• John Ward Group Engineering & Technology Director

    “John is a long-standing Director of the Robert Bird Group, having worked in the RBG’s Brisbane and Sydney offices before moving to the London office as a founding member in 2003. His experience covers a wide range of structure types and sectors including residential, commercial, retail, hospital, research and public buildings, heritage, wharf and offshore structures, airports, rail infrastructure, forensic engineering and advanced analysis. He has served as RBG project director for recent major projects including Battersea Power Station, Abu Dhabi International Airport Midfield Terminal and the London Bank Station Capacity Upgrade.

    John has a passion for the application of digital technology and advanced engineering within the Construction industry. He established and oversees the RBG Advanced Technical Services, a team applying modern analytical technology to a range of complex engineering problems. Team capabilities include parametric design optimisation, construction stage analysis, offshore construction, structural dynamics, blast analysis, soil-structure interaction and numerical simulation.

    John has had a longstanding interest in tidal energy technology and has been involved in a number of world-first projects in this sector. John was the RBG Project Director for the MeyGen Phase 1A turbine support structures which won the 2017 IStructE award for “Structures in Extreme Conditions” and the 2018 NCE100 award for “Excellence in Alternative Energy”. John is also a member of the UK shadow panel contributing to development of the IEC code for Marine Energy Devices

    John is a member of the UK Working Group contributing to the development of the next generation of Structural Steel Eurocodes and has previously served as a member of the editorial panel for the ICE Buildings and Structures journal. John is also involved in a range of industry panels and initiatives supporting sustainable design and use of steel in construction.”