Destined to become an engineer – meet IMechE’s new Vice President, Helena Rivers

Without knowing it was engineering, Helena had an interest in understanding how things work, and how to improve them, since she was at school. Her decision to study Aeronautical Engineering at University was inspired by Britain’s first ever astronaut, Helen Sharman and her journey into space.

In 2017, Helena joined IMechE’s Trustee Board where she worked on, and chaired, the Audit and Risk Committee, before chairing the Real Estate Strategy Group. Helena’s passion for sustainability and ensuring that buildings are achieving their net-zero goals are top priority for her when it comes to leading the Group.

Helena is taking her knowledge of the building with her as she becomes IMechE’s new Vice-President. Her three key goals as Vice-President are:

1. To build on the great momentum IMechE have for D&I learning and ensure real change is implemented which improves the feeling of inclusion for all members.
2. Take to membership a vote of the future of One Birdcage Walk; “The worst thing which we can do is fail to make a decision and leave the building to deteriorate, whatever the membership choose as the way forward for the building we need to be actively working to make that a reality.”
3. Continue to support the culture change of mutual respect; “I believe that we have made great progress in this with regard to recent times, but we are very much still on the journey.”

Advocating for diversity and inclusion within the Institution is high on Helena’s agenda for the year. Everyone has a right to feel safe, secure and welcome within their job and Helena wants to ensure that, although we have definitely improved on this, we still have a way to go to ensure that we are openly attracting more diverse candidates.

If you are wanting to join the engineering profession, but you’re worried about the setbacks you might face, Helena encourages you to reach out to someone who is already active in the profession and discuss your ambitions with them. There are so many routes to start a great career in engineering, and a lot of resources out there which can help you get your foot in the door.

Check out our careers page to find out how the Institution can help.

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers are excited to see what Helena will bring as our Vice-President, and we wish her good luck!