Robert Mair, Baron Mair facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
The Lord Mair
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Lord Mair's official parliamentary photo
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| Born | 20 April 1950 |
| Alma mater | Clare College, Cambridge |
| Known for | Jubilee Line Extension |
| Awards | Fellow of the Royal Society Commander of the Order of the British Empire |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of Cambridge Institution of Civil Engineers Crossrail Laing O'Rourke Scott Wilson Group The Leys School |
| Thesis | Centrifugal modelling of tunnel construction in soft clay (1979) |
| Doctoral advisor | Andrew N. Schofield |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal |
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| Assumed office 29 October 2015 Life Peerage |
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Robert James Mair, Baron Mair (born 20 April 1950) is a famous geotechnical engineer. This means he is an expert in how soil and rock behave when building things. He is an Emeritus Sir Kirby Laing Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Cambridge.
He also started the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC). From 2001 to 2011, he was the head of Jesus College, Cambridge. In 2014, he became a vice president of the Institution of Civil Engineers. He then became its president in 2017, which was the Institution's 200th birthday!
In 2015, he became a member of the House of Lords. This is part of the UK Parliament. He is an independent member, called a crossbencher, meaning he doesn't belong to a main political party. In the House of Lords, he works on topics like buildings, science, technology, and education.
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Early Life and Education
Robert Mair's father, William Austyn Mair, was also a professor at Cambridge University. Robert went to St Faith's School and The Leys School in Cambridge.
He then studied Engineering at Clare College, Cambridge, and finished his first degree in 1972. Later, in 1979, he earned his PhD degree. This is a very high level of education.
Career in Engineering
Lord Mair is a top expert in geotechnical engineering. This field uses science to understand soil and rock. It helps engineers design and build structures safely. He is especially good at designing and building tunnels.
His skills have been needed all over the world for many big projects. These include building tunnels in soft ground, creating strong walls to hold back earth, and digging deep holes for foundations.
Working in Industry
Before becoming a professor at Cambridge in 1998, he worked in the construction industry for 27 years. He was a main engineer for Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick in London and Hong Kong. During this time, he also spent three years researching tunnels at Cambridge University.
In 1983, he started his own company, the Geotechnical Consulting Group, in London. He helped advise on many major engineering projects around the world.
Major UK Projects
In the UK, he advised on big railway projects. These include the Jubilee Line Extension for London Underground, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (now HS1), Crossrail (now the Elizabeth Line), and HS2.
He is famous for inventing a new method called "compensation grouting." This technique helps stop buildings from sinking when tunnels are built nearby. He first used it for the Waterloo Escalator Tunnel Project. It was then used successfully on the Jubilee Line Extension. This method protected many old buildings, like the Big Ben clock tower at the Palace of Westminster. Compensation grouting was also used for the Elizabeth Line and is now used worldwide.
International Projects and Reviews
Lord Mair has advised on railway and metro tunnels in many cities. These include Amsterdam, Athens, Barcelona, Hong Kong, and Singapore. He also worked on motorway tunnels in Turkey.
He was part of a French government team that looked into the collapse of the Toulon Tunnel in 1997. From 2007 to 2014, he helped lead an international board for the Singapore government. This board advised on all their underground metro and road tunnels.
In 2012, he chaired a report about shale gas and fracking for the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering. He also helps review projects like Crossrail and HS2. After a train crash in Scotland in 2020, he led a team to review how Network Rail manages earthworks. In 2022, he chaired a review for EDF about the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. He has also done similar reviews for Sizewell C nuclear power station.
Return to Academia
In 1998, he returned to Cambridge University as a professor. He focused on research that helps the construction industry. He helped the Geotechnical and Environmental Research Group become one of the biggest in the world. He was the Sir Kirby Laing Professor of Civil Engineering from 2011 to 2017. He was also the Head of Civil Engineering from 1999 to 2016.
He helped create the Laing O'Rourke Centre for Construction Engineering and Technology at Cambridge in 2010. This center works with the University of Cambridge and Laing O'Rourke, a large construction company. Their goal is to use new ideas to improve the construction industry.
Smart Infrastructure and Research
Lord Mair is the founding head of the Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC). This center gets funding from the government and industry. CSIC uses sensor technologies and data analysis to make infrastructure smarter. They develop new ways to build things and to check on old buildings and tunnels. They focus on wireless sensor networks, tiny MEMS technologies, and new fibre optic sensing technology. CSIC works with many companies and has used these new sensors on about 100 different sites.
In 2015, he helped get £18 million in government funding for a new Civil Engineering Building. This building, which cost £38 million and opened in 2019, has a special research facility called the National Research Facility for Infrastructure Sensing (NRFIS).
In 2020, Lord Mair became the chair of One CAM. This company is in charge of building the Cambridgeshire Autonomous Metro, which is a new transport system.
Honours and Awards
Lord Mair has received many important awards and honours:
- He became a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (FICE) in 1990.
- He became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) in 1992.
- He became a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2007.
- He gave the 46th Rankine Lecture in 2006, which is a very important talk in his field.
- He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2010.
- He has won many awards from the Institution of Civil Engineers, including their Gold Medal in 2004.
- He has given many invited lectures around the world, sharing his knowledge.
He has also received special honorary degrees from several universities. On 29 October 2015, he was given the title Baron Mair, of Cambridge. This made him a life peer, meaning he can sit in the House of Lords for the rest of his life.
In 2019, he was chosen as a foreign member of the US National Academy of Engineering. This was for his important work in underground construction and smart infrastructure. It also recognized his leadership in government, engineering, research, and education.
