Water and Wastewater Industry Committee

Chief Mechanical Engineer, Atkins

Rob is Chief mechanical engineer of the Design and advanced technology practice in the Infrastructure division in Atkins. He operates as a Technical authority and Project director delivering excellence on large and small national and international water industry projects. He is a chartered mechanical engineer and has been a Fellow of the IMechE since 2012.

Having graduated in 1994 with a first class honours degree in mechanical engineering from Newcastle University, Rob set out on a career in consultancy in the water industry. He worked with Haiste, Carl Bro, Halcrow, Grontmij before joining Atkins in 2013. He has a broad-ranging background in water and wastewater industry consulting engineering and project delivery. He has directed, managed and undertaken feasibility, outline design and multidisciplinary detailed design projects ranging from £1k to £50M in capital value, as well as managing and directing small- and large-scale tenders for consultancy services. He has worked with and for many of the UK’s water companies and their Tier 1 contractors, and has delivered projects in the US, Channel Islands, Eire, Gibraltar and the Middle East.

Sapere Aude Engineering 

Darren has been involved with the Institution since 2005, via the Young Members, the Energy, Environment and Sustainability Group before finally helping to form the Water and Wastewater Technical Advisory Committee.

He graduated from the University of Liverpool with a MEng (Hons) degree in Mechanical Engineering with Management in 2006 and has subsequently spent the last ten years working as a mechanical engineer within the water industry.

In 2013 Darren set up an independent consultancy where he has since been working with MWH and Severn Trent Water as the lead mechanical designer on the Birmingham Resilience Project.

Associate Director, WSP

Susan is water and wastewater key specialty lead and staff manager in WSP E&I UK, ensuring the technical competence of staff, that procedures are fit for purpose and a consistently high standard of technical output. She has over 30 years’ experience of technical leadership, project engineering, staff management and project management of multi-disciplinary engineering & environmental consultancy projects predominantly in the water and wastewater sectors. She is particularly fond of providing robust solutions to tricky problems in water abstraction, treatment and distribution.

Susan has been committed to professional development since starting her own career as a graduate on Severn Trent’s MPDS scheme in 1986. Since then she has developed and supported engineers’ professional development through her roles as staff manager, registered mentor (IMechE & IET) and OU engineering tutor. Susan has been FIMechE since 2003.

Water Industry Consultant

Kevin joined the IMechE as a student member in 1978 and became a Chartered Engineer in 1993. He graduated with a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from Bradford University in 1981 having been sponsored and employed by GEC Machines. Following graduation Kevin took up a role as a Design Engineer with GEC and progressed to the post of Principal Engineer.

Kevin moved to Severn Trent Water in 1990 working initially as a Project Manager on both Water and Wastewater Capital Projects before moving into an Engineering Standards role with responsibility for the development and maintenance of STW’s Mechanical and Electrical Standards. He then returned to Capital Project delivery managing multi-disciplinary teams of electrical, mechanical and civil engineers following which he was appointed as the Engineering Standards Manager responsible for driving design standardisation and innovation throughout the Company.

Latterly, Kevin moved into an Operational role managing teams that provided technical, project improvement and budgetary support to front-line Wastewater Asset Managers.

Kevin set up and managed STW’s MPDS Programme for many years with responsibility for supporting graduate mechanical engineers seeking to become chartered. He also set up, established and is a past chair of the IMechE’s Water and Wastewater TAC.

Kevin left STW in February 2015 to set up his own Engineering Consultancy and now works for the Pump Centre as one of their Principal Consultants.

Retired

Philip Ashcroft recently retired from his post as Principal Engineer - Senior Policy and Strategy Lead (Hard FM) within the Operational Productivity Directorate at NHS Improvement. Philip was responsible for all policy and parliamentary work relating to NHS Estates Hard Facilities Management (FM) service.

He was responsible for providing advice, guidance and support to Ministers, allied policy teams in NHS Improvement and to health and social care commissioners and providers in England on these and other healthcare engineering subject areas. He was also responsible for the monitoring of estates related defects and failures and the issuing of Estates and Facilities Alerts in England.

Philip was the project lead to update HTM 04-01: Safe Water in Healthcare Premises, the decontamination guidance documents (HTM 01-01 surgical instruments and HTM 01-06 flexible endoscopes), HTM 07-02 EnCO₂de 2015, HTM 06-01 and the new CAMHS HBN 03-02. He also led on the project relating to the potential contamination of water distribution systems in augmented care units with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, culmination of the project being the publication of HTM 04-01: Addendum Pseudomonas aeruginosa – advice for augmented care units.

Philip joined NHS Improvement on 1^st February 2017 after the Estates function was transferred from the Department of Health. Prior to this transfer he held the role of Principal Buildings and Facilities Management Services Engineer at the Department of Health from March 2008 after 25 years with Yorkshire Water in various engineering roles. Philip also worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 4 years prior to his career in the water industry.

Philip is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, a Chartered Environmentalist and a Member of the Institute of Engineering Technology. He also sits on British Standards committees for BS 7671 "Requirements for Electrical Installations. IET Wiring Regulations and, the currently in production BS67000 Resilient Cities.

Arcadis

Jermaine studied Mechanical Engineering with a Diploma in Industrial Studies at Loughborough University, graduating in 2001. He became a Chartered Mechanical Engineer with the IMechE in 2010 and, subsequently, has also become a Chartered Member of CIBSE and SoPHE.

Jermaine has over 17 years’ experience of working on multi-disciplinary infrastructure and buildings projects within various sectors, including utilities, energy, and waste. He has worked on both UK and overseas projects undertaking key design/consultancy roles, such as Contractors Responsible Engineer and Independent Certifier, and is currently a Principal Engineer for Arcadis.

His appreciation of both mechanical engineering within the water industry and public health engineering provides a broad perspective on water and wastewater. He is enthusiastic about promoting engineering and professional development, and is also a registered as an IMechE MPDS mentor.

David graduated with a BEng in Mechatronic Engineering from Lancaster University in 2008. Following graduation David took up a role as a Graduate Design Engineer with Halcrow Group Limited. During his time at Halcrow David became EngTech registered.

David moved to the Environment Agency in 2012 as Mechanical Technical Specialist for the North West region providing technical expertise to large capital projects and project managing smaller pumping station refurbishments. He has worked alongside the National M&E team to develop the Agency’s Code of Practice for Mechanical Safety and National specifications. David developed the National frameworks for the delivery of Pumps and Control Panels. David is currently working on the Agencies Building Information Modelling (BIM) pilot project. During his time at Environment Agency he gained his Chartership status in 2016.

David has worked at Bilfinger UK as a Senior Project Engineer to manage multiple discipline design teams delivering projects in many different industries. David has worked at Black and Veatch as a principal mechanical engineer.

David has joined the Environment Agency as Senior Mechanical Engineer for the North West providing the Senior Authorised Person role for mechanical and pressure systems. David also provides technical expertise to large capital projects.

Senior Mechanical Engineer, Stantec

Samuel graduated from the University of Brighton in 2016 with an MEng (Hons) degree in Mechanical Engineering. He joined Stantec straight out of university in a primarily site-based role, undertaking condition assessments and developing asset maintenance strategies. Samuel surveyed over 60 wastewater & clean water treatment sites in his first year which provided him with a solid understanding of what equipment is used in the industry as well as the typical issues. He has applied this knowledge as a designer, working on large capital projects across both clean water and wastewater. He is also the specialist for Screens & Screenings Handling equipment and HVAC for the client’s mechanical team.
Samuel is an active chartered member of the IMechE, having served on the Portsmouth and Isle of Wight IMechE Committee. He encouraged engagement with the IMechE by organising local IMechE events, technical lectures, and networking opportunities. Samuel is committed to his ongoing involvement with the IMechE and raising awareness of the water industry.

Framework Manager – Eric Wright Water

Ryan has been a member of the Institution since 2012, graduating from Aston University with a MEng (Hons) degree in Professional Engineering. Ryan gained chartership in 2019. Ryan has been an active member of the IMechE Water and Wastewater Industries Committee since 2021.

Ryan has worked in the Water Industry throughout his career since starting as an Apprentice in 2006. Ryan continues to support Apprentices as a STEM Ambassador for the Eric Wright Learning Foundation. He has been with Eric Wright Water since 2020 in the position of Framework Manager overseeing the Frameworks held with Severn Trent Water and Hafren Dyfrdwy.

Principal Mechanical Engineer, Capital Delivery and Commercial, Severn Trent Water Services Ltd

Project Technical Lead, Stantec UK

Matthew Hunt Graduated with a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from University of Pretoria, South Africa. Following Graduation Matthew relocated to the UK and took up a role with the Food Process Industry providing Hygienic Pigging solutions to clients in United States of America and Australasia region for several years before relocating to the Water and Wastewater Sector. Matthew worked on various wastewater non-infrastructure schemes in the capacity of a Project of Project Engineer. Matthew successfully achieved his CEng while working on water projects and is a big advocate for continued development and training graduate engineers.

Matthew currently holds a position within Stantec as a Project Technical Lead to manage multiple discipline design teams delivering projects within various municipal water suppliers.

Senior Mechanical Engineer, Southern Water

James graduated from Brighton University in 2011 with a MEng (Hons) degree and took a job as Graduate Mechanical Engineer with MWH (now Stantec) after completing a 2 year scholarship with the 4Delivery Joint Venture. Since 2016, James has worked for Southern Water as a Design Engineer on large capital projects, both on wastewater and more recently, clean water projects. James has been a chartered member of the IMechE since 2016 and has been a mentor to developing engineers at Southern Water as well as being the scheme administrator for the graduate training scheme.

Within the Southern Water mechanical team, James is a specialist in clean water pumps, pressure equipment and lifting, providing guidance on design, technical queries and updating the mechanical specifications.

Managing Director, Flow Science UK Ltd

Mark Keating is the Managing Director of Flow Science UK which is owned by Flow Science Inc, developers of the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software suite of FLOW-3D products for the last 40 years. This includes the HYDRO product for the water/wastewater industry.

Mark became an IMechE member in 1993 and has been involved in modelling and simulation first degree graduation in Mechanical Engineering in 1995 at Nottingham Trent University. He went on to study for his MPhil & PhD in industrial gas turbines investigating novel blade heat transfer and became chartered (CEng) in 2000. Since 2001 Mark has held technical, commercial, marketing and management roles revolving around major commercial simulation software vendors (most significantly, 16 years with Ansys).

Mark has been a STEM ambassador since 2019 and in 2022 completed his Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) course. Mark sits on the NAFEMS UK steering committee as well as a number of NAFEMS working groups (CFD, optimisation, metal additive manufacturing etc) and IMechE Thermo-Fluids Group Board and is an enthusiastic advocate of the adoption of simulation technologies. He is also the publicity officer for the IMechE Nottinghamshire/Derby Area Committee.

Mark is a Subject Matter Expert in Strategic Asset Management and Reliability Engineering, with a background in Design, Test, Development and New Product Introduction.

Mark is a Fellow of the IMechE, SaRS and IAM, a Registered Asset Management Professional, STEM Ambassador, Chair of the IMechE’s Safety & Reliability Group Board and Chair of the Engineering for Reliability Working Group, a member of the Human Factors Working Group and the IMechE’s Water & Wastewater Industries Committee.

Mark is also a member and Director of the IAM’s UK Chapter Committee.

Mark is an Asset Management and Reliability Consultant with a unique skills set having lived and breathed every part of the asset lifecycle from: requirements to concept design, final design, prototype, development, reliability testing, new product introduction, warranty management, operation and maintenance, refurbishment, renewal, replacement and disposal/ recycling.

Mark provides Strategic Asset Management support (how to operate your plants / facilities / assets more efficiently, how to use data and analytics, including AI, to provide insight into plant / facility / asset behaviour to improve performance whilst reducing cost and risk etc.) or Reliability Engineering Support (problem solving, root cause analysis, improving performance and maintenance effectiveness whilst reducing cost etc.) delivered across transport, water, process, power and manufacturing industries.

Mark has experience with wastewater plant O&M and RCM analysis, water and wastewater failure investigation and failure impact analysis.

Senior Mechanical Engineer, United Utilities

Pamela is a Senior Mechanical Engineer with United Utilities and has worked for them since 2022. Prior to this Pamela worked for Atkins, whilst at Atkins she worked for several water clients across the country in both the clean and waste water sector. As well as working for the environment agency and other non-water based clients. Prior to Atkins she worked for Imtech process as part of the waste water capital delivery team for Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water.

Pamela graduated with a masters in mechanical engineering from UMIST in 2002 and successfully gained chartership status in 2008. She mentors and develops other engineers to help them to gain chartered status. Pamela has been a member of the Process Industries Division’s North West Centre committee since 2008 and a member of the Water and Wastewater Committee since 2019.

Director, Mech2o Engineering Ltd

Simon is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers with over 40 years of experience in Mechanical Engineering starting as an Apprentice at Rolls-Royce in Bristol, before working in Kenya with VSO and then on sisal plantation in Tanzania. Simon then did a Master’s Degree at Cranfield, going on to work on irrigation in Egypt, the Jubilee River, Great Man-Made River and a variety of other projects before joining Thames Water in 2001, where he worked for nearly 14 years. Simon then ran his own independent consultancy business for over 5 years working on the Tideway Tunnel, Lee Tunnel, Havant Thicket Reservoir, and a number of other projects. In 2021, Simon rejoined Thames Water as Head of Mechanical Engineering.

Co-founder & Director, Purestream Industries Ltd

Nicholas Wise is the Co-founder & Director of Puretream Industries Ltd, a Water & wastewater solution provider, including consultancy services, trade effluent solutions, EPC works and hire equipment.

Nicholas became an IMechE member in 2003 and has been involved in the water & wastewater industry since graduating from a Master’s degree in Water & Wastewater Engineering from Cranfield University in 2003. He went on to complete additional studies in Process Heat transfer and Fluid Mechanics at Curtin University in 2009 and became chartered (CEng) in 2010. Since 2003 Nicholas has held technical, commercial, marketing and management roles in Black & Veatch and Biwater International Limited, both in the UK and overseas.

Nicholas intends to draw on his experience across the sector and his connections with the Institute of Water & IChemE, to promote emerging technologies and current industry challenges with the wider community of mechanical engineers working in the water, wastewater and desalination sector.