AECOM women's achievements are celebrated through awards

AECOM believes that infrastructure has the power to uplift communities and improve people’s lives, so working to achieve this purpose can prove very rewarding.

AECOM is committed to empowering women in the workplace to apply their skills and technical knowledge to help deliver a better work.

Inspired by such great purpose, AECOM women are achieving great professional success and recognition. In Australia & New Zealand, AECOM sees many impressive women identified for prestigious recognition via Engineers Australia's awards. These awards honour the outstanding work of engineering professionals at all stages of their career, acknowledge and reward the outstanding work of individuals, and establish an aspirational benchmark for future engineering professionals.

Let's learn about some of AECOM's impressive women.

Meet AECOM's Defence Environmental Services Lead for ANZ, Emma Charlton

Emma Charlton [pictured above centre] was honoured as Professional Engineer of the Year 2023 at the Queensland ceremony.

Emma is a strategic and technical leader with around two decades of consulting experience. As AECOM's Defence Environmental Services Lead for Australia and New Zealand (ANZ), a core part of Emma’s role is working with project teams and clients to develop solutions that balance Defence capability requirements with environmental considerations. Ultimately, her work for Defence helps protect the long-term sustainability of Australia’s natural resources while ensuring that the Defence estate can meet Defence’s capability needs now and into the future.

Emma provides mentoring and training to project managers, commercial risk management and high-level client interface across multiple projects across ANZ. She brings a mix of people, business, commercial and technical skills that have helped sustain and grow the AECOM business. Emma is also passionate about diversity and inclusion and has actively been a part of the ANZ Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I) Advisory Panel, which is responsible for defining and delivering AECOM’s ED&I strategy across ANZ. She is also on the Board of Australian Spatial Analytics, a data solutions social enterprise employing young autistic and neurodiverse adults.

Emma is now in the running for the Australian Professional Engineer of the Year 2023 to be announced at the Engineers Australia Excellence Awards held on November 29 in Melbourne.

Meet AECOM's Principal Fire Engineering Lead, Jenny Han

AECOM Principal - Fire Engineering Lead, Jenny Han was a finalist in Engineers Australia's 2023 Queensland Professional Engineer of the Year award.

Jenny is a chartered professional fire engineer with over 10 years’ experience working as a fire engineer in Australia. Her work has a strong focus on developing innovative performance-based design solutions for a broad range of project sectors including infrastructure, aviation, health, heritage, entertainment / assembly, prisons, shopping centres, high-rise residential / commercial, educational and industrial buildings.

Jenny’s experience and strengths lie in promoting the benefits and opportunities that fire engineering can add value to the project, with consideration of its existing or future constraints and sustainability, through both design and construction process. She works closely with clients, authorities and project teams internally and externally to produce feasible and holistic design solutions which achieve the client’s expectation, project objectives and code requirements.

Jenny’s strong technical skills on various engineering analysis techniques, including both qualitative risk assessment and quantitative assessment, enable her to tackle the traditional fire safety designs whilst developing innovative and cost-effective building solutions from the first engineering principles.

Meet AECOM's Area Manager for Hunter Region NSW, Amanda Kerr

Amanda Kerr [second from left] is Area Manager for the Hunter Region in NSW at AECOM and, due to her impressive achievements, was nominated for the Engineers Australia 2023 Professional Engineer of the Year award.

"It’s a big deal to be nominated amongst so many amazing engineers – Amanda, we’re so proud of you. Thank you for your leadership and continued focus on diversity, inclusion and delivering sustainable legacies for future generations. We see big things ahead for you here at AECOM – watch this space!" commented James Rosenwax, AECOM Australia's Regional Managing Director for NSW + ACT.

Amanda is a well-regarded business leader and has instilled an exceptional client service focus across AECOM's Hunter business. Her leadership style is characterised through the formation of trusting relationships, and clear focus on wellbeing and inclusion across team members, clients, and the broader community.

Amanda has led AECOM's Civil Infrastructure in the Hunter for the past 5 years and has brought about significant growth across water, transport, and industrial sectors. In early 2020, Amanda was appointed Area Manager for the Hunter Region and played a significant role in leading business resilience initiatives through the COVID-19 situation - ensuring the safety and wellbeing of staff and clients, transitioning to virtual working platforms and maintaining an unprecedented level of productivity.

Amanda maintains strong market engagement on major regional pursuits, and is a key connector between AECOM's regional and global resources and the need of local clients.

Meet AECOM's Senior Traffic Engineer, Ghizlane Chergaoui

AECOM Senior Traffic Engineer, Ghizlane Chergaoui [pictured above centre in front row], was an Engineers Australia 2023 finalist for the Emerging Professional Engineer of the Year (35 and below) at the Sydney ceremony.

The awards recognise top engineering projects, the teams behind them, and the outstanding work of engineering professionals at all stages of their careers.

"It was great to attend the EA Excellence Awards...and celebrate my nomination for the 2023 Sydney Emerging Professional Engineer of the Year. Congratulations to the winners and all the finalists for this amazing recognition! Mostly, I want to thank my AECOM colleagues for their support and for cheering me on last night. It was great to celebrate with you all," commented Ghizlane.

Bring bold ideas and big dreams

At AECOM, women bring great expertise, skills and unique perspective to help the company solve its clients’ biggest challenges. They're part of a global team of nearly 50,000 experienced planners, designers, engineers, scientists, program and construction managers and other professionals working on projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy, and the environment.

Enjoy limitless career opportunities at AECOM

From flexible work options that help balance the demands of work and life, to learning and growth programs that advance careers, and the potential of working on projects around the world - the opportunities with AECOM are virtually limitless. Working within a global community of technical experts and professionals, women can create relationships that support their development and a career path that fits chosen goals.