Bus engineer Katie in UK top 60
National Express bus Engineering Development Manager Katie McGrath has won a spot at the national finals of a women in transport award.
Katie, 26, from Stourbridge, is a finalist in the Above and Beyond category of the 2020 Amazon everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards. These awards showcase the crucial positions women hold in the industry, redefining a sector that has long been seen as male-dominated.
Katie came to National Express in 2016 on the graduate scheme, after studying biochemistry at the University of Birmingham. She soon discovered a passion for engineering and became Engineering Development Manager in March 2018.
Bernie Cassidy, Engineering Director at National Express, said:
“Everyone at National Express West Midlands is so proud of Katie and what she’s already achieved.
“Katie has a great skill for analysing data. Combined with a real gift for communicating to teams and bringing them on board, she has improved many of our systems even in the short time she’s been with us. As a result of her work, breakdowns are down over 10% year on year.
“Katie is also a great role model for women in engineering - she’s always happy to encourage female STEM students. For International Women’s Day in March 2019, she went to Birmingham’s South and City College to talk about what it’s like to work in the bus industry. The students there found her inspiring and engaging.”
Maxine Benson MBE, Co-Founder of everywoman, said:
“With the coronavirus outbreak shining a spotlight on how crucial our transport and logistics sector is, celebrating role models and creating a strong pipeline of female talent is more important now than ever before.”
“These finalists represent 60 of the most outstanding individuals working in transport and logistics today.”
The West Midlands is well represented in this year’s everywoman in Transport & Logistics Awards. Anne Shaw - Assistant Director of Network Resilience at Transport for West Midlands - and Laura Shoaf - the Managing Director of Transport for West Midlands - are also finalists in Leader categories.