CIHT has over 11,000 members,working across the full highways and transportation spectrum. CIHT brings together professionals who build, maintain, operate, design and plan transportation networks.

Members can be found working in contracting, supply, consultancy, local government, central government and academia – what they all have in common is a desire to meeting society’s need for sustainable and safe transportation systems and for protecting the environment.

 

Benjamin Olobo, BSc MSc CEng MCIHT
Senior Engineer, TRL Limited

Benjamin is a Chartered Engineer with over five years experience in the design, management, rehabilitation and commissioning of road infrastructure in the developing and developed world. He completed his MSc from the University of Birmingham in 2002 and his BSc in Civil Engineering from Makerere University in Uganda in 2001. Currently working for TRL, he has been involved with the development and management of research and consultancy delivery, mainly relating to the management of infrastructure assets including roads and airfield pavements. Benjamin has also helped promote engineering and technical leadership on a variety of projects and developed new areas of work. He has been involved with pavement design for roads and other research projects looking at alternative pavement design methods and material performance. Some of this work is to be published as TRL reports.

Previously he was at Mott MacDonald and worked on pavement designs of
new build and renewal/ maintenance schemes for Highways Agency projects including the detailed road design of the A3-Hindhead bypass. This project necessitated the application of innovative pavement design methodologies
to reduce material use, reduce environmental degradation and promote sustainability. Benjamin was also awarded the Colas Premium Award in 2005 for his contributions to the A3 Hindhead bypass pavement design process.
Prior to coming to the UK in 2001, he worked in Uganda as a trainee engineer for Chevron Texaco and KAGGA Consulting Engineers on the design of service
station steel canopies, water supply schemes and low volume/gravel roads.

Benjamin says...

"As a Member of the CIHT, I want to continue promoting highways and transportation engineering in the UK and overseas, particularly Uganda. This will entail involvement with local CIHT branches and will include school visits, evening talks and organising social events and participating in CIHT events and competitions. I have also been involved with setting up Engineers Without Borders – Uganda Chapter, which is affiliated to Engineers Without Borders International, a non-profit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide to improve their quality of life. This partnership involves the implementation of sustainable engineering projects, while involving and training internationally responsible engineers and engineering students.

I now hope the benefits of CIHT Membership will enable me to contribute to improving and increasing the scope of activities of the EWB-Uganda by
putting to use my experience, technical and interpersonal skills."

 

 

Libby Sands, MCIHT
Road Safety Manager, URS Corporation Ltd

Libby has over 35 years experience in highway engineering, the last 20 of which have been spent on the identification of highway accident remedial schemes and the design of safety schemes. Libby also has considerable experience of carrying out Safety Audits on different size schemes, from maintenance work to small improvement schemes and even major bypasses. Her early experiences in transportation were very broad, covering all aspects of local government highway design and maintenance. In 1987 she began specialising in Safety Engineering and since that time has been actively involved in the implementation of accident remedial schemes, many of which were considered innovative.

Libby is currently responsible for the identification of road safety improvement schemes for the Area 8 Managing Agent Contractor (MAC) contract (Carillion/URS), which covers parts of the Trunk Road and Motorway Network in the Counties of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Warwickshire. In this capacity, she is involved in network monitoring, site evaluation, scheme development and implementation within defined programmes and budgets.

Libby also heads the Road Safety Audit Team based in the URS Bedford
office, which provides a Road Safety Audit function for URS design offices throughout the UK and Ireland. Recent projects include the A21 Lamberhurst Bypass (Highways Agency); Morfa Stadium Development, Swansea (Costain Developments); Coed Darcy Amazon Gateway Development, Swansea
(Welsh Assembly Government); Pemberton Development, Llanelli and
many more.

Libby says...

"I’ve been a member of CIHT since 1992 and I am currently actively involved in the Institution through a number of different roles. I am the Honorary Secretary for the East Midland Branch and I also sit on the CIHT Road Safety Panel, which is currently reviewing the Road Safety Audit Guidelines. In May 2007, I was asked to become the inaugural Chair of a new ‘Branch’ of CIHT – the Society of Road Safety Auditors (SoRSA). This branch differs from other CIHT branches in that it does not cover a geographic area, but a specialism. The CIHT offers a great opportunity for networking with other industry professionals, as well as keeping members abreast of the latest developments within the industry. Through the CIHT, I have been pushed outside of my ‘comfort zone’ many times, by being asked to present papers at a variety of seminars, conferences and Universities. Initially I was nervous, but over time it has become easier and I found that it did wonders for my self-confidence."

 

 

Dr C.G.B (Kit) Mitchell,
MA DCAE Phd CEng FCIHT FCILT MRAES
Retired, formerly of TRL Limited

Kit trained as an aeronautical engineer at Cambridge University and Cranfield College of Aeronautics, and gained his Chartered Engineer through the Royal Aeronautical Society. Most of his initial career was at Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough, analysing dynamic loads and vibration on Concorde. In 1970, he was seconded to a joint Ministry of Technology/Ministry of Transport unit at the (then) Road Research Laboratory to bring advanced technology into surface transport. After a brief return to Farnborough, Kit was invited to transfer to Transport and Road Research Laboratory to run the British research programme on demand responsive transport. He helped London Country Buses plan and implement the Old Harlow dial-a-bus system and WMPTE introduce the Dorridge and Knowle service. In 1975 he was promoted to run Access and Mobility Division, responsible for research on the effects of transport policies on different social groups.

This led to his involvement with issues of access for people with disabilities, and his leading the team that produced the DPTAC Recommended Specification for Local Buses in 1988. From 1982 to his retirement in 1994
he ran Environment Division, which covered studies of road freight and road-friendly suspensions as well as the conventional aspects of the environment. He was project officer for an OECD research project on the effect of dynamic loading on road wear, which involved co-operation with researchers in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and continental Europe.

After retirement Kit joined Transport Canada in Montreal for nine months as a Visiting Expert to advise on the implications of Intelligent Transport Systems for older and disabled travellers. Since then, has helped with many projects that interest him. He has edited or written CIHT Guidelines on 'Planning for Public Transport in Developments' and on 'Moving Freight', updated the Freight Transport Association guide 'Designing for Deliveries', Kit has also helped the AA Motoring Trust write three editions of 'The Great British Motorist', advised the Israeli Commission on Disability Rights on draft regulations for accessible public transport, and lectured on accessible transport across the globe. He is co-chair of the US Transportation Research Board Committee on Accessible Transportation and Mobility and member of Committee on Safe Mobility of Elderly Persons.

In 2001 he received the William G Bell Award for services to accessible transportation from TRB. He chaired the CIHT Transport Policy Board for three years from 1996 and is still an active member. He was a member of Council from 1996 to 2005, is a member of the Diversity Panel and an assessor for Individual Case Assessments for Chartered Engineer. He has also been active in the Royal Aeronautical Society; as Deputy Chairman of the Farnborough Branch until this year and a member of the Branches Committee for eight years.

 

Kit says...

"CIHT has provided a base for professional contact and a way to keep up to date technically, as well as a source of many long-term friends. In the Institution, as in most of life, you gain in proportion to your contributions, which is great if the contributions are fun."