Pioneering engineer at BDP is business woman of the year

A civil engineer who spearheaded the redevelopment of the Royal Albert Hall was today named Veuve Clicquot's Business Woman of the Year.

Michelle McDowell, BDP's chair of civil and structural engineering and head of their London studio, was applauded for promoting low-carbon building and for helping to attract more women to the field.

BDP, an architecture and engineering firm, funds bursaries for students at New Hall, an all-female Cambridge college.

"The award is a platform to help encourage more young women to consider engineering as a career," said the 47-year-old.

"It is rare that they receive career advice about construction but the image of the industry - tramping around in boots on a site - is outdated. It is a very creative field. You now spend more time in a design studio."

McDowell qualified as a civil engineer in 1984, moving to BDP 14 years ago, where she also worked on the recent makeover of Wimbledon tennis club. She added that, while the industry has become more female friendly, progress is needed: "We now have a large number of female clients; they expect to see a balanced workforce. Things are improving but women are still a tiny minority in the boardrooms of construction companies." Lord Myners, who is speaking at this evening's awards, will say that the failure of companies to promote female talent is the business world's biggest missed opportunity of recent years.

However, the ex-City minister will oppose the introduction of quotas to force companies to promote women.