This event was streamed live on the Academy's YouTube channel with the opportunity for live viewers to submit questions.
Academy news and reports mentioned in the event:
World's longest subsea interconnector wins Major Project Award for Sustainability
Enterprise Hub Member Notpla wins Earthshot Prize
National Engineering Policy Centre publishes 'low regrets' priorities for reaching net zero
Explore the winners of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering
National Engineering Policy Centre report explores the role of hydrogen in a net zero energy system
National Engineering Policy Centre report explores the challenge of decarbonising construction
Our highly anticipated webinar brought a unique engineering perspective to the biggest news stories of the year. From the global energy security crisis and the ongoing challenge of achieving net zero to the latest technological and digital innovations, we also tackled the key questions around future skills and finding the engineers who will take forward tomorrow’s major projects.
Our panel of expert speakers chaired by Tom Clarke, science and technology editor and presenter, reviewed the key engineering achievements and events that defined 2022, both in the UK and around the world.
Speakers included:
Dr Alice Bunn OBE, Chief Executive, Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Steve Holliday FREng, Former Chief Executive, National Grid plc
Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE, Chief Executive, Royal Academy of Engineering
Rachel Skinner CBE FREng, Executive Director, WSP UK
Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE
Hayaatun is CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation. She co-chairs with the Science Minister the government’s Business Innovation Forum and co-chaired with Sir Lewis Hamilton his Commission on improving Black representation in motorsport. She is a trustee of various charities, member of the government’s Levelling Up Advisory Council and Digital Skills Council and NXD at construction company Laing O’Rourke. She has been named as one of the ‘Inspiring 50’ women in tech in Europe and one of the most influential women in both UK engineering and UK tech. She has a Masters in Biochemistry (MBiochem) from Oxford and a PhD from Cancer Research UK/UCL. She is a Fellow of the IET, Honorary Professor at UCL and Honorary Fellow at The Queen’s College, Oxford. She has received honorary doctorates from UCL, Imperial College London, Newcastle, Brunel, Huddersfield and Southampton, as well as a Science Suffrage Award and the Engineering Professor’s Council President’s Medal. She was a finalist for the Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award and was made a CBE for services to International Engineering in 2019. Prior to her current roles, she was Deputy CEO at the Academy and served as Committee Specialist and later Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee.
Steve Holliday FREng
Steve Holliday is the former Chief Executive of National Grid plc. He is currently Chairman of Cityfibre, Chairman of Zenobe, and recently finished serving as the President of the Energy Institute. Steve joined National Grid Group in March 2001, becoming Chief Executive of the company in January 2007, which he led for almost 10 years. Prior to joining National Grid, he was on the Board of British Borneo Oil and Gas and was responsible for the successful development of its international businesses in Brazil, Australia and West Africa. Steve is a Fellow of both the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Energy Institute. From 2012 to 2014 he was also appointed as a National Ambassador for HRH The Prince of Wales and served as lead Non-Executive director with DEFRA from 2016 until the end of 2017. Steve served on the board of Marks & Spencer as Independent Non-Executive director from 2004 – 2014, as Deputy Chair at Convatec from 2016-19.
Dr Alice Bunn OBE
Dr Alice Bunn is Chief Executive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Alice is a Fellow of the Institution and took up her role as CEO in July 2021. Working with our highly valued members and staff, she is responsible for delivering our mission of improving the world through engineering. Alice brings a focus on our values of inclusivity, impact, innovation and integrity - in developing future strategy and in the day to day running of the Institution’s business. In her previous role, she was International Director at the UK Space Agency, responsible for increasing the UK’s global influence in science, security and trade through space. Alice sits on the Board of Engineering UK; is Chair of the Professional Engineering Committee; is President of the UKSpace trade association; sits on the Board of Directors at the US Space Foundation as well as on the World Economic Forum Future Council on space technology. She is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and is a trustee at the charity SwimTayka.
Rachel Skinner CBE FREng
Rachel Skinner CBE is an Executive Director at WSP, where she now leads on UK ESG and government relations, having previously led its transport business. She is a Patron of Women in Transport (a not-for-profit), having been one of its founding board members since 2005. Rachel chairs the Infrastructure Carbon workstream of the Infrastructure Client Group (ICG), the ICE’s Decarbonisation Advisory Board. In 2021 she was invited to chair a new UK Department for Transport Taskforce that is focused on employment and skills. In 2016, Rachel was listed as one of The Telegraph’s inaugural UK Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering; in 2017 she was named the Most Distinguished Winner and Best Woman Civil Engineer at the Women in Civil Engineering Awards, and in 2019 she was confirmed by the Financial Times as one of the UK’s Top 100 Women in Engineering.
Tom Clarke
Tom Clarke is the Science and Technology Editor at Sky News. Prior to joining Sky in 2021, he was science editor at ITV News and Channel 4 News. Before working in broadcasting, Tom was a reporter for the science Journal Nature. Tom covers everything from cosmology to medicine but has specialised in reporting on climate change and energy including nuclear power and fusion research. He has also applied his specialist reporting to natural as well as human disasters like the Grenfell Tower fire. He lives in North London with his wife, three children and a dog.