Meet the Programme Board
The Programme Board is a group of elected individuals who oversee the portfolio of activities related to Safer End of Engineered Life (SEEL), on behalf of the Academy’s Trustee Board, International Committee and Lloyd’s Register Foundation. The Chair of the Programme Board is Professor William Powrie FREng.
The purpose of the Board is to provide strategic direction and clear objectives to guide the delivery of the SEEL activates. Each member brings a wealth of expertise and experience relevant to the mission and provides linkages, knowledge, opportunities and helps identify potential risks.
Professor William Powrie FREng (Chair)
Prof William Powrie FREng is Professor of Geotechnical Engineering within the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Southampton. His main technical areas of interest are transport infrastructure and sustainable waste and resource management, underpinned by an understanding of fundamental soil behaviour and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2009 in recognition of my work in these areas. He is also Geotechnical Consultant to the internationally-leading groundwater control company, WJ Groundwater Ltd.
Dr Ruth Boumphrey
Ruth Boumphrey is the Chief Executive of Lloyd’s Register Foundation, an independent global charity with a mission to enhance the safety of life and property and advance public education. The Foundation is a major global supporter of science and engineering-related research, skills and education, public outreach, and accelerating technology to application. It identifies the biggest global safety challenges building knowledge and capability to make the world a safer place. The Foundation is the owner of Lloyd’s Register Group Limited,
Ruth has a background in research, development and regulation primarily in the Space and Environmental sectors. She is a trustee of the National Oceanography Centre and a Non-executive Director of Cefas – the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences – a UK Government appointment.
She was previously Chair of the Welding Institute and on the Council at Lancaster University, one of the UK’s top ten universities.
Professor Susan Gourvenec FREng
Theme lead for Decommissioning Offshore Structures and Ships
Professor Susan Gourvenec is a specialist of offshore geotechnical engineering and holds a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies in Intelligent & Resilient Ocean Engineering. Susan’s work drives activities to create a step change in ocean engineering design to support responsible, sustainable and economic ocean development. Susan’s work extends beyond engineering through multidisciplinary research and cross-sector projects, and she is Deputy Director of the interdisciplinary Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute. Susan has an established track record of International Standards development for offshore infrastructure through roles with the ISO, BSI, API and LR. Susan is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia, a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and was recently elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Dr Andrew Clark
Dr Andrew Clark is Director of Programmes at the Royal Academy of Engineering, responsible for Enterprise, International and Research activities. Before he joined the Academy in 2016, he worked at UCL as Director of Research Planning, supporting UCL’s research funding relationships, research strategy, and development of novel cross-disciplinary research programmes. He spent his early career at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, looking after manufacturing, design and healthcare engineering, as well as teaching philosophy of science at the University of Oxford and the Open University.
Dr Olivia Swift
Dr Olivia Swift is a Senior Programme Manager at Lloyd’s Register Foundation, where she develops and manages partnerships and projects to improve the safety of critical infrastructure, especially at sea. An anthropologist by background, Olivia has conducted research in the Philippines, in various ports, and aboard ship. She has also been a Lecturer at Goldsmiths, University of London and a Senior Research Fellow at Greenwich Maritime Institute. She has also more than a decade’s experience of consulting for maritime charities on topics relating to worker safety and welfare.
Professor Linda Godfrey
Technical Advisory Group Chair
Linda is the manager of the Waste RDI Roadmap Implementation Unit (DSI/CSIR), driving research, development and innovation in the waste and secondary resources sector in South Africa, alongside her roles as a principal scientist at the CSIR, and a Professor at NWU. She has worked on an array of waste and green economy initiatives in the past providing strategic direction and has published extensively in the field of waste management. Linda was part of the Engineering X Global Review on SEEL.
Technical Advisory Group
The purpose of the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) is to provide technical assistance to the Safer End of Engineered Life (SEEL) Programme Board. This helps inform the strategic direction and implementation of Engineering X’s activities under the SEEL mission, which is supported by Lloyd’s Register Foundation. The Chair of the Technical Advisory Group is Prof Linda Godfrey.
Aditi Ramola
Since joining ISWA in 2016, Aditi has led the development of international collaboration and projects with the CCAC, UNEP, and UN Habitat, amongst others. Prior to beginning her professional career in both intergovernmental organisations and the private sector, her academic interest focused on exergy analysis of plastic waste management. Aditi was also Chair of the ISWA Young Professionals Group 2019. Aditi contributed to the Global Review and has been instrumental in building the partnership between Engineering X and ISWA, who partnered with SEEL on our open burning workshops.
Zoë Lenkiewicz
Zoë is a founding member of WasteAid and combines technical and creative skills with strategic waste management expertise from over 20 years’ experience in circular economy initiatives. Having led municipal waste and recycling programmes, research studies, campaigns and consultations, and workshops and training courses in the UK and lower-income countries, Zoë’s work now focuses on driving international attention to waste management for global development. Zoë inputted on the SEEL programme’s design for the open burning workshops and was central to raising open burning of waste at COP26. She is looking to develop this further at COP27.
Keith Alverson
Keith is an independent consultant focusing on the areas of oceans, climate, and environment. He previously worked within UNEP, spending over 4 years as Director of IETC in Osaka, Japan, following 5 years as Coordinator of the Freshwater, Land and Climate Branch in Nairobi, Kenya. Keith has additionally published extensively on resource efficiency, chemicals and pollution action, and climate action, as well as serving on various high level scientific panels. Keith sat on the Global Review Technical Advisory Group and inputted on the open burning workshops.
Sonia Dias
Training originally in sociology and with a PhD in Political Sciences, Sonia is a “garbologist” specializing in solid waste management. Prior to joining WIEGO, she has had experience as a city officer working in the municipal cleaning agency of her hometown, as a consultant for international agencies, and as an Eisenhower Fellow for the Common Interest Program on Challenges of Urbanization, amongst other voluntary and academic roles. Sonia’s interests include promoting social inclusion, gender equity and occupational health in waste forums worldwide.
Professor David Wilson
David has spent 45 years as an independent waste and resource management consultant in developing and emerging economies and in Western Europe, now specialising in high-level policy and strategy work. He is lead author of UNEP and ISWA’s Global Waste Management Outlook, and has taught part-time at Imperial College London since 2000. His wide interests includes behaviour change for waste prevention, informal sector recycling, waste 'governance', preventing plastics reaching the oceans, extending waste collection to all, eliminating uncontrolled disposal and open burning of waste, and the safe management of hazardous wastes. A prolific author, David has won the ISWA Publication Award five times over 20 years, the latest for the Nine Development Bands, a global theory of waste and development. David contributed to the open burning workshops. His website is www.davidcwilson.com.
Katherine Palmer
With over 17 years’ experience in environmental and sustainability management in the shipping industry, Katherine’s focus now lies in bringing change to secure a sustainable future for the industry. She is currently an elected Trustee on the Board of the Sustainable Shipping Initiative and co-chair of the IMarEST technical leadership board, supporting initiatives such as the Sustainable Shipping initiative, IMO GloMEEP Global industry Alliance, CPLC maritime workstream and Global maritime forum decarbonisation workstream. Katherine attended the SEEL 2019 workshop on safer decommissioning of offshore structures and ships.
Crispian Lao
Crispian’s 40+ years’ experience in the plastics industry has led to his appointment to the National Solid Waste Management Commission, advocating for waste management to protect the environment. He holds several professional memberships including Co-Convener and Founding President of the Philippine Alliance for Recycling and Material Sustainability (PARMS), and Co-Chair and Industry Sector Representative to the APEC Virtual Working Group on Marine Debris. Crispian also conducts training and consultancy in solid waste and sustainable materials management, 3Rs, circular economy, waste to energy, and mercury waste recycling. Crispian was part of the Global Review TAG and inputted on the open burning workshops.
Mark Ewen
Approaching 20 years since joining Mott MacDonald, Mark is now a Divisional General Manager for NE England, Yorkshire and Midlands, covering buildings and infrastructure. His considerable experience in the company includes roles as Design Director, Divisional Director for Water, and Development Director for Transportation. Mark sat on the Global Review Technical Advisory Group.
Dr Costas Velis
Costas is an international expert on circular economy, resources from waste and plastics pollution. He is a Chartered Waste Manager by CIWM and registered with the Institute of Physics (MInstP). Costas leads the ISWA Marine Litter Task Force, aiming at establishing the clear link between sound waste and recycling practices and the prevention of marine litter. Costas has a wide research portfolio funded by UKRI, NERC, BBRSC, and many international organizations (The World Bank, GIZ, UN-Habitat, UNESCAP), as well as being leading the Global Review on Safer End of Engineered Life.
