Michelle McDowell Awarded Honorary Degree

Michelle McDowell MBE FREng, chair of civil and structural engineering at BDP, was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Bristol on the 16 July.

Michelle was honoured with a Doctor of Engineering in recognition of a career which has seen her become one of the country’s most admired civil engineers, leading many high profile and award winning projects.

She studied Civil Engineering at Bristol University and graduated in 1984 with the skills she needed to begin her career, which has seen her work on the major refurbishment of the Royal Albert Hall and the BBC’s new regional headquarters in Birmingham.

Not only is Michelle a respected and well known figure within the engineering industry, she has influenced many beyond the confines of construction. In 2011 Michelle she was named Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year and was elected a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering. In 2010 Michelle became the first woman to chair the Association for Engineering and Consultancy (ACE), won the property category of the First Women Awards and was awarded an MBE for services to the construction industry in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. In May she was named the ACE’s Engineering Ambassador for 2012.

Photograph by Ede and Ravenscoft.