Dr. Amer Ali said: “The Partnership between London South Bank University (LSBU) and the Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE) is a culmination of the extensive and deep collaboration between the two institutions which I started when I joined LSBU in 2011. It is important for promoting the professional development of staff and students and to equip our students with the highest achievable knowledge and skills. To give an example of the level of collaboration, I was honoured to invite and welcome three presidents of the IHE (Mr. Steve Spender, Mr. Richard Hayes, and Mr. Martin Polland) to visit LSBU and talk to our transport and civil engineering students on a number of occasions. I am the Vice Chair of the IHE Greater London Branch which I re-launched with a colleague from the industry, Mr. Luke Meechan, the current chair”.
This LSBU-IHE academic-professional partnership agreement is one of four similar partnerships that Dr Ali developed and signed with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT), the Permanent Way Institution (PWI) and the IHE. Dr Ali who is specialised in highway and transportation engineering has a well- established record of teaching and research in highways, railways, and sustainability and in the supervision of large number of PhD students. Dr. Ali has been coordinating and teaching a major professional development scheme for LSBU civil engineering students which he created in 2015. “These are within my mission and capacity as a Fellow of the above four Professional Engineering Institutions (PEIs), a Lead Reviewer for the CEng/IEng professional qualifications, and a member of the Main Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) which regularly reviews and accredits civil engineering courses for universities and colleagues across the UK on behalf of the ICE, CIHT, IHE, PWI and the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) under the umbrella of the Engineering Council which is the UK regulatory body for the engineering profession”.
The President of the Institute of Highway Engineers (IHE), Mr. Martin Polland commenting on the new LSBU-IHE Academic-Professional Partnership Agreement said: “Our relationship with London South Bank University has been going from strength to strength over a number of years, and we hope that this partnership will help strengthen the task of both the IHE and London South Bank University to produce academically and professionally qualified engineers in the future. We trust that such an agreement and close working relationship will benefit all those involved, most importantly the students who we hope we can help take their first steps towards gaining professional registration status”.
