Shabna Hayes

REGIONAL DIRECTOR

AECOM

I am a chartered electrical engineer in the Building Services Engineering sector specialising in critical power for data centres.

I started my engineering journey at KKA consulting engineers where I joined as a sponsored student both studying and working part time. This is where I learnt the building blocks of Engineering.

I have worked on some amazing projects in my career; Data Centres, Cross Rail, Network Rail, Heathrow, Olympics LOCOG.

My current role is Regional Director in the Mission Critical team at AECOM. I work closely with our clients to design and deliver technically challenging data centres.

In high school, I already knew, I was destined for a career in Engineering. My subject choices included Maths, Science, Chemistry and Technical Drawing; this enabled my choice to study electrical engineering.

An interesting fact about me is that I am an Indian, South African, British National.

I have strong communication and interpersonal skills and thrive on the day-to-day challenge of making designs work. Teamwork, collaboration, communication, planning and innovation are essential for delivering a successful fast paced project and this is what I excel at.

The lack of knowledge about what engineering entails is a key driver for the lack of female engineers. I see the challenges as rather opportunities for some young aspiring engineers.

The unknown will always appear as a challenge. Ask questions and be inquisitive as there are many rewards to engineering and making designs, buildings, and technology work.