London Branch – Inspiring People about Careers in Engineering

Wednesday, 14th May 2025 at 12:30pm

For a copy of the slides from the webinar please click here.

The UK faces a shortage of engineers across many sectors including energy, transport, nuclear and defence. With many people currently in engineering jobs retiring in the next 5-10 years it is crucial that the sector trains and develops current engineers especially early career professionals, attracts young people into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects and careers and broadens its appeal to currently underrepresented groups.

In this session you hear about:
1. WSP’s commitment to fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging, where people from different backgrounds and experiences can come together in a collaborative and respectful environment working on innovative projects for our clients, helping to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time such as climate change, modernising our infrastructure and providing clean energy for homes and business – presented by Beckie Faulkner, Associate Director at WSP in Intelligent Infrastructure (Operations and Safety).

2. The importance of inspiring the next generation to consider a career in STEM. Engineering UK is bringing young people, schools and engineering organisations together to get more young people from all backgrounds to be informed and inspired about engineering and technology and to realise there could be a future for them in engineering and technology – presented by Moira Shaftoe, Head of Professional Institutions and Partnerships at EngineeringUK.

3. The importance of continuing professional development (CPD), the benefits of achieving professional registration and how SaRS can you help you with both – presented by Seyi Weli, Safety & Reliability Society Council and London Branch Committee.

More detailed biographies for the presenters are as follows:

Beckie Faulkner

Beckie is an Associate Director at WSP in Intelligent Infrastructure (Operations and Safety), with eighteen years of experience in the transport sector. She joined WSP after a decade at National Highways, where she led significant change programmes and front-line operations in the Traffic Officer Service. She provides technical consultancy in risk management, immersive testing, and emergency preparedness within National Highways and Local Authorities. Beckie champions cultural change and is passionate about effective Equality, Diversity and Inclusion integration. She also serves as Vice Chair of the Women in ITS forum for ITS UK and as an EDI Ambassador for CIHT.

Moira Shaftoe

Moira is EngineeringUK’s Head of Professional Institutions and Partnerships. Her role sits within the Business & Industry team, incorporating EngineeringUK’s Corporate Membership Programme.

Moira’s remit is to work collaboratively with the engineering community, and other stakeholders, to inspire tomorrow’s engineers and increase the number and diversity of young people choosing academic and vocational pathways into engineering – supporting Professional Engineering Institutions and companies of all sizes to attract talent into their business, helping them to engage with young people in the most effective, impactful ways and improving the quality of engineering engagement activity.

Moira is a STEM Ambassador, an honorary Apprenticeship Ambassador – actively engaged in supporting the North East Apprenticeship Ambassador Network.

Seyi Weli

Seyi Weli is a Chartered Engineer with SaRS. With 18 years of technical and senior leadership experience across Renewables, Chemicals, Engineering Consulting, and Oil & Gas industries, Seyi has built a distinguished career in safety and risk management.

Seyi has been a member of SaRS for 10 years and serves on both the Council and the London Branch Committee. She is passionate about developing the next generation of engineers and has been mentoring engineering students at the University of Sheffield for 10 years now. Currently, Seyi leads STEM outreach initiatives for SaRS and collaborates actively with Engineering UK to inspire young people into engineering careers.