Andrea is a Chartered Chemical Engineer with over 14 years’ experience in the petrochemical and biotechnology industries in North East England. She began her career at SABIC as a Process Engineer and progressed to Operations Manager, where she led a team of over 50 and oversaw logistics handling more than 2 million tonnes of flammable hydrocarbons each year. In 2021, she moved to FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies and is now Technical Operations Manager, supporting mammalian cell culture manufacturing, including work on the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine. She was named one of the WES Top 50 Women in Engineering in 2021 and supports women entering STEM, as well as flexible and part-time working.

Elena is a Spanish civil engineer (B+M Eng, Ingeniera de Caminos, Canales y Puertos) trained at the Technical University of Madrid, with a focus on transportation. After exploring several paths, she specialised in 3D road design.

Her experience as both a site engineer and an R&D project manager shapes her approach, combining practical insight with a willingness to challenge standard solutions. She works primarily with C3D, OpenRoads, and BIM coordination, and is drawn to the problem-solving aspect of design.

Elena values continuous learning and believes diverse teams produce better outcomes. By listening to different perspectives and approaches, she aims to create infrastructure that serves everyone.

Emma is an award-winning Chartered Construction Manager and Chartered Environmentalist with over 24 years’ experience in construction and property consultancy, including work on nationally significant projects. She has completed net zero climate change studies at the University of Cambridge and has held leadership and advisory roles across the sector, including Associate Fellow and Board Trustee of the Women’s Engineering Society from 2020 to 2022 and current Board Trustee of the Yorkshire Collaborative Academy Trust.

She founded the Women in Sustainable Construction and Property LinkedIn group and has organised industry events to support collaboration and inclusion. Her roles also include the CIOB Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Panel, Institute of Directors Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador for the North East and Yorkshire, and Founder Chair of the Women’s Engineering Society EDI Specialist Interest Group, alongside wider sustainability and climate-focused initiatives.

Gaynor is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers and a Professional Process Safety Engineer with over 30 years’ experience in project design, operations support and line management across the petrochemical and chemical industries. At ABB Consulting, she is responsible for the revenue performance of a team of Safety Lifecycle consultants delivering services globally across multiple sectors, spanning both greenfield and brownfield opportunities, and has championed diversity in leading the team.

She is also committed to sustainability in its broadest sense and leads the ABB UK working party driving the company’s “we promote social progress” theme, covering diversity and inclusion as well as employee engagement in meaningful community initiatives.

Helen is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and the Women’s Engineering Society, and holds an MBA from Cranfield University. She is currently a Technology Board Advisor and IT Director in freight forwarding, with 20 years’ experience in engineering management in the medical devices industry, including leading a department of over 100 multidisciplinary engineers developing and maintaining hardware and software for blood glucose sensor manufacturing.

She also serves as a Public Governor for Oxfordshire with the South Central Ambulance Service and as a Trustee of The Engineers Trust, focusing on expanding diversity and inclusion. Helen is active in advancing equality, diversity and inclusion, having partnered with STEM Returners and AFBE-UK to improve workplace representation, acting as a judge for the WES Karen Burt Award, and mentoring women in STEM, particularly those from underrepresented groups at early career stages.

Hillary is a Chartered Systems Engineer with a background spanning software, systems, automation and change, and has lived in Japan, wider Asia and Australia before returning to the UK. She has delivered a series of early-stage innovations, including car engine management systems, automated telecoms test systems, manufacturing automation and airbag traceability systems, manufacturing AI, and project-managed early city dealer room automation, alongside a focus on new business development.

An experienced change agent and analyst, she has consistently championed equity and access across education, the workplace and the engineering community. Hillary also speaks Japanese and French, and is an artist, writer, local community advocate, and keen traveller and runner.

Ian has worked in advanced manufacturing for 39 years, starting as an engineering apprentice before moving into production and later leading the learning and development function for an automotive OEM. In 2022, he took on a new role supporting the setup and launch of a gigafactory in Blyth, Northumberland as a learning specialist, and was appointed Professor of Practice for Electrification Skills at Newcastle University.

He has been active in promoting education and skills at both regional and national levels, receiving an MBE in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to apprenticeships and STEM education. He was also named Regional and National Apprenticeship Ambassador Champion in 2021 and recognised as a Top 20 Exemplar in Manufacturing Magazine’s Top 100 list in 2018. Ian is committed to raising aspirations among young people, with a focus on showing that social background, economic circumstances and gender are not barriers to a career in the sector.

Jo decided at 14 to become a civil engineer and, more than 50 years later, continues to work in the field. She specialised in water, working for Thames Water, Wessex Water and Affinity Water before founding her consultancy, Watershed Associates, where she advises clients on mains installation, repair and replacement, and leak detection.

A Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institute of Water, she was awarded an MBE for services to the water industry in 1994 and was named among the Women’s Engineering Society’s top 50 women in sustainability. Jo has consistently promoted careers in engineering and advocates for an inclusive profession open to people of all backgrounds and abilities.

Kat is a Chartered Civil Engineer working in the construction industry with a focus on highways. She holds an MEng in Civil Engineering from the University of Southampton and has worked as a Team Leader, Project Manager and Design Manager, contributing to projects from feasibility through to detailed design in collaboration with contractors, clients and third parties.

She promotes engineering through mentoring, her work as a STEM Ambassador, career events and work placements. Kat believes roles should reflect skills and motivation rather than gender, and that teams with a mix of strengths, perspectives and personalities are more balanced and resilient.

Kim has more than 30 years of professional services experience and specialises in organisational design, people development and coaching, with a focus on improving business processes, building capacity, shaping culture and supporting sustainable growth. She has held leadership roles within the engineering profession, including extensive service with the Society of Women Engineers, developing a leadership programme, and serving as a WES Fellow Ambassador and Online Programs Vice President on the DAMA Board of Directors.

Outside work, she competes in Ironman triathlons and is a member of the 50 States Running Club, has completed the World Marathon Majors and the Wisconsin Ironman, and enjoys running, swimming, yoga and cycling. Kim values time with her family, including her retired husband, a part-time faculty member, and their daughter, a Marketing Director at the National Children’s Miracle Network, and released her fiction novel Head Rush in 2023.

Magdalena is the Global Engineering Director at Cargill. Originally from Poland, she holds an MSc in Civil and Structural Engineering from Gdansk University of Technology and has over 17 years’ experience working across the UK and the USA in residential, commercial, industrial, and oil and gas sectors, both offshore and onshore.

She is a Chartered Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in the UK and a member of the American Institute of Steel Construction in the USA, and also chairs the PIP Globalization Community in the USA. Throughout her career, she has navigated barriers as a foreign female engineer, supported by mentors, and is committed to sharing her experience to encourage more women into engineering, highlighting the opportunities it offers to work globally and build a rewarding career.

Melissa is a design engineer, entrepreneur and ambassador, and is committed to being a visible role model for engineers, young entrepreneurs, women from ethnic minorities and the next generation, promoting engineering as a viable career for all. By the age of 28, she achieved Chartered Engineer status, became a certified SolidWorks professional and SolidWorks Champion, and established her consultancy, Techwuman, while advocating for women in engineering and supporting STEM outreach.

She promotes early engagement in STEM to help children make informed subject and career choices, and in the past 24 months has delivered activity days to over 3,000 pupils and worked with more than 30 companies to support STEM initiatives.

Océane Tessa Mbaguta was born in Rwanda and has spent most of her life between Rwanda and Belgium. She moved to the UK in 2018 to study an integrated Master’s in Environmental Engineering at the University of Nottingham and is now entering her final year, having completed an industrial placement with UNIPER in September 2022 as an Environmental Consultant. Motivated by a desire to develop solutions to tackle climate change, she is a member of the WES ED&I Special Interest Group and a student member of IChemE and IEMA.

She has been active in volunteering and student leadership, becoming a STEM Ambassador in 2018, serving as Treasurer of the Women’s Engineering Society in 2019, and in 2020 taking on roles as Vice President of the Sustainability Society, Treasurer for the Environmental and Social Justice Network, and Lead Peer Mentor for the Faculty of Engineering, alongside positions as a Student Switch Off Ambassador and Welfare Officer in her hall of residence. She has received the Nottingham Advantage Award in recognition of her extra curricular achievements.

Rachel has worked at Ramboll in Cambridge since graduating with an MSc in Environmental Acoustics from the University of Salford in 2011 and has been a Senior Acoustic Consultant since 2017, with over 10 years’ experience in building and environmental acoustics. She became a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Acoustics in December 2018 and was nominated by the Institute for the WES Karen Burt Memorial Award, which recognises the best newly chartered female engineer from each professional institution.

She works as part of an international acoustics team on projects across the UK and overseas, including schools, hospitals, and large commercial and residential developments in the Middle East, collaborating with engineers and architects. Through Ramboll, she is a STEM Ambassador and delivers school presentations, is a member of the LGBT+ Allies network and the Institute of Acoustics EDI group, and drawing on her experience of maternity leave and part-time work, is committed to improving workplace culture and raising the profile of underrepresented groups in STEM.

Samantha is a Chartered HR professional with experience across the education, manufacturing and engineering industries. She holds an MBA from Northampton University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Leadership and Management.

She is committed to fostering a culture of employee development, wellbeing, equality, diversity and inclusion, and as Chair of NMITE’s EDI Strategic Advisory Group works to ensure people feel valued, differences are recognised and individuality is respected.

Vince has a portfolio career spanning international business, academia, executive search, career coaching and business mentoring, drawing on an engineering background to work across the full career lifecycle from school to board level and to promote STEM careers. He has 30 years of global business experience, including executive management and board roles with ExxonMobil, Suez, Nalco and Procter & Gamble.

He is currently a Professor in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, an executive search consultant, a career coach to students at leading UK business schools, and a mentor to individuals. Vince is a Fellow and Chartered Engineer of IChemE, a Fellow of the CMI, an Associate Fellow and Trustee of WES, a Fellow of the Energy Institute and a Member of the IET, and also serves as Vice Chair of a multi academy schools trust and as a Trustee of MyBigCareer and Focus Expatriates Organisation.

Dr Zenan is a researcher specialising in renewable energy system modelling and optimisation for community energy systems and is an active advocate for climate action. She holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering from BRAC University, Bangladesh, and an MSc and PhD in Renewable Energy Systems from the University of Nottingham, and aims to accelerate global decarbonisation while promoting a consumer focused, data driven approach to energy production and use.

She is currently part of the Active Building Centre Research Programme at Swansea University, where she focuses on residential retrofit simulation and data analytics, with a strong interest in applying data science to the built environment. In her free time, she enjoys travelling, playing badminton and exploring local restaurants.