ICE Fellow Dervilla Mitchell receives DBE

ICE Fellow Dervilla Mitchell has been awarded a DBE in the King’s birthday honours.

The former deputy chair of consultancy Arup was already recognised with an Honorary CBE in 2014 for her services to engineering.

Commenting on the new honour, Mitchell said: “I hope it helps to show what an interesting and rewarding career an engineer can have and makes it attractive to the next generation.”

Mitchell has led large, multidisciplinary teams, working on high-profile projects such as the Athletes' Village for the London 2012 Games and Portcullis House in London.

In the aviation sector, she’s worked on Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5, Abu Dhabi International Airport Terminal A and Dublin Airport Terminal 2.

Mitchell is chair of the National Engineering Policy Centre Decarbonisation Working Group, helping to pave the path to net zero in the UK.

“There are always great challenges in our world and engineers have the skills and expertise to address these balancing needs of humankind and nature,” she said.

Fostering diversity in leadership

She is also a member of the ICE Connects Focus Group, which is committed to fostering diversity in leadership and encouraging more women to go for the ICE’s highest membership grade.

“At the outset of my career, I was generally the only woman in the room and today Arup has 40% women globally.

“Through the work of ICE Connects, there is a 40% increase in female Fellows of the institution since 2021, which is great news and I would encourage women to get this recognition within the profession,” she said.

Mitchell was also awarded Honorary Doctorates from University College London and Imperial College London.

Other ICE members recognised

Professor Washington Yotto Ochieng has been recognised with a CBE for services to global positioning and navigation systems.

The ICE Fellow is head of the civil and environmental engineering department at Imperial College London and chair professor in positioning and navigation systems.

William Joseph Young, project manager at South West College, has been awarded an MBE for services to civil engineering education.

Meanwhile, non-members who work in infrastructure were also recognised, including:

CBE

Professor P John Clarkson, director of Cambridge Engineering Design Centre and co-director of Cambridge Public Health at the University of Cambridge for services to engineering and design.

Julia Prescot, deputy chair at the National Infrastructure Commission, for public service.

Dipesh J Shah, former chair of National Highways, for services to transport.

Dr Alison Vincent, non-executive director of Synectics plc, SEI Investments Ltd and Connected Places Catapult, for services to engineering and technology.

Professor Ian White, vice-chancellor and president at the University of Bath, for services to higher education and to engineering.

MBE

Dr Lucy Rogers, freelance engineer and author, for services to engineering.