STEM Champion

This category seeks to recognise an individual, not just women, who have gone above and beyond to promote the opportunities available to young people through STEM based studies and careers. Whether it has been through promoting science, technology, engineering and maths in schools and colleges or running outreach activities, this person has worked to encourage young people into STEM careers.

Amy Dilllon
Design ID Consulting

Amy epitomises the essence of a STEM role model, going above and beyond to inspire and empower young people to pursue STEM careers. As Principal Engineer at Design ID, she not only leads design projects with excellence but also serves as a beacon of encouragement for aspiring engineers. Amy passionately leads 'The Big Bridge' project, a social enterprise aimed at promoting STEM education in schools across Northern Ireland. Through this initiative, Amy actively fosters enthusiasm and interest in engineering among students, igniting their curiosity and paving the way for future STEM leaders. Her tireless efforts in promoting science, technology, engineering, and math in schools, colleges, and through outreach activities exemplify her unwavering commitment to nurturing the next generation of STEM talent. Amy's impactful contributions make her a deserving nominee for the STEM Champion Award, embodying the spirit of leadership and mentorship in the STEM community.

Luisa Hendry
Story Contracting

Luisa Hendry, also known as Scottish Geologist across social media platforms has actively filled a crucial gap in STEM education and representation. She continues to promote the subject of geology and ground engineering across her social media platforms, gaining an astonishing 375K followers in the last year.

Oliwia Karwatka
Winvic Construction

Oliwia has been a BIM Coordinator since the end of 2020 and a year later she became part of the digital delivery team, focusing on 3D visualisations of projects. In February 2023, she became a STEM Learning ‘STEM Ambassador’ and has since personally engaged with and encouraged almost 3,000 young people across 12 separate activities. Extremely passionate about her role, she champions technology-focused roles in the construction industry and the digital skills required. Oliwia knows it’s important for young people to understand the wide range of jobs available, including office based, creative and technologically exciting and innovative roles. She has found that these digital roles attract young males and females equally and hopes her engagement helps to increase the numbers of women in construction in the coming years. Oliwia inspired a female college student in a presentation and since undertaken weekly mentoring and training sessions with her.

Jennifer Lee
Mott MacDonald

Jennifer is certainly an ambassador for STEM and a fantastic example of what can be achieved in this area. In her successful Inspiring Engineers work through Mott MacDonald’s partnership with Wallington High School for Girls, she is lead coordinator for the scheme, managing a team of volunteers and mentoring 53 students. She also contributed to interactive workshops for children at the London Transport Museum and helped a Girlguiding group to achieve their civil engineering badges. Through promoting engineering in schools and running outreach activities she has actively: •Worked to attract more women and people with diverse backgrounds into our industry; •Worked collaboratively to create an environment that welcomes women and people with diverse backgrounds. This clearly demonstrates that Jennifer has gone above and beyond to promote STEM opportunities available to young people through STEM based studies and careers. She also enthusiastically promotes STEM activities and work experience in Mott MacDonald.

Laura Macdonald
Arcadis

Laura is the Champion of all STEM Champions! Creating a network of 300 STEM Ambassadors in Arcadis UK, reaching 25,500 young people, accruing 2,800 volunteer hours across Arcadis, with 226 schools reached. Laura’s passion is people, making the world a better place for them to live, work and play in. She works tirelessly to create a pipeline of talent for our industry, engaging with schools and communities, her relentless pursuit for all things STEM is contagious. She has taken a Lead role in STEM for Arcadis, making event such as the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham economically accessible for all, championing the use of AI in STEM and exploring the ‘Art of the Possible’ when it comes to Virtual Reality and inclusion.

Paula McMahon
Sir Robert McAlpine

Paula is an award-winning STEM Champion who has made outstanding contributions to encouraging the next generation into engineering and construction. As a highly visible role model and industry leader she is not only a prolific speaker and blogger but a force for good. She improves workplaces through company policies and industry wide campaigns including #TheLine which tackles the use of language head on. Paula brings togethers collaborators through Engineering Together with a wide range of online and in person events. She is a leader in her region with many roles related to engineering careers and business, she was awarded an Honorary Professorship at Teesside University in 2023. Her many significant national and international roles including ICE Trustee and Head of UK Regions and WES Trustee and Climate Emergency Group Chair. Paula’s tangible contributions quite simply make our industry a better place to work and more sustainable for the future.

Divannia McMaster
Galliford Try

Divannia McMaster is an Assistant Design Manager at Galliford Try – Infrastructure. Divannia’s is the design led for multiple design and build projects. Her main responsibilities include reviewing designs to ensure compliance with the client's brief, buildability, and minimising health, safety, and environmental risks. Divannia is a committed STEM ambassador and has served as a mentor for the ICE CityZen Award and Brightside Mentoring Programme. Additionally, she is participating in the STEMAZING Inspiration Academy. Through her participation in these long-term STEM programme, Divannia has the opportunity to have multiple interactions with the same group of young people thereby maximizing their interest to pursue careers in STEM.

Nicola Morris
Stomor

Without a doubt, Nicola epitomises the very best of women in STEM, and her value to the industry is unmatched. Nicola has continuously provided support and inspiration to school pupils, undergraduates, graduates and employees. She is registered as a Science and Engineering Ambassador, regularly attending events in primary schools, secondary schools and colleges to undertake engineering challenges, give talks and network with the students, providing an insight into the world of engineering. She is always focused on trying to challenge stereotypes and inspire young girls to consider civil engineering or other engineering subjects. She also encourages all employees to get involved with local schools to ensure the continuity of young people entering the industry.

Melanie Rogers
Amey

Mel's enthusiasm for STEM careers is infectious and her passion for diverse backgrounds shines through all her work in this area. She singlehandedly organises the annual Challenge Cup in Kent (a STEM bridge design and build competition), making sure to invite schools that would normally be excluded from such events. She started the Elevate programme to reach care leavers in Kent and encourage them to consider STEM careers, as well as provide a tangible route to those careers for these young people through the associated apprenticeships she managed to secure commitment to from Amey and KCC.

Louisa Venables
Gatwick Airport

Louisa has been a force of nature in ensuring she delivers the highest possible STEM learning for all the students she engages with, Someone who has a passion and commitment to educate the students with programs that are inspirational and engaging. She constantly strives to develop new programs that will enhance the education of our young people and this is all carried out with her being a great person. Louisa has been the driving force behind the success of the London Gatwick Engineering STEM program and continues to advance STEM to young people to educate and help them grow.