I enjoyed watching Jamie Tong’s presentation on his Sir Ian Dixon Scholarship project.
Jamie’s subject was utility strikes on construction sites, and how the immense danger associated with (for example) an excavator striking an underground cable could be avoided or mitigated.
His project had real authenticity. It arose from his personal experience of such an event, it examined the circumstances that typically surround utility strikes, and it led to practical recommendations for avoidance. And, impressively, it culminated in a real ‘dragons’ den’ proposal for Jamie’s own enterprise to address the situation in the industry.
Sir Ian Dixon was a good friend of mine. I’m sure he would have been immensely proud of Jamie Tong’s project, and I think he might feel (as I do) that it could be used as a model for future applicants to his scholarship programme.
The continuing success of the scholarship, with the active support of Lady Dixon, is a model of how the work of an industry leader can continue long after his death.
John Bale PPCIOB, professor emeritus, Leeds Metropolitan University
