Jacobs WICE Award Winners Recognised for Contribution to Heath, Safety, the Environment and Sustainability

Paul Hutton May 30, 2019 4 min read 0

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Jacobs’ team – Catriona Schmolke, Kate Carpenter and Katy Kemble – were recognised for their contribution to the construction and engineering industry at this year’s European Women in Construction & Engineering (WICE) Awards in London.

Attracting over 400 nominations, the WICE awards celebrate the achievements and contributions of some of the industry’s leading talent and promote the diverse careers in which women are excelling.

ITS (UK) member Jacobs’ Senior Vice President and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineers, Catriona Schmolke, was recognized with the WICE 2019 Lifetime Achievement in Engineering. A chartered engineer and geologist with a master’s degree in hydrogeology, Catriona’s career at Jacobs spans more than 30 years.

Having previously held several operational and sales leadership positions, Catriona was appointed to her current role in 2016, where she has global accountability for health, safety, environment, sustainability, security, resilience, quality and procurement.

Catriona serves as a role model and mentor for many professionals and passionately promotes the importance of diversity and inclusion as a key enabler of successful project delivery. As a Jacobs STEM Ambassador she is keen to inspire the next generation of engineers.

“Collaborating with each other in a respectful and thoughtful manner is the key to profitable growth for any company,” said Catriona.  “I always maintain that happy, motivated people achieve great things. Who doesn’t want to work in an environment where everyone belongs and can thrive?

“It is a wonderful time to be an engineer, so many world challenges, ripe for innovators and improvement. Exciting times,” added Catriona.

Passionate about her role contributing to road worker and road user safety across the U.K., Jacobs Divisional Director and WICE 2019 Best Woman in Health & Safety Kate Carpenter is a chartered civil engineer with 21 years at Jacobs. Kate provides specialist traffic and road safety management input to schemes and network management for local and strategic highway authority clients, county councils, London boroughs and other clients. Schemes span smart motorways, urban design, airports (landside and airside), temporary traffic management risk assessment, lighting programmes and many others.

“Engineering and construction are services that must meet the needs of end users: of a school or factory, road or industrial facility,” said Kate. “From machine controls that are intuitive and usable, to bus stops that are accessible to parents with small children or elderly passengers, the needs of users should drive specification and design. A diverse workforce, by all dimensions, is more likely to understand and meet the needs of those users.

“These awards celebrate that development of a representative and highly-skilled workforce, in technical roles and as mentors, delivering excellent projects and solutions that benefit society,” added Kate.

Jacobs Principal Geomorphologist and WICE 2019 Best Woman in Environment & Sustainability Katy Kemble is a chartered scientist and environmentalist with a Master of Science in the integrated management of freshwater environments, having studied physical geography and environmental science as an undergraduate. With a varied role, Katy has designed and developed river restoration schemes and channel realignments across the U.K., as well as working with natural processes to support the sustainable development of infrastructure projects.

“I am so proud to be able to showcase the great work that we do as geomorphologists to support the environment and sustainability industry,” said Katy. “I now want to take this further and leverage this award as a platform to empower and encourage others to be a part of this community. The awards and the people nominated are testament to how far we want to strive to develop, promote each other and move the industry forward.”

The three winners were accompanied by 24 Jacobs finalists, all working within their respective fields to create an enduring and resilient world and make a positive impact for future generations.