Three North East engineers named in UK sector's top 50 women

Three North East engineers have been named in a list of the top 50 women in the sector for 2021.

Dr Tannaz Pak, Jennifer Olsen and Andrea Pearson were among the winners of the Top 50 Women in Engineering: Engineering Heroes awards by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES).

The WE50 awards head judge, Professor Catherine Noakes, OBE, said: “The 2021 WE50 personify the inventive and inclusive thinking needed to build a sustainable future.

"If there was ever a time that we needed these heroes in engineering, it is now.”

Dr Pak is senior lecturer in energy and environmental engineering at Teesside University’s School of Computing, Engineering & Digital Technologies.

The academic is a chartered engineer and professional member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) and is active in STEM education and outreach.

Her recent work involved leading a global research project which is aiming to find new ways to clean contaminated groundwater internationally, contributing to sustainable development goals set out by the United Nations.

Also recognised was Andrea Pearson, senior engineer at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies.

In May she became a technical operations manager at the company which manufactures the Novovax Covid-19 vaccine.

During her maternity leave she started running Teesside Cloth Nappy Library, helping about 100 families convert to reusable nappies.

Jennifer Olsen is a PhD researcher at Newcastle University.

She designed a prosthetic elbow and began a career in mechanical engineering.

Her current project focuses on improving upper-limb prosthetics - to make them cheaper, more reliable and comfortable.

She is also a founding member of Newcastle University's FemEng society.

Now in its sixth year, the 2021 WE50 awards celebrate women who have made a significant contribution to engineering in helping their organisation, community, or indeed the world, continue to function during the last year.