Nigerian engineer specializing in water supply
Yewande Akinola
MBE
HonFREng (born 1984) is a Chartered Engineer who specialises in sustainable water supplies. She works as Principal Engineer for
Laing O'Rourke and hosts television shows about engineering for
Channel 4 and
National Geographic .
Education
Yewande Akinola was born in 1984 in Nigeria. As a child she designed model-sized houses.
[1] Her father, J. M Akinola, was Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works of the old Western Region in Nigeria.
[2] Yewande Akinola studied Engineering Design and Appropriate Technology at the
University of Warwick , which she completed in 2007. During her degree she was a
mechanical engineer for
Thames Water , where she worked on clean water treatment sites. In 2007 she was employed by
Arup Group as a
Design Engineer designing water supplies and water management systems. Whilst working for Arup, she earned a master's degree from
Cranfield University in 2011.
[3]
Career
Yewande Akinola is interested in developing water and sanitation for underdeveloped countries.
[1] She has worked on projects in the
UK ,
Africa , Middle East and East
Asia .
[4] She is the founder of the Global Emit Project, which mentors young people who are interested in engineering.
[5]
[6]
In 2010 Yewande Akinola presented Titanic: The Mission for
Channel 4
[7] and
National Geographic Society .
[8] In 2012 she judged the
Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering competition to create a trophy.
[9] That year, she was shortlisted and won the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award.
[10] She has also presented for CBeebies and Yesterday TV.
[11]
[12]
[13] Yewande Akinola has appeared on
BBC Radio 4 .
[14] In 2014 Yewande Akinola designed a Rainwater Harvesting System.
[15]
[16]
In 2013 Akinola worked with Girl Guiding UK to encourage more young women into engineering.
[17] She featured in a
Royal Academy of Engineering campaign "Designed to Inspire".
[18] She was featured on the QEPrize 2014 campaign "Create The Future".
[19] She delivered a keynote talk at the 2016
Ada Lovelace day celebration.
[20] She featured in the
Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017 campaign "Portrait of an Engineer".
[21] In 2021 she was elected an Honorary Fellow of the
Royal Academy of Engineering
[22]
Awards
1998 -
Nigerian National Mathematics Award
[2]
2009 - UK’s Society of Public Health Engineers Award for Young Rising Star
[3]
2012 - Exceptional Achiever Award by the
Association for Black Engineers (AFBE-UK)
[2]
2012 - Young Woman Engineer of the Year from the IET
[23]
2013 -
Management Today ’s top 35 women under 35
[24]
2014 - PRECIOUS Award for Outstanding Woman in STEM
[25]
See also
References
^
a
b
"Yewande Akinola" . ZODML . Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^
a
b
c
"Yewande Akinola wins Exceptional Achiever award – Arup [UK]" . emotanafricana.com . 28 November 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^
a
b
"2012 Young Woman Engineer of the Year finalists announced - Engineering Opportunities" . engopps.com . Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^
"The IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards - IET Conferences" . conferences.theiet.org . Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^
"About us – Low Cost Sustainable Housing" . lcshr.com . Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^
"Girl Power: STEM Solutions Towards a Sustainable World conference | Long Road Sixth Form College" . www.longroad.ac.uk . 13 November 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^ Agard, Karlene.
"Megaproject Trends For 2019: Yewande Akinola On The Next Frontier In Design" . Forbes . Retrieved 11 March 2019 .
^
"Titanic: The Mission - Channel 4 - Info - Press" . www.channel4.com . Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^
"Trophy 2013 - Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering" . Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering . Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^ IET (3 December 2012),
The IET's Young Woman Engineer of the Year (YWE) Award Finalists 2012 , retrieved 4 February 2018
^
"Yewande Akinola" . IMDb . Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^
"Mile High City, Absolute Genius: Monster Builds - Credits - BBC - CBBC" . BBC . Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^ Yewande Akinola (1 February 2018),
Yewande's features , retrieved 4 February 2018
^
"Engineer Yewande Akinola explains her most exciting projects., Sheila Hancock; Engineering; Empty nesting and dependent children, Woman's Hour - BBC Radio 4" . BBC . 2 October 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^
"RAINWATER HARVESTING SYSTEM" . Patent Scope . Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^
"Interview with Yewande Akinola: Inventer [sic] & Design Engineer | Shedistinction" . www.shedistinctionblog.com . September 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^ girlguiding (21 February 2013),
Yewande Yewande Akinola , retrieved 4 February 2018
^ Royal Academy of Engineering (4 June 2013),
Yewande Akinola - Designed to Inspire - Royal Academy of Engineering , retrieved 4 February 2018
^ Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (27 February 2014),
Create the Future - Yewande Akinola , retrieved 4 February 2018
^ Finding Ada (12 December 2016),
Engineering for Global Development & Sustainability, Yewande Akinola at Ada Lovelace Day Live 2016 , retrieved 4 February 2018
^
"Portrait of an Engineer - Faraday Secondary" . faraday-secondary.theiet.org . Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^
"Academy celebrates first new Fellows elected under Fit for the Future diversity initiative" . Royal Academy of Engineering . Retrieved 23 September 2021 .
^
"The IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards - IET Conferences" . conferences.theiet.org . Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^
"35 Women Under 35: Meet your next boss" . Retrieved 4 February 2018 .
^
"Entrepreneur of the year puts prison past behind her" . Retrieved 4 February 2018 .