Engineering Success

Engineering Success interviews Philippa Jefferis a Business Excellence Manager at BAM Nuttall

Philippa has been lucky to explore the world through engineering.

Starting in the UK, she soon found herself involved in road maintenance in Sydney, Australia before a brief stint back home in the UK managing roads here.  She has since had the opportunity to work in Sierra Leone, Nepal and Pakistan and dreams of being able to claim she has worked in all 7 continents. 4 down, 3 to go!

Though reluctant at first to become an engineer, partly due to not really knowing what one was, Philippa now promotes engineering through being a QE Prize Ambassador. Engineering gives an opportunity to see behind the scenes of how the world works, and Philippa has always enjoyed problem solving.

Her current role allows her to "zoom out" to see the bigger picture, of where engineering sits within the wider commercial context, yet she still enjoys the opportunity to get on site and see the difference made on a daily basis by civil engineers.

Engineering Success interviews Mo Oyetunji is a Quality Specialist in the Medical Device Industry.

Mo has previously worked as a Materials & Corrosion Engineer within the Oil and Gas industry for over a decade and is very much passionate about teaching and inspiring kids about STEM subjects.

She is the Owner of Asa West - a UK based fashion retailer established in 2017 and is also the founder of ‘More Blessed to Give’ charity established in 2012 which provides outreach and support for homeless men, women and kids as well as financially supporting individuals for higher education in Nigeria.

Mo is the host of ‘The 360 Lady Podcast’ - a podcast that inspires and equips women to be the highest and healthiest version of themselves. She became a member of AFBE in 2018 and currently a Board Member leading the Gala Awards 2023.

Engineering Success interview Laura Giddings the Founder of The STEM Project

Laura founded The STEM Project so that she could continue to work with like minded people who had a passion and enthusiasm to inspire the current and next generation into STEAM and more.

An established award-winning STEM Education manager with a flare for breaking the mould and pushing the boundaries to build strong STEM communities , projects and networks in the UK, she is a naturally passionate advocate for young people; working to build bridges across industries, government and education to secure stronger foundations for the future.

Working towards gaining her Masters in STEM Education from King's College London, she puts into practice these teachings, and professional experiences gained from her time at New Scientist, The Royal Institution and RS Components, in to her day to day management of a rapidly growing agency of STEAM experts.

Engineering Success interviews Erusa Adizie a Net Zero Manager at Tarmac

Working for a sustainable building materials company Erusa's role involves supporting and developing the roadmaps that will allow the hard to decarbonise industry to reach net zero targets.

Erusa is a Chartered Engineer and has Masters Degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering with Management and Safety, and Reliability Engineering.

She is passionate about the energy transition and has had various roles, all exclusively within energy, from oil and gas services to electricity transmission to power generation. Erusa is a STEM Ambassador and a Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) Energy Panel and an IET Education Volunteer.

In 2021 Erusa won the IET Volunteer Core Values Award for Integrity.

She is passionate about promoting STEM as well as working to improve diversity in energy especially low carbon and sustainability fields through her initiative Power to Diversity.

Engineering Success interviews Floriane Fidegnon-Edoh a Consultant for BMNT

Floriane is currently working on the Royal Navy contract, helping them to correctly identify and translate operational problem areas.  She has a background in manufacturing engineering and public policy, having worked in a manufacturing production environment, a public policy think tank and the charities sector.

Prior to joining BMNT, Floriane was a department head in a public policy think tank, as the head of the Industry, Technology and Innovation team. She has extensive experience working with civil servants, parliamentarians, private and public sector stakeholders across manufacturing, data analytics and innovation policy translating and publishing challenges into actionable recommendations for government. As a manufacturing engineer for a major pharmaceutical company, she contributed to a number of lean and innovation-led programmes that were adopted to improve production performance.

Floriane is a member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) design and manufacturing policy panel and an IEEE TechEthics ambassador, advising professional institutes on their engagement with industry and academia in emerging markets.

Floriane is passionate about diversity, inclusion, equity and youth engagement in STEM. She founded and led the Warwick Women’s Engineering Society, is a Royal Academy of Engineering Leaders Scholar, and regular science communicator. She is a charity trustee for Stemette Futures as well as the Chairperson of the Stemette Futures Youth board. She holds a first class BEng in Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Warwick.

Engineering Success interview Caitlin McCall a Senior Research Engineer at Manufacturing Technology Centre in the field of Automation and Electronics.

She is a Chartered Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Previously, she was a Materials and Manufacturing Engineer at Swansea University where she worked towards her ESPRC funded Engineering Doctorate in printed electronics for flexible packaging. She has published a paper in biosensors for glucose detection and is writing several more from her doctoral research.

In 2021, Caitlin was awarded a place in the prestigious WES Top 50 Female Engineers list and a We Are The City Rising Star Award in 2022 for her contributions to the engineering industry.

Caitlin is passionate about developing peoples' skill sets and supporting her community. She enjoys promoting engineering as Chair for the Women's Engineering Society's (WES) Early Careers Board and member of the WES Event Directors Committee.

Engineering Success interviews Dr Roy Bitrus PhD a Geologist and a Business Development Consultant with a first degree in Geology and Mining.

Roy is a Royal Society of Edinburgh RSE – Unlocking Ambition Enterprise Fellow with technical, entrepreneur and intrapreneur skills working as a director of sales at TenzorGEO Ltd to provide micro seismic data acquisition and interpretation services to the oil and gas companies in the North Sea and internationally  aimed at maximising economic recovery and monitoring reservoirs.

Roy has over 10 years of experience in business, sales and entrepreneurship having started his own company in Nigeria and has co-founded 2 start-up companies in the UK. He has participated in various entrepreneurial workshops and accelerator programs across the UK where he won pitching competitions and grants for his business.

He is a Geologist with degrees in geology and mining, a master’s in environmental management and a doctorate in geology focused on reservoir characterisation for CO2 storage.

Roy has a passion for giving to others and is a committed member of the AFBE Scotland UK, where he volunteers his time and energy to help develop others contributing to leadership and STEM activities in Aberdeen.

Engineering Success interviews Jess Clark a Highways Engineer working for AECOM

Jess has 5 years’ experience as a Civil Engineer and also volunteers as a STEM Ambassador.

Jess was the winner of the ICE NE STEM Ambassador of the Year Award 2022, being recognised for her work supporting her local community through lockdown and driving STEM throughout the workforce.

Jess is passionate about promoting diversity, equality and sustainability through engineering and is an advocate for apprenticeships, recently completing her degree apprenticeship in civil engineering.

Engineering Success interview Zainab Adigun a Senior Structural Engineer and AFBE-UK School Team Lead.

Zainab Adigun studied BEng in Civil Engineering at Brunel University then a MSc Structural Engineering on a Women in Engineering full scholarship.  Zainab designs new buildings and small refurbishments projects across all sectors.

As social value champion and EDI team member for her organisation, she helps to define strategy and deliver on social value commitments. Zainab volunteers as a board member for the Association for Black and Ethnic Minority Engineers (AFBE) where she is the team leader for the Making Engineering Hot which works with young people from black and other ethnic minority groups to expose them to careers in engineering.

Recently, Zainab was listed as one of 100 Finalists for the Top Women in Engineering 2022 Awards as recognition of her contribution in encouraging females to consider a career in engineering. She has also been shortlisted for the CN & NCE Inspiring Women in Construction and Engineering awards.

Engineering Success interviews Amber Oliphant a Systems Project Engineer at High Speed Rail Solutions.

Amber chose technical subjects at school and studied general engineering at college. Amber gained an apprenticeship as a Toolmaker which took her through various departments within the company she was working for, being Machining, Die Maintenance and Ancillaries.

Amber then moved into new product introduction within the injection moulding industry where she gained valuable experience in Project Management.

Always challenging herself Amber now enjoys her role at High Speed Rail Solutions.

Passionate about raising issues for Women in Engineering Amber is an advocate for adjustments to Maternity packages and flexible return to work support currently provided, and works hard to highlight and influence that change.