Alasdair Henderson, divisional director of BAM Ritchies, takes over from Bauer鈥檚 Martin Blower who has completed his two-year term.
鈥淚t is an honour to be appointed as chair of the FPS as its status and respect within the specialist contractors sector is extremely high,鈥� Mr Hederson said. 鈥淚t is also encouraging to be a chair from outside the mainstream foundation industry, as it demonstrates the FPS鈥檚 role in championing the full range of ground engineering specialisms.鈥�
He intends to focus on training and professional recognition during his term of office, developing a route for pilers and geotechnical specialists to become professionally recognised as EngTechs, ideally through vocational routes of the major engineering institutions.
鈥�Training is my 鈥榯hing鈥� which goes hand-in-hand with my mission to see geotechnics recognised widely as a highly skilled industry,鈥� he said.
Alasdair Henderson is a visiting professor at Strathclyde University鈥檚 Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, and is a member of the international advisory group for the DISTINCTIVE consortium of universities undertaking research into nuclear decommissioning.