President's Future Leaders 2023-2025
I am pleased, as President, to be working with three amazing committed young engineers who are a source of support and inspiration to me during this Presidency, and are instrumental in guiding our work with the Young Engineers / Future Leaders group. These individuals are:
Michelle Meaclem, New Zealand
Michelle is a Civil Engineer at Tonkin + Taylor New Zealand with over 5 years’ experience across civil and stormwater infrastructure design, climate resilience, and infrastructure advisory and planning. She predominantly contributes to projects that enable transportation mode shift (to active modes) and reduce flood hazards. In the advisory sector, she has helped local and central government organisations understand their climate risks (such as New Zealand's first National Climate Change Risk Assessment and being one of three lead authors of the Ministry for the Environment guidelines for local climate change risk assessments), prepare for growth, and manage their infrastructure assets.
Outside of work, Michelle is a COP28 International Youth Climate Delegate and a passionate advocate for aligning the infrastructure sector to climate targets and the inclusion of young people, especially those in STEM, in climate policy making. She does this through her roles as the co-lead of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations’ Young Engineers/Future Leaders’ Working Group on SDG13: Climate Action (Working Group) and a Steering Committee member of the Commonwealth Youth for Sustainable Urbanisation network. Her international work has included co-authoring the unprecedented COP26 Joint Statement of International Youth Organisations Climate Declaration, organising capacity-building opportunities for young engineers and young professionals, and developing policy for better inclusion of young STEM professionals in climate decision-making. In her spare time she enjoys going for walks with family and friends and is currently based in Wellington, New Zealand.
Michelle is a Civil Engineer at Tonkin + Taylor New Zealand with over 5 years’ experience across civil and stormwater infrastructure design, climate resilience, and infrastructure advisory and planning. She predominantly contributes to projects that enable transportation mode shift (to active modes) and reduce flood hazards. In the advisory sector, she has helped local and central government organisations understand their climate risks (such as New Zealand's first National Climate Change Risk Assessment and being one of three lead authors of the Ministry for the Environment guidelines for local climate change risk assessments), prepare for growth, and manage their infrastructure assets.
Outside of work, Michelle is a COP28 International Youth Climate Delegate and a passionate advocate for aligning the infrastructure sector to climate targets and the inclusion of young people, especially those in STEM, in climate policy making. She does this through her roles as the co-lead of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations’ Young Engineers/Future Leaders’ Working Group on SDG13: Climate Action (Working Group) and a Steering Committee member of the Commonwealth Youth for Sustainable Urbanisation network. Her international work has included co-authoring the unprecedented COP26 Joint Statement of International Youth Organisations Climate Declaration, organising capacity-building opportunities for young engineers and young professionals, and developing policy for better inclusion of young STEM professionals in climate decision-making. In her spare time she enjoys going for walks with family and friends and is currently based in Wellington, New Zealand.
Kirils Holstovs, UK
Kirils Holstovs is a civil & structural engineer at AECOM specialising in inspections and assessments of bridges, as well as carbon management of infrastructure, co-leading strategic work on decarbonisation of bridge design and asset management. Kirils has also been involved as a stakeholder engagement coordinator and a project co-coordinator for a major international project, as a part of AECOM sustainability consultancy services.
Kirils volunteers as a co-lead of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) Young Engineers / Future Leaders’ Working Group on Climate Action, which elevates the voice of young engineers in decision-making and develops climate policy initiatives, capacity-building events and partnerships to advance climate action and sustainable development. He took part in COP26 and COP27 as a negotiations observer, speaker and side event lead organiser. He was a co-initiator and co-author of the COP26 Joint Statement of International Youth Organisations, which provided 12 key climate policy recommendations that were co-signed by some of the most influential international youth organisations and shared with all COP Parties. Kirils also was a delegate at the Pre-COP26 UN Youth4Climate summit and agreed adoption of several key infrastructure policies in the Youth4Climate manifesto that was shared with all COP26 Parties.
Kirils actively volunteers with the Institution of Civil Engineers, where he has the roles of the Climate Change Representative of the ICE North East [England] regional committee and a member of the Carbon Champions review panel.
Kirils has an integrated master’s degree in Civil & Structural Engineering from Newcastle University (2019), and has twice been shortlisted for the Rising Star Award of the university for alumni of up to 10 years of graduation, being the youngest person in each shortlist and both times receiving the Highly Commended status. Kirils has won the New Civil Engineer 2021 Outstanding Contribution to Carbon Net Zero Award. Kirils has also won the 2022 Constructing Excellence G4C National Future Leader Award and the 2022 Institution of the Civil Engineers’ Volunteer of the Year Award for the North East.
Kirils Holstovs is a civil & structural engineer at AECOM specialising in inspections and assessments of bridges, as well as carbon management of infrastructure, co-leading strategic work on decarbonisation of bridge design and asset management. Kirils has also been involved as a stakeholder engagement coordinator and a project co-coordinator for a major international project, as a part of AECOM sustainability consultancy services.
Kirils volunteers as a co-lead of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) Young Engineers / Future Leaders’ Working Group on Climate Action, which elevates the voice of young engineers in decision-making and develops climate policy initiatives, capacity-building events and partnerships to advance climate action and sustainable development. He took part in COP26 and COP27 as a negotiations observer, speaker and side event lead organiser. He was a co-initiator and co-author of the COP26 Joint Statement of International Youth Organisations, which provided 12 key climate policy recommendations that were co-signed by some of the most influential international youth organisations and shared with all COP Parties. Kirils also was a delegate at the Pre-COP26 UN Youth4Climate summit and agreed adoption of several key infrastructure policies in the Youth4Climate manifesto that was shared with all COP26 Parties.
Kirils actively volunteers with the Institution of Civil Engineers, where he has the roles of the Climate Change Representative of the ICE North East [England] regional committee and a member of the Carbon Champions review panel.
Kirils has an integrated master’s degree in Civil & Structural Engineering from Newcastle University (2019), and has twice been shortlisted for the Rising Star Award of the university for alumni of up to 10 years of graduation, being the youngest person in each shortlist and both times receiving the Highly Commended status. Kirils has won the New Civil Engineer 2021 Outstanding Contribution to Carbon Net Zero Award. Kirils has also won the 2022 Constructing Excellence G4C National Future Leader Award and the 2022 Institution of the Civil Engineers’ Volunteer of the Year Award for the North East.
Doreen Kirima, Kenya
Doreen is a professional civil engineer with over 10 years of experience in highways and transportation engineering. She has been a resident engineer of road construction projects and a team leader for design projects. She is passionate on road safety, advocate for active mobility and determined to transform urban mobility through cross sectoral sustainable planning, design and management of urban areas and public spaces.
She is currently the chairperson of the Young Engineers Committee for Federation of African Engineering Organization (FAEO) and a past council member of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK). Doreen was recognised with a silver award for excellence, commitment, dedication as the most outstanding committee by Federation of African Engineering Organization (FAEO) in 2022.
Doreen has Msc. Civil Engineering in transportation and Bsc. Civil Engineering from the University of Nairobi. She was awarded the Institution of Engineers of Kenya Prize for being the student with the best final year project and Dr. Eddah Gachukia Science Prize for being the best final year female student at the university. She also holds a diploma in Innovation for change in Public Transport from Lund University in Sweden and a diploma in Business Information and Technology from Strathmore University in Kenya.
Doreen is a proud wife and mother who is a strong believer in family as the unit of a society. She also loves flowers, trees and believes that if everyone planted and nurtured at least one tree, we would have more than 8 billion trees that would offset the carbon emissions!
Doreen is a professional civil engineer with over 10 years of experience in highways and transportation engineering. She has been a resident engineer of road construction projects and a team leader for design projects. She is passionate on road safety, advocate for active mobility and determined to transform urban mobility through cross sectoral sustainable planning, design and management of urban areas and public spaces.
She is currently the chairperson of the Young Engineers Committee for Federation of African Engineering Organization (FAEO) and a past council member of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK). Doreen was recognised with a silver award for excellence, commitment, dedication as the most outstanding committee by Federation of African Engineering Organization (FAEO) in 2022.
Doreen has Msc. Civil Engineering in transportation and Bsc. Civil Engineering from the University of Nairobi. She was awarded the Institution of Engineers of Kenya Prize for being the student with the best final year project and Dr. Eddah Gachukia Science Prize for being the best final year female student at the university. She also holds a diploma in Innovation for change in Public Transport from Lund University in Sweden and a diploma in Business Information and Technology from Strathmore University in Kenya.
Doreen is a proud wife and mother who is a strong believer in family as the unit of a society. She also loves flowers, trees and believes that if everyone planted and nurtured at least one tree, we would have more than 8 billion trees that would offset the carbon emissions!
