The West Midlands office of the Institution of Civil Engineers has appointed a new chairman from the Highways Agency.

Tim Harbot, who oversees a £180 million annual budget as the Highways Agency’s West Midlands regional director for network delivery and development, has taken the reins at the ICE for the 2012 to 2013 term.

In his day job Mr Harbot and his 120 strong team are responsible for delivering road maintenance and minor improvement programmes.

A seasoned Chartered Civil Engineer, Mr Harbot, aged 56, said: “Investment in infrastructure is a critical enabler to economic growth and relies more than ever on teams of inventive civil engineers to design, build and maintain the sophisticated environment that surrounds us.

“We have to be more innovative than ever before, doing far more with much less; a challenge which we can rise to and which will help civil engineering being recognised at the heart of society, delivering sustainable development through knowledge, skills and professional expertise.

“I am working with a dynamic team in the West Midlands and am certain that we will raise the profile of civil engineering where it most counts, so our contribution is acknowledged, celebrated and encourages new blood into the profession.”