Celebrating Women in Engineering

This year’s theme is #MakeSafetySeen. INWED is an event for female engineers and allies who wish to strive and ensure their organisation is doing everything possible to be fair and open to all.

With 2021 figures indicating that in the UK only 16.5% of engineers are women, the annual INWED event provides female engineers with an opportunity to shine in an industry where they are still hugely underrepresented. As the only event of its kind, INWED plays a vital role in encouraging more young women and girls to take up engineering careers.

International Women in Engineering Day began in the UK in 2014 as a national campaign from the Women’s Engineering Society. Since then, INWED has gone truly global and even received UNESCO patronage in 2016. The 2022 campaign achieved a potential reach of over 656 million people, celebrated by individuals across the world.

For 2023, WES are profiling the best, brightest and bravest women in engineering, those women who #makesafetyseen and are helping to build towards a brighter future. WES are celebrating the amazing work that women engineers around the world are doing to support lives and livelihoods every day. 

At the ESO, we’re passionate about supporting women to thrive in the world of engineering and are celebrating International Women in Engineering Day today (23 June) by honouring some of the best in the field and raising the profile of women who are changing the world through their work. 

Here are some of our brightest and bravest women in engineering at the ESO:

Faith Natukunda

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Faith is a System Capability Manager at the ESO and a qualified Mechanical Engineer. She has been awarded Winner of the Top 50 Women in Engineering 2023: Safety and Security today (23 June) at a ceremony held at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London.

Faith Natukunda has overcome cultural barriers to lead a team that identifies the future needs of the UK’s electricity transmission network in order to meet net zero goals. She is a founding member of the CIGRE UK Women’s Network, where she emphasises the importance of a safe and supportive work environment that embraces diversity.

Kelly Loukatou

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Kelly is a Chartered Engineer with a PhD in energy storage for wind farms from Manchester University. She joined the ESO in 2022 as an Energy Insight Lead working on our Future Energy Scenarios having previously worked at EDF Energy UK and Energy Systems Catapult.

She is currently nominated for the IET’s Karen Burt award for best newly chartered female engineer.

Kelly says: “What I love about engineering is it’s all about problem solving and here I'm actually engineering a better humanity for everyone through the work we’re doing to find credible pathways to decarbonise the system and meet net zero.

“I’m passionate about supporting women too and am event lead for the ESO’s Women in Non-Traditional Roles, aiming at attracting, promoting, and sustaining women in engineering and STEM-related fields in general.” 

Dr Jasmine Desmond 

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Jasmine is an analyst at the ESO with a PhD in computational chemistry having worked in chemistry, physics and life sciences at the University of Warwick, before switching to focusing on theoretical chemistry in Basel, Switzerland. She leverages AI to develop models which show how emerging technologies can enable the transition to net zero. She programs in a variety of languages, including Python.

Jasmine says: “I'm incredibly excited about the journey that we're on with AI and like applying these new methods to show what can be achieved in the future.

“If you are interested in careers in the energy sector, all I’d say is don’t be intimidated or start thinking it's something that you couldn't do – approach it with an open mind. And do check out our opportunities at National Grid ESO. We’re recruiting for a range of roles at the moment for all stages of your career.

“Diversity of thought is vital in everything we do here at the ESO, so you’ll be really supported. Gathering a wide range of opinions, thoughts and ideas enables us to arrive at the best solutions. Making sure that everyone's voice is heard is central to that.”

Read more about Jasmine in Womanthology 

Cathy Fraser

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Cathy is Systems, Support and Insight Manager within National Control at the ESO and has been with the company in a variety of roles for 18 years. These include Power Systems Engineer roles and Black Start operations. 

She is a qualified electrical engineer with a 1st class honours from Swansea University. 

Cathy says: “The great thing about engineering is that you get to look at a problem logically but then collaborate for a common goal with a whole host of other bright minds. It’s the diversity of thoughts that is key.”