A newly-chartered Birmingham civil engineer is spreading the word that civil engineering is a great career for women.
Olivia Plunkett, a principal civil engineer at leading consultancy CWA Ltd, is now a STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) ambassador, and makes presentations around the region about civil engineering as a career and particularly wants to encourage more girls to study engineering.
Olivia, 30, recently passed her professional exams and has become a chartered member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
She said, “Although the number of women entering the profession is increasing, they are still under represented across the industry. I give presentations at schools and careers events to talk about my experience as a woman in the sector, and outline the various career routes open to girls who want to become civil engineers,” she said.
“It is important to bring more women into engineering, as the industry is facing a huge skills shortage and by encouraging female engineers in we can start to address the shortfall,” she added
She has built up a relationship with Swanshurst Girls School in Billesley, which now holds regular Women in Engineering events, devoting a whole day to activities focussed around engineering and technology.
Olivia, who graduated from Warwick University in 2010 with a masters degree in civil engineering, worked for Atkins for five years before joining CWA.
Her specialist areas are land development, highways and drainage.
Birmingham city centre-based CWA is one of the regions’ leading civil and structural engineering and design consultancies, providing services to a wide range of high-value projects to blue chip clients nationwide.
