Jane Atkinson, executive director of engineering and automation at Bilfinger UK, has been named the most influential woman in UK engineering.
Atkinson topped the annual list of 100 women, produced by board appointments firm Inclusive Boards in partnership with the Financial Times, which also featured senior leaders from Network Rail, the Royal Academy of Engineering, Airbus, Dyson, Aecom and Laing O'Rourke.
At Bilfinger UK, Atkinson manages design, automation and digitalisation projects alongside operation and maintenance contracts for worldwide energy companies and is responsible for introducing new technology to help clients cut carbon emissions and boost productivity.
She is also the chair of the Institute of Chemical Engineering, where she devotes time to introducing mentoring programmes and workshops to help women get back into their careers after becoming mothers.
Atkinson said: "Encouraging more women into engineering has never been more important. While we are seeing improvement on the ground, the sector still needs 180,000 new engineers every year to plug the stem skills shortage and yet only 12 per cent of our workforce is female - the lowest proportion in europe.
"To tackle the challenge, we need to create more flexible working environments, erase traditional misconceptions and communicate the wonderful opportunities that exist within modern engineering across all age groups, from primary school children to adults looking for a career change. Initiatives such as this one are vital in highlighting how women are influencing the present and future roles of their female engineering colleagues."