52 CONTEXT 175 : MARCH 2023 New member profile Andrè Mangion Here in Malta we have the good fortune of being surrounded by built heritage. This context has been the source of my passion from a very young age. Subsequently, in 2006 I was enrolled with the University of Malta to read for the degree of bachelor of engineering and architecture, with the intention to graduate as an architect and seek registration. My initial studies in conservation at the university further nurtured my interest. During two consecutive summers I had the opportunity to work as a trainee with the aoM Partnership conservation team, which at that time was carrying out conservation works at the 18th-century, baroque Fort Manoel. This work experience further stimulated my desire to work in the field of conservation. It also swayed me towards a preference for the structural engineering stream of studies, over further architectural studies, during the last two years of the five-year, fulltime undergraduate course. Having completed my undergraduate degree, in the summer of 2011 I attended the International Summer School of Conservation, Building and Archaeology, organised by Tor Vergata University, Rome, which provided my first international exposure to conservation. Immediately after this experience I was employed as a structural engineer with the multidisciplinary firm Bezzina and Cole. The firm’s partners Alexander Bezzina and Keith Cole welcomed my passion for the subject and assigned to me all conservation projects. In my first years, under the direction of both partners, I worked on different conservation-related projects, including the conservation aspects of Binja Laparelli, Central Bank of Malta. Between 2013 and 2015, with the support of this firm, I completed a master of science degree in conservation technology for masonry buildings at the University of Malta. This provided me with comprehensive knowledge and understanding of conservation. This specialisation in conservation offered me further opportunity to work on conservation projects such as the Annunciation (Lunzjata) Church, Rabat, and the Old Ħamrun Central Railway Station. I considered it my professional responsibility to seek membership of a conservation institution, thus keeping au courant with conservation practices. The IHBC website enthused me to seek membership. I was enrolled as an affiliate member in 2018. With the desire to become full member, I first attended the 2019 IHBC summer school in Nottingham, where I acquainted myself with the responsibilities and benefits of IHBC membership. There I was pleased to meet like-minded colleagues. In 2020 I participated in Virtual MATE, finding out about full membership. This, and the continued support offered by the administrators, offered an excellent guide to completing my application. The IHBC enrolled me as a full member in September 2022. As an oversees member, I appreciate the importance of full membership as this status provides me with a recognised accreditation in conservation. ‘No man is an island’: the personal and societal benefits resulting from the support of fellow members and from the body of knowledge of a professional conservation institution are incontrovertible. Andrè Mangion is a new full member of the IHBC.
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