Roma Agrawal
Roma Agrawal NASA Goddard Space Flight Center | |
---|---|
Born | Mumbai, India |
Alma mater | University of Oxford Imperial College London |
Occupation | Structural Engineer |
Employer | AECOM |
Known for | London |
Roma Agrawal
Early life and education
Agrawal was born in 1983 in
Agrawal attributes her enthusiasm for engineering to her love of making (and breaking) things, cultivated by playing with Lego as a child.[3] Agrawal attributes her entry into engineering to a summer placement at the Oxford Physics Department where she worked alongside engineers who were designing particle detectors for CERN.[4]
Career
In 2005, Agrawal joined
Alongside the Shard, Agrawal worked on Crystal Palace Station and the Northumbria University Footbridge.[citation needed] She worked for WSP for ten years before joining Interserve as a Design Manager in November 2015.[9] In May 2017, Agrawal joined AECOM as an associate director.[10]
In 2018 Agrawal was appointed
Awards
- 2011: Institution of Structural Engineers Young Structural Engineer of the Year 2011[13]
- 2013: BDO's British Indian Awards Best in Science & Engineering Winner[citation needed]
- 2014: Women in Construction Awards Engineer of the Year[14]
- 2015: Association for Consultancy and Engineering Diamond Award for Engineering Excellence[15]
- 2017: Institution of Structural Engineers Lewis Kent Award[16]
- 2017: Royal Academy of Engineering Rooke Award for Public Promotion of Engineering[17]
Public engagement
Following her six years working on The Shard, Agrawal found herself presenting on her work to children at school and students at university and found a passion for raising awareness of engineering.[18] She has since presented to over 15,000 people worldwide.[citation needed]
Agrawal's career has been covered extensively in both online and print media.[19] She was a founding member of the Your Life Campaign, designed to change school children's perception of science and engineering backed by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.[20]
In 2014, she was part of Marks and Spencer's Leading Ladies campaign, alongside
Agrawal's book, titled Built: the Hidden Stories Behind our Structures, an introduction to structural engineering, was published in 2018.[27] The IET E&T magazine described it as a "a treatise on structural engineering". They went on to say
Roma Agrawal has a knack for taking complex concepts, stripping them down and reducing them to their most basic form ... What makes 'Built' so enjoyable is the way Agrawal applies her enquiring mind ... to an engineering world that she finds simultaneously invisible while being no less than fundamental to modern society.[28]
Diversity
In 2013, Agrawal was voted one of
Bibliography
Year | Title | Publisher | ISBN |
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2019 | Built: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Structures | Bloomsbury Publishing | ISBN 978-1-4088-7037-2
|
2021 | How Was That Built? | Bloomsbury Publishing | |
2023 | Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (In a Big Way) | Hodder | TBC |
References
- ^ "Roma Agrawal on bridging the diversity gap in engineering and inspiring a future generation : Soapbox Science". Nature. 16 September 2014. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ^ Susannah Butter (31 March 2014), "Woman on top of the world: the M&S leading lady who helped build the Shard", Evening Standard
- ^ "Structural Engineer Roma Agrawal talks about STEM careers". Womanthology. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Once a physicist: Roma Agrawal". Institute of Physics. Archived from the original on 13 July 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
- ^ "Inspirational Woman: Roma Agrawal | Structural engineer who helped design London's Shard skyscraper". WeAreTheCity.com. 23 June 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Roma Agrawal, IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year finalist". Women in STEM. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Roma Agrawal – The Shard". 8 August 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- .
- ^ "Aecom hires Shard engineer Roma Agrawal". Building. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ "Shard engineer moves to Aecom". www.theconstructionindex.co.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ Maddock, David (8 June 2018). "Queen's Birthday Honours full list for 2018 - from celebs to unsung heroes". mirror. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ "Academy celebrates first new Fellows elected under Fit for the Future diversity initiative". Royal Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
- ^ "Roma Agrawal". dev.wes.org.uk. Women's Engineering Society. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Winners 2014 – Women in Construction Awards". Women in Construction Awards. Archived from the original on 3 August 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Engineering Excellence Awards 2014 – winners revealed". Infrastructure Intelligence. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Lewis Kent Award Winners". Institution of Structural Engineers. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Designed to inspire: Roma the Engineer wins top Academy Award RAEng". Royal Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Structural Engineer Roma Agrawal talks about STEM careers". Womanthology. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Over 2000 new jobs and apprenticeships from leading STEM organisations – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "In The Moment: The Leading Ladies | Style & Living | M&S". www.marksandspencer.com. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ TEDx Talks (20 December 2013), Roma Agrawal at TEDxLondon, retrieved 29 September 2017
- ^ TEDx Talks (17 December 2015), Three moments that changed the world | Roma Agrawal | TEDxRoyalHolloway, retrieved 29 September 2017
- ^ "New Channel 4 series to find the most talented LEGO builders". Immediate Media Company. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ^ Mysteries of the Abandoned (12 May 2017), Soviet Doomsday Device | Mysteries of the Abandoned, retrieved 4 April 2018
- ^ "Built". Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Book review: "Built: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Structures" by Roma Agrawal". 12 February 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
- ^ "35 Women Under 35: Meet your next boss". Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ Agrawal, Roma (23 June 2015). "Why stereotypes are causing a skills gap in UK engineering". Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Spotlight on Women in Science with Roma Agrawal : Naturejobs Blog". blogs.nature.com. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Careers". www.physics.org. Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Roma Agrawal, IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year finalist". Talent 2030. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ IET (19 July 2013). "IET 2012 Young Woman Engineer of the Year award finalist Roma Agrawal". YouTube. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ "Role models | Women's Engineering Society". dev.wes.org.uk. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.