The Institution of Structural Engineers Yorkshire Region

2025 Yorkshire Hub Structural Awards Dinner, Friday 7th November 2025 - Reminder

The Yorkshire Hub of the IStructE is delighted to invite you and your guests to celebrate THE YORKSHIRE STRUCTURAL AWARDS in the stunning setting of The Met Hotel, Leeds.

The evening will start with a drinks reception, followed by a three course dinner and concludes with the following after dinner activities:

Presentation of entries and announcement of winners for the 2025 Yorkshire Structural Engineering Awards
Speeches

Award of certificates to newly elected Members and Fellows
Award of Student prizes and certificates
Fun quiz with assorted prizes
Dress Code: Black Tie / Lounge Suits

Date & Time
Fri 7th November 2025

19:00 - 23:30 BST

Location
The Met Hotel

King Street

Leeds

LS1 2HQ

Booking Info
Bookings for this event can be made through Eventbrite. The Eventbrite page for this event can be accessed by clicking the button below:

https://lnkd.in/e-y2W_Cg

IStructE Yorkshire Talk: The Digital Design of the Sydney Opera House

Overview of talk:
Much is said about the architecture of the Sydney Opera House (SOH). How the architect Jørn Utzon won the design competition with a design that looked good but didn’t stand up. How Ove Arup worked with Utzon to find a roof form that could be designed and built. How construction started on the foundations, on geology that was far weaker than had originally been thought, four years before the shape of the superstructure was finalised. How Utzon left the project and how Arup nearly left too. And how, like St Paul’s Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower before it, the SOH went from reviled eyesore to national icon.

What isn’t mentioned much is the quiet analytical revolution that happened in the basement of Arup’s office thanks to the Arup Computing Group: the first use of Finite Element Analysis and parametric design on a building structure.

Join us to see how, 65 years ago, structural engineering entered the digital age and why the Sydney Opera House required such a technological leap.

Speaker profile:
Peter Debney CEng MBCS FIStructE of Arup will tell the story behind the development and use of digital tools some 65 years ago to design the Sydney Opera House
Since gaining his degree in Civil Engineering at Surrey University over 35 years ago Peter has designed sewage treatment plants and petrochemical refineries, houses and shopping centres, portal frames and reservoirs.
He has worked as a CAD technician and as an engineer, creating drawings, calculations, and macros. He has also worked directly in the engineering software industry, helping develop the CAD programs Xsteel (Tekla Structure) and 3D+, and the finite element analysis and design program GSA.
Peter is perhaps best known as the author of the IStructE’s technical guideComputational Engineering.

Date and time
Thu, 26 Jun 2025 18:00 - 19:45 BST

Location
Arup
12 Wellington Place Leeds LS1 4AG
Show map

About this event
Event lasts 1 hour 45 minutesTimings:
Light refreshments (i.e. a cuppa and a biccy) and networking at 6pm / talk starts at 6:30pm.

Event Registration(see Bio) : https://lnkd.in/dwW5NVaz

Site Factory Visit & Technical Presentation

IStructE East Midlands Regional Hub Meeting
18th and 19th June 2025.
Physical Attendance Site Visit & Technical Presentation

Join us for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the Worksop Galvanizing Plant. This event is aimed at specifiers, designers, and engineers who wish to expand their understanding of galvanizing and improve the durability and sustainability of their designs.
After the tour, participants will have the opportunity to engage in networking activities, asking any questions from the presentation and factory tour.

Worksop Galvanising Factory Tour
Time & Date
1:00pm start, 18th & 19th June 2025
What to Expect
You will receive a CPD-accredited technical presentation and guided factory tour. The session will provide:
•    An introduction to hot dip galvanizing
•    An overview of the galvanizing process
•    Insights into coating performance and characteristics
•    Guidance on design
•    Specification advice and sustainability insights
•    Case studies and real-life applications
•    An opportunity to ask technical questions

AGENDA1:00 – 2:00 Factory Tour
2:00 – 3:00 Presentations (covering company overview, design process, manufacturing, a variety of pile types and site installation)
3:00 – 4:00 Networking opportunity
1.00pm prompt start. Note, please arrive early to see the factory processes in operation.
Please bring with you PPE including Helmet, Safety Boots and HV Jacket. Limited PPE will be available from the factory.

VENUE: Worksop Galvanising Ltd, Claylands Avenue,Worksop,Nottinghamshire,S81 7BQ
Located near to junction 30 and 31 of the M1 in Worksop

18th and 19th June 2025. Note each visit is limited to 30 members so please only book if you are confident of your availability. If your 1st preferred date is not available please try 2nd date.

To register please visit: https://lnkd.in/ehYfJqyE

IStructE Yorkshire and Northern Counties Hubs invite members to an electric darts social at BOX in Leeds on 25th June

Join us for a fun and relaxed evening of Electric Darts at BOX Leeds! This is a joint event hosted by the Young Members Group and the Main Committee – a great chance to connect across all career stages. Buffet food will be provided. All are welcome.
NB: There are only 20 places available for this event so, if you book one and are unable to attend for any reason, please cancel your order (or contact the organisers) asap.

Date and time
Wed, 25 Jun 2025 18:00 - 21:00 BST

Location
BOX Leeds
15 Infirmary Street Leeds LS1 2JS
Show map

About this event
Event lasts 3 hours

To Register please visit: https://lnkd.in/eY9NvAs9

Reminder - 14th May 2025, IStructE Yorkshire Hub Technical Talk, The University of Sheffield - Sort Trae House, Thurgoland​
To register to attend this event click link in Bio.

Overview of Project: Sort Trae sits in a rural setting overlooking the rolling South Yorkshire countryside. The brief for its design required it to be ‘relevant and sustainable’. The owner, who developed the initial concept, wanted a house that could change to meet their needs as they grew older and had minimal impact on the stunning surrounding landscape and the wider environment.

The architect responded by designing what is essentially a pair of charred black timber boxes cut into the hillside – one a two-storey house and the other a single-storey studio space – floating above a low sandstone wall. These minimal structures reference agricultural buildings and help blend the project with the landscape. This simplicity is carried through to the interiors where carefully crafted detailing and use of space create a home for life that is easily adaptable and, being ultra-low energy, affordable to run.

Designed to Passivhaus standards, the buildings not only respect their setting but have a minimal impact on it. The ultra-low energy approach uses the thermal mass of the concrete retaining walls and south facing triple-glazed walls to manage internal temperatures and create a comfortable, highly efficient environment.

Speaker Profiles
Chris Jarvis: Chris is a Chartered Structural Engineer and a current Director of JAM Structural Design, and will be introducing the project.
Paul Testa: Paul is a Chartered Architect, and is a Director of both JAM Structural Design and their sister company HEM Architects. Paul will cover the Architectural strategy / challenges of the project.
Jon Carr: Jon is a Chartered Structural Engineer and was a Director of JAM Structural Design when Sort Trae was designed and constructed. Jon will be discuss the Structural challenges of the project.

Date: 14th May 2025
Time: 18:00 for 18:15 start
Duration: 1 hour 15 mins
Location: University of Sheffield, Diamond Building, 32 Leavygreave Road, Broomhall, Sheffield S3 7RD - Lecture Theatre 5 View on Google maps

IStructE Yorkshire Hub invites members and non-members on an Engineering themed pub quiz in central Leeds, including a free buffet.

We thought we’d do something a little different this month, so members and their friends / colleagues are invited to join us for an early evening Engineering themed quiz at the Cross Keys in Holbeck (so nice and handy for the train station).

Your question master for the evening will be the one and only David Richardson.
Teams will be sorted out on the night, so there is no need to find other team members before signing up.
That said, if you do have enough people for a team (up to 6 people), that’s great too.
Food will be available from 6pm, and the quiz will start at about 6:30pm.
Only 50 places are available, so book early as they say!

Date: Wed, 16 Apr 2025 18:00 - 20:00 BST
Location:
The Cross Keys
107 Water Lane Holbeck LS11 5WD

Registration Link - https://lnkd.in/eP_4gVBw

A Fantastic Evening with the 2025 IStructE President and CEO

We had the pleasure of welcoming the newly elected 2025 IStructE President, Mohamad Khodr Al-Dah, along with IStructE CEO, Yasmin Becker, to the Yorkshire Region for an inspiring evening of discussion and knowledge sharing. A huge congratulations to Mohamad Khodr Al-Dah on this well-deserved role!

We were also joined by North East Region Chair, Andrew Snowball and the 2025 IStructE Yorkshire Chair, Alex Rutaroh CEng MICE MIStructE —congratulations to both!

The insights shared by President were truly inspiring, especially around these key themes:

1️⃣ Buildings on Carbon – The future of sustainable structural design
2️⃣ Meaningful Partnerships – Strengthening collaboration in the industry
3️⃣ Mentoring – The power of guidance in shaping future engineers

We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our past Chair Peter Debney CEng MBCS FIStructE for his outstanding efforts and contributions to the IStructE Yorkshire Regional Group. His dedication has been instrumental in shaping the region’s success.

A special thank you to Kan Zhou for hosting the event at Leeds Beckett University —we truly appreciate the support in making this evening possible.

A huge thank you to all the committee members for their hard work and support in making this event a great success!

The evening concluded with a wonderful dinner, where we had the opportunity to continue the discussions and connect further.

A big thank you to Mohamad Khodr Al-Dah and Yasmin Becker for their time and leadership—it was a fantastic evening for everyone involved!

Kan Zhou Smail Kechidi Somesh Ainapur BEng MSc (Hons) GMICE Simeon C.

IStructE President’s visit 2025 - Attendance in Person
Talk Synopsis:
The talk will cover Mohamad Al-Dah’s journey and career achievements, from his childhood in Dubai to becoming a professionally qualified structural engineer who recognises the value of mentoring and collaboration.

Mohamad looks ahead to his presidential year with a committment to the Institution’s purpose to promote and advance structural engineering.

Mohamad’s themes for his presidential year include:
Embodied carbon action: encouraging IStructE members to think and do more to reduce embodied carbon in their work.
Forging partnerships: working with other professional bodies, academia, and firms to achieve aims and goals together.
Mentoring and EDI (equity, diversity and inclusion): continuing to develop mentoring and EDI at IStructE.
Speaker Profile:
Mohamad was born in Dubai in 1979, and graduated with an MEng from the University of Oxford in 2002.
He then worked at Arup UK as a structural engineer from 2002 until 2009, where he developed an interest in renovating old buildings in the UK and around the world. Mohamad brings a wealth of experience to the role, with a global career spanning Cardiff, London, Panama, Cairo, Seoul and Dubai.

He joined Dubai Land Department in 2009 and continues to work there. He founded the Real Estate Appraisal Centre and authored the Emirates Book Valuation Standards in 2010. He also oversaw the signing of the MOU between the IStructE and Dubai Land Department in 2019. He is currently the Director at the Jointly Owned Properties Department, Real Estate Regulatory Agency, DLD, Government of Dubai.
Mohamad became Chartered in 2008 and a Fellow in 2016, and was a Vice President of the IStructE (representing India, Middle East & Africa) from 2020 to 2024.

Schedule (note that all timings are approximate, and that there will be a Q&A session after each talk)
18:00 Light buffet served
18:30 Institution update by IStructE CEO Yasmin Becker
18:45 Talk by incoming IStructE President, Mohamad Al-Dah

Date and time
Wed, 29 Jan 2025 18:00 - 20:00 GMT

Location
Leeds Beckett University - City Campus
Lecture Theatre CL 113 Calverley Building Leeds LS1 3HB

Link in Bio

⭐️ 🌟 Please note the deadline for submitting award entries has been extended to 5pm on 30th September 2024. 💫

Rules on award entries and how to submit them can be found by clicking the below link.

2024 Yorkshire Region Structural Awards

The IStructE Yorkshire Region are pleased to announce the launch of the 2024 Yorkshire Region Structural Awards which recognise structural engineering achievements within the Yorkshire region.

Submissions will be independently judged and awards will be conferred on the basis of engineering merit alone; not size, cost or profile of project or practice.

The Yorkshire Structural Engineering Awards will be presented at the Institution of Structural Engineers Yorkshire Region Annual Dinner in November 2024.

Further details of the awards, plus an application form, are available by clicking the link in the bio.

Dear Member

The IStructE Yorkshire Region are pleased to announce the launch of the 2024 Yorkshire Region Structural Awards which recognise structural engineering achievements within the Yorkshire region.

Submissions will be independently judged and awards will be conferred on the basis of engineering merit alone; not size, cost or profile of project or practice.

The Yorkshire Structural Engineering Awards will be presented at the Institution of Structural Engineers Yorkshire Region Annual Dinner in November 2024.

Further details of the awards, plus an application form, are available by clicking the button in the bio section.

Email Distribution
Please note these emails are circulated around IStructE members, at all levels, in the region, but not to organisations. Accordingly, if none of the management in your organisation are members of the IStructE can you please make them aware of these awards.

Dear Yorkshire Region IStructE Young Members

Triton Construction have kindly invited us to their site in Barnsley City Centre on Friday 26th July at 10:30am. The site is outside the train station entrance so access is easy. The postcode is S71 1BB or what 3 words https://what3words.com/term.always.vote. The structure being built is of steel frame construction. There will be an opportunity to have lunch together following the event.

Attendees are required to register in advance, to arrive at the entrance 15 mins early, and to be wearing full PPE (hard hat, safety boots, gloves, glasses, hi-visibility clothing).

Please email [email protected] if you would like to attend.

All good wishes

IStructE Regional Young Members Group

Our next Technical talk is on the Redevelopment of Battersea Power Station - Online only event

Date and Time: Wed, 15th May 2024 18:00-19:00 BST

This talk, given by Matt Duckett and Azat Tatygulov of by Buro Happold, covers the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station.

Talk Synposis:
The Battersea Masterplan is a £9bn project to revitalise 42 acres of former brownfield site in South-West London. The redevelopment of the iconic Grade II* listed Power Station, known as Phase 2, was the key project within the masterplan, with construction taking place between 2014 and 2022. The presentation is provided by two of the project structural engineers who were part of the design team and on-site during construction, providing an overview of the redevelopment, as well as some of the challenges faced during the design and construction of the project.

Speaker Bios
Matt Duckett of Buro Happold: Associate Structural Engineer
Matt is a chartered Associate Structural Engineer with 9 years of experience based in the Buro Happold London office. He is the BH London timber knowledge lead. He has worked on the design of several notable projects throughout his career including the V&A East, Battersea Power Station and the expansion of Wimbledon Tennis Club.

Azat Tatygulov of Buro Happold: Associate Structural Engineer
Azat is a chartered Associate Structural Engineer with 10 years of experience based in the Buro Happold London office, 3 of which he spent on the construction site at Battersea Power Station. While his present focus is the design of tall buildings, through his career he has worked on several high-profile projects in the Middle East and his native Kazakhstan, including the flagship station for the KAFD Metro development and HQ for the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

To reserve your spot for this Technical talk visit: https://lnkd.in/drUNf5br or our link in the Bio