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Last night saw the celebration of the annual European Women in Construction and Engineering (WICE) awards. The Awards aim to encourage more women to consider a career in construction and engineering as these are industries in which female representation is low, with only 11% of the UK construction workforce being women and 9% in engineering. Plus, most of these jobs are office based and only 2% of women in UK construction work in manual jobs.
According to the Department of Civil & Building Engineering, Loughborough University, UK: “The construction sector plays an important role in economic growth… however, the construction sector remains male-dominated and women’s growing role as decision-makers and buyers is not reflected by their input into construction innovation and creativity.”
The winners were announced last night and included fantastic women from some of our members. Anita Mitchell, Head of Sustainability at Lendlease won the award for Best Woman in Environment and Sustainability, whilst Sukhy Hogwood, Technical Safety Manager at EDF Energy Nuclear New Build was awarded Best Woman in Health and Safety. The award for Best Woman Rail Engineer went to Transport for London’s Lead Project Engineer, Sharon Young, and Jwerea Malik, Associate at Balfour Beatty, won Best Woman in Highways. These are all brilliant achievements both for these women and their employers who are actively trying to encourage more women into the industry.
Many of our member’s employees were finalists at the awards. Lendlease had eight of its employees nominated at the Awards including, Amy Cashman, Legal Counsel, for Best Woman in Construction Law; Clare Amass, Civil Engineer, for Best Woman Contractor; Katy Bagnall, Health and Safety Manager, for Best Woman in Health and Safety; Vanessa Quansah, Senior Civil and Structural Engineer, for Best Young Woman Engineer; and Maria Garcia Mediavilla, Senior Planner, for Best Woman Construction Planner. Three women from Lendlease were nominated under the category Best Woman Consultant including, Project Director Fiona Brigginshaw, Project Manager Hannah Spotwood, and Senior Commercial Manager Valentina Mirea.
Along with Transport for London’s win in the Best Woman Rail Engineer category, their Lead Construction Engineer, Martin Roach was nominated for Best Male Mentor alongside Network Rail’s Peter Luniw, Senior Project Manager. Two women from Network Rail were finalists for the Best Women Rail Engineer award: Claire Hulstone, Senior Project Engineer, and Helen Teather, Senior Project Engineer. Whilst Network Rail’s Joanne Meaney, Project Manager, was nominated for the Best Woman Project Manager award as well as Katy Brady, Programme Manager at EDF Energy.Balfour Beatty and Wates Group were other employers to do well at the Awards. In the Best Woman in Environment and Sustainability category, Balfour Beatty had two finalists: Angela Gardner Pllu, Environmental Manager, and Julia Baker, Biodiversity Technical Specialist, but lost out to Lendlease’s Anita Mitchell. Balfour Beatty’s Gaby Grant, Quantity Surveyor, joined Wates’ Jo Smith, Project Surveyor, Laura Palmer, Site Surveyor, and Sarah Taylor, Project Surveyor, in being finalists in the Best Woman Quantity Surveyor category. Both Wates’ Maria Joyce, Regional Commercial Director, and Balfour Beatty’s Lisa Foster, Site Mobilisation Hub Manager, were nominated for Best Female Mentor. Anna-Louise Yiannakas, Site Surveyor at Wates, was nominated for the Best Young Woman in Construction award. Wates’ Amy Miller, Section Manager, and Claire Tribe, Bid Manager, were also nominated for the Best Woman Contractor awards.
Atkins also featured on the finalist’s lists with Sophie Payne, Senior Tunnel Engineer, nominated for the Best Woman in Tunnelling and Underground Construction, and Genan Binsariti, Assistant Geotechnical Engineer, nominated for the Best Civil Engineer award.
We commend the hard work of these fantastic women (and men) in construction and engineering.
Here is the full list of winners.
Best Woman Architect – Johann Muldoon, Architect and Director, Manor Architects
Best Woman Architectural Technologist – Solam Sizer, Partner, SA Architectural Services
Best Woman Civil Engineer – Rachel Skinner, Executive Director and Head of Diversity, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff
Best Woman in Construction Law – Theresa Mohammed, Partner, Trowers and Hamlins LLP
Best Women Consultant – Roseanna Bloxham, Senior Consultant, RSK
Best Woman Contractor – Concepcion Vicente, Project Manager, Tideway Central-Ferrovial Agroman
Best Woman Electrical and Mechanical Engineer – Anouska Martin, Mechanical Engineering Department Manager, Bouygues UK
Best Woman in Environment and Sustainability – Anita Mitchell, Head of Sustainability, Lendlease
Best Woman in Health and Safety – Sukhy Hogwood, Technical Safety Manager, EDF Energy Nuclear New Build
Best Woman Project Manager – Paula Chandler, Design Manager, Bouygues UK
Best Woman Quantity Surveyor – Isla Hill, Quantity Surveyor, BAM Ritchies
Best Young Woman in Construction – Agnieszka Wisniewska, Works Manager, Budimex SA
Best Young Woman Engineer – Najwa Jawahar, Senior Structural Engineer, WSP
Best Woman Structural Engineer – Rossella Nicolin, Associate Director, Aecom
Best Woman Construction Planner – Rose Makwara, Senior Planner, Bouygues UK
Best Woman in Tunneling and Underground Construction – Bethan Haig, Tunnel Manager, Dragados/Dr. Sauer and Partners
Best Female Mentor – Rebecca Mullens, Commercial Manager, Interserve Construction
Best Male Mentor – Geoff Bee, Senior Partner, Weston Williamson + Partners
Best Woman Facilities Manager – Francesca Kavanagh, Senior Property Manager, Community Solutions Partnership Services
Best Woman Rail Engineer – Sharon Young, Lead Project Engineer, Transport for London
Best Young Woman Architect – Gemma Hinchliffe, Architect, NPS Barnsley part of NPS Group
Best Woman in Highways – Jwerea Malik, Associate, Balfour Beatty
Best Woman in Oil and Gas Engineering – Michelle Wellsbury, Head of Technical and Professional Development, Genesis Oil and Gas Consultants
Best Woman Interior Designer – Gemma Evers, Interior Designer, NPS Leeds part of NPS Group
Lifetime Achievement in Construction – Kathryn Ladley, Senior Consultant, NPS Leeds part of NPS Group
Lifetime Achievement in Engineering – Geoff Cox, Managing Director, Built Environment, Baker Hicks
Most Distinguished Winner of 2017 - Rachel Skinner, Executive Director and Head of Diversity, WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff
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