The Infrastructure Podcast: Episode 34

Guest: Mark Whitby, engineer, designer and founding director of Whitby Wood.

Half a century of engineering in half an hour

Today is a rather special episode in which were are going to look back over half a century of engineering - and no doubt leap forward, sideways, upwards and wherever else to predict the future.

Back in November 2001 when I was editor of New Civil Engineer magazine, I interviewed today’s guest Mark Whitby. He was just about to take on the role of President of the Institution of Civil Engineers - one of the oldest and most prestigious engineering institutions in the world.

After two hours in his company, asking questions and taking notes, I wrote” “his mind has raced through a thousand issues, the conversation leaping with his thoughts through the subjects of bridges, solar powered aircraft, local associations, knowledge sharing, steam engines, power cells, sustainability, urban design, modern art and the culture of engineering.”

We were both exhausted!

In those days we described Mark Whitby as the “enfant terrible” of the profession – a hugely creative, enthusiastic and passionate engineer, with a love of design, architecture, art and objects of beauty and a talent for building successful businesses - and for rubbing people up the wrong way.

“I do wind people up and I am abrupt,” he said. “But my heart is on my sleeve so that everyone knows exactly where I am on issues.” Perfect material for a journalist!

Some career indeed. It is 50 years since Mark left London University with a degree in Civil Engineering and after toying with the idea of becoming an architect or landscape architect, set about making his mark as an engineer with firms including Harris & Sutherland, Sir John Fairclough, Buro Happold and Anthony Hunt & Associates.

But in 1982 he was ready to take on the world alone, and with colleague Bryn Bird and later Mike Crane, Mark set up what became the hugely successful Whitby, Bird and Partners – a business that he would eventually sell to Danish giant Ramboll in 2007.

Not ready to sit back and rest, other businesses followed, including Whitby & Mohajer Engineers (WME) in the UAE, and Whitby Wood in the UK, where he still works today with Seb Wood.

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