FIDIC elects new president-elect Alfredo Ingletti and announces election of new board member

The announcements were made, following decisions of the FIDIC board and elections by the organisation’s membership, at the 2024 FIDIC general assembly meeting which took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 8 September 2024 during FIDIC’s annual Global Infrastructure Conference.

New president-elect Alfredo Ingletti is the co-founder, chairman and technical director of 3TI Progetti, an independent employee-owned engineering company based in Rome, Italy. He is due to take over as FIDIC president following the conclusion of the 2025 FIDIC Global Infrastructure Conference which takes place in Cape Town, South Africa next September and would be the first ever Italian to become FIDIC president.

Commenting on his election as president-elect, Ingletti said: “It is a great honour to be chosen by the members of FIDIC as their president-elect. The organisation has represented the consulting engineering industry with distinction for more than a century and it is an industry that I am proud to work in given the positive difference its work makes to people’s lives.

“As well as being proud on an individual level to have been elected as FIDIC vice president, I also believe that my election is a confirmation of the solid reputation and high level of trust earned by Italy and Italian engineers and also by our country’s FIDIC member association, OICE, the Association of Engineering, Architecture and Technical-Economic Consulting Organisations. I look forward to continuing to represent and advocate for FIDIC and its members as part of the board under the leadership of current president Catherine Karakatsanis and then as president in a year’s time.”

New board member Cosmin Tobolcea, who has more than 20 years’ experience of the implementation and supervision of construction contracts in Romania and internationally, is a long-time enthusiastic advocate of FIDIC and the role of future leaders. He has played an influential role in raising awareness amongst FIDIC member associations to be more aware of future leaders and giving them opportunities to develop and flourish. His term of office on the FIDIC board will last for four years.

Commenting on his election to the FIDIC board, Tobolcea said: “I am honoured to have been elected by my industry and professional peers to the FIDIC board. Working with FIDIC and volunteering for this fantastic industry has really defined who I am today professionally and I would strongly encourage all young professionals to get involved with the global FIDIC family, which so defines the international consulting community. I am delighted now to be a part of shaping the future of that community, our industry and FIDIC itself.”

Commenting on both announcements, FIDIC president Catherine Karakatsanis said: “I am delighted that FIDIC members have elected Alfredo Ingletti as president-elect and I know that he will represent the organisation well when he steps up from his vice-presidential role to take over as president in September 2025. Along with his co-vice president James Mwangi and the rest of the board, Alfredo has been an excellent support to me and to the FIDIC organisation over the past year and his insightful and enthusiastic leadership have inspired all those around him.

“I am also delighted to see the arrival of Cosmin Tobolcea as a new board member. Cosmin leads one of the leading engineering and consulting companies in Romania and has wide experience of many construction projects as a team leader, engineer/supervisor and consultant. I think it is also significant that Cosmin is a former chair of the FIDIC Future Leaders Committee and a previous winner of the FIDIC Future Leaders Award in 2021. His ascension to the FIDIC board shows that FIDIC is serious about bringing on new talent and I hope it inspires other future leaders to take a similar route as they progress their career.

“I also want to pay tribute to our outgoing board member, Luis Villarroya from Spain who has served the FIDIC board for five years with distinction. Luis became vice president and chair of the Risk and Audit Committee in 2021 and is involved with the Spanish member association Tecniberia and is the Spanish representative at FEPAC in Latin America. Luis’s contribution to FIDIC and the industry has been significant and impactful and the board extends its great appreciation and thanks. I know that Luis will continue to volunteer for our organisation in his role as a FIDIC Ambassador so we will continue to benefit from his experience and wise counsel for many years to come.”

FIDIC, the International Federation of Consulting Engineers, is the global representative body for national associations of consulting engineers and represents over one million engineering professionals and 40,000 firms in around 100 countries worldwide. The buildings and infrastructure sector in which FIDIC members work contributes around US$36trillion to global GDP.