Yewande Akinola MBE is an award-winning Chartered Engineer and Innovator who has committed to her career to the design of sustainable products and systems for the built environment – putting the well-being of humanity right at the heart of her work.
She is a speaker with passion for the role of innovation, creativity and engineering in our world today.
She holds a Bachelors degree in Engineering Design and Appropriate Technology from the University of Warwick and a Masters in Innovation and Design for Sustainability from Cranfield University.
Her engineering experience spans over 15 years and her expertise includes Design and Construction, Innovation and Manufacture of buildings, products & systems in the built environment. She has worked on projects in the U.K., Africa, the Middle East and in East Asia.
Yewande sits on the Board of Trustees at the Institution of Engineering and Technology and is serving as Vice-President of the Institution. She chairs the Knowledge Services & Solutions Board at the Institution. Yewande is a Visiting Professor at the University of Westminster. She also sits on Council at the University of Warwick and sits on the Global Advisory Board at Warwick Business School. She serves in Non Executive Director roles and has served as the UK’s Innovation agency- Innovate UK ‘s Ambassador for Clean Growth and Infrastructure.
Yewande has been awarded the U.K. Society of Public Health Engineers’ Young Engineer of the Year. She won the U.K. Young Woman Engineer of the Year (Institute of Engineering & Technology) and has been honoured with the Exceptional Achiever Award by the Association for Black Engineers (AFBE-UK) and the Association of Consultancy and Engineering, U.K. (ACE). She has been named one of the UK’s top 35 women under the age of 35 by Management Today and was awarded PRECIOUS AWARDS Outstanding Woman in STEM award. In 2019, she was named one of the UK + Europe TOP Influential women in Engineering by Financial Times and Inclusive Boards. In 2021, she was awarded the prestigious Cranfield University Excellence in Achievement in Manufacturing.
She was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s 2020 New Year Honour’s list for services to Engineering Innovation and Diversity in STEM.
Yewande has presented television programmes for Discovery Channel, Channel 4, Yesterday TV and CBBC