Cheered on by some of his colleagues from the Water practice, Samuel went head-to-head with two other finalists, selected from the winners of the regional competitions. His win at One Great George Street, London earned him a cash prize of £1,500, along with the coveted medal.

Samuel’s winning paper on the implementation of the Bangor Drainage Area Plan focused on sustainability aspects of this significant wastewater infrastructure project, delivered in environmentally sensitive areas of the seaside town of Bangor, County Down.

Samuel explains: “Working on the Bangor Drainage Area Plan and helping to manage the delivery of this essential programme of improvement works has been very rewarding. Focusing on the sustainability aspects of the Bangor Drainage Area Plan was a natural choice of topic for my paper as the project demonstrates how important it is to take into account environmental issues at the earliest possible stage whether planning new projects or improvement programmes.”

An animated overview of the Bangor Sewerage Improvement Scheme can be watched on YouTube.