Institution news
Announced on International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) on 23 June, this year's awards celebrate women whose expertise, leadership and innovation are shaping the future of the profession. The 2026 theme,
Engineering Intelligence, highlights the knowledge, creativity and technical excellence engineers bring to solving some of society's biggest challenges.
The three IMechE members recognised this year are
Rachel Chiu CEng MIMechE,
Jessica Day MEng AMIMechE and
Melanie Horton CEng MIMechE.
Connecting the world through satellite communications
Rachel Chiu CEng MIMechE is a Principal Systems Architecture Engineer at Eutelsat, where she leads initiatives to improve the performance, resilience and efficiency of one of the world's largest low Earth orbit satellite communications networks.
She provides technical oversight across multidisciplinary engineering teams and is helping define Eutelsat's future communications systems, including a multi-billion-pound satellite replenishment programme with Airbus.
Having joined the company after graduating from Imperial College London with a Master's degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Rachel achieved Chartered Engineer status with the Institution just four years into her career.
Engineering solutions that improve patient care
Jessica Day MEng AMIMechE is Managing Director of PureCell and Head of Engineering at Hillside Engineering Contractors. Over more than a decade in medical engineering, she has helped develop innovative medical devices and diagnostic technologies spanning organ transplantation, surgical oncology and emerging therapeutic technologies.
She contributed to the development of the world's first normothermic kidney perfusion system and was part of a MacRobert Award-winning engineering team.
Jessica recently took part in STEMAZING's Inspiration Academy programme through IMechE sponsorship, helping inspire more young people to consider careers in engineering.
Speaking about the award, she said:
"You cannot be what you cannot see, and I am passionate about being a visible role model who inspires the next generation of girls to see engineering as a place where they belong and can make a real difference."
Supporting the next generation
Melanie Horton CEng MIMechE is a Principal Mechanical Engineer at AWE Nuclear Security Technologies. After joining the organisation as a Mechanical Design Engineer in 1999 following her graduation from Loughborough University, she has built a career focused on balancing safety, security, quality, cost and delivery across complex engineering programmes.
Alongside her technical role, Melanie is a strong advocate for STEM and plays an active role in mentoring and developing future engineers.
Congratulations to Rachel, Jessica and Melanie on this well-deserved recognition and for the contribution they continue to make to engineering, innovation and the profession.