Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle Central and shadow minister for culture and the digital economy was today announced as one of the top 50 influential women in engineering.
The list, compiled by the Daily Telegraph in collaboration with the Women’s Engineering Society for the first time today, features the UK’s top influential female engineers chosen from almost 900 nominations.
The publication coincides with National Women in Engineering Day. Welcoming the announcement, Chi said:
“I’m delighted to be included on the list amongst some remarkable women engineers. It’s so important for girls to see the varied and exciting career paths that engineering can lead to and have positive role models to look up to. I believe that engineering and politics are both paths to changing the world for the better. Engineering teaches people how to solve problems in creative ways and engineers can be found in almost any field.
“As the only female engineer in Parliament I am constantly championing the importance of more diversity in engineering – it’s good for business, good for consumers to have engineers with different outlooks solving problems and of course good for those who want to become engineers.”
Chi and Jeremy Corbyn will be welcoming 100 female engineers to Parliament on 13 July to celebrate the contribution that women make to engineering. MPs will meet guests, hear their stories, and learn about how we can encourage more women into the profession.
Notes
Chi Onwurah is a Member of Parliament representing Newcastle upon Tyne Central and is also Shadow Minister for Culture & the Digital Economy.
From Jan 2013 – Sept 2015 Chi was Shadow Cabinet Office Minister leading on cyber security, social entrepreneurship, civil contingency, open government and transparency. From Oct 2010 – Jan 2013 Chi was Shadow Minister for Innovation, Science & Digital Infrastructure working closely with the Science and business community, with industry on Broadband issues, and on the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill. Chi continues to encourage women in STEM.
Prior to Chi’s election to Parliament in May 2010 she worked as Head of Telecom’s Technology at the UK regulator Ofcom focussing on the implications for competition and regulation of the services and technologies associated with Next Generation Networks.
Prior to Ofcom, Chi was a Partner in Hammatan Ventures, a US technology consultancy, developing the GSM markets in Nigeria and South Africa. Previously she was Director of Market Development with Teligent, a Global Wireless Local Loop operator and Director of Product Strategy at GTS. She has also worked for Cable & Wireless and Nortel as Engineer, Project and Product Manager in the UK and France
Chi is a Chartered Engineer with a BEng in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College London and an MBA from Manchester Business School. She was born in Wallsend and attended Kenton Comprehensive School in Newcastle, where she was elected the school’s ‘MP’ in mock elections aged 17.
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