Latest news from º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ

10 Mar 2015

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ graduate lifts prestigious Women in Rail Award

Malcolm Brown, CEO of Angel Trains, Adeline Ginn, General Counsel at Angel Trains, award winner Pippa Higgins, and awards host Gyles Brandreth

A º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ civil engineering graduate has been presented with a top award in recognition of her dedication to and passion for the rail industry. 

Pippa Higgins, Senior Design Manager at Taylor Woodrow, was judged to be the most outstanding woman working within the UK rail industry and walked away with the Women in Rail Individual Award 2014 from the Rail Business Awards. 

The citation on the award read: ‘Pippa Higgins has demonstrated passion for working within the industry through her dedicated project work and through external organisations, as well as creating an engineering badge for Girl Guiding. Pippa has established a best practice charter for her design team and Network Rail and promoted the first Women in Taylor Woodrow event’. 

Pippa, who graduated from the University in 1998 with a First Class degree in Civil Engineering, said: “I was really surprised to win this award, but it is great to be recognised for the work I do. I had a fantastic time at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ and at The Holt halls of residence. The civil engineering course gave me a great base knowledge across all aspects of design and construction. As the course is recognised by businesses, I was able to get sponsorship from Taylor Woodrow which helped me gain experience in the industry while I was studying, as well as opening up job opportunities when I graduated.” 

Professor Tony Thorpe, Dean of the School of Civil and Building Engineering, said: “This is wonderful recognition not only of the engineering work that Pippa has undertaken in the rail industry, but also of her significant contribution to promoting women in engineering and the rail industry in particular. We are delighted that one of our graduates has achieved such great success.”

Notes for editors

Article reference number: March News

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, putting it among the best universities in the world, and was named Sports University of the Year 2013-14 by The Times and Sunday Times. º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and has been voted England's Best Student Experience for six years running in the Times Higher Education league. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

In 2015 the University will open an additional academic campus in London’s new innovation quarter. º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ in London, based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will offer postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities.

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