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Winners of top 50 women in engineering revealed

The Women’s Engineering Society has celebrated International Women in Engineering Day by announcing the winners of the top 50 women in engineering awards.

Celebrating International Women in Engineering Day, the Women’s Engineering Society has today (23 June) announced the winners of the Top 50 Women in Engineering awards. 

Now in its seventh year, the 2022 WE50 winners celebrate women who are older than 18 who can demonstrate the creation or improvement of a product or process that makes a difference.

For 2022, the Women’s Engineering Society, in association with The Guardian and Ball Corporation, invited nominations on numerous factors, including their ability to support and combat climate change, work as an advocate for women in STEM, their drive to make a difference within the engineering industry and achieving beyond what would normally be expected.

Even in the current climate, judges say the number and standard of nominations were high, emphasising the exceptional achievements made by women in this field. The WE50 awards were judged by a panel of industry experts.

Head judge, Dr Bola Olabisi said: “We were amazed by the quality and diversity of nominations this year. Each one demonstrating capabilities of inspiring other women with their life changing contributions. We were delighted with their sheer determination and tenacity as innovators.”

This year more than ever, say the judges, female engineers are applying themselves to sustainability and creating a built environment that is kinder to the natural world.

Female engineers are working hard to combat global CO2 emissions by creating products that monitor, capture and reduce carbon emissions, as well as developing energy solutions to decarbonise entire countries.

At the heart of many of the projects featured in this year’s list are those that help us to be more eco-friendly, whether it be infrastructure, transport systems and all types of equipment that help us to be more sustainable.

Elizabeth Donnelly CEO of WES said: “Once again WES is delighted to celebrate the achievements of women engineers. It's a joy that so many innovative women are making a difference to our everyday lives and working to mitigate the impact that engineering has on the environment.”

The Top 50 Women in Engineering for 2022 are (in alphabetical order):

  • Dr Agnieszka Rutkowska: Lead Electrochemist, Depixus
  • Dr Alalea Kia: Research Fellow, Imperial College London
  • Alice Kan: Pharmaceutical Director, Kan Do Ventures
  • Aline Miller: Professor and Associate Dean, University of Manchester
  • Dr Ama Frimpong: Head of Product Development, 52 North Health
  • Beth Dickens: Director, Quoceant Ltd
  • Bethany Hall: Technical Assistant (Electrical Engineer Aerospace), Rolls-Royce/Aerospace Technology Institute
  • Carolina Toczycka: Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer, Lenz Labs
  • Dr Caroline Jay: Head of Research, School of Engineering, University of Manchester
  • Divya Bhanderi: Senior Engineer, Arup
  • Prof. Eiman Kanjo: Head of Smart Sensing Lab, Nottingham Trent University
  • Eleanor Ball: Co-Founder and Director, Graphic Structures
  • Evelyn Cropper: Technical Manager Stirling Dynamics
  • Gabriela Medero: Professor in Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, Heriot-Watt University
  • Georgia Thompson: Assistant Design Programme Manager, BAM Nuttall
  • Georgina Wharton: Director of Science and Technology, Parkside Community School
  • Guneet Kaur Kohli: Engineer, Arup
  • Hani Baluch: Solutions Delivery Manager, BP
  • Hannah Abend: Chief Operating Officer, Wood Thilsted
  • Jane Wright: Infrastructure Carbon Adviser, Department for Transport (DfT)
  • Jennifer Glover: Graduate Acoustic Consultant, AECOM
  • Jessica Coldrey: Digital Skills Mentor, Creative Technologist, Birmingham Open Media
  • Krystina Pearson-Rampeearee: Senior Flight Systems Engineer, BAE Systems
  • Prof. Lidija Siller: Professor of Nanoscale Science, School of Engineering, Newcastle University
  • Lucie Killen: Structural Engineer, Price & Myers
  • Marisa Kurimbokus: Mechanical Engineering Team Leader, Aeristech
  • Mercedes Ascaso Til: Principal Engineer, DLT Engineering Ltd
  • Nadja Yang: President, European Young Engineers
  • Natalie Kerres: CEO and Founder, SCALED
  • Nausheen Mehboob Basha: Project Manager and Researcher, Imperial College London
  • Dr Navya Thomas: Research Fellow in Membrane Crystallisation, Cranfield University
  • Noor Mansur: Senior Electronics Engineer, Dyson
  • Dr Ornella Luorio: Professor, University of Leeds
  • Palvisha Khan: EMEA Strategy and Transformation Lead, Reliance Worldwide Corporation
  • Philippa Davies: Engineering Director, Reaction Engines
  • Priti Parikh: Head of UCL’s Engineering for International Development Centre
  • Dr Qianyu Chen: Research Fellow, University of Birmingham
  • Rachel Pether: Director of Water Utilities, Binnies
  • Radhika Srinivasan: CEO and Founder, EcoTextura
  • Rowena Innocent: Senior Vice President of Engineering at Ultraleap
  • Ruth Amos: Inventor, Stairsteady/Co-Founder, Kids Invent Stuff
  • Sarah Lu: PhD Researcher, University of Southampton
  • Sarah Teliani: Project Manager, Arup
  • Serena Margadonna: Head of The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Swansea University
  • Sophie V Morse: Research Fellow, Imperial College London
  • Swati: Director, Anant Biomedical Limited
  • Tina Irvine: Engineer, Arup
  • Dr Tosin Adedipe-Elusakin: Technical Project Manager, Cranfield University
  • Dr Yiheng Hu: PhD Researcher, University of Huddersfield
  • Dr Youmna Mouhamad: Royal Academy of Engineering Fellow 2020, Myana Naturals

The WE50 is an awards programme created in 2016 by the Women’s Engineering Society to raise awareness of the skills shortage facing the industry, highlighting the huge discrepancy between the number of men vs. women currently in engineering professions. Each year, the WE50 has had a different theme, and has now recognised approximately 300 outstanding UK-based female engineers. 

Click here for further information on WE50.

If you would like to contact Rob O’Connor about this, or any other story, please email roconnor@infrastructure-intelligence.com.