Bristol's Rachael De'Ath named top in 50 women Engineers

25 June 2018

Rachael De’Ath, a senior teaching associate at the University of Bristol and a senior structural engineer at Arup Bristol, has been announced as a winner in ‘The Telegraph Top 50 Women in Engineering’ 2018.

Racheal has worked on big projects, including the refubishment of Bristol Temple Meads station. She is committed to promoting engineering as a career for young people, both in her teaching role of engineering at the University of Bristol and as STEM coordinator at Arup Bristol, where she manages an outreach and engagement programme with schools in the local community. She has won awards for sustainability and has been commended

This year’s awards recognise and celebrate women who have gone beyond what is expected in the sector or discipline of engineering and allied sciences, technology and mathematics, having either returned following a career break or transferred from one sector or discipline to another. Rachael has taken two career breaks, returning to successfully lead large multidisciplinary projects and to develop a speciality in heritage design.

Professor Simon Neild, head of Civil Engineering said: "Rachael is a huge asset to the department of Civil Engineering here at Bristol, and I’m delighted to see her talents being recognised in these awards. Rachael’s skills as an Engineer are matched by her dedication as an ambassador for STEM subjects and her advocacy for flexible modern working arrangements which encourage more women to not only take up engineering, but to excel. We’re very proud to have her!”

Further information

The Univeristy of Bristol's Civil Engineering department has around thirty-four academic staff, eighteen research assistants and over 400 students (approximately 300 undergraduate, 20 postgraduate taught and 90 postgraduate research).

Our research profile is internationally excellent and we recruit very able students. We have balanced strengths in teaching and research, with a particular focus on:

earthquake and geotechnical engineering;
water and environmental management, and
infrastructure systems and design.

We have well-established links with a diverse range of industrial and other external non- academic partners; many of these relationships are enhanced by people who are graduates of the Department returning to teach for us or to become industrial mentors for current students. Many of the organisations we work with have a global presence, giving our students access to a very wide range of exciting career opportunities when they graduate.