Institution of Railway Signal Engineers appoints Bogdan Godziejewski as president

The Institution of Railway Signal Engineers (IRSE), the global professional body for railway signalling, telecommunications and related professionals, has elected Bogdan Godziejewski, rail director at Mott MacDonald (Netherlands), as its 101st president.

Formed in 1912, the IRSE is dedicated to advancing the science and practice of railway signalling and telecommunications. Headquartered in London, IRSE has several overseas sections, including in Australasia, Switzerland, Netherlands, France, Japan, Singapore, India, North America and China.

Bogdan, who is based in the Netherlands and has four decades of rail experience, will use his time as the IRSE president to draw on the insights, energy and experiences of young professionals. He will use this knowledge to help prepare the institution for future challenges and opportunities, with a particular focus on digital transformation.

Having started his career in 1985 at the Railway Scientific and Technical Centre in Poland, Bogdan has contributed to numerous international railway signalling projects, including the crucial development of the European Train Control System (ETCS).

He joined Mott MacDonald in 2014 and has led its digital signalling and train control competence centre; supporting major global projects including monitoring the deployments of ETCS in Belgium, and Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) for Sydney Metro. Bogdan has also contributed to various technical studies on the deployment of the CBTC in the USA (Washington, New York, Seattle) and in Canada (Toronto).

Bogdan has been a Fellow of the IRSE since 1997 and joined the IRSE Council in 2016, where he is active on various committees and working groups.

In his inaugural speech on ‘Engaging Generation Unlimited’ on 24 April in Amsterdam, Bogdan called for a much-intensified approach in supporting future leaders of the signalling discipline in their career development. He also reflected on his own career and emphasised the importance of being actively becoming involved in defining and realising a digitalisation vision of signalling and train control in the years to come.

Speaking of his appointment, Bogdan said: “It is my great honour to take over the role of the president of the IRSE and to continue building a modern, knowledge-based institution that is well prepared for future challenges and technological progress. Together with younger professionals, we will need to expand our discipline, strengthening our knowledge in the areas of system engineering, modern data communication systems as well as a life cycle approach.”

Simon Harrison, Mott MacDonald group head of strategy and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering said: Bogdan's appointment is well-deserved and shows how widely recognised he is by his industry peers. The IRSE plays a crucial role in advancing the industry, while building lifelong networks among younger professionals with a focus on knowledge sharing. I look forward to seeing Bogdan champion this during his presidency.