AFBE-UK 2022 Annual Report and Newsletter

Welcome to our 2022 Annual report

What a year 2022 was! Some would describe it as a recordbreaking year for many reasons. From the rise in energy prices, cost of living crisis, inflation, Queen Elizabeth II passing away in September, at the age of 96. Her recordbreaking reign as the longest of any monarch in British history, spanning 70 years and 15 prime ministers. Then King Charles III’s ascension to the throne, three Prime Ministers in one year! the list is endless. As I reflect on 2022 and the many challenges it brought this was certainly a year of records, in fact a unique season for all of us.

For us at AFBE-UK, this year has been extraordinary. My personal highlight was Dr Ollie Folayan, Co-founder AFBEUK honoured in King Charles III first New Year’s Honours list is my personal highlight having worked together for 15years.

AFBELive attracted over 500 attendees from all over the UK and Europe. We also launched our Transcend leadership programme ably led by Dr Roy Bitrus. Our growth in terms of corporate membership to 70 organizations supporting our ambitions to scale up was really encouraging Throughout the year we continued to receive so many testimonials of personal successes of our members getting chartered, gaining their first graduate jobs, being promoted to senior roles, becoming fellows of engineering institutions, winning awards (see Member News section). We launched The Engineering Ethnicity Index first of its kind in our industry and led by the Dr Ollie Folayan and the AFBE Ethnic Leaders Forum. We welcomed a range of organizations to the AFBE-UK family including talent recruitment giant MatchTech, aerospace and defense organizations and have had promising conversations with other motorsports corporations. As an organization run by professionals working industry our passion to spread the inclusion message is beginning to bear fruits. We have so much more planned for 2023 we can’t wait to get stuck in as our Gala in November 2023 approaches!

For our End of Year awards, we would like to recognise two individuals Toyin Fatokun, Real Projects Lead AFBE

Scotland and Jonathan Fashanu, Industry Events Lead AFBE England.Congratulations to yo both

In 2023, AFBE is expanding and building. We are building capacity for our community, for our membership, (individual and organisation) and of course we are still focused on meaningful change for our industry. In December 2022, I gave a speech at the IET Young Women Engineering Award ceremony on 3 things. These 3 things I intend to have in my toolbox for 2023. I will be intentional in my efforts, I will continue to have expectations for change, and the Tenacity required to keep going is something I intend to hold on to.

My congratulations again to Dr Ollie Folayan MBE who has worked tirelessly and sacrificially to make AFBE what it is today. We as always will continue to care for our members who are at the heart of everything we do. As with 2022, we continue to advocate for inclusion within engineering, we will pay attention to backing the need for legislative reforms on ethnicity pay gap reporting and how we can attain more leadership opportunities for our members. Our theme this year is Building Capacity for Change. It is our hope that the articles in this newsletter will encourage you to support our mission.

Dr Nike Folayan MBE, HonFREng, PhD, FIET CEng, Chair AFBE-UK

AFBE-UK Cofounder Dr Ollie Folayan recognised in King Charles III First New Year’s Honours

We are delighted to announce that our Co-Founder Dr Ollie Folayan has been awarded an MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for his contribution to Diversity, Inclusion and Equality in Engineering. Ollie Folayan is Head of Process at Optimus Plus (Aberdeen) Ltd an integrated engineering consultancy and project delivery company. Ollie is also a visiting professor at University of Dundee Scotland and sits on various advisory groups notable on the diversity steering committee of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

AFBE-UK was co-founded by Dr Ollie Folayan and Dr Nike Folayan 15 years ago and through it there has been tremendous growth in the EDI space for unrepresented communities in Engineering. Ollie is an active diversity and inclusion champion. He is a pioneer in engaging leaders within the Engineering, Energy and defence organisations to consider inclusion within their organisational strategies as key to increasing innovation and creativity. He is an expert and thought leader on Equality Diversity and Inclusion matters and has developed many learning tools and toolkits to support organisations on their diversity journey.

Ollie is a leading voice and advocates for better representation of engineers from under-represented groups. AFBE-UK has supported 20000 beneficiaries of individuals seeking to work in engineering and engineering related subjects and has a membership of over 2500 individual members with 70 corporate members

Dr Folayan, who co-founded the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers UK (AFBE-UK) in 2007, received the gong for services to equality, diversity and inclusion in engineering.

Speaking about being awarded his MBE Dr Ollie Folayan said: “I feel incredibly honoured to have been given this recognition. When my sister and I set out in 2007 to set up the AFBE-UK, we never imagined that so many people would join us on the journey and that so many would benefit. This recognition is for everyone in the AFBE-UK family who works day in day out to make a difference in our community. I want to thank our partners, allies and enablers. I especially want to thank my wife Elizabeth who was there from day one. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without her support.”

In 2011 the Scottish arm of AFBE-UK was inaugurated in Aberdeen with the launch of AFBE-UK Scotland. Since then, it has supported thousands of young people with career aspirations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) though a range of mentoring programmes.

Of Dr Ollies MBE honour Dr Nike Folayan had this to say “My congratulations to Dr Ollie Folayan MBE who has worked tirelessly and sacrificially for 15 years in spite of the many challenges we have faced as a collective and as an individual trying to shift the dial. Without Ollie’s sacrifice and initiative, AFBE would not be what it is today”

In October last year AFBE-UK Scotland signed a fiveyear partnership with Aberdeen University’s school of engineering to support its diversity and inclusion strategy.

The university joined big names including the RAF, Mercedes Formula 1 motor racing team, energy giant SSE and Subsea 7 in partnering with AFBE-UK.

AFBE-UK Scotland signed a five-year partnership with the University of Aberdeen’s School of Engineering. Left to right Professor Ana Ivanovic, Ollie Folayan and Professor Igor Guz. Image: Engage PR

About us

AFBE-UK provides support and promotes higher achievements in Education and Engineering particularly among students and professionals from ethnic minority backgrounds. AFBEUK was founded in 2007 in London as a network of engineers who enjoy what they do, seek to engage the industry and make a positive contribution to the community. These goals are achieved through our mentoring programmes, seminars, workshops and social events. AFBE-UK works to increase the number of ethnic minority people who pursue a career and have successful careers within the engineering industry. We promote diversity in engineering and technology through our programmes and activities which are led by exceptional professionals and leaders in the Engineering industry and are designed to bring about meaningful change, sustainable growth and development and a lasting positive impact to the UK. To find out more about AFBE-UK and the work we do visit our websites www.afbe.org.uk and www.afbescotland.org

2022 was all about Inclusion

The former CEO of Adecco Group Alain Dehaze once noted that Diversity requires commitment. Achieving the superior performance diversity can produce needs further action - most notably, a commitment to develop a culture of inclusion. People do not just need to be different; they need to be fully involved and feel their voices are heard. I believe these words sum up AFBE-UK ‘s message to the industry in 2022. For more than 15 years, AFBE-UK has sought to do two things; raise awareness of the benefits engineering brings both the individual and to society and we have sought to alert the industry to benefit of diversity to the industry not just as a moral responsibility but as the vital component of the infrastructure needed to meet society’s needs.

2022 showed us that those needs too are numerous; there is a cost-of-living crisis caused in part by increasing energy prices, in part by political decisions made regarding membership of the European Union and within a context in which we are still grappling with the aftermath of the 2020 global pandemic. Rather than bring about new challenges, I believe these crises bring to the surface underlying issues around diversity of energy supply, energy affordability, the need for the energy transition and the need for a sustainable future. Our message has been that a key part of the solution lies in diversity by widening participation in STEM and through inclusive recruitment. This part of our vision continued to be reflected in our emphasis in 2022. Whether it was our STEM initiatives, NextGen where our Young Coders known as “the Legends” competed favourably at the FIRSTLEGO tournaments making it to the Scottish Finals, the STEAM sessions in which we hosted amazing STEM Champions like Structural Engineering Roma Agrawal who gave us a Recipe for a Skyscraper and Motivez, CEO George Imafidon’ s The Kid from Peckham, or the successful Transition careers events run in partnerships with Mott MacDonald in Leeds and Glasgow. This was all about increasing representation and in any other year, this would have been enough but in 2022 AFBEUK’s emphasis really evolved to reflect inclusion.

This increased emphasis was plain to see at our first ever conference in April 2022. There at the IET Savoy Place, keynote speakers Chi Onwurah MP and UKRI CEO, Dame Ottoline Leyser looked at the 500 strong audience and remarked on just how much this very diverse audience reflected the industry of the future. From panel discussions and lectures all the way to the dinner dance in the evening everything about AFBELive reiterated the message of inclusion bringing to mind the words of Verna Myers who said that “Diversity is being asked to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.

Representation at all levels within a company is one of the clearest signs of an inclusive culture and in 2022 we launched our Transend course aimed at equipping those who desire to be leaders within their organisation with the tools to do so. We increased our partnerships to 70 each partner working with an AFBE representative to identify inclusion growth areas and committing to work on them. To provide these partners with a mean to monitor progress, we also launched the Engineering Ethnicity Index in October which help companies with a genuine desire for change identify ways of implementing that change based on successful initiatives already in existence.

Some of the most engaging events such as the session held on Neurodiversity by our industry events team only further illustrate this drive towards greater inclusion. We would like to thank everyone on our teams all over the UK and even abroad for being such amazing champions of change and demonstrating what leadership within community looks like.

2023

We will continue our focus on driving inclusion within organisations in four ways

1. The Engineering Ethnicity Index

2. Through our partnerships

3. Through our Transcend Course

4. Through events

Speaking of events, 2023 will see the return of our biennial Gala and Awards. This will hold at the P&J Live Aberdeen on the 23rd of November 2023. This black-tie event will bring together leaders from industry, community, and politics; it will be a night of multicultural entertainment, inspirational speeches, great food, and some worthy winners of awards like the STEM Champion of the Year, Company of the Year, Mentor of the Year, Young BME Professionals on the Year and BME Leader of the Year. Are you or anyone of your colleagues and friends potentially worthy nominees? Nominations open in February.

On behalf of the AFBE-UK family I would like to wish you and your family a happy, healthy, and more inclusive 2023

Dr Ollie Folayan CEng FIChemE AFBE-UK Co-Founder

The Legends, Robotics and Winning

The AFBE-UK NextGen programme is designed to promote and enhance the involvement of young people ages 8 to 17 in engineering and STEM fields. The programme has seen tremendous progress, building upon the success of the previous year’s events. In 2022, we held weekly coding club meetings, online STEM events, and practice sessions for the Lego League tournament. We successfully hosted a whopping 88 STEM events for our young people, including 11 NextGen Online STEM Events (NOSE), 46 NextGen Coding Club sessions, 20 (2022 CargoConnect) coding sessions, and 11 (2022 Superpowered) NextGen LEGO tournament coding sessions. The NextGen programme is continually improving and expanding, bringing exciting opportunities for young people to learn and grow in STEM fields.

NextGen Online Stem Event

The NextGen Online STEM event provides a platform for young people to learn about the impact that STEM professionals have on the world through talks about their careers in STEM. These events aim to raise public awareness of STEM opportunities and inspire our young participants to consider pursuing careers in STEM.

The NextGen Online STEM events feature industry leaders from a variety of fields and are held monthly. Since the programme’s inception, we have successfully hosted 32 events. This year began with the “Chemical Engineering and the Energy Transition” event with Dr Ollie Folayan on January 29th. Other notable events include “Recipe for a Skyscraper” with Roma Agrawal, “Engineering in Everyday Life” with Tony Fong, “JARVIS of Healthcare: 3D Printing (Future of MedTech)”, “Engineering is a bit of a GameSimulations, Analytics and Coding” with Adam Zalewski, “The Changing Faces of Space” with Dr Ciara McGrath, “Energy Transition” with Antonia Okeke, “Technology Scaleup” with Haddy Davis, “The Kid from Peckham” with George Imafidon, and “An Unconventional Path into Accounting” with Abena Oduro.

NextGen Coding Club

The NextGen Coding Club (NCC) is a dynamic organisation that empowers young people to learn coding, critical thinking, and leadership skills. Since March 7 2022, NCC has held over 35 weekly sessions, providing attendees with the opportunity to engage in activities such as creating games and animations with Scratch, coding websites, and programming robots. In addition to these technical skills, NCC also emphasises leadership and business development as part of its curriculum. The club’s goals include introducing students to web development concepts and giving them a platform to develop critical thinking skills. NCC also teaches students about electronics and digital systems using C/C++, Arduino, and other open-source tools. During sessions, students receive an introduction to HTML and CSS and work on projects to solidify their understanding of these concepts and showcase their creativity and presentation skills. Some students have even excelled beyond the general class pace in their understanding of these topics. The club has also introduced students to electronic components like LEDs, push buttons, breadboards, buzzers, and resistors, and has taught them how to use these components with Arduino development boards and circuit diagram software. Through hands-on projects, students have built and programmed a pedestrian crossing aid system and a 4-wheeled robot car.

The Next Gen annual online showcase will be held on Tuesday, January 24th, where the students will be showcasing their impressive work.

IET - First Lego tournament

“The NextGen team, known as “The Legends,” participated in the IET FIRST LEGO League Grampian regional tournament on Wednesday, April 25th, 2022, winning the best robot design award and making it to the Scottish Finals on Saturday, June 11th, 2022, at the Michelin Scotland Innovation Parc in Dundee.

At the Scottish finals, The Legends won the Sustainability award for their innovative project, “Designing a Hydrogenfuelled Autonomous Space Drone Ship for Delivering Cargo to Remote/Unapproachable Places on Earth, in Space, and Interplanetary.”

The team also ranked 5th place overall at the Robotics tournament with their robot, SOPHY, making it to the quarter-final stage.”

After their impressive showing at the tournament, The Legends have returned to their training grounds, ready to tackle the next season’s competition, called Superpowered, which focuses on using robots to aid in the renewable power supply to people and places around the world.

This work was made possible through the volunteering of Urenna Adegbotolu, Araz R. Khojasteh, Chikezie Ekeh, Daniel Eze, Gift Ekeh, Amarachi Ochieze, Amara Nwaogazie, Surakat Kudehinbu, Cyril Ishabiyi, Mo Oyetunji, Emmanuel Oni, Aniobi Moses, Paul Okpozo, Osamagbe Igiehon, Victor Obaro and the NodeX ihub team; the donations of our sponsors: Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) Norwell EDGE, Johnson Matthey, National Lottery; the kind support of Aberdeen Science Centre and Fountain of Love Church Aberdeen; and the AFBE Co-Founders, Dr Ollie Folayan MBE CEng FIChemE Dr Nike Folayan MBE CEng., FIET for all your support.

Article by Dr Urenna Adegbotolu

Dr Urenna V. Adegbotolu is the AFBE-UK NextGen Programme Coordinator. She loves to help young people develop their passion and purpose in life through career, leadership and entrepreneurship coaching. As a STEM Ambassador, she enjoys helping young people discover the applications of science, engineering, technology and mathematics in the world around them whilst creating a sustainable environment and future for themselves.

Making Successful Careers in Engineering through MEH

In 2022, we welcomed a new addition to the MEH team, chemical engineer, Kenya Umanah who is our project coordinator. Kenya helps in coordinating all projects and events including work experience coordination. We also introduced Al Joan who joins as an MEH Champion as our volunteer.

MEH Careers Day with Balfour Beatty

7th Jun 2022

About Event: Virtual guidance on how to write a CV, and what should be expected at interviews, how to apply and what to include in a cover letter.

AFBE-UK Schools (Making Engineering Hot - MEH) partnered with Balfour Beatty PLC for an informative and fun-filled Careers Day. We kicked started the day a welcome note and Overview of Balfour Beatty then followed a graduate sharing their real-life experience about the graduate Scheme application. After this, attendees had the opportunity to hear about the application process Experience, Interview and receive CV advice which they were then quizzed on after the break. Prizes were awarded to the top three students who answered the quiz questions correctly.

Making Engineering Hot also commemorated A Day in the Life of an Engineer on National Youth Day. Our virtual panellists, speakers, and 30 students from across the country including London and Birmingham were a blast to work with. Our speakers had the chance to show off their incredible work to the children, and it was both motivating and educational. Finally, two outstanding students each received a one-week placements and a £50 gift card.

A Day in The Life of An Engineer

Robotics at London South Bank University – 14th Jun 2022

About Event: These workshops will be used to learn the principles of coding through programming Lego robots. The workshops are used to learn the principles of 3D printing and coding through programming robots with the aim of have 10 – 15 students per workshop

MEH kicked of this year’s robotics session with St Joseph’s College students during their work experience week. The students had the opportunity to learn about the various coding languages and then try out coding themselves. The students were tasked to programme robots for a racecourse which included the robot being able detect any obstacles in its path. The students also had the opportunity to learn about 3D printing and see how 3D printing is done using very specialist machines. Thank you so much to London South Bank University, Dr Safia and her team for being so hands.

Over the course of 2022 we ran a total of 6 sessions with over 15 students attending on average. In addition we ran a session at Gray’s Covent High School, Thurrock were the LSBU volunteers delivered 2 sessions to over 45 students.

Bright Sparks with RS Components – 17th Jun 2022

About Event: The MEH team represented AFBE-UK at the RS Grassroots EW Bright Sparks 2022, which took place on Friday 17th June, at IET Savoy Place London in the Riverside Room with over 75 attendees. The annual programme is to highlight the brightest and most talented young engineers

in the UK today. EW BrightSparks is now in its fifth year, and were looking for the engineers who are already making a difference in the first years of their careers, or those who are still studying but showing promise to become the innovators and leaders in electronics in the years to come.

MEH International Women in Engineering Day Event – 23rd Jun 2022

There were many thought provoking questions from the students which led to interesting discussions on the world of engineering, the perceptions of engineering, climate change, and the benefits of studying engineering.

The event was fantastic opportunity for the over 30 students in attendance across, Southwark and Thurrock to hear from inspirational women in the industry such as aerospace, infrastructure and water. Prizes were awarded to the most studious students.

Mock Assessment with Balfour Beatty – 22nd Sept 2022

About Event: Inspiring female STEM professionals talk about their career journeys to 25 -30 students, discuss challenges, Opportunities for the all in STEM.

AFBE-UK Making Engineering Hot celebrated International Women in Engineering Day INWED 2022 Day with a virtual panellist discussion which was amazing, we had students from Grays Convent Girls School Gray’s and Montpelier High School.

Mimi Nwosu delivered an amazing keynote speech. Mimi is a young civil engineering professional. This was followed by a panel session which included Michelle Zemura, Jainna Bhalla, Monisha Gower, Lisa Monkman, Samantha Pan, Srimali Dixon, Sophie Skelton and Hanna Eckersall. The panellist discussed degree apprenticeships, transitioning from a Law degree to working in engineering amongst other intersecting topics

About Event: Partnered with Balfour Beatty PLC for an informative and fun-filled Mock Assessment Day for 15 -20 students. The day included career advice, interview tips, mock interviews and inspirational talk.

The mock assessment for 22/23 academic year with Balfour Beatty took place on 22nd September 2022 with over 20 students in attendance. We were hosted by Balfour Beatty at their beautiful London Canary wharf office.

Thank you to our wonderful speakers Darci Hill, Shofolahan Moriamo, Joshua Cook, Jake Fitzgerald and to our Making Engineering Hot Team Project Coordinator Kenya.

It was an insightful and engaging activity for the students. The students were taught how to write a CV, and cover

letter, and how to apply for jobs and prepare for interviews. The students were also given the opportunity to share their experiences, and their knowledge was later tested through a mock interview and presentation.

Diversity Impact with King’s College

London – Oct 2022 - Dec 2022

About Event: Diversity Impact Programme is designed to support black engineering students at school and university. The programme is funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering’s new Diversity Impact Programme to address the unequal outcomes experienced by students from diverse and underrepresented groups. Plans to reach AFBE UK/ KCL Diversity Impact Program Partnership is 300 young people.

The first event “Routes into Engineering” took place on 5th October 2022. The event took place online with a inspirational speaker sharing their journey into Engineering. Over 40 young people from London and Birmingham attended. They also heard about the amazing opportunities at KCL.

The 2nd event which took place on the Kings College University’s Guy’s Campus which included a tour of the campus. Dr Kawal Rhode delivered a talk that gave the student an insight into how technology has evolved using medical devices and technology he has used during his career.

Both sessions were informative and had interactive activity for the students and on average has over 25 attendees, who all enjoyed it and asked a lot of questions and were interested in the mentoring as well.

We would like to thank all who made it happen and to the entire team from KCL.

Thank you to our outstanding speakers Dr Kawal Rhode, Abdoul Aziz, Elsa-Marie Otoo, Ernest Kamavuako and to our Making Engineering Hot team who did an amazing job moderating and coordinating the event.

Little STEM Leader – AFBE-UK MEH

Kunda Kidz – Oct 29th 2022

About Event: The purpose of the event was for children to enjoy themselves while being inspired by all of the possibilities in STEM. According to the feedback we received, the kids had a wonderful exposure and experience that helped them gain confidence while also sharpening their problem-solving and creative talents.

We celebrated Black History Month with Kunda Kidz with an event for children from 3 – 11 years old. The audience who

were over 30 children and parents/guardians from across the greater London including Southwark and Lambeth borough experienced a live book reading of Maliks Bridge This was followed by an interactive activity where children were split into teams of three and had to build bridges with their guardian’s assistance. followed with an interactive activity where children were split into teams of three and had to build bridges with their guardian’s assistance. During the workshop attendees were kept entertained by DJ Zel UK. The interactive session was then followed by and a brief panel discussion with some recent engineering graduates and Avye Coulote Young Engineer of the Year 2022.

King Solomon Career Day – 5th Dec 2022

We ended our year with an impactful event at King Solomons college in Birmingham where we had our sponsors for the event Cundall and TetraTech. The students were inspired and asked further questions on how they could get into the apprenticeship program.

45 minute sessions were held throughout the day with a total of 300 participants. Each session including an introduction to engineering talk, an interactive activity and a quiz.

Finally

Finally we would not have been able to do this without the support of Dr Safia Barikzai, LSBU, Cundall, TetraTech and WSP.

WSP has been consistent in supporting our digital poverty and recently have over 50 laptops to MEH schools in London and the Teeside.

On a personal note I was delighted to be featured in the E and T magazine where I discussed my passion and work at AFBE with the wonderful Dr Shini Somara.

Article by Zainab Adigun, MEH programme Lead

Zainab Adigun is a structural engineer at Pell Frischmann ant has been in the industry for 5 years. Zainab enjoys connecting young people to engineering through the use of various activities is vital in educating them on the huge pool of career paths available to them.

Having planned and led a number of interactive sessions herself she knows the importance of the MEH is unquestionable to helping a young person’s mind open up to the life of an engineer.

Universities

Connecting Students with Employers

Providing value to our university student members, University Partners and Corporate partners is a mission that we take seriously within the University Events subgroup. Year in, year out, we have provided support to these three key stakeholders and this year was not any different.

The team was also very active during the AFBE Live conference and have spent the year building on new relationships and connections.

University and Corporate Events

Many thanks to our Corporate Partner - Burns & McDonnell for inviting 10 of our student members to their Birmingham office this year. The students learned about Substations, HV Protection & Control and EPC Delivery. In addition to networking with the Burns & McDonnell professionals, the students were treated to a live demonstration of Matterport, 3D laser scanning technology.

We were invited by the University of Sheffield’s BAME Engineers Society to their Project DiCE funded Careers in Engineering: Empowerment of Minority Students event. We had two of our members - Steve Fernandez and Titi Oliyide attend and talk about their experiences navigating their engineering careers. Both speakers and attendees had a wonderful time, and we look forward to speaking at future events organised by the Society.

Transition

Transition is a career workshop designed to equip students and recent graduates with the skills required to scale through the employment process at the most sought-after companies. This event includes a CV review session, a mock interview session and an assessment centre.

There were lots of success stories and testimonials from the Transition Careers events in 2021, with some of the attendees’ getting jobs with some of the companies that hosted the

Transition events in collaboration with AFBE-UK. We worked to build upon this and achieve better results in 2022.

Our in-person Transition events are back after the online events held in 2021 due to COVID-19.! Following a restructuring of the wider England and Scotland Transition team, we delivered two truly phenomenal events with Mott MacDonald and Balfour Beatty and with Mott MacDonald and WSP in the beautiful cities of Glasgow and Leeds respectively.

The careers events were very beneficial to the attendees that included students, young graduates and mid-career level professionals preparing for the world of work.

AFBE-UK Transition team partnered with Mott MacDonald and Balfour Beatty to host the Glasgow Transition Careers event on October 7th, 2022. On 15th October 2022, AFBEUK hosted another Transition event in Leeds, in partnership with Mott MacDonald.

Students in attendance learned from early career and seasoned professionals about their career journeys. They were given key interview and CV tips which will make them stand out during interviews. We have in turn had really great feedback from both our students and attendees. We’re kicking off next year with a bang by taking the Transition train to Manchester in collaboration with WSP and Mott MacDonald.

Focus groups

AFBE-UK delivered a Focus Group exercise at Subsea 7 on 2nd November 2022, which had the senior leadership team of Subsea 7 in attendance. The goal of the focus group was to give Subsea 7 an outsider’s view of their recruitment process and recommend practical ways to improve the process. The exercise was enlightening, engaging, and well received by the senior management of Subsea 7 in attendance. AFBEUK has continued to foster a great relationship with Subsea

7 and collaborating on several projects aimed at helping Subsea 7 on their diversity strategy of attraction, retainment and progression of a diverse workforce to drive organisational performance and commercial excellence.

Other Focus Group exercises are being planned for Q1and Q2 2023 with corporate members such as Worley, Harbour Energy, Baker Hughes, and a host of others.

We would like to thank everyone, corporate partners and AFBE-UK volunteers that volunteered in various capacities in rolling out. These events are instrumental to AFBE’s mission of supporting community and making real positive impact.

If Personal Development and Increasing Outreach is on your list of goals to achieve for 2023, why not join the Universities Event group? It’s a great way to achieve these goals as you will get to work with an amazing team planning great and impactful events. If you would like to give this a shot, then send an email including your CV to info@afbe.org.uk

“On a personal note, I have had the pleasure of leading the University Events team over the past three years. It has been a wonderful experience travelling around the UK and working with our Partners and Students. I have recently taken the decision to step down from the board and my role as the University Events team Lead. I will be handing over to the amazing Adele Samuels. Adele brings to the team her wealth of experience from leading teams across the UK and being involved in worldwide infrastructure projects. We are all very excited to see the next phase of the University Events team under her leadership.”

-Chi Felly-Njoku

Other upcoming Transition events are as follows:

• Transition Careers event in collaboration with Mott MacDonald in Aberdeen (February 2023).

• Transition Careers event in collaboration with Bechtel (Q2 2023).

• Transition Careers event in collaboration with Baker Hughes in Aberdeen (Date TBC).

• Transition Careers event in collaboration with Worley (Date in Q2 TBC)

Article by Chi Felly Njoku and Ibim Diri

Chi Felly-Njoku graduated with a First-Class Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Covenant University, Nigeria before moving to Aberdeen, Scotland where she obtained a Masters in Subsea Engineering from the University of Aberdeen. She currently works for Arup as an Electrical Engineer. She has over 5 years’ experience in the Water industry as an electrical designer of clean and wastewater assets.

She is a Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and joined AFBE in 2015 as a student. She has been the AFBE University Events team Lead since 2020 and fully aligns with and supports AFBE’s commitment to promoting diversity in the Engineering and Technology sector (with a focus on increasing the number of involvement of ethnic minority women).

Ibim is a highly skilled Geoscientist with over five years’ experience in Exploration and Reservoir Geophysics. In his most recent role, Ibim worked in a team of geoscientists responsible for exploration activities in Total’s deep water and onshore asset within the African region.

Ibim holds an MSc in Petroleum Geoscience Geophysics Major from IFP School in Paris. He is a strong advocate for team culture, vertical and horizontal communication as well as collaboration across functions.

Ibim is a trusted Geoscientist with strong leadership and strong passion to give back to the community, a lover of sports and an advocate for diversity and inclusion especially in the workplace”

Adele Samuels

Bringing Projects to Life

2022 started with so many optimisms ranging from expectations of the pandemic to gradually fade away to predictions that the state of the global economy will pick up as well as the readiness of people to take actions to halt extreme weather events caused by global warming, amongst others. The Real Projects team embraced the new year with positivity and an interesting line-up of events for the year.

Multidiscipline - The ladder to “sky is the limit” by Krishnan Nambiar (Founder & CEO of Vanora Robots) - was the first webinar of the year. The ability to distinguish between talent and skill, think from the talent side, and execute with the skill side were all highlighted as necessities to make one’s self more valuable in the job market today. For February, a webinar on ‘‘The Energy Trilemma’’ was delivered by Thaddeus Anim Somuah, a board member of AFBE and Engineering Manager Projects at Croda. Attendees learned how to balance the trilemma dimensions - Energy Security, Energy Equity and Environmental Sustainability. A comparison was also made between Africa and Europe Trilemma Balance. With the UK’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reach the target of net zero by 2050, an interesting topic to contribute to existing knowledge in achieving this goal - Advancing Geothermal Energy - by Karl Farrow (CEO CeraPhi Energy Limited) ended the first quarter. Different Geothermal approaches including the relatively new CeraPhiWell (Monobore) were discussed.

The second quarter started with a session on ‘‘Connecting Renewable Energy to Communities’’ by Andrew Smith, Operations Director at Balfour Beatty. The increasing need to

transmit electricity over large distances between renewable sources and population centres was highlighted. In May, the focus was on Scotland. The role of the transmission network in the north of Scotland in relation to the UK’s net zero journey was discussed by Imran Mohammad from SSE Thermal. Today the world emits around 40 GT of CO2 yearly which contributes to global warming. Kareem Shafi from Offshore Energy UK (OEUK) delivered an in-depth overview of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) - a technology identified by IPCC and IEA as key to achieving the Paris Agreement – to end the first half of the year.

With low-carbon hydrogen identified as key to the UK’s net zero plans, the third quarter kicked off with a topical debate titled “Are we overselling hydrogen in the UK?” by chemical engineering consultant Tom Baxter. It was shown that hydrogen was being oversold in many applications. In August, the role of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in de-manning industrial assets, increasing accuracy, lowering cost and emissions was discussed when Jeff Hailey, Product and Development Manager at EServ International gave a presentation on ‘‘The Here & Now Use Case for Digital Twin Technology in Energy Industries and What it means in the future”.

The third quarter ended with Real Projects first hybrid event since the pandemic. The event titled “Legal Principles to prevent another Grenfell Disaster: Implications for Emerging Technologies” started with a networking session which provided a great opportunity to interact with seasoned professionals in the energy industry. Dr Eddy Wifa and Professor John Paterson from the University of Aberdeen examined the suitability of the regulatory design

Real Projects is a lunch and learn style event conceived by AFBE-UK Scotland to foster knowledge exchange and encourage networking and collaboration between our student members and engineering professionals.

for ensuring safe construction, operation, and maintenance and decommissioning of emerging offshore energy technologies.

Our England team held two Real Projects events thanks to our wonderful Corporate Partners - Pall and DePuy Synthes. At the first Real Projects webinar, the speaker Dr. Hiromi Gonzalez Fuentes, a Field Application Scientist at Pall, provided us with insights into Real time PCR testing and its importance in the Food and Beverage Industry.

Robert Morris - Sterility Assurance Scientist and NazirAhmed Karbanee - Bioengineer, Hips Product Development from DePuy Synthes spoke about The Product Development Lifecycle of Joints during the second Real Projects webinar hosted by the England team. The talk included a detailed walk through of the development of an orthopaedic implant and explored a product from a clinical/user-needs analysis, through design, testing and into deployment.

Both webinars were educational and fun with lots of engagement from attendees.

Real Project event remained topical through the last quarter of 2022 with our October event covering “Aspects of Transition: Engineering a new Energy future’’. Matthew Neal took the audience on the journey to lower carbon, affordable UK energy supply, covering aspects of the North Sea Transition Deal whilst offering an upstream industry perspective about the opportunities, and challenges. Rounding off our packed programme of events for the year was a presentation on ‘‘Why should I care about psychological safety?” by Sope Agbelusi, Executive coach of Mindsetshift, looking at why it is important to create a psychologically safe environment beyond diversity and inclusion, its impact both at home and work. Sope left our audience with valuable tips on how to create an environment that fosters psychological safety.

Article by Toyin Fatokun and Chi Felly-Njoku

Toyin Fatokun is an environmental and sustainability professional with a master’s degree with Distinction in Energy and Environmental Technology and Economics from City University London. Toyin currently works as a Sustainability Officer with Aberdeen City Council where provides advise on environmental and substantiality issues and helps the organisation translate their sustainability goals into actionable and measurable programmes to enable it transition to a low carbon economy. Toyin is passionate about the environment with a focus on how we can drive sustainability through behavioural change. In her spare time, Toyin is involved in coaching in the workplace and volunteers as a Mental Health First aider.

Multidiscipline- The ladder to “sky is the limit” by Krishnan Nambiar (Founder & CEO of Vanora Robots

The Energy Trilemma by Thaddeus Anim Somuah, board member AFBE-UK and Engineering Manager Projects at Croda

Full SEND, Sustainability and Neurodiversity

Full Send: Accelerating Diversity and Inclusion in Motorsport - June

Less than 1% of people working in Motorsport come from Black backgrounds. AFBE-UK in association with BWT Alpine Racing hosted a panel of talented minority ethnic engineers who shared their experiences in their career in the Automotive and Motorsport Industry. It was an insightful discussion on how to overcome some of the barriers to entry and how we can steer to more diverse representation within the industry. The event was held at Whiteways Technical Centre in Enstone in June 2022 and the panellists included Antoine Richards, Electronics Integration Intern at Alpine Racing, Biiftuu Aba-Godu, Design Engineer at McLaren Automotive, Calum Nicholas, Senior PU Technician at Red Bull Racing, Jahee Campbell-Brennan, Director at Wavey Dynamics and Shau Mafuna, Product Engineer at Mercedes HPP and facilitated by George Brown from the Industry Events Team.

Tips for Successful Project Management with IPS - August

In our chess club webinar, AFBE-UK members were treated to a discussion by Mark Miller, Director of Project Management at IPS, on managing and planning complex projects. Mark offers more than 15 years of EPCMV project experience within pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturing and R&D. He is a chartered chemical engineer and design manager with hands-on experience in process design engineering, managing, and coordinating complex multi-discipline projects from inception through to construction and CQV. Mark took us through some of the challenges faced and solutions taken on some of the large pharmaceutical projects that he had been involved in IPS. We also had some of his team discuss some of the available roles that IPS was recruiting for and the importance of the team at IPS remaining diverse.

Sustainability Roundtable: The Role of Small Practices in the Climate

Emergency - September

Our Industry Lead, Jonathan Fashanu, led a sustainability roundtable for SME business owners, freelancers, aspiring entrepreneurs and built environment professionals. The event

was sponsored by Build Studios, a co-working hub for the built environment. The event discussed the challenges that small practices faced in their role designing for the planet. It was a successful event that had Architects, Engineers, Geotechnical Consultants, Party Wall Surveyors, Interior Designers, Students and Contractors all articulating their challenges and working together in groups to brainstorm possible solutions. Being an expert in your area and being open to collaboration were the main take aways from the event. There was a chance for the members to network after the event. Another event on fostering collaboration within SMEs is planned for 2023.

session with a series that investigates some of the challenges highlighted.

Neurodiversity In the Workplace -

Corporate

Member’s

Roundtable:

Our Journey - October

AFBE-UK facilitated a roundtable event for our corporate members based on BHM’s theme of “Actions not Words”. The event discussed what an inclusive workspace should look like and what we can do to move towards that within our organisations. The event was sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering and our members were treated to an ongoing piece of research on creating inclusive cultures by Yohanes Scarlett, Policy & Research for the Royal Academy of Engineering. We had representatives from Amazon, Ramboll, IMechE, TetraTech, Durham University and the RAF among other corporate members. The participants then broke into groups to share D&I stories within their organisation. The key take aways were that senior management had to be involved in shaping the D&I culture of their organisation, as well as the priority of being transparent with policy and data and ensuring organisations can remain accountable. Feedback during the event was taken by the Royal Academy of Engineering to be used in their ongoing research and we plan on following this

November

With 15-20% of the population being neurodivergent, most organisations still do not understand the requirements for their neurodiverse employees. The AFBE-UK was very privileged to have a full panel of neurodiverse speakers who were very happy to share their experiences within their organisations

and work environments. Aaron Walters and Celeste Fashanu shared a presentation based on their experiences of being part of Enabled, A BAE Systems Employee Resource Group along with Louis Yaffe and Barnaby Beaver. Gyll Curtis-Machin, an Autism and EDI training consultant and board trustee, Rosie Brighty, a neurodiversity trainer, and consultant, were also part of the panel. Our Jonathan Fashanu, AFBE-UK Industry Lead, who is also neurodiverse hosted the event and facilitated the discussion around the different perspectives of neurodiversity in the workplace. This session really helped many of our members understand about Neurodiversity and we are looking to kick start a series into intersectionality.

Following the useful feedback of that event, the Cabinet Office are looking to carry out a set of workshops to promote greater engagement with the black and minority ethnic communities. We got Krystina Pearson-Rampeearee to join the board and the Industry Events team. So pleased to have her. Krystina Pearson-Rampeearee is a multi-award-winning Chartered Aerospace Engineer and STEM Ambassador who works as a Senior Flight Systems Engineer at BAE Systems and owns her own small business, AviateHer. She studied Aerospace Systems Engineering at the University of the West of England and became the first engineer in her family.

Jonathan Fashanu was named as an Impactful Changemaker by the Engineers Without Borders UK (https://www.ewb-uk.org/ group/jonathan-fashanu/)

Jonathan was incorporated as a Fellow in Royal Society of Arts for the recognition in his entrepreneurial work and teaching in Architecture.

Increasing Diversity in Public Appointments - November

AFBE-UK and The Cabinet Office hosted an in-person event in Manchester to increase representation in public appointments in the North West. The event was chaired by Sue Gray, Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office and we had a host of accomplished panellists that shared a wealth of experience in their public roles and appointments, including William Shawcross, Commissioner for Public Appointments, Dr Tumi Hawkins, South Cambridgeshire District Councillor and AFBE member, Rachel Onikosi, Independent Board Member for the Consumer Council for Water and Yvonne Witter, Member of Peak Districk National Park. It was a great initiative to discuss with potential candidates the roles they were looking to apply for and the introduction of a board apprentice role for those who were interested but did not feel like they had the relevant experience.

Jonathan is the founder of DASH – an integrated architecture and engineering practice that focusses on sustainable residential design and responsible construction. He has over eight years of experience in construction and has worked internationally in projects in Singapore, Germany, Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

He is a civil and structural engineer with a graduate degree in Civil and Structural Engineering from Newcastle University and a master’s degree in Structural Engineering and Mechanics from the University of Edinburgh. He is currently pursuing his professional status with the ICE.

Jonathan refuses to be defined by the limits of his profession and has owned an eco-themed coffee house and a retail management software company. His latest foray into architecture is an attempt to work on issues like climate change and sustainability. He enjoys reading and training for triathlons.

Krystina Pearson-Rampeearee

The launch of TRANSCEND

The year 2022 has been an exciting year for the AFBE leadership team in many respects. The teamwork, resilience and dedication to the vision and objectives of the AFBE leadership programme came to fruition in 2022, and while this is just the beginning, it is worth celebrating the effort put in by the team, members of AFBE UK and all our affiliates.

TRANSCEND: AFBE Leadership Training Programme:

The TRANSCEND leadership training programme was launched at the AFBElive conference in London on the 22nd of April at the IET Savoy Place. The conference was a success with professionals signing up to participate in the leadership training programme and companies/organisations indicating their support for programme.

TRANSCEND is structured to help inspire people of colour who are professionals in the industry to transition from mid-management, senior technical and lead roles in their organisation/career into executive and senior management roles. TRANSCEND will help participants:

• Have a better understanding of leadership communication to be an authentic leader capable of networking, influencing and effecting change in the workplace.

• Understand the impact of unconscious bias and microaggression and how to navigate such situations.

• Understand the ethics of negotiation, the essence of building business trust, mutual respect and mutual benefit.

• How to lead an exemplary life and be responsible to yourself, the industry you belong to, for posterity and so much more.

The TRANSCEND training programme started on the 30th of April with 8 shortlisted senior professionals who signed up for the programme from different industries including oil and gas, IT, and service companies. The training programme was delivered every Saturday for 10 weeks from 8.00am to 12 noon ending on the 2nd July 2022.

After the 10 weeks of training, each participant was assigned an industry mentor to further help them achieve their career goals and objectives.

I would like to appreciate the Leadership team and mentors who took on the responsibility to support the programme and the participants of TRANSCEND.

Image: a, Dr Roy Bitrus launching the TRANSCEND Programme at AFBE Live, b, AFBE Leadership (L-R) Dr Roy Bitrus, Anne Adagiri, Abhi Goswami and team take a picture with Dr Nike Folayan MBE at the leadership stand at AFBE Live, c, Transcend close out session with participants and invited guests.

Feedback from participants was very encouraging and goes a long way to motivate members of the AFBE leadership team to do more.

Here are two testimonials out of eight from the participants: The second cohort of TRANSCEND training is scheduled to kick off in April 2023 with invitation for participation to commence in January 2023.

AFBE Leadership Talk Programme

The leadership talk programme has been a success in 2023 with a total of over 500 people in attendance online and 26 special guests’ speakers hosted by Dr Roy Bitrus and members of his team Emma Okpara and Bunmi Owolabi. The line-up of guests include the MD of Shell Exploration and Production Company Nigeria – Mrs Elohor Aiboni, Power list most influential woman in the UK – Jacky Wright, VP Reservoir Performance SLB Ifeanyi Nwagbogu, Prof Christopher Jackson, Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe and many more brilliant guests.

The leadership talk provided a platform to explore topics such as atypical leader; impact on diversity and innovation, increasing female representation in leadership, our energy future – leadership in a changing global energy landscape, The life of a Tech Giant, Leading and Living with purpose and other exciting topics.

We hope to kickstart 2023 with another great line up of exciting speakers and increase participation from industry professionals, graduates and students as the Leadership talks help to inspire and motivate individuals and organisations to be the best they can, to ensure a well led, more inclusive and diverse workforce to help secure the future of the UK economy.

Article by Dr Roy Bitrus

In 2023, we aim to provide and deliver TRANSCEND to professionals to inspire effective leadership. We look forward to securing working partnership with companies and organisations to support the programme.

Roy is a Royal Society of Edinburgh RSE – Unlocking Ambition Enterprise Fellow with technical, entrepreneur and intrapreneur skills working as a director of sales at TenzorGEO Ltd to provide micro seismic data acquisition and interpretation services to the oil and gas companies in the North sea aimed at maximising economic recovery in the UKCS

Roy has a passion for giving to others and is a committed member of the AFBE Scotland UK, where he volunteers his time and energy to help develop others contributing to leadership and STEM activities in Aberdeen.

Roy is happily married, and His hobbies include cooking, hunting, hiking and swimming.

Mentoring at AFBE

This year our mentoring programme has grown tremendously with our own inhouse mentoring programme, the number of partnerships and events. Our goal last year was to review our communication strategy and define a structured approach to our mentoring programme, matching process and follow up mechanisms to ensure the mentoring relationships remain productive and goal driven.

In January 2021, we concluded 39 one to one mentoring relationships and embarked on new one to one matches (mentors/ mentees), 37 in total. Reverse mentoring has been of growing interest, and we are currently looking at educating ourselves to better strengthen our offering.

Our mentoring handbook is constantly being reviewed and is currently being redesigned to make it more inclusive and accessible.

A key summary of our activities and collaborations for the year are as follows:

The InnovateHer Mentoring Programme: The programme was a detailed 6-month programme as part of our collaboration with WhenFemalesLead (WFL) in Zambia. 30 young women (2130 yrs.) working in the STEM field in Zambia were matched with professional mentors in the UK. The goals of the mentoring relationship were to promote personal and professional development, improve personal marketability and branding, and also help participants in improving communication and leadership skills. Several testimonials on the continued impact and success of the mentoring programme have been received from the mentees. The mentoring team is in initial discussion with WFL with the view of a continuance of the programme.

ORE Catapult: The AFBE-UK mentoring team in partnership with the Scotland team provided mentors and mentees to 10 employees of ORE Catapult. 5 of them were mentors who were matched with AFBE mentees and the other 5 were mentees who were matched to AFBE mentors. The mentoring relationships are ongoing and will be assessed in the new year.

Accelerate 25 Programme: We have partnered with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team on this initiative to improve diversity and inclusion within the Team. We had over 90 applicants and after thorough deliberation we chose 10 students across different universities and areas of engineering to undergo a mentoring programme with Mercedes F1 team members. This first cohort is currently undertaking a mentoring programme for the duration of six months which aims to equip them for roles and placements at the Team when opportunities arise. We launched the programme on 21st September 2022 at the Team’s Headquarters in Brackley where Mentees met their Mentors for the first time and had a tour of the factory. Other activities are in the pipeline before the end of the programme which we hope will equip the students’ mentees with the relevant tools to start and succeed in a career in Motorsport.

UCL Changemakers mentoring programme: We partnered with the Chemical Engineering department at the University College London (UCL) as part of its ChangeMakers programme. The programme was poised to provide group mentorship/ networking opportunity for 30 current students of Ethnic minority background. The students were selected from different study years and picked by the department. The overall aim was to connect them to a strong network such as AFBE-UK that can provide them with support in the following key areas. This programme is a continuity of last year programme which only involved 15 students.

Group Mentoring: The students were divided into 3 groups and spent one hour of mentoring and Q/A sessions with selected Professionals from AFBE-UK in a round robin.

Subsea7 mentoring programme: AFBE-UK Scotland partnered with Subsea 7 to kick-start their mentoring programme. Subsea7 provided three mentors who were paired with AFBEUK mentees. Two of the three mentoring relationships are reverse mentoring relationships to help Subsea7 senior management achieve their diversity, equality and inclusion goals, while the third is a forward mentoring relationship. The mentoring programme is for a duration of 6 months and was launched on the 30th of October. Several forward mentoring relationships between AFBE-UK and Subsea 7 will kick-start in January 2023.

EnQuest reverse mentoring programme: AFBE-UK launched a Reverse Mentoring programme in 2021 with EnQuest, the mentoring scheme’s purpose is to help the senior management team of EnQuest in understanding diverse lived experiences. AFBE-UK is looking to kickstart the second cohort of the Reverse mentoring programme with EnQuest in January 2023 with two candidates matched already.

Upcoming mentoring programmes: We are currently planning on starting a mentoring programme with other corporate members such as BBC, Worley, Serica Energy and Baker Hughes between Q1 and Q2 2023.

We would appreciate everyone involved in our mentoring relationships notably our professional mentors, volunteers and all corporate organisations that supported throughout 2022.

Testimonials from WFL Mentees and Mentors Mentees

“The Mentorship Program has helped me bridge the gap between engineering in class and engineering in the real world because my mentor has more than 20 years experience in engineering. The mentorship has also helped me learn how to write and revise a cv. It has also opened up my mind to the world of planning for long term goals and always remembering to write them down for reference. As a life lesson, my mentor always encourages me to take baby steps towards my development because small efforts multiply and helps one achieve their dreams and goals.” - EMILY

“I was experiencing a plateau moment in my career. I had set goals for myself that I wanted to achieve, and I needed guidance. Being paired with the right mentor is essential. I am grateful to

have been paired with the right mentor at the right time. I have gotten direction from this mentorship. Through this journey, I’ve had time to reflect and grow in ways I didn’t know I needed. I have gained more confidence in my decisions and capabilities, especially as a female engineer. Moving forward, I know I’ll make a positive impact in the engineering world.” -

TADALISIKA

“My fellowship experience has been amazing thus far. I have learnt so much about myself over the sessions I have had with my mentor. I have learnt the following so far in the mentoring program. The journey has helped me align my career path. I am more aware of where I am going now and key steps I need to be taking over the years to achieve this goal. I learnt of strengths I never knew I had. It’s been a journey of self discovery and me learning what I am able to contribute to a team. Overall, I can say I am learning and glad to be paired with a mentor who shares similar interests with me.” - TUKIYA

“Thanks to WFL & AFBE-UK for the spot on mentor-mentee pairing to the powerful group mentorship sessions. My mentor has helped me realize that self-reflection and self-awareness are of great essence on my career path. I’m only half way through the program but I’m very confident in myself and what I’m capable of. I am learning skills that I need to be an effective and successful engineer so that I can add value to any organization that I join.” – ETHEL

Mentors

“The Mentoring Program has been a fantastic experience, every conversation and topics covered on each meeting has been very interesting and with a lot of contents. This experience has not only meant transmitting experience, but also an enormous learning from my side, from my perspective this mentoring process has meant a win-win process.” – Carlos

“The mentoring relationship has been brilliant, and we have now achieved almost all of the agreed objectives at the start of her project.” – Afolabi

“I think it is going well. It has been different to previous mentor relationships I have had as there is a little more structure to it. I am enjoying it so far and I feel I have learned about being a mentor through this experience” - Mike

Article by Mentoring Teams in England and Scotland bios at www.afbe.org.uk/executiveboard

AFBELive as it happened and other events!

AFBELive 2022 conference with the theme ‘The Future of Engineering: Sustainability, Innovation, and Diversity marked a returned to live events for AFBE UK after the pandemic.

With a remarkable turn-out from partner organisations, universities, members, and other professional bodies, we were able to demonstrate through a select list of distinguished speakers, the role AFBE has played since inception across the length and breadth of the UK highlighting contributions of people of colour through innovation. The post-conference celebratory dinner with live musical performances, good food, and great atmosphere also provided an excellent opportunity for networking.

We would like to thank our AFBELive sponsors!

The AFBE Scot Leaders got together for a social night out on Friday the 23rd of September 2022 for a night of fun and social networking. The event also provided an opportunity to celebrate Olayide Akinsomi aka ‘Ms Ola’ on her planned move to Shell Kuwait.

The night started out with a meet at Brew Dog Union Square where we had light drinks and nibbles before what turned out to be a competitive and entertaining night throwing Axes at Hatchet Harry’s Axe Throwing Aberdeen. The night ended with bowling, table Tennis, and a bit of dancing at Lane 7 Aberdeen.

The Events Team will continue to plan and coordinate major events in 2023. We look forward to setting up a planning committee to deliver our AFBE-UK Gala & Awards 2023 –celebrating Diversity in Engineering which will hold at the P&J Live Aberdeen on the 23rd of November 2023.

There will be other local and national events which will run through-out the year.

Please be on the lookout for one near you!

Article by Simeon Agbaza

Simeon Jake Agbaza is a Decommissioning Removals Engineering Lead at EnQuest and a member of the Association for Black and Ethnic Engineers (AFBEUK) and the Diversity and Inclusion group at EnQuest. He graduated with a master’s degree in Oil and Gas Engineering from The Robert Gordon University (RGU) Aberdeen in 2008 and recently completed an MBA from the Aberdeen Business School at RGU in 2021.

He joined the Executive Board of the AFBE in 2021 as an Events Coordinator and was part of the organising committee that delivered the hugely successful AFBELive 2022 Conference hosted at the IET Savoy Place on the 22nd of April 2022.

He is decommissioning enthusiast and understands the important role it can play as an emerging new business in delivering energy transition goals. He is passionate about mentoring young engineers and will continue to play a major role in his organisation’s Diversity and Inclusion team.

AFBELive 2022

Member’s news

New Jobs, and Promotions

• Emmanuel Oni, Process Engineering Specialist Joined SSE in June 2022

• Thaddeus Anim-Soumah, Joining Phillips in April 2023

• Titi Oliyide Joined Supercritical in May 2022

Family

• Olaitan Akinyele, Olaitan’s wife Oluwaseun gave birth to their baby Temiloluwa

Professional Qualifications and Awards

• Titi Oliyide became chartered with the IET in November 2022

• Thaddeus Anim-Soumah, became a fellow of the IChemE-July 2022

• Zainab Adigun won the CN & NCE Inspiring Women in Construction and Engineering Awards for Outreach award

• Dr Nike Folayan, awarded two honorary Doctorates from University of Kent and University of West of England Bristol, and an honorary Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering

• Olaitan Akinyele won the Scottish Trailblazer of The Year Award at The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) Scotland Awards

• Jonathan Fashanu became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)

• Olayide Akinsonmi won the D&I award at the IChemE Aberdeen Annual Dinner

5Cs to shift the dial on Inclusion in 2023

It was the 5th of November 2008 and like many around the world, viewers in the UK (myself included) had been glued to their screens to see Barack Obama declared first black president of the United State of America. The promise of that historic event was reflected in the hope on this man’s face. “Well, the beginning of the end”, I replied. Looking back on that day more than 14 years ago and thinking of the deeper concerns around the race conversation in the USA and around the world, I was right to temper my optimism with caution.

Since then, there has been a greater outcry and most objective observers admit that event has done little to shift the dial on racial equity. The moments that are at first seen as watersheds become fleeting at best, leading us all to doubt that true change is possible. These sentiments are not new; they are reflected in the words of writer Jean-Baptise Alphonse Karr (“la plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose”) which written in English mean, “the more things change the more they stay the same” The same can be said of the increased conversation that

I remember once being in a queue at a newsagent in Croydon when a gentleman approached me with the excitement of someone who had just discovered they were the heir to a huge fortune and said, “This is the end of racism!”

followed the tragic murder of George Floyd and the broadening of the diversity conversation that followed. There is no doubt that some companies made advances. At AFBE-UK we have seen our corporate membership grow to almost 70 corporate partners and while this is encouraging, it would be unwise to mistake this for true progress.

Real progress involves cultivating an environment that is psychologically safe and enabling enough for people to give their best at work. It’s about ensuring that our organisations reflect, at all levels the communities in which we operate. I have seen first-hand the dance of persuasion that many EDI champions must do with the stakeholders to get the goahead for initiatives. The truth is that in most companies the responsibility for cultural change rest on the shoulders of particularly passionate individuals or on the HR department by default. These committed individuals either move on, get promoted or burn out and give up, all the changes they sought to make get undone and we are left wondering why “…things stay the same”. In the meantime, we encounter business challenges that are would be mitigated in an inclusive environment where every voice counts and fail to connect the dots. Having seen this happen repeatedly in organisations it’s hard not to be sceptical about change being truly possible. It’s no wonder the civil rights campaigner Angela Davis described EDI as the “difference that doesn’t make a difference”

For lasting change to occur, companies must move away from the “volunteer-based or CSR” model and instead draw lessons from the world of safety. This means businesses ensuring that inclusivity is interwoven into all its facets and is included in its performance indicators i.e., is viewed as a key part of what makes a business work. So, what does change look like? I believe there are 5Cs that will help your company shift the dial in the new year.

The first is Candour by which I mean an open and honest conversation about how the business is doing and how all employees truly feel about your efforts. This should not only include people from minoritised group but employees from the majority who may fear the zero-sum game in which the proposed changes stand to disadvantage them.

The second is Cohesion; far too often companies engage in divergent efforts to achieve the same goal. Efforts on inclusion are also rarely tied to business performance. This makes it impossible to monitor the impact of our efforts e.g., does your plan for long term diversity include your STEM outreach to young pupils in your area or does it begin with graduate intake?

Is your company seeking to understand how cognitive diversity is helping the business reach better outcomes? Does your work on diversity extend to your supply chain? Do middle managers see diversity as a tool for better outcomes or just a nice to have? Without these considerations we will have plenty of activity but little productivity.

The third is Consistency which involves sustained effort in doing actions repeatedly. One-off lunch and learn sessions will not make your company more inclusive. It’s not what we do momentarily but what we do habitually that leads to change. In the energy sector we have safety woven into all our processes and decision gates. Can we do the same with inclusion in all its forms? Can your company alternate safety moments with inclusion moments to really embed inclusion into our culture.

The fourth is Continuity – Few things are more damaging to EDI efforts than this. It’s about succession planning and understanding how EDI programmes enhances the business. On Offshore installations we have safety cases (i.e., a structured argument, supported by evidence, intended to justify that a system is acceptably safe for a specific application in a specific operating environment). We need a similar approach for diversity and inclusion.

At AFBE-UK it is quite common to see a stalling of progress when a new diversity lead is appointed. This will not happen if we have continuity priced into the theory of change

The fifth change is a Coalition because, benefit for the minoritised groups often means growth for all. Back in 2008, it was the dramatic racial bias of Subprime Lending during the housing boom that eventually led to the global financial crises that affected us all. Diversity is not a zero-sum game, and so far from a charitable act for the sake of the underrepresented, a coalition of allies against injustice benefits us all.

This year AFBE-UK was pleased to launch the first ever ethnicity indexing tool the Engineering Ethnicity Index to help companies benchmark their progress on racial equity. We hope in 2023 that many more join us in our quest to make our sector more equitable.

Article by Dr Ollie Folayan MBE

AFBE Member Awards

And the AFBE-UK 2022 Awards Go to…

Jonathan Fashanu (Team and Leader of the Year)

Toyin Fatokun (Member of the Year)

Dr Ollie Folayan MBE on the awardees:

Jonathan Fashanu

In 2022, AFBE-UK the Industry Events team really took their work to a new level focusing on inclusion and touching on subjects we had never done. While events like “Tips for successful project management and the roundtable on Small Practices in the Climate Emergency and even the D&I Talk at Black History were engaging events, i think the talk on Neurodiversity really resonated powerfully with everyone in attendance and showcased the progress made by the Industry events team under their leader, Jonathan Fashanu. It is for this reason that I believe Jonathan Fashanu and his team deserve our congratulations as the Team and leader of the Year 2022. Many Congratulations to Jonathan and team!

Toyin Fatokun

A key part of AFBE-UK’s mission is the preparation for industry i.e. the ``being in the room before one gets in the room”. While a programme like Transition focuses on the skills required to secure a job, our Real Projects series goes one step further and seeks to understand what engineering projects actually entail. In2022,wesawaconsistentstreamofhighlyinterestingtalkson topics ranging from the Energy Transition, candid discussions on the future of hydrogen as fuel source, psychological safety to Grenfell Disaster Preventive Measures (on our first in-person real projects event since February 2020). The talks were often inspiring and the discussions that followed were very engaging, all consistently led by Toyin Fatokun. It is for this that I believe Toyin (who is AFBE-UK ‘s sustainability officer) deserves recognition as the member of the year 2022. Thanks Toyin for your consistency.

Toyin Fatokun

Background, education, career

I was born and raised in Nigeria to a family of accountants and economists. Growing up, I was that child who would turn off the lights or separate the waste etc and despite being encouraged to study economics at undergraduate level, my passion for the environment led me to relocate to the UK to further my studies. I gained an MSc in energy, environmental technology and economics with distinction from the City University London. Since, graduation, my career has been fuelled by my passion for the environment around us as well as understanding the importance of protecting our planet and seeking new ways to generate energy that will not have a detrimental effect on the climate. I worked in renewable energy consultancies where I had the privilege to be involved in developing some of the first

wind and wave energy technologies while working on projects both in West Africa and the UK. I transitioned to the public sector in 2014 mainly working with local authorities to deliver challenging policies, plans and programmes that achieve a net zero vision. In my spare time, I volunteer as a mental health first aider and lead the Real Project’s programme for AFBE Scotland.

Why did you join the AFBE-UK?

I joined AFBE in January 2021 after following AFBE for a few years. I was intrigued by the programmes, especially how AFBE tirelessly ensures that black and global ethnic majorities are mentored to reach their full potential within their chosen industry.

What lessons have you learnt in your career?

Working in the climate change space, I keep learning how varying our behaviours help to understand the impact we have on the environment around us. Human beings are creatures of habit and to tackle the wider issues of climate change we need to start to understand how people interact with the environment around them.

Tell us more about project you’ve worked on your job?

I am currently working on a project titled “ Our Sustainable Futures Forum”.to help the district I work with to work towards achieving net zero emissions. This project was conceived in collaboration with key stakeholders including businesses, community groups, voluntary organisations, special interest groups and most importantly the people local to the district. For the first time ever, we are working in partnership to highlight the various environmental and social projects/initiatives going on, identify the gaps and hopefully work together to build a district we and future generations will be proud of.

What do you like most about being a member of AFBE-UK?

It gives me an opportunity to give back in my own little way and to be part of the narrative of those making a meaningful difference in our world today.

What advice would you give to a young person starting out in the Industry?

Let your focus be on adding positive value and learn to be versatile in this ever-changing world.

Jonathan Fashanu

Background, education, career

Born to Nigerian and Singaporean parents, I spent my early years and primary education in Nigeria before returning to Singapore for secondary school and military service. I received a diploma in Multimedia Software Engineering from Singapore Polytechnic and spent 5 years in the Guards and Commando battalions of the Singapore Army. In service, I passed the 33rd

Rangers Course and Special Forces Selection Course, and won multiple awards for leadership. After my time in the Army, I gained admission into Newcastle University to study BEng Civil and Structural Engineering and received the ICE’s Patrick Parson’s Prize on graduation. Following that, I was accepted by the University of Edinburgh to study Structural Engineering and Mechanics and graduated with a distinction. I spent the next couple of years working for an international consultancy carrying out projects in Nigeria, Singapore, Germany and the United Kingdom. My project portfolio includes office blocks, indoor stadiums, cement plants, modular oil refineries, banks, residential apartments, shopping centres and multi-use spaces.

I relocated to London in 2016 and set up my engineering and project management consultancy, JF Project Consulting, which focused on managing complex basement projects and large extensions in the residential and commercial sectors. In 2019, I started Studio Dash, which brought architecture and sustainability into the practice. Studio Dash has over 200 projects under its belt, with a number of them designed with passive house principles. I am a chartered civil engineer, project manager and a certified passive house designer. I also encourage future architects to embrace holistic and regenerative design at the Architectural Association and teach modules on sustainable structural design. I am a mentor for the Institution of Civil Engineers and for Engineers Without Borders. Engineers Without Borders have recently named me an Inspiring Changemaker for my passion for getting their university students to think holistically.

Why did you join the AFBE-UK?

I joined the AfBE-UK as I was looking for a professional support network for minority ethnic colleagues. It was there that I heard of an opportunity to volunteer and join the board. I met Samuel Elegbede who lead the Industry events team and he was really inspiring in letting me know I could have a larger impact pushing for diversity than just being a member. So I jumped into the Industry events team and the rest is history.

What have you enjoyed most about being part of AFBE-UK?

What I love most is being around people who I feel connected to. I am around people who recognise that inclusion matters, are true professionals and love rice and stew!

What lessons have you learnt in your career?

One of the key lessons that I keep learning is the importance of

collaboration within the various disciplines. There is so much you can learn from including different viewpoints and ways of thinking, very much like having different diverse individuals. Because I’ve been fortunate to live and work in different places, I understand why it’s important to have those voices present and to develop a sense of global empathy.

Tell us more about project you’ve worked on your job?

I’m currently working with a church in Surrey to help them understand and optimise their thermal requirements. We have set up some thermal monitors and have been taking temperature and humidity readings all throughout Christmas. It is part of an initiative with the Royal Academy of Engineering. This has not only engaged my interests in architecture, engineering and building physics, but as the budget is limited, I am learning that sometimes it is more cost-effective to move people to certain parts of the room than to improve the fabric of the building. I’ll keep you posted when I learn more!

What do you like most about being a member of AFBE-UK?

It gives me a space to engage in discussions that I enjoy and helps me shape the dialogue that the industry should be having.

What advice would you give to a young person starting out in the Industry?

Find a way to bring what you love into what you have to do. Passion is the fuel for staying content.

70Up

2023 has been quite a year of growth for the Corporate Partnerships Team. Over 20 new partners joined as Corporate Partners ending the year with over 70 partners!

Some of our new partners joining us this year have been BBC Scotland, Mott MacDonald, Institute of Mechanical Engineers, Baker Hughes, MatchTech, Ramboll. Our first partner that joined in January 2022 was Harbour Energy, and our last partner that joined in December 2022 was BP, so the Energy Industry really seem to be stepping up and doing something about DEI, which is wonderful! We at AFBE-UK are very excited to be working with all of our corporate partners. The AFBE team has also had to grow to be able to provide the right level of support to our partners, and we now are a team of 10 volunteers, and with a new permanent staff member to ensure we can meet the needs of our ever-growing numbers of corporate partners.

The organisations that we work with span all industries that employ Engineers, from Aeronautical to Formula 1, and also many educational institutions across the U.K. We have seen from the partnerships that we have, that they benefit not only the companies that we work with, by some of the work that AFBE do with them, such as Recruitment DEI Reviews, Lunch’n’Learn talks to raise awareness amongst staff, Job-posting etc, but it also allows employees of those companies the opportunity to participate in Transition events at Universities, give STEM talks to young school children or professionals, Mentor people in other companies to help them progress and achieve their goals; all of which not only benefits the employees and thus the company, but also widens the skill pool and opportunities for those people that may otherwise not have awareness or access to those opportunities, which at the end of the day is what AFBE is all about!

We are very excited to continue working with our corporate partners and organisations in 2023 and expanding our programme to provide as much tailored support as we can on this shared DEI journey.

Anjela Maharajah is the AFBE-UK Corporate Partnerships Lead. She is a Chartered Chemical Engineer with over 25 years’ experience working in the upstream Oil and Gas Industry for the likes of Shell and E.ON, and most recently was the ‘Head of Business Development and Commercial’ at a Japanese Energy company in London.

From left, Hisham Hamid, Education, Employability and Skills Advisor People and Culture at bp; Ollie Folayan MBE, Chair of AFBE-UK Scotland; Dushyant Sharma, Vice President Transformation; and Doris Reiter, Senior Vice President North Sea at BP (photo: AFBE-UK)

Getting Involved

We are often asked by individuals seeking to find out about AFBE “What’s in it for me?” Here are some answers on why you should get involved as well as some frequently asked question on AFBE:

• Recognition: As a member you will gain recognition among your peers, leading and influential industry leaders and others.

• Mentoring: You can be assigned to an industry mentor or to be a mentor to others.

• Networking: There are lot of networking opportunities because we have several annual events across the UK where we bring people from within our industry together.

• Influencing Change: AFBE-UK continues to gain recognition within the engineering industry, and we have a voice in influencing change in international development and issues relating to BME communities in the UK. Through our Making Engineering Hot Campaign and NextGen you can help inspire the next generation of engineers. This will give you greater influence within your community as you provide career options to young people.

• Sharing your Experience: You can share your experiences in an informal environment, give and receive advice from other members. We have many members with varied levels of experience from different areas and fields.

• Connections: There are many opportunities to meet high profile engineers and industry leaders through our bi-annual advisory board meeting and annual conferences and galas.

• Careers news/Information Portal: We provide our members with any information we have about opportunities and vacancies within our industry. Visit our job board on our website. Employers also actively search our membership database.

Why do we need a group that represents ethnic minority interests in Engineering?

Over the last few years, research has consistently shown that the popularity of science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects (STEM) have declined. Ethnic minority communities form around 6.7% of the total population of working age and it has been estimated to double within the next 50 years. Although 33% of graduates are from Black and Minority ethnic backgrounds only 9.8% of us work in engineering. AFBE works to plug the gap between BME engineering graduates and industry.

Is AFBE-UK exclusively for people of ethnic origin?

Certainly not. AFBE is not exclusive to people from any ethnic origin, however our activities focus on people that have and share an interest and the experience of people of BME origin in our communities. Our mission is to display the vast array of engineering and technical talent available in the BME community in the UK. Our Vision is to function as a representative body on issues and developments that affect the careers of minoritised Engineers and Communities in the UK and abroad. Our organisational members come from a wide variety of industries too.

Do I have to work as an engineer to be part of the AFBE-UK?

Not Necessarily. Our members come from a wide spectrum of scientific and technology related backgrounds. Other members studied for degrees in engineering and moved into other fields while others work within the engineering industry but are not necessarily engineers by training. Others have a keen interest in

inspiring the next generation in STEM although they do not have a STEM background. The important thing is that they have a strong passion for STEM.

How is AFBE-UK different from other professional engineering institutions?

We have links with organisations such as Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), The Institution of Mechanical Engineering (IMechE). Institution of Chemical Engineers, (IChemE), Engineering UK, The institution of Civil Engineering (ICE), and the Energy Institute and the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) amongst others. We encourage our members to work towards chartership through involvement with these recognised bodies. We therefore exist to complement these organisations.

How does AFBE-UK fund its activities?

The events are fully self-sponsored by the generous donations from our student, industry and organisational members. Many of our members donate time and money to support this cause.

How can I support AFBE-UK?

You can support us through membership and donations. We also welcome contributions through provision of venues for our events. Get in touch with us at info@afbe.uk to find out more. Annual Subscription fees are £30 for full time professionals and £10 for students. Organisational membership of AFBE-UK is also open to all organisations. We also have a job advertisement portal.

Wherever you are, whatever industry, and whatever stage you are in your career. AFBE-UK can help you and you can help AFBE-UK.

We would like to thank our 2022 key sponsors!