Rotherham-based AESSeal plc (www.aesseal.co.uk), which specialises in the design and manufacture of mechanical seals and support systems, has appointed former IMechE president Carolyn Griffiths to its board as a non-executive director.

A senior professional from the rail industry, Ms Griffiths was elected president of the IMechE in 2017; she used the platform to focus on the need to attract more young people — and young women, in particular — into engineering.

She is also committed to further developing professional standards in engineering, and she is also on the board of the Engineering Council.

In her presidential address in 2017, Ms Griffiths said that she had been the first woman in all nine of her jobs, and in all but two of them, she was the only female engineer.

“I chose a career in engineering simply because that’s what really appealed to me.

“I did not join the industry to overtly campaign for women, since at that time — and often as the only woman in my workplace — it was unlikely to have been the best way of bringing about change.

“Instead, my contribution was to make sure that I succeeded in challenging roles and to leave a positive mark.

"Several decades later, it’s very clear that more needs to be done now to enable more women to join and to progress in engineering.”