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Dr. Hayaatun Sillem CBE FIET (née Is’harc) is the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Dr. Hayaatun Sillem | |
---|---|
Born | Hayaatun Is’harc |
Education | Godolphin and Latymer School |
Alma mater | University of Oxford (MA) University College London (PhD) Newcastle University (HonDEng) |
Awards | Suffrage Science award (2021) |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | Royal Academy of Engineering Cancer Research UK |
Thesis | JAK/STAT signalling (2002) |
Doctoral advisor | Ian M. Kerr[1][2] |
Website | www |
Sillem grew up in South Africa. She attended Godolphin and Latymer School.[3] She earned a master's degree in biochemistry from the University of Oxford in 1998.[4] She completed a PhD funded by Cancer Research UK at University College London in 2002 investigating the JAK-STAT signaling pathway supervised by Ian M. Kerr.[1][2]
Sillem joined the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2002 as an Engineering Policy Advisor "despite, if I’m honest, not knowing anything about engineering or policy”, she says.[5] She joined the Department for International Development 2005. In 2004 she became a Committee Specialist to the Science and Technology Select Committee, and later as a Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee.[6][7][8][9][10]
In 2006, Sillem joined Royal Academy of Engineering as Head of International Activities.[11] She led the Academy's partnership with Africa.[12] In this role she published Engineering Change: Towards a sustainable future in the developing world.[13] She went on to publish Engineers for Africa: Identifying engineering capacity needs in Sub-Saharan Africa, a summary report.[14] The report identified the capacity needs of engineering that are felt across Sub-Saharan Africa, and developed approaches to meeting these needs.[15]
Sillem was appointed to Director of Programmes and Fellowship in 2011.[16] She is interested in how science and engineering can help with humanitarian admin, and how engineering can drive international development.[17][18] She published Investing in Innovation in 2015.[19][20] In May 2016, Sillem was appointed Director of Strategy and Deputy Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Engineering.[21][22] In March 2017 she was appointed a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.[23] She spoke at the launch of Angela Saini's book Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story in June 2017.[24]
Sillem co-founded the Royal Academy of Engineering enterprise hub.[25] She hosted the 10th Young Arab Women Leaders STEM conference in London in December 2017.[26] She was appointed CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering in January 2018.[27][6][28] She is a champion of the Government's Year of Engineering, looking to increase diversity amongst the UK's engineering workforce through the campaign This is Engineering.[29][30][31]
In 2019, Sillem was 31st in Computer Weekly's 50 'Most Influential Women in UK Tech' shortlist.[32]
She is a trustee of the London Transport Museum.[33] She is a judge for St Andrews Prize for the Environment.[34][35] She has written for The Huffington Post.[36]
Sillem was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to international engineering.[37][38] In 2021, Sillem received an Engineering and Physical Sciences Suffrage Science award.[39] In 2022, Sillem was awarded an honorary doctorate in engineering from Newcastle University.[40][41]
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