About the Finalists

Finalist of Best Woman Civil Engineer

Tina Gunnarsson, Temporary Works Engineer at Balfour Beatty
tina gunnarsson Tina was a former Earthquake Engineering Intern at the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering.
In this area, she was able to enhance her skills in various fields related to this sector. She developed an earthquake-resistant research software and design that helps understand this phenomenon. Being an Environmental Consultant Intern, she also supervises the chemical factory to make sure that the entire facility complies with health and safety regulations.
As the former Cadet Engineer at Baulderstone, she planned and executed the first traffic switch, writing dig permits, quantity take-offs, and created construction staging drawings.
One of her greatest achievements that gave her the opportunity to practice her skills and knowledge is when she returned to Mains and Kessels Intersection Upgrade Project and achieved an AU$110 million contract for 90,000 vehicle intersection.
Her responsibilities include traffic switch preparation and execution of the process as well as supervising quality assurance. She planned the line marking works and produced dilapidation reports to deliver quality results.
As a Student Geotechnical Engineer at the Wagstaff Piling Pty Ltd, she worked on data analysis and quality assurance of jet grouted piles. She focused on tidal effects at Cockatoo Island in Western Australia.
Tina was also involved in designing and developing live projects and tenders such as A21 Tonbridge to Pembury, RAF Marham, Crossrail C530 Woolwich, 1 Palace Street, and Ark Byron Primary School.
She also found her spot in deep excavation support, crane platforms, formwork, SUDS, slope stability, retaining walls, scaffolding, and oiling mats. Now that Tina is one of the lucky finalists in Civil Engineer category, it is not surprising if she will achieve the award.
It is also worth noting that she achieved a consecutive score of 45/50 on the Considerate Constructors Scheme due to her significant role as deputy sustainability coordinator.

Finalist of Best Woman Electrical and Mechanical Engineer

Emuesiri Okoro, Senior Mechanical Engineer at Arcadis
Emuesiri’s 12 years of experience in building services allow her to deliver significant contributions that are very useful to the engineering sector. She expresses her best practices in the industry regardless of the size of the project.
She receives small to large scale projects for D&B contractor, Imtech Meica. That extensive experience also enables her to develop her skills in problem-solving, decision-making process, technical analysis, and project and site management.
She also worked on 530 luxury apartment development located in a private area of London’s Kensington. Emuesiri took part in heating and chilled systems to ensure that the processes flow seamlessly. Those systems utilize sustainable energies that are risk-free to the environment.
Being one of the team members of an engineering design consultancy, Malachy Walsh, she stayed competitive and stood out in the competition. She was the woman behind the upgrade of building services of the world-class Grade II listed hotel building at 10 Trinity Square.
As the Senior Mechanical Engineer at Arcadis, she plays a significant role in the development of projects on 50+ sites or over 900 residential units across the different parts of London Borough of Croydon.
She is currently responsible for leading the various area of building services by liaising with utility providers as well as designing the provision for incoming MEP services.
Her negotiation skills and wondrous knowledge about client coordination enable her to organize and deliver efficient results in public health, mechanical, fire engineering, sustainability, energy, and electrical services.
She also took part in the four-story superstore in Westfield shopping centre using her design and technical analysis to ensure smooth system operations such as heating, mechanical ventilation, comfort cooling, rainwater harvesting, and fire suppression equipment being used on different establishments like restaurants and bars.
These accomplishments show her flexibility and capability to produce high-quality designs without compromising the budget limit and project timeline.

Finalist of Best Woman in Highways

Ana Palacios Prieto, Civil Engineer at Ferrovial Agroman
ana palacios Ana's growing experience in the International Technical Division of the Infrastructure Segment of Ferrovial Agroman enables her to stay adaptive in the engineering sector.
This industry allows her to practice her exceptional analytical and technical skills that help the organization implement its decisions with a pragmatic approach.
She studied in Spain and the United Kingdom, allowing her to be fully equipped when she entered the engineering industry. She built her experience in this field and became flexible in the local working environment while maintaining a long-term relationship with other professionals in her organization.
As the Design Engineer at the M8 M73 M74 Motorway Improvements, she was a valued professional in this large project located in Scotland. She worked on-site to lead the Design Team to secure the efficient delivery of the Detailed Design as required by the Construction Program.
She oversees the designs to ensure that the engineering system and workflows meet the construction requirements. She is responsible for the efficiency processes in the areas of Earthworks, Roadworks, and Structures Design Packages.
She worked as a Bid Coordinator – MSc Civil Engineer in ICCP and was responsible for the management and coordination of a large team comprising of different professionals ranging from economists, engineers, and architects.
She tracked the compliance of her organization to the industry’s requirement and also performed decision-making and resolved issues.
With her direct coordination between International and Technical Departments, she makes sure that the proposals undergo proper development and process while meeting quality results and time frames.
She also participates in conferences to negotiate and distribute the tasks to the responsible departments. Ana also tracks international projects to ensure that they meet the targeted goals every year.

Finalist of Best Woman Rail Engineer

Maria Stratigaki, Technical Director at Jacobs
maria Stratigaki As an exceptional and professional Geotechnical Engineer for 17 years, her experience in varied sectors like local authorities, highways, railways, and redevelopments allow her to work with high-quality results efficiently.
Regardless of the commission sizes she handled, she was still able to conquer the challenges using her skills and best practices. She managed large frameworks, and at the same time, design and establish contracts to achieve geotechnical projects.
Maria has a proven track record in a successful construction industry such as making herself responsible for financial management. Her leadership skills allow her to work smoothly with diverse geotechnical projects and team regardless of their size and skill level
She was also a former Assistant Geotechnical Engineer in Atkins, and this experience equipped her with the necessary skills to meet the demand of the industry. She deals with multiple market sectors and handles the project with strict compliance and professionalism.
Furthermore, Maria’s achievements never stop as she strives for success during her years with the engineering and construction sectors. She was promoted as the Principal Geotechnical Engineer, and as expected, her role and responsibility become bigger, allowing her to implement her analytical skills and problem-solving strategy to boost the productivity and contributions of her organization.
Now that she is one of the finalists in the Rail Engineer category, she served as an inspiration to other women professionals who want to seek a career in this sector. Her achievements show that it is not impossible to compete and succeed in this male-dominated industry.

Finalists of Best Woman in Tunnelling and Underground Construction

Giulia Lancellotta, Senior Geotechnical Engineer, CEng MICE
Giulia Lancellota Giulia was one of the exceptional women in the field of Tunnelling and Underground Construction. Her international experience helps her implement her analytical and technical skills to deliver high-quality tunnelling and foundation results.
She specializes in numerical modelling to create technical solutions despite the challenging issues faced by the industry. Her proficiency in Plaxis2D, TEMP/W, Strand7, AIR/W, Unwedge, Phase2, and FLAC programs has been instrumental in the development of high-quality systems in construction.
Giulia specializes in the skills that play a critical role in the creation of long-term solutions and cost-effective approach in the construction sector.
Her expertise includes shallow and deep excavation, tunnel lining, foundation design, soil-structure interaction analysis, rock tunnel design, and ground freezing.
She was the brilliant mind behind the design of Artificial Ground Freezing (AGF) to establish a passenger interchange to construct the line 14 extension on the Paris subway.
By using an AGF technique, she was able to provide a stable structure that is useful for the tunnel excavation and groundwater project while making sure that the surrounding tunnel is safe from destruction.
She is also responsible for ground freezing design by validating it and implementing a remedial solution to keep the Access Shaft CA3 safe.
Furthermore, she also works as a Geotechnical Consultant for the construction feasibility to ensure a smooth operation of a gravel runway which is located in Boulder Clay in Mario Zucchelli Station in Antarctica.
She is also an expert when It comes to site survey, 2D fem thermal analyses using Air/W and TEMP/W, monitoring design, and trial embarkment with the Air Convection Embankments (ACE) technique. She assists the team in job sites and also selects appropriate and high-quality construction work machines.
She also took part in the excavation and design of 23 cross-passages that connect twin bored tunnels with 7-kilometer length.

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