The Engineering Council is proud to celebrate the achievements of the registered professionals selected as finalists for the 2025 Women’s Engineering Society (WES) Awards. The winners will be announced at the Caroline Haslett Lecture and Awards Ceremony in London on 16 December.
The WES Awards honour engineering excellence while highlighting visible role models and initiatives that promote gender balance and inclusion across engineering and the applied sciences.
This year’s shortlist brings together exceptional engineers, technicians and innovators who are advancing technical achievement and driving progress toward a more gender-balanced sector.
The Karen Burt Memorial Award is presented for the best newly qualified Chartered engineer. This accolade recognises the importance of Chartered status and the award winner’s excellence and potential in engineering practice as well as the contributions they have made in the promotion of the engineering profession.
This year’s Karen Burt Award finalists are:
- Emma McGregor CEng MICE, a Senior Engineer at Tony Gee and Partners in Glasgow with extensive onshore wind-farm project experience. She has recently won both the ICE James Rennie Medal and the Scottish Renewables Young Professionals Green Energy Award. Emma has played a leading role in significant renewable energy projects, including key geotechnical contributions to the Viking Wind Farm in Shetland.
- Juliette Goddard CEng MIMechE, a Senior Mechanical Engineer at Leonardo Electronics, develops stabilisation technologies and designs, including composites. Her background spans sustainable design, R&D and hands-on engineering across vertical-farming start-ups and the high-tech defence and aerospace industry. She has also co-founded several initiatives that support early-career women engineers.
- Colleen Mann CEng FIMMM is Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) Vice President and a materials scientist and engineer, leading a team of materials science consultants at Amentum. Colleen actively participates in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) outreach, helping people understand nuclear materials and radioactivity and presents her work at international conferences.
The shortlisted candidates for Best Newly Incorporated Engineer are:
- Caroline Nicholls IEng MICE, a Senior Engineer at Laing O'Rourke. Inspired by a childhood love of LEGO and maths, she discovered her passion for engineering during early placements with Laing O’Rourke. Despite encountering scepticism about women working in construction, her determination kept her focused and she now advocates for challenging outdated assumptions about the industry.
- Shannon Louise McGrath IEng MIMechE is a Hardware Engineer at NCR Atleos, specialising in simulation and design. She has significantly expanded engagement as a leader within the Women in Networking group.
The Best Newly Registered Technician Award finalists are:
- Emily Cole EngTech MICE is an apprentice at Jackson Civil Engineering, where she actively advocates for young women pursuing careers in engineering.
- Manon Butler EngTech AMCIHT, who works at Kent County Council, has rapidly progressed in traffic signal engineering and driven significant improvements to technical processes and guidance.
- Holly Mumby EngTech MIGEM, a Senior Integrity Engineer with 19 years’ experience in the gas industry, is a visible advocate for gender diversity and an active mentor to women and early-career engineers.
Esteemed engineer, Mamta Singhal MBE CEng MIET FWES, has been shortlisted as one of two finalists for the Isabel Hardwich Medal in recognition for her sustained and outstanding service to WES. Also featured in this year’s WES Top 50 Women in Engineering List, Mamta is a committed advocate for diversity, inclusion, and neurodiversity in engineering, championing under-represented groups and supporting culturally and neuro-diverse talent.
