Ian Pedersen is a retired Consulting Engineer. During his career as a manager and structural engineer he had more than forty years’ experience in engineering, project and general management, business development, finance, and government and media liaison. He has had a wide range of involvement in business, community and engineering activities, and has been acknowledged and had an influential role in engineering and business life within the Hunter and Australia. His business and engineering experience since 1979 was in the Hunter and saw him appointed to the Hunter’s Regional Development Australia Board in 2015 and in 2025 was appointed as Chair of the Board. Ian is a Past National President (1999–2000) of Engineer Australia (EA) [The Institution of Engineers Australia]. In 1990 he was awarded the Institution’s National Professional Engineer of the Year Award for the role he played in the aftermath of the devastating 1989 Newcastle Earthquake. Up to December 2013 he was Chair of EA’s National Honours and Awards committee for over 15 years and has been Chief of Judges for the Australian Engineering Excellence Awards for the period 2003-2015. In 2010, he was on EA’s steering committee for the Australian Infrastructure Report Card (IRC) and chaired and launched the NSW IRC. 

Up to 2017 Ian was a Director & recently Chairman of the Australian Construction Industry Forum (ACIF). ACIF is the national body of construction industry associations who are focused on creating a competitive construction and property industry that is a leader in building Australia’s prosperity. As well as facilitating communication between the different interests that make up the construction sector (builders, architects, engineers, contracting groups, Property Council, etc), ACIF provides governments and other agencies with a central and efficient industry liaison point.

In 1996-98 Ian was President of the Newcastle Regional Chamber of Commerce and until the end of 2008 a Director of the Hunter Business Chamber (HBC). He planned and led the merging of two business organisations in the Hunter to form the largest business representative organisation (HBC) in regional Australia. He was appointed a Life Member of HBC in 2011. 

In 1999 the Prime Minister appointed Ian onto his Hunter Region Taskforce to advise the government of the affects and issues arising from the closure of the BHP Newcastle Steelworks in 1999. As part of this role, he was appointed Chairman of the BHP Welfare Trust, established from the Taskforce members by BHP Billiton. 

In 2007 he was appointed to the NSW Business Chamber Council, the peak business representative organisation in NSW. Ian was re-elected in 2009 and again in 2013 by the state wide membership. Because of his expertise and knowledge in the fields of engineering and economic infrastructure, Ian was Chair of the NSWBC’s Infrastructure Committee until 2023. In 2026 Business NSW Ian as one of 10 people in NSW recognised for his service to business and the community.