Airbus employee named one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering

An Airbus engineer has been named one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering in a list published on National Women in Engineering day today, Thursday 23 June.

Jacqueline Castle is currently the wing Chief Engineer for the new Airbus A330neo and she will shortly be moving to a new role as head of A350 Landing Gear.

She joins other leading women in engineering on the list, including Dame Ann Dowling, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Naomi Climer, President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and Chi Onwurah MP – the only female engineer in the UK Parliament.

The list, compiled in collaboration with the Women’s Engineering Society and The Daily Telegraph features the UK’s top influential female engineers chosen from almost 900 nominations.

Jacqueline said: “The message I want to give to girls who’d like to pursue careers in engineering but think it may be male dominated is simply this – go for it! I’ve never encountered any career obstacles or challenges because of my gender. It’s down to the individual to drive their own career and push themselves to make the most of their abilities.

“At school, I enjoyed practical subjects but I never figured I’d end up working with aircraft. It’s certainly an exciting product!”

Jacqueline did a mechanical engineering degree at the University of the West of England and joined British Aerospace as a Direct Entry Graduate in 1996.

Since then she has had various roles, mainly within Wing Structures Design.

Dawn Bonfield, Chief Executive of the Women’s Engineering Society who is also the founder of National Women in Engineering Day commented:

“We had a very high response to this campaign and were hugely impressed with the entries. This list of amazing role models is a great way of raising the profile of our talented women engineers and making them more visible both within the industry and to the next generation.”

The Women’s Engineering Society (WES) today also announced Airbus engineer Emma England to their inaugural Young Members’ Board (YMB).

The WES YMB will consist of twelve women under the age of 30 who are working, training or studying in an engineering field. Emma is a Loads and Aeroelastics Engineer, joined the Airbus graduate scheme in 2013 and was awarded Best of British Engineering at the Semta Skills Awards earlier this year.

Emma said: “I am pleased to be part of the YMB as I joined WES to promote equal opportunities to all no matter of their circumstance or background. In the engineering sector today there is a gradual move towards a diverse work force, however there is still much work to be done. WES and the WES YMB will help me to continue to support promoting the opportunities available in engineering. It will also enable me to learn new ideas, share best practice and to incorporate these into the business at Airbus.”

Airbus Group is working proactively with schools and institutions to enhance opportunities and encourage women to discover the world of aeronautical engineering. We have existing partnerships with a number of events and associations.

Targeted schools liaison activities include the Industrial Cadets programme at Filton and Broughton sites where girls-only project groups are mentored by Airbus employees.