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Top 50 Women in Engineering List Released on National Women in Engineering Day

Top 50 Women in Engineering List Released on National Women in Engineering Day

Ann Dowling	University of Cambridge

An inaugural list of the top 50 Women in Engineering is published in the Daily Telegraph for the first time on 23 June 2016 to coincide with National Women in Engineering Day.

The list, compiled by the Telegraph in collaboration with the Women’s Engineering Society will feature the UK’s top influential female engineers chosen from almost 900 nominations.

Dawn Bonfield, Chief Executive of the Women’s Engineering Society who is also the founder of National Women in Engineering Day commented: ‘We had a very high response to this campaign and were hugely impressed with the entries. This list of amazing role models is a great way of raising the profile of our talented women engineers and making them more visible both within the industry and to the next generation.”

The list includes many familiar senior engineers’ names such as Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Naomi Climer, President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and Dame Judith Hackitt DBE, former Chair of the Health and Safety Executive and now Chair of EEF the Manufacturers’ Organisation. It also, however, includes some names that may come as a surprise, including Steph McGovern from BBC Breakfast, a former engineer who continues to do a huge amount to encourage the next generation into engineering, and Chi Onwurah MP – the only female engineer in Parliament.

The candidates on the list represent the broad range of engineering roles available including industrialists from the traditional built environment, energy and transport sectors, but also including names from the Hilton Group of Hotels, the Merlin entertainment group and many representatives from academia. The list also includes women who are no longer working as practicing engineers but are nevertheless still influential in the sector.

Judge Allan Cook CBE, Chairman of Atkins commented: “I was really impressed with the calibre, quality and quantity of the submissions. Reading through the entries it was incredibly exciting to see the breadth of talent we have in our engineering community.”

Brief biographies of each one of the 50 engineers on the list will be printed in the Telegraph on 23 June and this will be accompanied by a breakfast launch taking place at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, Savoy Place, London WC2R 0BL to which all of the engineers listed and many of the other nominated candidates have been invited.

Sponsors of the campaign were Scottish Power, Mars Petcare, Jaguar Land Rover, SEMTA, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and BAE Systems.

The 50 women engineers on this inaugural list are:

Name

Company Name

Roma Agrawal

Interserve

Helen Atkinson

University of Leicester

Danella Bagnall

Jaguar Land Rover

Faye Banks

National Grid

Alison Baptiste

Environment Agency

Jayne Bryant

Bae Systems

Muffy Calder

University of Glasgow

Liv Carroll

Wardell Armstrong International Ltd

Jacqueline Castle

Airbus UK

Amanda Chessell

IBM

Naomi Climer

Institution of Engineering and Technology

Susan Dio

BP Shipping

Michelle Dix

Crossrail

Ann Dowling

University of Cambridge

Elizabeth Eastaugh

Expedia

Dawn Elson

Merlin Entertainments Group

Jane Gartshore

Cool Concerns

Lynn Gladen

Cambridge University

Paulina Godfrey

Hilton Worldwide

Judith Hackitt

Health and Safety Executive

Wendy Hall

University of Southampton

Louise Hardy

Ebbsfleet Development Corporation & Ministry of Defence

Caroline Hargrove

McLaren Applied Technologies

Karen Holford

Cardiff University

Ying Hu

Rolls-Royce Plc

Sue Ion

Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board

Barbara Judge

UK AEA

Julia King

Aston University

Ailie MacAdam

Bechtel

Cathy McClay

National Grid

Steph McGovern

BBC Breakfast

Linda Miller

Crossrail

Dervilla Mitchell

Arup

Heidi Mottram

Northumbrian Water

Alison Nimmo

The Crown Estate

Belinda Oldfield

Scottish Water

Chi Onwurah

Member of Parliament

Isobel Pollock

Worshipful Company of Engineers

Haifa Ross

Solihull College and University Centre

Helen Samuels

United Utilities

Angela Seeney

Oil & Gas Authority

Nina Skorupska

Renewable Energy

Jane Simpson

Network Rail

Dana Skelley

Transport for London

Rachel Skinner

WSP Parsons Brinkerhoff

Debbie Smith

BRE

Vicky Stewart

Atkins

Eleanor Stride

University of Oxford

Alison Vincent

Cisco International Ltd

Katherine Ward

Atkins

  • The campaign was jointly coordinated by the Telegraph and the Women’s Engineering Society and sponsored by Scottish Power, Mars Petcare, Jaguar Land Rover, SEMTA, IET and BAE Systems.
  • Judges of the competition were:

Dawn Bonfield MBE Chief Executive, Women's Engineering Society

Allan Cook CBE Chairman of Atkins, Chairman of SEMTA, Non-Executive Director of BIS

Professor John Perkins CBE FREng Previously BIS Chief Scientific Adviser

Michelle Richmond Membership and Professional Development Director of the Institution of Engineering and Technology

Fiona Tatton Founder and Editor of Womanthology

Their biographies can be seen at http://www.wes.org.uk/50wejudges

  • National Women in Engineering Day (#NWED2016) is now an International awareness campaign sponsored by UNESCO to raise the profile of women in engineering and focus attention on the amazing career opportunities available to girls in this exciting industry. It takes place annually on 23 June and in 2016 NWED is celebrated for the third year. It is coordinated by the Women’s Engineering Society and was established in 2014 to celebrate the 95th anniversary of the Society. See more at www.nwed.org.uk
  • Many other events take place across the UK and internationally to mark National Women in Engineering Day and these can be seen here: http://www.nwed.org.uk/events.html
  • The Women’s Engineering Society is a charity which was established in 1919 to promote diversity in engineering. It is a membership organisation and supports women engineers; encourages the engineering education; and supports corporate engineering diversity and inclusion. www.wes.org.uk

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