Yewande Akinola

Nigerian engineer specializing in water supply

Yewande Akinola
Born1984
Ibadan, Nigeria
Alma materCranfield University
University of Warwick
EmployerLaing O'Rourke
Known forDesign Engineering

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

  1. ^ a b "Yewande Akinola". ZODML. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Yewande Akinola wins Exceptional Achiever award – Arup [UK]". emotanafricana.com. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  3. ^ a b "2012 Young Woman Engineer of the Year finalists announced - Engineering Opportunities". engopps.com. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  4. ^ "The IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards - IET Conferences". conferences.theiet.org. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  5. ^ "About us – Low Cost Sustainable Housing". lcshr.com. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ Agard, Karlene. "Megaproject Trends For 2019: Yewande Akinola On The Next Frontier In Design". Forbes. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Titanic: The Mission - Channel 4 - Info - Press". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  9. ^ "Trophy 2013 - Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering". Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  10. ^ IET (3 December 2012), The IET's Young Woman Engineer of the Year (YWE) Award Finalists 2012, retrieved 4 February 2018
  11. ^ "Yewande Akinola". IMDb. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  12. ^ "Mile High City, Absolute Genius: Monster Builds - Credits - BBC - CBBC". BBC. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  13. ^ Yewande Akinola (1 February 2018), Yewande's features, retrieved 4 February 2018
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "RAINWATER HARVESTING SYSTEM". Patent Scope. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  16. ^ "Interview with Yewande Akinola: Inventer [sic] & Design Engineer | Shedistinction". www.shedistinctionblog.com. September 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  17. ^ girlguiding (21 February 2013), Yewande Yewande Akinola, retrieved 4 February 2018
  18. ^ Royal Academy of Engineering (4 June 2013), Yewande Akinola - Designed to Inspire - Royal Academy of Engineering, retrieved 4 February 2018
  19. ^ Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (27 February 2014), Create the Future - Yewande Akinola, retrieved 4 February 2018
  20. ^ Finding Ada (12 December 2016), Engineering for Global Development & Sustainability, Yewande Akinola at Ada Lovelace Day Live 2016, retrieved 4 February 2018
  21. ^ "Portrait of an Engineer - Faraday Secondary". faraday-secondary.theiet.org. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  22. ^ "Academy celebrates first new Fellows elected under Fit for the Future diversity initiative". Royal Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  23. ^ "The IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards - IET Conferences". conferences.theiet.org. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  24. ^ "35 Women Under 35: Meet your next boss". Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  25. ^ "Entrepreneur of the year puts prison past behind her". Retrieved 4 February 2018.