Jenny Yan elected ITA president

23 May 2019


International – Jinxiu Yan has been elected the new ITA President succeeding Professor Tarcisio Celestino from Brazil. Yan, the deputy general manager of the China Railway Academy, won by a narrow margin of 2 votes (32 to 30), beating Arcadis group technical director Eric Leca at the 45th ITA General Assembly held in Naples during WTC 2019.

Yan has worked as a consulting engineer for 30 years. Over the last three years she has delivered ten international keynotes or lectures in Asia, Europe, America and the Middle East. As a research team leader and expert appointed by the government or project owners, she has been involved in the construction of many major railway and highway tunnels and metro projects, as well as subsea tunnels in China.

Amongst her main commitments, Yan pointed out the need to find new solutions to contribute to the UN sustainable development goals by 2030. 

She explained what it is on the to-do list: “First, enhance communication with related international organisations, national policy-making forums, and well-known international banks to increase the contributions of tunnelling to the implementation of sustainable development goals. 

“Second, improve communication and exchanges between member nations and the industry, by encouraging experience sharing and organising symposiums, dialogue, training courses and other similar events. 

“Third, recognise the achievements of our industry and promote knowledge sharing and the application of well-recognised new technologies among all parties involved, including decision makers and investors.

“Fourth, focus on the common concerns and challenges of our industry and endeavour to seek new solutions through collective efforts by all ITA members and industry.”

Along with the election of the new ITA president, a new ITA executive council was created with four new vice presidents: Lars Babendererde (Germany) as First Vice President, Arnold Dix (Australia), Randy Essex (USA) and Giuseppe Lunardi (Italy) as co-vice presidents."

The new Executive Council for the period 2019-2022 includes: Abidemi Agwor, from Nigeria, Hamdi Aydin from Turkey, Choi Hangseok from Korea, Jeyatharan Kumarasamy from Singapore; Andres Marulanda from Colombia, Jamal Rostami from Iran, Gérard Seingre, treasurer from Switzerland, Teik Aun Ooi from Malaysia, Soren Eskesen, Denmark.