Pamela McNeill | HM Forces
I am probably the worst person to write a bio on myself as I am my biggest critic, but my Chain of Command has put me forward for this prestigious award, so I will do my best.
I am one of two females in my trade in the Regular British Army I believe, I have been serving for 18 years so far and have had a colourful career in that time. I have been deployed to Iraq, the Falkland Islands and various exercises in Germany and the UK. I have also been fortunate enough to receive two commendations for my service from the Army Chain of Command. Simply put, I absolutely love my job and honestly believe I have the best trade in the British Army; when others find out I am a Metalsmith they are usually in disbelief as it is a very male dominated trade. I chose my trade years ago when I was told a woman could not do the job, this only spurred me on to do it.
I am a single mother of two amazing children and they are my greatest achievement. I have been sponsoring a child in Tanzania (through Action Aid since 2010) to teach my children how lucky they are and appreciate all they have as well as helping a less fortunate soul struggling so far away. To further show them how fortunate they are, I have been a long-time supporter of the NSPCC.
With my particular skill set from my trade I am fortunate enough to be able to make metal art and often use scrap that I find in the bin to make pieces in my own time to sell for various charities. I recently made some metal poppies for my local memorial garden that a vetran has selflessly started after seeing an article about his work in my local newspaper; I am currently making a big centre piece for the garden to be unveiled later this year.
I have also recently made some pieces for the Leuchars local school and nursery to sell for play ground equipment. My daughter desperately wanted me to buy one and I begrudgingly did so, I put it on my social media about having to buy my own work and the interest was very high giving me the idea to make more and auction it off for the Accord Hospice in Paisley that provides palliative and end of life care. I want to do it to pay them back for the amazing support they gave my family last year and in memory of an amazing family member, someone who had a lot to do with the woman I am today, so in a way it is helping myself through the grieving process. Due to having such a busy life being a single mother serving in the Army I do this in my spare time which is few and far between.
I donate my hair to the Little Princess Charity Trust; my five year old daughter came with me on one occasion and decided she wanted to donate her hair as well. She grew her hair until it was long enough to donate, seeing her bursting with pride in herself when getting her hair cut to donate almost had me in tears. Her school awarded her a certificate at assembly for her selfless act and she came out of school with the biggest smile that day. I regularly donate blood and am on the DKMS bone marrow transplant list.
At my last Unit I helped run a mental health support group that one of my fellow peers set up to help support fellow struggling soldiers with their mental health and to ease the strain on the mental health services. The group has now grown in strength to support more soldiers within that Unit. Myself and two others at 2 CS Bn REME are now in the process of starting a similar group supported by the Battalion Welfare Team here in Scotland backed by the Chain of Command who are concerned for the welfare of our soldiers. This is a work in progress at the moment, though something that there is a need for and the motivation to get up an running.
Most recently, I was selected to be an inspirational speaker at an Army Service Women’s Network gathering, though unfortunately due to Coronavirus, this has been postponed.
There is more I could put, but to be honest this is very uncomfortable for me to write, I try to be the best I can be, be an inspiration to my children and those around me in every day life.
Georgina Smith | Royal Air Force
Joining the RAF as a Personnel Support specialist in 1998, my career has seen me assigned all over the UK and deployed on Operations around the world including; Falkland Islands, Bosnia and Afghanistan.
I have been employed in many roles from welfare, VIP, Policy, pay & personnel, training and education to recruitment. Throughout my career I have always enjoyed sport and adventure training and try to challenge myself physically, from skiing to kayaking; parachuting to netball and hockey. A diverse trade, I have enjoyed every moment of my service to date.
In 2015, I was at a training unit in Winchester delivering Personnel Support training to Army and RAF recruits. During this assignment an Army colleague noticed my walking had changed and notified me of this, as I was still active and felt no pain I carried on as usual. Approximately a month later, the same colleague had filmed me walking and the deterioration was evident and at that point I sought medical advice. The medical centre sent me straight to hospital and after being immediately admitted, five days later I was diagnosed with MS.
This led to a dark time in my career and personal life. I imagined that my career would be over, my children would suffer from my potential physical deterioration and that the sport and activities opportunities I'd always enjoyed would be taken away from me as an option.
I pushed through the first few months in a haze of uncertainty, but then looking at my children and understanding MS better I decided to fight and manage the illness rather than succumb to it. This led me to the charity Help for Heroes who offered me opportunities on their Sports Recovery program, designed to help serving and veterans with illness and disability find, use and manage sport as part of their recovery and lifestyle. I was invited to try powerlifting, a sport I never considered being the size I am and found it not only helped with my new balance issues but gave me strength and a new family socially. I have competed in the Military World Champs overseas and in the UK and positioned third, twice in deadlift. Last year I captained the UK Warrior Games team in Tampa, Florida; competing in seven sports and achieving four silver and two bronze medals.
Whilst I was discovering ways to manage MS through sport and adaptive adventure training, I received a medical decision by the RAF that they would retain me in service. Since 2015, I have been promoted to Sergeant, received an extension of service and become an advocate for those with Chronic Conditions and Disability in Defence in the RAF.
Sam Wraith | 7th Infantry Brigade
I walked into the Derby Army Careers Office in 2006 with every intention of joining the Army as a soldier.
The rather forthright Careers Advisor saw more potential in me than I did in myself and managed to convince me to attempt the gruelling Army Officer Selection process. After expressing my concerns and with a serious lack of confidence, he politely responded “well, when you fail, come back here, I’ll sign you straight up as a soldier!”. Little did I expect that one year later, I would have passed selection and would be in my first year of Army Officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, not the usual career path for a Derby girl!
I have travelled and led Soldiers in demanding environments all over the world. After having spent an amazing, busy and demanding 12 years in the Army as a Royal Artillery Officer, I wanted to return home to Derby to be with my family. Still incredibly passionate about the Army, I was unable to entirely cut my military ties. I very quickly side-stepped into the Army Reserve and now work part-time as an Engagement Officer for the 7th Infantry Brigade Engagement Team based in the East Midlands as well a running my own business.
One of a small team of 10, I deliver Army Engagement through a series of team building activities, career talks, careers assemblies, STEM activities, CV Workshops, Career Speed Networking, Mock interviews or bespoke activities that can be developed to suit a specific educational or careers need.
Having spent years abroad throughout my career and now firmly based back in my hometown, I am passionate about by local community and dedicated to the youth that are growing up in it and the region. Through my Army Engagement role, my aim is to develop and inspire them to achieve their absolute potential, no matter what further education or career path they wish to take.
If I can inspire someone to push themselves to reach their potential just as the Army Careers Advisor did for me that day in 2006, then I know I’m doing something positively influential.
Rebecca Sharp | BAE Systems
I began my career working as a Project Manager for a Digital Agency, subsequently establishing a London branch of the agency, recruiting and managing a team of Project Managers and taking on the role of Account Director for an account which I successfully developed.
An interest in business change initially led me to lead an internal change programme, the experience of which encouraged me to pursue a career in technology consulting.
I originally joined BAE Systems in 2012 as a Business Manager for the award winning Creative Services team. This involved supporting the leadership team; providing people management support; managing resourcing and developing a workforce capacity planning tool to enable informed decision making around resourcing and recruitment. Since then, I have worked in a variety of business consultancy roles, both for internal and external clients, gaining experience of business change, stakeholder management, business operations and business analysis. I am currently working as a Business Analyst, delivering business cases to support large and complex public sector infrastructure projects. Working on business case development has enabled me to draw on the varied experience I have gained in other roles and I particularly enjoy the collaborative nature of the work.
Bryony Stevens | British Army
I was born into a military family in 1991, living around the UK and overseas before starting my undergraduate degree in War Studies at King's College London in 2010.
I joined the TA as a Private soldier in 151 Regiment RLC in 2012 during my studies. In 2013 I graduated with a 2:1 and started an internship at Blesma, The Limbless Veterans - a military charity for serving personnel and veterans who have lost limbs or use of limbs. After a 6-month internship I was offered a full-time position doing the same job - media and communications.
In 2016 I attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and commissioned as an officer in the Army Reserve, now commanding the Troop I had been a soldier in. In December 2018 I left Blesma after five and a half years and started a full-time reserve service (FTRS) contract for one year as a Troop Commander. During 2019 (amongst others things) I deployed to Germany as a Troop Commander with 10 Queen's Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment for a month, was the course officer for the Reserve RLC's PNCO Cadre on Dartmoor, ran a 'Theory Study Day' for soldiers in 151 Regt to assist soldiers in gaining their theory licences for cars and HGVs and was the Sqn Ops Officer for Ex IRON VIPER - a Brigade level exercise where 151 Regt operated at Sqn level under 10 QOGLR.
In February 2020 I started another FTRS contract as a Personnel Recovery Officer in Tidworth. The job involves assisting WIS serving personnel either return to work or medically discharge from the Army.
Rachyel Ainsworth | HM Forces
I am currently serving at the Food Services Training Wing (FSTW) as a military catering instructor, my job role involves the career development, teaching and mentoring of chefs within the Armed Forces.
My current position requires a professional outlook on all aspects of catering issues from professional cookery and people management as well as coaching and mentoring younger chefs within the trade to enhance their own knowledge and ability. I also support the delivery of our apprenticeship programme as well as delivering training in nutrition outside of my normal work routine.
I have previously been posted in Cyprus, Colchester and Germany throughout my Military career with key responsibilities within my job roles being the day to day running of shifts within a catering environment and the planning and organisation of functions, I also oversaw a number of chefs within the facilities to which I was working on a strict time table including rosters, as well as the coaching and mentoring of less experienced chefs.
I have spent time as a chef working in various locations whilst on deployments and exercises such as; Afghanistan, Kuwait, Kenya, Czech Republic, Poland and USA to name a few. I have also had the opportunity to cater for Royalty, high ranking military staff and such like.
I have been a member of the Combined Culinary Arts Team (CSCAT) for 7 years and have competed in many National and International competitions. I am also the Captain of the Army Buffet Team to which I coach and mentor a variety of chefs with different levels of knowledge and experience to gain success in competitions and recommend members of the Army team to be selected for the Combined Services Team.
Chrisma Jain | Transport for London
Chrisma’s parents originally wanted their only daughter to become a pharmacist or to work in their shop but she had other ideas…
She wanted to become an engineer. She gained a 1st Class Honours degree in Mechanical Engineering, is a Chartered Engineer, Member of the IMechE and has worked within the Transport industry since 2004
Senior Project Manager at Transport for London and is jointly responsible for renewing the track and drainage infrastructure across all of London Underground’s tube network. She has recently led the smooth mobilisation of the new £220 million track partnership with Balfour Beatty, mobilising the teams into the new contract in just 6 weeks.
Chrisma has consistently supported her colleagues in making TfL a better place to work. She is the Chair of the Females in Transport Engineering (FiTE), a support network group that supports 300 women in their career progression in Transport Engineering. She also founded and championed a Sustainability working group at TfL that aims to give back to the community and reduce waste.
Outside of work, Chrisma is passionate about promoting the next generation in the Transport industry and has sat on various committee and board roles including as:
• Women Engineering Society (WES) Council Member
• WES Events secretary who supports events across the UK
• WES London Cluster Committee where she has led on some of its social media channels (Instagram) and created videos on YouTube to generate the interest of the younger generation towards engineering.
• Thames College Employer Advisory Board where she supports young people/helps nurture young engineers in the engineering sector and provides strategic advice on the future design of their curriculum
• IMechE Committee member and social media officer, where she has successfully tripled the IMechE’s Twitter following as well as providing tutorials to enable other committee members to be effective on Twitter.
Amber O'Connor | Siemens Aeroderivative Gas Turbines
Amber is an Engineering Programme Manager as well as an Equipment Health Monitoring and Performance Engineer for Siemens Aeroderivative Gas Turbines within the Gas and Power business.
Whilst studying for her GCSE’s, Amber explored possible career options in engineering based upon her skillset – liking maths, science and problem solving, she therefore decided to apply for an apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce. Amber was offered a three-year Technical Apprenticeship back in 2010 with the company and this training helped her to gain the practical and technical knowledge for her future career as an engineering leader.
After successful completion of her apprenticeship, Amber was sponsored by the Company to complete a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Birmingham City University part time whilst continuing to work as an engineer. In 2017 Amber successfully graduated with a 1st in her degree, which coincided with her daughter being just six weeks old.
Once Rolls-Royce was acquired by Siemens in 2014, Amber continued progressing her career and gaining a wider understanding of the Equipment Health Monitoring and Performance department. She was responsible for leading a major Digitalisation Program of which the delivery of this resulted in the monitoring of 180 gas turbines for a range of customers worldwide with a capital value of £3.5billion. From this point Amber realised that leading programmes of work from an engineering perspective whilst managing a team of people utilised both her passion for engineering management whilst complimenting her skills as an engineer. Since then, Amber has been leading all programmes for her department which includes managing a team of six subject matter experts located in Canada, USA, UK and the Netherlands.
Amber is an active STEM Ambassador and regularly supports projects involving young women - this has been underpinned through supporting the Siemens SeeMe shows around the UK. Amber is also a key supporter in positively changing the working environment within Siemens and is actively doing so by leading a networking, development and collaboration group called NEXT UK. She has also co-founded a committee with the support of senior management to tackle key cultural issues within the local workplace as well as being a nominated Siemens UK Diversity and Inclusion Champion. In addition to this, Amber has been a key brand ambassador for Siemens, supporting events and film content to encourage the next generation towards a career in STEM by highlighting the amazing opportunities that exist within engineering careers.
Amber was a finalist for the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Young Woman Engineer of the Year 2019, recognised as Highly Commended. This award is to highlight young women within the engineering industry who represent the best of the profession and who also act as a role models for the next generation. She has also been selected as a keynote speaker for this year’s American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Turbo Expo conference during the Women in Engineering Networking Event to discuss her career to date and topics that really matter to women within the industry.
Ambers ambition is to change how engineering is seen by the young people of today, hoping to make a positive impact on as many as people as possible and encourage them to consider a STEM career as a truly viable and existing option. She also wants to be a positive role model for career driven women, demonstrating through her own experiences of having two young children that pursuing a career doesn’t mean that personal life goals such as having a family need to be put on hold. This is a stigma that Amber is working to change within the industry.
Hannah Ratcliffe | Jacobs
I can pin-point the exact moment which shaped my career.
It was a careers lunch at school, where a woman from Construction Skills, a recruitment company, asked me, ‘have you ever considered a career in Civil Engineering?’ My answer was no, but her question inspired me to find out more, which led to me gaining work experience with Balfour Beatty on the iconic Forth Rail Bridge. This experience changed everything.
I graduated with a Master’s in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2014 having gained valuable experience through summer placements with Transport Scotland and Scottish Water. After graduating I joined the engineering consultancy Jacobs and have enjoyed nearly a six-year career working on mostly large infrastructure schemes across the UK, including the A90/A96 Haudagain Improvement scheme, Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route, A9 Dualling, A9/A82 Longman Junction Improvement scheme, the Heathrow Expansion Project and M3 Junction 9 Improvements scheme.
I am continuously developing as an engineer, having started at Jacobs on their Graduate Development Programme, to taking on design lead responsibilities and more recently project management roles.
I am currently working towards my chartership with the Institution of Civil Engineers and will be sitting my Chartered Professional Review in Spring 2020.
Through my role as a STEM Ambassador, I have promoted engineering and science through engaging with schools and universities at a variety of events. I want to be that person who inspires others to consider a career in Civil Engineering, just like someone was able to do for me 12 years ago.
Rebecca Cocklin | BP
I graduated with a First Class Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Oxford Brookes University in June 2017.
My keen interest in the field of engineering stems from a young age when I began racing karts, and I have been developing my knowledge and skills ever since. In addition to my academic achievements, I completed a year in industry with BMW group at Oxford MINI Plant as a Complex Vehicle Analyst within the quality-engineering department where I was responsible for root cause analysis and resolution to issues on both pre-series and production vehicles.
Currently in my final year of the BP Castrol Challenger Automotive Graduate Scheme I have had the opportunity to work within different areas of the business including Product Testing and Engineering, Lubricant Product Development, Digital Strategy and Fuels Test Methodology. Over the course of my placements I have been responsible for managing and programming test beds, engine testing, data acquisition and analysis, leading projects including a high-priority project to develop and deliver new products to market within 9 months and creating a minimum viable product to improve the way data is collected, stored and used.
I am also proud to be a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) ambassador for BP where I promote the studying of STEM subjects and careers in engineering and science to students of all ages. I regularly present to visiting students and visit local schools to deliver practical engineering workshops and deliver mentoring sessions as well as participate in panels at events such as BP discovery days to discuss my education, career and answer questions.