This years sixth annual Made in the Midlands Awards involved the prestigious Women in Engineering Award which was won by Odin Engineerings Managing Director, Emily Barker.
Barkers application proved to be the greatest in the eyes of the judging panel, as she has grown the company from strength to strength, leading the company into building another broaching machine, reinstating ISO 9001 and expanding the business to Dehli, India.
Despite being more office based now, she is always on hand with her handbag of tools if there is a breakdown or an operator on holiday. Barker has successfully continued her fathers work at Odin.
Barker said: I am thrilled to be in receipt of this award, it has been eventful at times being a woman in engineering. Finally, after ten years I feel as though I can say I too am an engineer. I love working in the environment albeit my nails do suffer but I wouldnt change anything.
I want to thank my colleagues for nominating me for this award and always believing in me. They have played such a large part in the success at Odin, without them I would not have been in this position. I also want to pay a huge tribute to my Dad, he inspired me and was truly the best engineer I have ever met, I am now 4th generation engineer so must be in my genes. I would highly recommend any woman to enter this industry.
Barker fought off fierce competition from Kirsty Davies-Chinnock the Managing Director of Professional Polishing Services. PPS have ordered a machine that is a state of the art multi head line with automatic conveyors for December 2015, which is the largest investment the company have ever made. PPS have also expanded their range and increased capacity in the past year.
Sharon Cyster the Production Supervisor at CMA Moldform also narrowly missed out on scooping the award. Cyster was appointed into her role at CMA after 13 years working for a multinational lock manufacturer. Since then, she has been instrumental in overseeing improvements of quality standards and has influenced a production management strategy to reduce waste and improve shop floor productivity in line with CMAs long term vision.
B. Hepworths Design Manager Emily Woodall finalized the esteemed list of candidates. This year, she was promoted to the management team that is involved in looking at business growth and business improvement projects. Emily continues to play a pivotal role in the continual improvements and innovations at B Hepworth.
The Woman in Engineering Award is dedicated towards recognizing the achievements of women, who thrive within an industry that is largely dominated by a male workforce. These women have erased gender barriers within engineering, as respected leaders within the manufacturing and engineering sector.