Young Achiever of the Year Lydia Walpole
Just eight years after graduating, Lydia Walpole has not only gone on to forge a successful career in the construction industry but has also found the time to act as an ambassador for STEM subjects and study for an Executive MBA at Surrey part-time!
I’ve had my own female role models as a woman engineer, and I hope I can show young girls that this is a great career.
Lydia Walpole
A MEng Civil Engineering alumna, Lydia was the first female contractor to be selected as the Institution of Civil Engineers President’s Apprentice in 2012 and, three years later, won the European Women in Engineering and Construction award for the Best Young Woman in Construction.
She is Project Manager at Costain, responsible for the development of London Underground’s Paddington Station, constructing a passenger link tunnel from the Bakerloo Line to the new Crossrail Station – a role she is really proud to hold.
And it’s a role that she would like more young girls to take on: “I went to an all-girls school and only two of us went into engineering. It wasn’t promoted as a career choice. We need to have a diverse
workforce. When I talk to school pupils, particularly the girls, I tell them they don’t need to be a genius at maths or physics just have an enthusiasm and interest in how things are built.
“I’ve had my own female role models as a woman engineer, and I hope I can show young girls that this is a great career.”
Lydia has also taken steps within the industry to make it more female-friendly. When she started her job, only men’s personal protective clothing was available – the smallest trousers were a 34in waist and Lydia had to hold them up with rope! Working with Costain and supplier Arco, she developed a new line for women from sizes 8 to 18 – an industry first.
Talking about her time at Surrey, Lydia said: “I feel that there was a culture where you could achieve anything you wanted to: the sky was the limit. I’ve carried this on into the workplace. Every day brings a new challenge, and I get to work with teams of fantastic people across the globe on really exciting engineering projects.”
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Forever Surrey 2018
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