Ricardo : Two Ricardo engineers in Autocar’s ‘100 most influential British women’ in auto industry

Ricardo engineers Angela Johnson and Yvonne Paige-Stimson are featured in Autocar's list of the '100 most influential British women in the car industry', as announced last Friday.

The Autocar Great British Women in the Car Industry initiative has been set up to encourage more women into the automotive industry and to address the challenges they face both in entering and progressing within it. The initiative is backed by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Direct Line Group, Ford and Jaguar Land Rover, with additional support from Gaia Innovation.

Autocar - the UK's oldest and most respected weekly motoring title - unveiled its 'top 100' list at an event hosted at the London headquarters of the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) on Friday 8July. The event included a keynote speech from Ford of Europe's vice president and COO, Barb Samardzich, and a forum chaired by Autocar's Steve Cropley to discuss the issues around attracting women into the car industry.

'We have started this event to stimulate debate about the attractiveness of the industry we love as a place to work for everyone,' commented Autocar's editorial director, Jim Holder. 'At present, women are underrepresented in the automotive industry, but we believe that a positive focus on the numerous opportunities that a career in the industry can offer can have a real impact in reversing that trend.'

The Ricardo engineers included on the list - Angela Johnson, chief engineer, advanced technology development, and Yvonne Paige-Stimson, senior programme manager - both hold important positions, respectively in the development, dissemination and application of new automotive technologies and in the delivery of major new vehicle and powertrain programmes.

'Ricardo is extremely pleased that two of our top women engineers have been recognised on the inaugural Autocar list of the '100 most influential British women in the car industry',' commented Ricardo head of organisational development Oonagh McPhillips. 'Ricardo believes passionately in encouraging the very best of scientific and engineering talent regardless of gender or ethnicity. At the same time, we recognize that women are under-represented at all levels within the industry. We therefore applaud the Autocar Great British Women in the Car Industry initiative while also congratulating Angela and Yvonne on this very well-deserved recognition.'

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