National Women in Engineering Day is taking place this weekend (23^rd June). International Women in Engineering Day is an international awareness campaign to raise the profile of women in Engineering and focuses attention on the amazing career opportunities available in this exciting industry.

At Geosynthetics Ltd we wanted to take this time to highlight the extraordinary work our Principal Engineer, Patricia Guerra – Escobar (BSc MSc Civil Eng MSc Geotechnical Eng) does on a daily basis. Since the introduction of our Engineering team, Patricia has been at the forefront of its development and growth and is a key factor as to why the Engineering department are offering so much support to the company. Patricia’s design expertise and technical knowledge have provided breath-taking results on a number of projects. Elan Valley and Northumberlandia to name just a few.

Before joining Geosynthetics Ltd Patricia gained a wealth of Engineering experience while working across the world. Patricia started her engineering career in Colombia in a Consultant company performing designs of roads and pavements. Then she worked with the biggest manufacturer of Geotextiles and Geocomposites in Colombia developing design manuals for Geosynthetic applications, providing technical support to engineers for their designs and working on site in the construction of highways, roads, retaining walls, slopes, landfills and erosion control projects.

Patricia then moved to France for her masters in soil mechanics and geotechnics and worked for a company specialised in retaining structures and design of shallow and deep foundations. This experience has greatly helped and influenced her work here at Geosynthetics Ltd.

Patricia then moved to work in Central America expanding the use of Geosynthetics and finding new areas for development within the industry. She managed and worked beside experts in the field and personally mentored Civil Engineers in Geosynthetics.

When asked why she got into Engineering and what she enjoyed about it, Patricia stated – “I always wanted to understand the science and thinking behind the structures that surrounds us such as bridges, roads, tunnels, walls, etc.

I was amazed of how an initial idea that was a sketch on paper, could become real life and something we we’re able to use every day.

So, I wanted to be part of the process of design and construction of a real structure. This is why I got into civil engineering.

Engineering for me is a way of life.

I love to be able to provide solutions and help others using all the elements of engineering (technical, sustainable, innovative, cost-effective, etc) and see the final result constructed and performing very well for a long time. I love to discover and learn new things every day.

My work in engineering gives me the opportunity to do all that and share the knowledge and experiences with others to become a better engineer every day.”

Again, we would like to thank Patricia for the hard work she puts into making our Engineering department a roaring success, as well as drive the importance of women getting involved in this rewarding industry.

To find out more about National Women in Engineering Day click here – http://www.inwed.org.uk/