A civil engineer with over 30 years’ experience in highway, rail and airport planning and design and construction projects in Australia, Asia and the UK, Cox was extensively involved in the design, documentation and construction supervision of major infrastructure projects at Aurecon. 

 

The key projects include the Sydney Cross City Tunnel Project and the Sydney Rail Clearways programme. 

 

Announcing the key appointment, the Fidic board members concluded that the time was right to move into the next phase of governance for the Global Leadership Forum with the appointment of an independent chair and vice chairs and they made their decision last week when the board met. 

 

Fidic’s CEO Dr Nelson Ogunshakin will support Bill Cox and act as vice chair and the succeeding vice chair will be appointed after a year.

 

An industry veteran, Cox has led Aurecon’s rapid growth featuring diversification across digital and advisory capabilities and expansion in Asia-Pacific. 

 

Previously Aurecon’s managing director for Australia and New Zealand, Cox was responsible for leadership and performance of the ANZ business, including safety, client engagement, staff engagement, project and financial performance.

 

In 2015, Cox was also named one of Engineers Australia’s top 100 most influential engineers in Australia.

 

On his appointment, Cox said: "I greatly appreciate the trust that the Fidic board has placed in me with this appointment. Fidic plays a crucial role in the global engineering industry and I look forward to working with the Fidic leadership and the GLF advisory board to build on the great work done to date."

 

Lauding the appointment, Ogunshakin said: "I am delighted that William Cox has been appointed as the first chair of the GLF advisory board. His impressive record of leadership across our global industry speaks for itself and I look forward to working with him and also to having his wise counsel on hand to help steer and guide the GLF programme as it builds on its first two years of activity to make an even greater impact on our industry."

 

The Global Leadership Forum, which now has around 200 global CEOs as members, was set up by Fidic in September 2021 and brings together industry leaders from across the globe to discuss the key issues facing society and the wider construction and infrastructure sector. 

 

Besides Cox and Ogunshakin, the other Fidic GLF Advisory Board members are:

 

*José M Aparicio, Managing Director and President, Siemens Energy (Mexico).

*Anthony Bouchard, President and Chief Operating Officer, CDM Smith (USA).

*Alan Brookes, Group CEO, Arcadis (UK).

*Robin Greenleaf, Vice President Architectural Relations and Strategic Partnerships, IMEG Corp (USA).

*Mike Haigh, Immediate Past Chair and Chief Executive, Mott MacDonald Group (UK).

*Jim Johnson, Director, UK, India, Middle East & Africa Board, Arup (UK).

*Chris Lewis, Global Head of Infrastructure, EY (UK).

*Mark Naysmith, Chief Executive Officer for WSP in the UK & MEIA Region, WSP (UK).

*Malani Padayachee-Saman, CEO, MPAMOT (South Africa).

*Nandita Parshad, Managing Director, Sustainable Infrastructure Group, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (UK).

*Lara Poloni, President, AECOM Group (USA).

*Fang Qiuchen, Chairman, China International Contractors Association (China).

*Susan Reisbord, Executive Vice President, Stantec (USA).

*Fidel Saenz de Ormijana, Chief Technical Officer, Ferrovial Construction (Spain).

*Jens-Peter Saul, Group CEO, Ramboll (Denmark).

*Fuat Savas, Managing Director, Infrastructure Finance and Advisory Team, JP Morgan (USA) and

*André Schneider, CEO, Geneva Airport (Switzerland).

 

Fidic is the global representative body for national associations of consulting engineers and represents over one million engineering professionals and 40,000 firms in around 100 countries worldwide. The buildings and infrastructure sector in which Fidic members work contributes around $36 trillion to global GDP.-TradeArabia News Service