Finalists of the annual European Women in Construction and Engineering Awards, faced judging panels yesterday (21 April), as they took a step closer towards the awards ceremony in May, when the winners of each category will be announced.
As well as presenting, and answering questions from the judges, the finalists heard from many experts across construction and engineering in panel discussions throughout the day, with topics ranging from mentoring to resilience, and social media to leadership.
Finalists from across all categories including best woman in environment and sustainability and best woman in health and safety, participated in the debates as well as having a chance to network with their peers.
Rhaynukaa Soni, a finalist in the Health and Safety division of the awards spoke to SHP about what it has taken to get to this point in her career, and how the awards have helped her reflect on that. She said: “One of the most interesting things about this process has been putting my presentation together and looking back over my career. In only seven years I have achieved so much yet I feel like I’ve only just started. I can’t wait to see what the next seven years will bring.”
Mentoring finalist Linda Miller a Project Manger at Crossrail talked of the importance of getting people involved in and excited about construction and engineering from an early age and how working on a project like Crossrail can inspire people to see how astonishing it can be.
Panelists included Casey D Rutland from Arup, Philippa Oldham from the institution of Mechanical Engineers and Kate Morris from Aecom.
Judges included Chief Executives, Directors and Partners from companies and organisations such as Costain, BRE, CIOB and Bouygues.
Speaking to SHP following his panel discussion about the importance of engaging and staying connected with social media, Casey D Rutland, Associate Director at Arup said: “Last year’s awards were really good and really inspiring. At Arup things are changing, there’s a lot of fiercely intelligent, hugely respected women; and we have judges and nominees involved in this day. As a diversity champion within the company I am proud to promote people having equal opportunities.”
After discussing her experience with the room, Philippa Oldham, Head of Transport and Manufacturing at the Institution of Mechanical engineers said: “I was delighted to be involved in this event and have a chance to debate with various people around the topics of encouraging women into the profession. It’s a fantastic opportunity, as everyone in the room is a finalist, they are a very high calibre of individuals. Having been in the industry for over 15 years, I am always very interested to hear the views of people around how things have changed.”
Following on from her panel discussion on mentoring Kate Morris, Aecom, said: “At Aecom we’ve identified a real need to get women into leadership. We have looked long and hard at how to do that and we’ve seen mentorship is one tool. We do it through a group programme, bringing a number of similar minded women from within the organisation together as a platform to share experience. It’s a way of building confidence, to help crystallise what they want to do. It works well as we are not telling them what they want to do but giving them the opportunity to think for themselves what they need to do, with support around them”.
Winners will be announced at the WICE awards dinner on 19 May.
Thank you for writing such a beautiful piece about the judging day Lauren.