Celebrating our female Engineering Heroes

Nobukhosi Gumbo

Junior Design Engineer, Johannesburg, South Africa

Nominated by Million Lodia, Contracts Manager, Keller East Africa

“Nobukhosi is always willing, happy and available to pick up queries. Always honest, ethical and frank about any engineering challenge we throw out to her, she’s also glad to take on more work for our region, despite it not being her jurisdiction. I can always rely on her judgement.”

Nadia Varela

Area Manager, Florida, North America

Nominated by Graeme Cook, Chief People Officer, London

“I have been working with Nadia since March when Keller’s executive team commenced our Reverse Mentoring programme. During our time working together, Nadia has spoken with conviction, confidence, and real insight around the challenges and opportunities that being a female in the geotechnical engineering industry brings. This exemplary leadership from Nadia has provided me with a much broader perspective on our business and culture which strengthens my resolve to make Keller a company where everyone can contribute and develop their careers.”

Amrit Ingham

HR and Training Manager, Keller UK

Nominated by Mark Williams, Development and Marketing Director, Keller UK

“Not only has Am managed HR for the UK, overseen the advertising, appointment and training of many new roles for one of our major projects this year, and has led the very challenging consultation process following the sale of Colcrete Eurodrill, but she has spearheaded the company’s client-aligned approach to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. This resulted in us gaining ‘Investors in Diversity’ status from the ‘National Centre for Diversity’ last year, working towards ‘Leaders in Diversity’ status this year and recently helping to secure us the FREDIE award for 2021 Senior Leadership Team of the Year.”

Meredith Long

Senior Engineer, South Carolina, North America

Nominated by Sandy-lee Connolly, Group Head of Talent and Diversity, London

“Meredith is devoted to promoting and including women in the engineering and construction world. I’d like to recognise her as an engineering hero because of her inspirational leadership in this area.”

Ulrike Kummer

Head of Ethics and Compliance Europe, Germany

Nominated by Daniel Cordes, General Counsel Europe, Germany

“Ulrike has been with Keller over ten years and has been doing an incredible job in this particular role since March 2018. It’s never easy being responsible for compliance, since it is often perceived as a disruption for the business, but it’s very important to protect the group and Ulrike is excellent at getting that message across to colleagues. She is approachable when a problem arises and always keen to work on a solution. I believe this is why she is very well recognised across Keller. Besides all this, you can always have a private talk with her which makes her a great colleague on a personal level!”

Beatriz Heras Herrero

Site Manager, Spain

Nominated by the Iberia leadership team: Jose Manuel Salvador Garcia, Goran Vukotic, Victor Muñoz, Fernando de la Guardia, Alejandro García de la Vega.

“Beatriz is a young engineer with only a few years of experience in geotechnical projects on site, yet she has travelled alone around the world successfully performing complicated projects for Keller in many different countries, from Mexico to Jamaica. Besides all this, she is dedicated and has great human qualities.”

Also nominated by Somasekhar Kolathoor, Operations Manager, Dubai:

“I was project manager for the Dos Bocas Refinery project in Mexico when I first met production manager Beatriz, and was so impressed with her performance and dedication. She has worked in some very remote places. She’s always ready to learn, is very enthusiastic, hard-working, self-motivated, smart, well organised, a problem solver, and safety concerned.”

Olwen Goss

Estimating Manager, Keller UK

Nominated by Bob Thompson UK Managing Director

"Olwyn is a highly respected and experienced ground improvement engineer who stands out as a fantastic role model for all young and inspiring engineers, whatever their gender. Her professionalism, work ethic and ability to coach younger engineers is an example to us all."

Marta Botelho

Contracts Engineer, Mozambique

Nominated by Jose Mucavele, HR/Procurement Officer, Mozambique

“Marta plays an important part in most of our projects; providing the best of her invaluable knowledge to enable us to achieve company goals.”

Dajana Zuvicic

Design and Estimation Engineer, Dubai, UAE

Nominated by the Dubai team.

“Dajana is exemplary at managing deadlines and has proven time and again to handle work efficiently. She’s very confident and a fast learner and is certainly an all-rounder. Thumbs up to her!”

Beka Eaton

Project Manager, Keller UK

Nominated by Andrew Davison, Project Director, Keller UK

“Beka joined Keller as a graduate a few years ago direct from Warwick University, gaining all her working knowledge through Keller UK. Most recently, she has overcome the vast depth and array of challenges on a major project this year. The temporary works, the permits, the detailed and complex fabrication drawings, concrete trials in labs and at the batching plant, the thermal integrity profiling built into the piles, the challenges of a disrupted concrete supply through global materials shortages, topped with dealing with the ecological constraints of wildlife around the site.

“She brought together and led the joint venture in her section, collaborated with the client and designers to deliver a piling technique she had limited prior experience of, used a rig and crew unfamiliar to her and delivered the first sections of works for an order that the joint venture had been attempting to secure since 2015! She is my hero for doing all this and I’m hugely proud of what she has achieved which many older and more experienced people would have struggled with. Without her we would not have been so successful.”

Astrid Rambourg

Design Engineer, Duttlenheim, France

Nominated by Leena Veerasamy, Marketing Manager, France

“Astrid is one of our design engineers who, although not physically completing work on site, deals with all types of challenges, and makes sure that the project runs smoothly for both Keller and the client. She is my hero as she is always happy to help and most importantly she also has very good relational work skills. Working with her is very easy and pleasant."

Ana Lenero Cabañas

Lean Manager, Spain

Nominated by David Jansz, Lean Manager Europe, Germany

“Ana has been outstanding in implementing Lean in IberAm. Not only achieving amazing results from Lean workshops, but setting a high standard in engaging people and sharing best practices of Lean processes to the other Lean leaders in Europe. Being able to lead multiple improvement projects in different departments in parallel is usually very difficult, but Ana seems to do it with ease and always a smile on her face.”

Malgorzata Bednarska

Managing Director of Keller North-East Europe, Poland

Nominated by Mark Williams, Development and Marketing Director, Keller UK

“Although I work within a different business unit, it is difficult to put into words the impression that Malgorzata recently left me with after our first meeting during the Keller Counsellor training. Her engagement, her knowledge of the people within her business unit and her obvious passion for the company shone through and made me very proud to be a part of the same organisation. It is great to see very accomplished individuals such as Malgorzata taking on leadership roles and inspiring other women to do the same, helping to make us a more diverse company and breaking down perceived barriers within the wider industry.” 

Lauren O’Hara

Document Controller, Keller UK

Nominated by Mark Williams, Development and Marketing Director, Keller UK

“Lauren is a young, energetic and committed member of the Keller UK team. Although responsible for primarily for document control on a specific project, she has also worked closely and tirelessly with the client team to ensure the project runs smoothly and our operations team and subcontractors are fully supported. She always demonstrates the utmost professionalism, she is passionate about mental health and is always willing to share ideas to help drive the business forward.”

Amélie Bernard

HSEQ Manager French Speaking Countries, France

Nominated by Gerrit Heinrichs, Group Lean Director, Germany

“Amélie has good judgment on what matters most at any point in time. She is constantly focusing on the - internal as well as external - customer and not just on technology. Her ambition is also what makes her great at solving big as well as small problems (the ones that ‘hurt’). She is one of the best I know to weed out waste in processes and communication. Amélie does her job but also makes people feel included, engaged and part of the success.”

Laura Williams

HSEQ Advisor, Keller UK

Nominated by Sam Farrelly Health and Safety Advisor - Major Projects, Keller UK

“Laura does great work, not only in health and safety, but she has also been a great ambassador in campaigning for and promoting females in construction whenever she can.”

Vimala C

Assistant Manager – Geotechnical, Chennai, Keller India

Nominated by PVSR Prasad, Geotechnical Manager, Keller India

"Vimala joined Keller in 2014 after completing her Bachelors in Civil Engineering and a Masters in Geotechnical Engineering. Over the years she has been instrumental in managing the designs for various Keller products, like vibro compaction, vibro stone columns, heavy foundations and complex retention systems. In addition to being a design expert, Vimala also displays a sound understanding of operations and helps troubleshoot any construction related issues. She also helps with training the new engineers who join Keller. As a young mother, Vimala ensures an effective work-life balance and is always full of energy, motivation and a passion to deliver excellence."

Rachael Greene

Field Engineer, Texas, North America

Nominated by Alex Newell, Assistant Superintendent, North America

“Rachael goes above and beyond in her field engineering role; from tracking and assisting in production, to managing crews and delegating tasks. She shows the skills and mindset needed to make a good field leader/supervisor. Most importantly, she knows that she doesn’t have all the answers and is not afraid to ask for help or advice. This eagerness to learn is why she is my engineering hero.”

Also nominated by Billy Fisher, Project Executive, Texas

“Rachael really immerses herself in her work, and sets a high standard for herself. She’s eager to learn and sets a great example for the field when it comes to quality and safety. Rachel is very detailed in her work and is driven to do a good job for Keller.”

Joanna Wędołowska

Head of Technical and Commercial, Poland

Nominated by Agnieszka Miliszkiewicz-Pajdzińska, HR Director, Poland

"A manager with great empathy, Joanna is open to being a mentor and keenly hires promising young people so she can teach them how to be the best designers. An expert in the field of design and a huge support for her director, she is also a great colleague who will help on projects un-related to her role."

Sangeen Naik

Deputy Manager – Business Development, Mumbai, Keller India

Nominated by Sridhar V, Deputy General Manager, Business Development, Keller India

"Sangeen joined Keller in 2012 after completing her Bachelors in Civil Engineering and a Masters in Geotechnical engineering from one of the most prestigious institutions in India. She has worked in both the Engineering and Business Development teams at Keller. Her deep understanding of various design elements has helped her engage with clients effectively and win successful ground improvement work for Keller India. Sangeen is an active participant at various Deep Foundation conferences, additionally she supports the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and Keller Women in Construction initiatives effectively. Being a working mother, Sangeen manages her priorities at both home and work well. She has an outgoing personality and a keen desire for professional development."