Andrew Leedham – Honoured by the Profession

It is always encouraging and exciting when one of the major people in the AITPM is recognised by the industry for the work they have done and the contribution they have made across a wide range of situations

Our Immediate Past National President Andrew Leedham has just been honoured as an Engineering Executive by Engineers Australia.

David Cruickshanks-Boyd, who nominated Andrew, describes the Engineering Executive honour as a recognition to individuals who can demonstrate senior level expertise in leadership and management. It is generally only awarded to people who have in excess of 20 years postgraduate experience and it is a by invitation only.  Whoever is recommended as being potentially suitable, has to go through an assessment process, which includes documentation and interviews. 

David Cruickshanks-Boyd, who nominated Andrew, describes the Engineering Executive honour as a recognition to individuals who can demonstrate senior level expertise in leadership and management. It is generally only awarded to people who have in excess of 20 years postgraduate experience and it is a by invitation only.  Whoever is recommended as being potentially suitable, has to go through an assessment process, which includes documentation and interviews. 

Academic Background

Andrew did a Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering at the old Institute of Technology in Adelaide.  It covered a similar amount to a four-year course but squeezed into three years, with a strong practical application.  Andrew felt he benefited from this “hands-on” training that helped him engage with the community and recognise that his career path was to serve the needs of the public, not just create infrastructure projects.

Early Career 

His first job was with the SA government Highways Department in traffic signals, which was nothing to do with the course he had just done.  He says:

“And what excited me was it was a very timely.  You know all about SCATS in New South Wales that found its way across to Adelaide. We called it ACTS and I was lucky enough in hindsight to be there when that was introduced. So that was something very new to the state traffic signal coordination. And that got me working with people like Arthur Simms and Peter Lowrie and eventually led to my international travels.

There was a great sense of pride that this was revolutionary technology was designed in Australia.

“It was being taken across to pretty much every state in Australia except Queensland. So there was a group ironically called SMUG, the SCATS Management User Group. And I think, looking back, we were rather smug.

But it was not all traffic signals

“The Highways Department had a rotation scheme where they trained up engineers in different aspects of roads and highways. So I went into the planning area for a while and then went down to Murray Bridge, did my construction experience working on the widening of the Dukes Highway and other things. But then I eventually came back into traffic signals.

A scholarship to work overseas 

Andrew was then awarded a Confederation of British Industry scholarship in order to travel to the UK.  He worked in Birmingham which, ironically, was the city he lived in before emigrating to Australia.  A major project was looking at changes in traffic flows and traffic conditions on motorways that might warn people of events happening downstream and then diverting traffic onto alternative routes.

“I think it made me think more broadly about the transport system and not just focussing on traffic signals.” 

Back Home, private industry and then travelling the world 

His time in the UK not only gave him technical experience but sparked an interest in effective management.

“The first thing is having come back from the UK and recognising that Adelaide was a little bit sleepy at the time because it was in the early 90s, I saw the need to again get out of government and go into private enterprise where at the time PPK, as they were then called or Pak Poy Kneebone, were getting very busy in international work, so I joined them. And for the next few years worked overseas in China, Bangladesh, Cyprus and other interesting places. 

“China was very difficult because it is very remote. We weren't working in Beijing or Shanghai we were working in places like Luyang, which is about the same size as Adelaide, but no one could speak English apart from the translator, and so it was tough, tough work. And again, learning the Chinese culture about how they go about life and movement and consideration of others was all interesting stuff. Bangladesh was a different story again. A lot of expats there, so you got to live in a small circle of people you got to know well, but then the rest of the country, as you probably know, is one of contradictions. Very rich locals, but a lot of poverty and trying tried to come up with a transport system that moved people around, with so many people, was very difficult.

The Quest for Relevance 

When back in Australian he found influences in several areas including the book “The Race for Relevance – Radical Changes for Associations” by Coerver and Byers.

“It was about the time I was getting very heavily into AITPM. I found myself on the board or the National Council as it was at the time, and I could see there were many opportunities there for us to do things better, but more importantly, how important it was for us to not lose sight of who we were representing. And I just felt that was a risk that we were not tracking the industry and the people in the industry and knowing exactly what they were looking for. [32.8s]

“I don't want this to sound like a criticism of all the people who set AITPM up and got it to where it was, but I could see that there was a risk that we were becoming very insular and going through a process and keeping things jogging along without necessarily watching the trends in the industry. So very important to engage with people to find out what was going on. And AITPM is really good at those network opportunities. So I cashed in on those at this local and national level.

“And if you're not relevant, if you're not evolving to stay relevant, then the members will drift away.

The new AITPM structure as a corporation 

Andrew was one of the prime movers in getting AITPM to move from an association to an incorporated business.

“To me, it's making us look more professional and be more professional. Hopefully remaining more relevant or staying relevant. There's a lot of people who've done a lot of good things for AITPM over the years, but so I can see that time flies by very quickly when you're a volunteer and people start things in in good interest, good intent, but they probably don't get the time to finish it. So there's a lot of loose ends. I think what the new structure has done is brought people to focus on what we need to do and what's within our means and therefore delivering better quality rather than trying to deliver too much. And now there's a Chief Executive on board that'll keep it going.  Hopefully.”

Family and the Future 

If you ask Andrew about the future, he immediately says: “I have a five-year plan”.

A major part of the future is getting his children, one 13 years old, and the twins 10 years old, through school.

He is also redoing his kitchen for which he has a plan. And beyond that?

“Who knows?”