Alessandra Villa | Arup
Alessandra is a driven and ambitious engineer. She graduated from the Politecnico di Milano University and has been working as a Bridge Engineer for Arup for the last 6 years, from offices in Birmingham, Amsterdam, London and Singapore.
She has a real passion about bridges and succeeded, through her daily job, to work on World record projects all around the World as well as in the UK. Together with being a hard worker and a bright engineer, Alessandra is passionate about mentoring young engineers, as well as increasing the visibility of the construction industry.
Alessandra is a guide for graduates within her company and students from both British and Italian universities.
Alessandra is deeply involved with the charity Bridges to Prosperity, working with them for over two years developing a tool for the design of suspension bridges in rural isolated areas. In 2014 she was part of a team who designed and built a bridge in the Panamanian jungle, which has since won the prestigious ICE Designed in London Award.
When she went to Panama she also championed and delivered a University programme that involved her teaching at a local university close to the bridge location and hosting the students on site for a day.
Tamara Leigh | IRIN
Tamara Leigh is a communications and advocacy consultant, who works with international aid agencies and the media to raise awareness on issues of humanitarian concern.
After graduating with a degree in Politics and Philosophy, Tamara moved to Nairobi in Kenya to work for the United Nations. Since then, she has worked with the International Red Cross in East Africa and South Sudan, with the International Rescue Committee in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
She is currently based in London, working for the humanitarian news service, IRIN, supporting its transition from the UN into an independent media agency that delivers unique, authoritative and independent reporting from the frontlines of crises. She has recently published work on the Democratic Republic of Congo and the global migration crisis.