Dawn Bonfield facts for kids

Dawn Bonfield is a talented materials engineer. She started a company called Towards Vision. This company works to make engineering a field where everyone feels welcome and included. She used to be the president and chief executive of the Women's Engineering Society (WES). In 2018, she helped promote engineering careers. She did this by visiting many places and talking to parents about engineering jobs.

Her Work and Career

Dawn Bonfield studied materials science at Bath University. A materials engineer works with different materials. They learn how materials behave and how to use them to build things.

After university, Dawn worked at several important places. These included AERE Harwell, Citroen Research Centre in Paris, British Aerospace in Bristol, and MBDA in Stevenage. She also worked at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining in London.

In 2017, Dawn became a Visiting Professor at Aston University. She taught students about "inclusive engineering." This means making sure engineering is fair and open to everyone. She also helped start IncEng in 2017. This platform helps bring together different groups of people in engineering.

Making a Difference

Dawn Bonfield is very active in promoting women in engineering. She joined the council of the Women's Engineering Society in 2011. She later became its president in 2014 and then its CEO in 2015.

In 2014, Dawn started National Women in Engineering Day. This is a special day to celebrate women engineers and encourage more girls to join the field. In 2015, she created the first ever 50 Women in Engineering List with the Daily Telegraph newspaper. This list highlights amazing women in engineering.

She also created the "Magnificent Women" project. This project helps schools learn about engineering. She also runs the Sparxx project. This project supports students interested in STEM. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Dawn often visits schools to talk about engineering and materials.

Awards and Recognition

Dawn Bonfield has received many awards for her important work. In 2015, she won a WISE Award. She also won an Association Congress Award for the National Women in Engineering Day campaign. In 2016, she won the SEMTA Skills Diversity Award.

In 2017, she won the Women's Business Council STEM 'Starting Out' award. She was also made an MBE in the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours list in 2016. MBE stands for Member of the Order of the British Empire. This is a special award given by the Queen. She received it for her work in promoting diversity in engineering.

Groups She Belongs To

Dawn Bonfield is a member of several important groups. These groups work to improve engineering and education.

• Member of the Royal Academy of Engineering Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Group. This group works on making engineering more diverse.
• Member of Bath University Court.
• Patron at Alton Convent School, Hampshire.
• External Athena Swan Advisory Group Member, City University. Athena Swan helps universities support women in science.
• Member of the Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professors' Management Group.
• Member of the Women’s Business Council STEM Starting Out Subgroup.
• Member of Women in Materials Committee of Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining.