Meet the judges for the 2018 WISE Awards

Monika Biddulph

Arm

VP, Planning and Delivery

Based in Cambridge, Monika is responsible for driving the execution of the product roadmaps and 10YP across all lines of business and central engineering, to ensure appropriate decisions are made on priorities, balance of resource allocation and product roadmaps.

Since joining ARM in 1998, Monika has worked in a variety of technical and commercial positions, including most recently as general manager of software and systems group, as general manager of partner enablement group, and in IP and tools licensing, product marketing and application engineering. She has been an ARM STEM Ambassador and is a passionate advocate for Women in Engineering.

Prior to ARM, Monika completed her PhD in experimental high energy physics at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. From July 2014 to July 2015, Monika was a non-executive director on the Board of Linaro

Richard Carter

BASF

Managing Director UK & Ireland

Richard assumed the role of Vice President in charge of BASF’s UK/Ireland Unit, as well as Managing Director of BASF companies in the UK and Ireland in 2016. Up until then Richard had spent his entire 30-year chemicals industry career outside of the UK, working for Bayer in Germany and Taiwan before joining BASF in 1988, where his roles have seen him based in Europe, Asia and America. Before returning to the UK he was based in Germany as Vice President, Global Key Account Management for BASF’s Home & Personal Care Business in Europe & Asia Pacific.

Richard studied Economics and Business Administration at the Manchester Business School, United Kingdom, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden, Fachhochschule Reutlingen, Germany and Middlesex University, United Kingdom, obtaining his MBA from Manchester Business School and a Bachelor's Degree in European Business Administration from Middlesex University.

Bachelor's Degree in European Business Administration from Middlesex University.

Allan Cook CBE

Chairman of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and co-chair of the Defence Growth Partnership

Allan Cook was a non-executive director and chairman of WS Atkins from September 2009 until July 3rd 2017 when Atkins was acquired by SNC-Lavalin. He was chairman of Helios Towers plc until March 2018. He is a chartered engineer with more than 40 years’ international experience in the automotive, aerospace and defence industries. He was chief executive of Cobham PLC until the end of December 2009. Prior to this he held senior roles at GEC- Marconi, BAE Systems and Hughes Aircraft. He was deputy chairman of Marshall of Cambridge (Holdings) Limited until December 31st 2015 and is a member of the operating executive board of J.F. Lehman & Company based in New York.

Allan is Industry co-chair of the Defence Growth Partnership (DGP.) and from March 2018 he is chair of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. Until August 2016 he was the lead Non-Executive Member of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS.) He was chairman of the UK Trade & Investment’s Advanced Engineering Sector Advisory Board until October 2013, and chairman of FINMECCANICA UK Ltd and chairman of Selex ES until the end of December 2014. Until March 31st 2017 he was also chairman of SEMTA – the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies. He is past president of the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) and past president of the Society of British Aerospace and Defence Companies (SBAC.) He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering where he is Vice President and serves as a trustee for the Academy. He also chairs the Academy’s employer-focused Diversity Leadership Group. Allan became a Fellow of the China 48 Group Club in December 2015 and he is also a member of the Chairman’s Forum with the World Economic Forum. He was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list in 2008, and received an honorary Doctorate in Science from Cranfield University in 2016.

Sam Hubbard

The Institution of Engineering and Technology Trustee

System Engineer at Urenco UK

Sam is a part of a new team of System Engineers at Urenco, a Uranium Enrichment Company in Chester. Sam has been with the company since 2014, initially as the Lead C,E & I Engineer and now enjoying the more technical role learning about the various systems and applying engineering knowledge to improve them. Previously Sam spent over 20 years in paper manufacture from completing her apprenticeship to developing and leading a Process Engineering Group.

Always active in promoting STEM, from the WISE bus in the 90’s, named as Young Woman Engineer of the Year 2000 (IET) and the WISE Excellence Award in 2001 for the extensive work explaining to young people how exciting and diverse a career in engineering can be. Sam makes time regularly to support other engineers, technicians, and students to further their careers and is active in many roles including the Women’s Network, Mentoring Liaison and Working Parents Network at Urenco, Women in Nuclear and STEM Ambassador Activities. Sam has held at least a Board level role at the IET for over 15 years amongst other roles and has recently finished a term as a Trustee for the Engineering Council representing technicians and Incorporated Engineers.

Outside of work Sam has two teenage boys and they are all black belts in taekwondo. Sam also enjoys climbing, mountain biking, pole dancing and making things, whether it be Lego models, renovating houses or most recently a chicken coop!

“I am honoured to be a guest judge for these series of awards, they are very important to me as they have enhanced my career, opened new opportunities and networks and increased my confidence and visibility. I would like to be a part of that for others too!”

Sue Husband

Education and Skills Funding Agency

Executive Director of the National Apprenticeship Service

Sue Husband is the Director of the National Apprenticeship Service at the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), an executive agency of the Department of Education (DfE).Sue is responsible for two of the customer facing services of the ESFA; the National Apprenticeship Service and the National Careers Service.The National Apprenticeship Service supports the delivery of apprenticeships and traineeships in England, supporting employers and individuals to realise the benefits of apprenticeships.The National Careers Service provides impartial careers information and adviceand guidance to adults and young people to support their decision-making about learning and work.

Apprenticeships and skills have long been a real passion of Sue’s, which started with her love of learning at school and was cemented in her early years of work.Sue is currently studying a Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship with the Open University.

Louise Kingham OBE FEI

Energy Institute

Chief Executive

Louise Kingham OBE FEI is Chief Executive of the Energy Institute (EI), the leading professional body for energy, which promotes excellence by developing knowledge, skills and good practice in the global energy sector. Louise has spent 25 years working with energy professionals around the world. Louise is currently a Council member of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Energy Studies and a Board member of the Powerful Women initiative. In 2006, she received a Global Leadership in Energy Award and in 2011, the OBE from HM Queen for services to the energy industry. In 2017 she was awarded an Honorary Science Doctorate from the University of Bath .

Ann Watson

Semta Group

Chief Executive

Ann Watson has been the Chief Executive of Semta Group since 2014 and works strategically with engineering employers to identify and develop solutions to the many skills challenges within the sector. As part of her role Ann represents employer views to Government departments and stakeholders such as the Institute for Apprenticeships to ensure that skills policy reflects the needs of engineering sector employers.

With over 20 years of experience in the skills and engineering sectors, Ann has a unique breadth and depth of knowledge, developed through a variety of senior roles in relevant organisations.

Prior to her appointment as Semta CEO, Ann spent two years as the Semta Chief Operating Officer, taking the business through a major transformational programme to ensure it better met the needs of employers. She also has over 10 years of experience working within a leading awarding organisation including her role as Managing Director of EAL.

Ann comes from a family with a strong engineering heritage and this, along with her passion for skills for young people, makes her a powerful advocate for the opportunities in the sector, and she often appears in the media championing the topic.

Ann is currently helping to shape skills policy through her roles as a DfE T-level engineering panel member and IfA Stakeholder group member. She is also a non-executive director of EAL, FISSS and GTA England.

Emily Wilson

New Scientist

Editor

Emily spent 18 years as an editor at the Guardian before joining New Scientist in April 2018. Her jobs at the Guardian included running its Sydney operation .

Wg Cdr Glynis Dean

RAF - Sponsors of the WISE Technician Award

Wing Commander

Wing Commander Glyn Dean is responsible for Royal Air Force Youth Engagement and the development of STEM and Diversity strategies that will deliver a sustainable RAF workforce that is more reflective of UK society. She is the author of gender and BAME research that has underpinned a series of engagement strategies that will address under-representation from these key groups and ensure that the RAF continues to attract talented young people. Glyn’s work places particular emphasis on improving the recruitment of women into the engineering and technical specializations of the Service and she is responsible for award-winning programmes in the STEM Youth space. Currently Glyn is overseeing the delivery of the largest Youth STEM Programme ever undertaken by the RAF in its 100 ^th year, which aims to engage with 2M young people between the ages of 9-15 with specific emphasis on encouraging greater diversity in the STEM space. She was awarded the MBE in the New Year’s Honours List 2013 for her outstanding contribution to securing the Royal Air Force’s position and reputation as an internationally renowned and inclusive employer. In her spare time, Glyn enjoys horse riding and caring for a variety of animals at her home in rural Lincolnshire.

Sqn Ldr Gemma Lonsdale

RAF - Sponsors of the WISE Technician Award

Squadron Leader

Andy Baker

MBDA - Sponsors of the WISE Apprenticeship Programme Award

HR Lead - Early Careers Programmes - Recruitment

Having started his career as an apprentice with MBDA UK, as he points out, many years ago. Andy has over 22 years’ experience working in a variety of recruitment roles, primarily within the engineering and defence industry both onsite and across with some of the leading recruitment companies. Prior to his current role he spent 6 years managing the MSP (subcontractor Recruitment Programme) on behalf of MBDA UK. He has been in his current position as HR Lead within Early Careers Recruitment for just under 2 years and remains committed to encouraging women/girls into engineering and STEM through the many outreach programmes and education initiatives the business currently support.

Chloe Le Grand

MBDA - Sponsors of the WISE Apprenticeship Programme Award

I joined MBDA as an apprentice in 2013, where I gained a HNC in mechanical engineering. I loosed off the scheme last September into the ‘In Service Support team’ as a mechanical design engineer where I support day to day production queries as well as running design investigations and using CAD software to analyse designs. I am also involved in a number of STEM activities through MBDA, including robotics tournaments and an outreach program designed to encourage more young girls to consider STEM.

Clare Bye

AVEVA - Sponsors of the WISE Employer Award

EVP Human Resources

Clare has over 25 years generalist HR experience gained across a variety of sectors working both nationally and globally. Prior to joining AVEVA in 2015, Clare ran her own HR consultancy for 5 years. Clare has held senior HR leadership roles with Marks and Spencer, RAC and Munters AB. She is member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and has a Post Graduate Diploma in Personnel Management.

Katie Hannaford

AVEVA - Sponsors of the WISE Employer Award

Senior Software Engineer

Katie is a Senior Software Engineer at AVEVA, working on the system to create 2D engineering diagrams from a 3D model designed using other AVEVA products. She joined the AVEVA graduate scheme in October 2013 after graduating with a degree in Mathematics from Warwick University. Upon finishing the graduate scheme Katie became a Software Engineer and has recently been promoted to Senior Software Engineer. For the last year she has taken on more responsibility by also becoming Scrum Master for two scrum teams following Agile methodologies. Katie is a STEM Ambassador, encouraging more students to pursue careers in STEM. In particular, she focuses on events with the goal of encouraging more girls to study STEM subjects and follow a career in this area. She is also chairperson of the WISE steering group within AVEVA, trying to raise awareness of WISE within the company and work to attract more female applicants into technical roles.

Shelley Caton

BAM Nuttall - Sponsors of the WISE Innovation Award

Head of Culture & Diversity

Daryl Charlton

BAM Nuttall - Sponsors of the WISE Innovation Award

Site Engineer

​Professor Andrew Randewich

AWE - Sponsors of the WISE Career Award

Head Of Physics

After completing a PhD in plasma physics, Andrew joined AWE in 1997 in the High Altitude Nuclear Effects Team where he developed a novel capability to model Nuclear Induced Van Allen Belts, worked on Electromagnetic Pulse phenomenology, and won the Discovery Award for Early Career Scientific Innovation. Andrew later worked on thermonuclear burn modelling in support of Inertial Confinement Fusion and as a Team Leader in the Computational Physics Group. Since then, Andrew managed the Physics Certification programme and later led the High Performance Computing Group where he was involved in the procurement and installation of some of the largest computers in the UK. After acting as Head of Design Physics, Andrew was appointed Head of Plasma Physics in 2011. The Department’s main role is using high power lasers to underwrite high energy density physics simulations. Andrew was Asset Manager for the ORION laser, one of the largest science capital investments in the UK and managed several other science facilities. Also in 2011, Andrew became Head of Profession for Physics and in 2013 moved to be AWE Chief Scientist in which role he assured AWE Science and Capability and led the company’s Strategic External Outreach. He is now Head of Physics Function comprising 550 staff. Andrew was appointed as a visiting Professor at Imperial College, London in 2012, and is a Chartered Physicist, a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.

Sophie Duong

AWE - Sponsors of the WISE Career Award

Graduate Systems Engineer

Sophie joined the company in September 2017 as part of AWE’s graduate scheme after completing her BEng (Hons) degree in Materials Science and Engineering at Queen Mary University of London. She is now part of a Technical Engineering group working within the Systems Engineering and Integration team. Sophie’s first project at AWE was to design an emergency response procedure. Currently, she is working on future capability development. Sophie is one of the AWE Engineering Graduate Programme Induction Team members and actively endeavours to improve the engineering graduate scheme for future intakes. This involves planning an induction project to introduce graduates to Product Lifecycle Management and ensuring that new starters acclimatise to life at AWE.

She is passionate about encouraging more women to pursue a career in STEM and has been an active member of the Women in Engineering Society.

Gareth Hedicker

Rolls Royce PLC - Sponsors of the WISE Woman in Industry

Head of Development & Experimental Engineering – Civil Aerospace

Gareth Hedicker Head of Development & Experimental Engineering – Civil Aerospace Rolls-Royce PLC, looking after all activities related to the verification and validation, including build and test of Civil NPI & R&T engines. He started his career as a graduate trainee in Lucas Aerospace having completed a degree in Aerospace Systems at Coventry University, before moving into mechanical design within Lucas Aerospace and then TRW. He subsequently held a variety of engineering project and functional leadership positions related to engine control systems and power electronics for flight control systems within TRW & Goodrich. Following this Gareth held positions in programme management looking after both NPI and in-service products before moving into a number of operational roles. This position led to Gareth moving back into engineering in his current role with a value stream that includes Engineering, Programme Management and Operational teams. Gareth is also a trustee for the Engineering Development Trust, sits on the Board of Glacier a Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney joint venture and is a member of the Industrial Cadets Leadership Team. Gareth lives with his partner and three children near Derby and enjoys spending his free time with them and occasionally escapes out on his bikes.

Stephanie Newman

Rolls Royce PLC - Sponsors of the WISE Woman in Industry

IPT Leader HP & IP Turbine Blades

Stephanie joined Rolls-Royce in 2009 after graduating from Cambridge University with a Masters in Aerospace Engineering. She joined the Rolls-Royce Engineering Leadership Graduate Scheme which allowed her to do a variety of roles across engineering in a number of business sectors including 9 months in the Electrical Systems research group in Singapore. After completing her graduate training she moved to Montreal, Canada for 2 years to work in the Energy Gas Turbine sector before returning to the UK as Airframe Integration Manager for the Trent 1000 engine on the Boeing Dreamliner Aircraft. Last year she was selected for a secondment as the President of the Defence Business’s Technical Assistant. Through this she developed her business and leadership skills as well as leading the business transformation project for Defence. Throughout her career so far she has enjoyed combining engineering and technical skills with her talent for leading change and influencing diverse teams. In her spare time she enjoys many sports including tennis and playing the Double Bass with the Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra. Stephanie has remained passionate for promoting diversity in the STEM pipeline inside and outside of work since leaving school. In particular she sat on the WISE Young Women’s Board 2015-2016. She is keen to promote STEM to all ages, and to particularly share her excitement for STEM with the next generation of Female engineers to encourage more girls to realise their dreams in science and engineering.

Vanessa Yiu

Goldman Sachs - Sponsors of the WISE Technology Award

Global manager, Security Platform Reliability Engineering team

Vanessa is the global manager of the Security Platform Reliability Engineering team at Goldman Sachs. She serves as a senior sponsor of Goldman Sach's European Women in Engineering network, with focus on technical and career development. She is also a member of the firm's Campus Recruitment Committee, and mentors a number of engineers across the division.

Vanessa joined Goldman Sachs in 2003 as a systems engineer after graduating from Cambridge University with a degree in Computer Science. She has worked in number of engineering roles across Goldman Sachs including UNIX system administration, storage, market data, trading support as well as managing the firm’s SDLC tool stack for build, test and deploy.

Ria Biggs

Goldman Sachs - Sponsors of the WISE Technology Award

Associate, Security Incident Response Team

Ria Biggs is an Associate in the Security Incident Response Team at Goldman Sachs. She first joined Goldman Sachs in 2012 as a Work Placement during her penultimate year at De Montfort University, Leicester. Following graduating with a First Class BSc(Hons) in Forensic Computing, Ria re-joined Goldman Sachs in 2014 on the Graduate Scheme. Since this date, Ria has held various roles within the Security Incident Response Team covering Threat Intelligence, Incident Response and Cyber Threat Hunting. She is also currently studying for a Masters in Information Security at Royal Holloway University, London.

Outside of her role at Goldman Sachs, Ria is an active member of the NextSec Committee which leads a networking group for junior professionals, aspiring professionals and senior sponsors in Cyber Security.

Megan Stowe

Intel Corporation - Sponsors of the WISE One to Watch Award

Procurement Director, Corporate Strategic Procurement and International Supplier Diversity & Inclusion Program Manager

Megan has been at Intel for 20 years working in Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK during this time. She started in Sales and Marketing in Australia working in PR and events management and then moved to Hong Kong to start up their SMG site procurement in Asia During this time she has covered a variety of roles including Sales & Marketing, Travel, relocation, immigration & HR procurement areas. She has predominantly held Global positions, setting global procurement and Supply chain sustainability strategies, performance metrics and managing global teams (LAR, NA, APAC and EMEA) She has worked and lived in Asia Pacific (10 years) and EMEA (10 years). Currently, Megan looks across the indirect services/procurement supply chain working with the different verticals (sales & marketing, HR, travel, IT, Logistics etc) within the EMEA Region working with her team on implementing global strategies locally and driving local strategies where it is needed.In addition to this she is managing the International Supplier diversity& Inclusion program which has a key focus on Women owned business in our supply chain. The key objective of this program is to ensure we are working with an inclusive supply chain. With this initiative we are looking at and have achieved increasing our spending with women owned businesses in our supply chain across the globe at the tier 1 and 2 levels, while developing our pipeline of inclusive sourcing opportunities. Megan is a board member of the WeConnect International, along with the Chair & Director of the European WeConnect Advisory board and co-chairs the WISE Young Womens Board. She works closely with schools and universities ensuring STEM is promoted to girls. Megan’s passion is to promote the education and empowerment of Women and girls especially around the STEM and business areas.

She is Irish/Australian/South African by nationality and grew up in Africa. She graduated from the University of Cape Town, South Africa with a MD Psychiatry/Sports medicine. Prior to Intel she worked for Warner Lambert Park Davis & Caltex Head office in Cape Town.

Abi Vocking

Talent Acquisition Manager for EMEA, Intel

Abi has over 20 years experience working in the field of HR, Strategic Sourcing and Talent Acquisition. Abi started her career in recruitment, followed by a move to HR which took her to live in Munich and then Prague working for a busy European start-up company.

Abi has been at Intel for over 10 years having initially joined as a commodity manager in the strategic sourcing team supporting temporary and permanent staffing suppliers globally. Abi then transitioned to support Intel’s IT services outsourcing companies and in that time was successful through leading the design of a transformational program to save Intel $25m over 3 years. For this initiative Abi was awarded Procurcon’s “Rising Star” award in 2014.

Abi recently moved into the Global Talent Acquisition team and currently manages a team of recruiters who support Intel’s hiring across EMEA. One of Abi’s key focuses is to take on the challenge of increasing the numbers of diverse hires Intel employs to make diverse hiring part of Intel’s DNA. Currently the work she has been doing on this has led to Intel hitting their diversity hiring targets for technical females for Intel’s software development and engineering fields in Europe.

Helen Lightbody

Babcock International - Sponsors of the WISE Rising Star Award

Head of Central Services, Babcock International Group

Helen graduated in Manufacturing Engineering and Management from Strathclyde University and over a 27 year career has held a variety of positions in manufacturing and project management in the commercial and defence sectors and in a diverse range of industries including electronics and heavy engineering. She joined Babcock at Her Majesty’s Naval Base (Clyde) in 2005 as the Business Planning Manager. She has recently taken up a new role as Head of Central Services, responsible for developing and implementing a new function to provide a range of critical services to support the customer’s operational and maintenance programmes. She is a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

​Mona Seeberge

Babcock International - Sponsors of the WISE Rising Star Award

Helicopter Technician, Babcock International Group

Mona Seeberger is a 20 year old Helicopter Technician at Babcock International Group plc based in Augsburg, Germany. Mona started her career at 16 years old as an apprentice for Babcock. During her 3.5 years of training as a technician, she also completed her private pilot license (PPL-H) on a Cabri G2 helicopter. Since her apprenticeship started, Mona has worked on a range of helicopters, including the H155, AS365, AS350, R44 and Cabri G2 models. From the beginning of May 2018, Mona gained her Certifying Staff License for Line Maintenance of the Cabri G2. She has found the experience of working on helicopters in a technical capacity has improved her confidence and comfort in flying them.

Since she was a young girl, Mona has had an avid interest in flying helicopters and in 2016 she started filming her piloting experiences and uploading them to YouTube to raise awareness of female pilots and inspire other women to learn to fly. Mona hopes to get her commercial pilot license (CPL-H) within the next year.