and political awareness of the role of engineers and architects. In 1996 his lecture on water resources - "From the Metamorphosis of Ajax to the Sweet Water of Leith" - featured in the Edinburgh International Science Festival.In his private life he enjoys old cars and old houses, being the co-owner of one of Edinburgh's last surviving mews stables properties in the Dean Village. Since 1966 he has been the owner, driver and restorer of a 1937 Morgan Motor Tricycle (a Matchless MX4 990cc V-Twin powered Barrel Back Super Sports). He also enjoys painting and sculpture.

Job Titles:

• Executive Director
• Executive Director of the CoST International Secretariat

Petter has been the Executive Director of Engineers Against Poverty (EAP) since 2000. He has overall responsibility for policy, strategy and programme delivery. As part of the EAP team, Petter has established the charity as one of the leading international voices on infrastructure policy and practice. EAP hosts the International Secretariat of CoST, the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative. Petter is the Executive Director of the CoST International Secretariat and a Member of the Board. Petter is a built environment and international development specialist with more than thirty years' experience. He has worked for government, industry and civil society and has extensive experience in Africa, Asia and the Pacific region. Petter has a BA Development Studies & Politics from SOAS and an MSc Social Policy and Planning in Developing Countries from LSE.

Job Titles:

• Director of Infrastructure Options

Ron Watermeyer is a director of Infrastructure Options (Pty) Ltd, a visiting adjunct professor, School of Construction Economics and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, and the Chair ISO TC 59 SC 18 (Construction Procurement), International Organisation for Standardisation.

Rupert heads Hogan Lovells International LLP's construction and engineering disputes practice in London. Over an international career spanning more than 25 years (10 of which were spent in Hong Kong), he has advised on projects in many industry sectors including transport (railways, airports, roads, ports, cable cars), traditional and renewable energy (oil, gas, wind, solar, hydro), waste to energy, refineries and petrochemical plants, commercial and residential developments, hospitals, hotels, theatre stages and casinos. He brings his wide experience to helping clients ensure projects are put and stay on track and, where disputes are unavoidable, in the conduct of formal and informal dispute resolution proceedings. He has represented clients in mediations, adjudications, arbitrations and litigation. Rupert is also ranked in Chambers legal directory for public procurement disputes, particularly relating to significant infrastructure projects. He has represented clients in several high profile public procurement cases reported in England over the past several years.

Job Titles:

• Senior Finance and Administration Manager

Sean is the first point of contact for all matters relating to the organisations finances & general enquiries. Sean joined Engineers Against Poverty in June 2016, prior to this, he worked in the not for profit sector in Belfast and London for over 13 years, including working as Finance Controller and Events Manager with The Ireland Funds. Sean graduated from University College Dublin with a Bachelor's Degree in Commerce.

Job Titles:

• Senior Policy and Research Adviser

As Senior Policy and Research Adviser Soren has been closely involved in drawing up the 2018-2023 Strategy of Engineers Against Poverty (EAP). He also supports CoST - the Infrastructure Transparency Initiative which is hosted by EAP and produces research and analysis on infrastructure governance and public investment management. In terms of policy work Soren has represented EAP at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings, OECD Forum on Governance of Infrastructure and coordinated a sub working group on infrastructure governance in the Civil20 process which ran in parallel with the G20 process under the German presidency. In this type of forums EAP promotes its recommendations for improved policy and practice on public infrastructure.