Helen Stone facts for kids

Helen Stone is a brilliant English civil engineer. She was once the managing director of a big company called WS Atkins Structural Engineering. She started working there in 1972. OBE FREng

Helen's Early Life and Studies

Helen Elizabeth Stone was born in February 1950. When she was 10 years old, she took a trip on the new M1 motorway. This trip really inspired her to become a civil engineer!

She went to the North London Collegiate School. Later, she studied civil engineering at the University of Birmingham. After her studies, she became a fully qualified engineer. Helen has worked on many exciting projects. These include the famous Channel Tunnel, big motorways, a fun theme park, and even a large shopping centre. She also helped build an aircraft hangar and an oil refinery.

Helen's Amazing Career

Helen Stone has achieved many important things in her career. In 1991, she became only the third woman to be a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. This is a very special honor for engineers. Then, in 2002, she was chosen as a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Helen is well-known for representing British engineering in other countries. She cares a lot about helping women in engineering. In an interview, she talked about how women in many countries were not getting promoted to top engineering jobs as much as men.

She led the Diversity Panel for the Construction Industry Council. Here, she worked with different groups in the UK building industry. Helen believes it's important to remove unfair barriers that stop women engineers from moving forward. However, she thinks people should be promoted based on their skills, not just because they are women.

For nine years, Helen was a governor at Cheltenham Ladies' College. Later, she was the chair of governors at the North London Collegiate School for 10 years. She also led the Ethics and Standards Board of the APM Group, which is a group that checks if companies meet certain standards. Helen has also been a director for other organizations, like the London Hostels Association.