Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering
The judging panel was chaired by Dawn Bonfield MBE, and included Leon Krill from the "Daily Telegraph", Allan Cook CBE, Chairman of Atkins, Professor John Perkins, author of the "Engineering Skills Survey" from the University of Manchester, Fiona Tatton, editor of "Womanthology" and Michelle Richmond, Director of Membership and Professional Development at the Institution of Engineering and Technology. The judging panel included Dr Pete Thompson, CEO, NPL, Gillian Arnold, Director, Tectre, Clare Lavelle, Associate Director, Arup, John McCollum, Head of Engineering, BAE, Benita Mehra, WES President, Kirsten Bodley, WES CEO, Isobel Pollock-Hulf, WES Patron. The event was held at the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2019 and the Women's Engineering Society moved to collaborate with the Guardian newspaper, who published a supplement containing details of the winners on the 24 June 2019 to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day 2020. The date also marked 100 years since the formation of the Society. The judging panel consisted of Head Judge Dawn Fitt, Bedford College, Dawn Childs, President, Women's Engineering Society, Julie Dakin, Mott Macdonald, Elizabeth Donnelly, CEO, Women's Engineering Society, John McCollum, BAE Systems, Alex Walker, Ford, and Will Whittow, the WES Men As Allies winner 2017, and senior lecturer at Loughborough University. In 2020 the Women's Engineering Society moved away from what women engineers are to what women engineers do and called for nominations for the Top 50 Women in Sustainability. The winners were announced during a live webinar on the 23 June 2020 to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day. The judging panel consisted of Head Judge Sally Sudworth, Environment Agency, Ann-Christin Andersen, Rotork Board Member, Richard Coackley, Past President & Sustainability Leader, Institution of Civil Engineers, Andrew Conway, Director of Engineering, BAI Communications, Elizabeth Donnelly, CEO, Women's Engineering Society, Louise Kingham, CEO Institute of Energy, Davide Stronati, Global Sustainability Leader, Mott Macdonald, and Joanna Wood, Group Engineering Director, BAE Systems. In 2021 the Women's Engineering Society selected the theme of "Engineering Heroes" to celebrate the women engineers around the world who played a major role in protecting and defending society from the Covid-19 pandemic. Believing the pandemic to be over by the time of the awards, WES also chose to celebrate women engineers who deliver and maintain critical services and infrastructure, keep civic society functioning at every level, and support lives and livelihoods. The winners were announced on The Guardian and Women's Engineering Society's websites on the 23 June 2021 to celebrate International Women in Engineering Day. A virtual awards ceremony will celebrate each winner during a live webinar on the same day. The judging panel consisted of Head Judge, Professor Catherine Noakes, Simon Barber, UK Managing Director, Assytem WE50 Sponsor, Dawn Childs FREng, UK Change Director, National Grid, Emma Crichton, Head of Engineering, Engineers without Borders, Scott Dalrymple, Vice-President HR, Crane, Elizabeth Donnelly, Chief Executive Officer, Women’s Engineering Society, Neil Gibbs, ABB, Frankie Laugier-Davies, Senior Account Manager, Pareto Facilities Management Ltd, Mark McBride Wright, Equal Engineers, Sarah Mogford, Environment and Planning Divisional Director, RSK, Emma Nicholson, Development Project Manager, SLC Rail, Steff Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Measurement and Control, and Mara Tafadzwa Makoni, Association for Black Engineers (AFBE).
2021 Winners (Theme: Engineering Heroes)
The list was instigated by Dawn Bonfield MBE, then Chief Executive of the Women's Engineering Society.