Rachel Skinner Explained

Rachel Skinner
Nationality:British
Children:3
Discipline:Civil Engineering
Institutions:Institution of Civil Engineers
Significant Awards:Most distinguished winner of 2017 & best woman civil engineer 2017 at the European Women in Construction and Engineering Awards.

Top 50 Women in Engineering, 2016

Rachel Susan Skinner (née Bass; born December 1976) is a British civil engineer with Canadian-based consultant WSP Global. She was named one of the Daily Telegraph Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering in 2016 and both the Best Woman Civil Engineer and the Most Distinguished Winner at the European Women in Construction and Engineering Awards in 2017.[1] [2] Skinner became the youngest president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 2020.[3] In 2019, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng).[4] She was appointed CBE for services to infrastructure in the 2022 New Year Honours.[5]

Early life and education

Skinner was born in December 1976. She attended Downe House School.[6] She earned a bachelor's degree with first-class honours in geography at Durham University.[7] She said that she "fell into engineering completely by chance" when she took a job as a transport planner in 1998.[8] [9] In 2001, she was awarded a Master of Science degree in transportation planning and engineering with a distinction by the University of Leeds. In 2019 she returned to Durham to deliver the "Hatfield College Lecture."[10]

Career

Skinner has been involved with the Institution of Civil Engineers since 2003, when she became a chartered engineer (CEng). She is also now a fellow of the institution (FICE), and sits on its Trustee Board,[8] [11] and has chaired the ICE's London region in 2010, stood for Council in 2015 and was confirmed by the ICE council as succeeding vice president in April 2017. Skinner became president in November 2020.[12] [13] She was the youngest person ever to hold the post of president of the ICE, and the second female president.[7] Skinner chaired the advisory board of the New Civil Engineer magazine between 2017 and November 2019.[14] Skinner is a qualified transport planning professional and also a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (FCIHT),[15] as well as an honorary fellow of the Society for the Environment.

Skinner has held several senior positions at WSP Global, the consultancy and design firm, including as UK director of transportation planning and European director of marketing and communications for Parsons Brinckerhoff,[11] and in 2024, she is UK Director of Government Relations & Corporate Responsibility.[16] She is currently an executive director and head of transport for WSP's UK Planning & Advisory business where she leads around 600 staff delivering projects for public and private sector clients.[8]

Skinner helped to set up the Women in Transport (formerly Women's Transportation Seminar) network in London in June 2005 and is now one of its patrons, having been a founding member of its board and president from 2009 to 2013.[8] [17] She was also Director of Tilson Close Management for seven years.

Skinner also works to encourage female students into taking up STEM subjects.[8] She is a regular industry speaker, the lead author of papers on the implementation of driverless vehicles including "Making Better Places" (2016),[18] "New Mobility Now" (2017)[19] and various prior publications on the application of digital technology to the construction industry, collaboration and innovation.

In 2018, Skinner was invited to become one of ten Commissioners for the newly formed Infrastructure Commission for Scotland.[20]

Skinner was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to infrastructure. In the same year she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Leeds.[21]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Inaugural Top 50 Women in Engineering 2016 (WE50) . 2022-05-31 . Women's Engineering Society.
  2. Web site: 2017 WINNERS . 2022-05-31 . WICE Awards . en.
  3. Web site: ICE Trustee Board . Institution of Civil Engineers . 26 September 2019 . 11 January 2021.
  4. Web site: Rachel Skinner. Royal Academy of Engineering. https://web.archive.org/web/20190930091350/https://www.raeng.org.uk/about-us/the-fellowship/new-fellows-2019/fellows/rachel-skinner. 30 September 2019. 2019-10-01. dead.
  5. Web site: Hughes . David . 2022-01-05 . The 2022 New Year's Honours list in full, and what the different ranks mean . 2023-07-22 . inews.co.uk . en.
  6. Alumnae success stories . Downe House Cloisters . Summer 2017 . 19 . 16 . 17 January 2022.
  7. Web site: WICE Awards. European Women in Construction and Engineering Awards. 1 November 2017.
  8. Web site: New opportunities that add up for women in engineering - Rachel Skinner, Executive Director & Head of Development at WSP / Parsons Brinckerhoff. Womanthology. 1 November 2017. 22 March 2017.
  9. Web site: Congratulations Rachel Skinner . WTS International . en . 1 November 2017 . 9 November 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181109153124/https://www.wtsinternational.org/rachel-skinner-the-past-president-of-wts-london-has-been-named-as-one-of-the-top-50-women-in-engineering-in-a-list-published-by-the-daily-telegraph-on-national-women-in-engineering-day/ . dead .
  10. Web site: The Hatfield College Lecture 2019 . Durham University . 13 February 2019.
  11. Web site: Rachel Skinner. Institution of Civil Engineers. en.
  12. Web site: Two new Vice Presidents chosen for 2017/18. 25 April 2017. Institution of Civil Engineers. 1 November 2017.
  13. Web site: Rachel Skinner . 2022-12-26 . World Green Building Council . en-US.
  14. New Civil Engineer. April 2017. 67. New Civil Engineer April 2017.
  15. Web site: Top 50 Influential Women in Engineering List 2016 Women's Engineering Society. Women's Engineering Society. en.
  16. https://www.wsp.com/en-gb/who-we-are/uk-leadership WSP website, UK Leadership, retrieved 2024-05-08
  17. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/I6gxVejydGsKiV0-8kPYWn9OP3A/appointments UK Government website, Companies House section, Rachel Susan Skinner, retrieved 2024-05-08
  18. Web site: Making Better Places: driverless vehicles and opportunities. www.wsp-pb.com. 2019-01-11.
  19. Web site: New Mobility Now - a practical guide WSP. www.wsp.com. 2019-01-11.
  20. Web site: Infrastructure Commission for Scotland.
  21. Web site: Past President Rachel Skinner Recognised With Honorary Degree From University Of Leeds . Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) . 26 July 2022 . 7 July 2022.