Institution news
Since 2016, the Award has become an annual celebration every 23 June to recognise and reward excellence across the sector. To date, 200 women have been celebrated for their outstanding contributions.
This year's theme is sustainability. It is clear to see that throughout Kerry’s career and personal life, sustainability has been a focal point; from early in her career working in production machinery design, to this point today, where she stands as an award winning force within the industry.
Kerry has dedicated her multi-disciplined career to achieve advances in her vision of developing a more sustainable future by fusing together her skills and knowledge across many sectors including manufacturing, construction, energy, and sustainability in both the public and private sector.
A UK-based professional engineer who currently holds several roles aimed at improving sustainability across industry, Kerry is a Fellow of the Institution and has served as Chair of the Manufacturing Industries Division, as well as being a member of the Divisional Board for over ten years. She was responsible for initiating and providing the assessment basis for the MX Award in sustainable manufacturing, which was introduced in 2006, and three years later she wrote the Institution’s first Industrial Ecology paper in 2009.
As the current Chair of the Implementation Group, Kerry exercises her passion for promoting inclusivity within engineering and its sister sectors, particularly inspiring women to make the profession of engineering their own.
The Institution awarded Kerry with the first ever prize for ‘Engineering for a more sustainable future’ in 2016, and in recognition for services to the energy industry, Kerry was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 2017.
In response to the receiving the WE50 Award Kerry said,
“I’m delighted to have been selected for the WE50 award this year. For many years, long before sustainability was a recognised topic, I’ve been using my engineering knowledge and systems engineering skills to make more sustainable products, places, processes, systems and value chains. I hope that the focus of these awards helps to inspire more people from all backgrounds to consider engineering as a valuable and fulfilling career.”
WE50 was founded by the Women’s Engineering Society and celebrates the top 50 women in engineering and is linked to the prestigious global event, International Women in Engineering Day (INWED). It shines a spotlight on incredible achievements of women in engineering and related fields and aims to change the perceptions of engineering to inspire more women and girls into the profession.
The engineering sector moves in sync with the evolving world, creating ground-breaking opportunities and the chance to flex creative muscles unlike any other industry in the world. #Shapetheworld has seen support by many organisations such as STEM campaigners, universities, schools and politicians, to raise awareness of the industry and the skills shortage it faces, whilst promoting and engaging interest across the globe.