RBA's Kathryn Fagg named Australia's top female engineer

Kathryn Fagg, a board member of the Reserve Bank and Boral and president of Chief Executive Women, has won the Ada Lovelace Medal for Outstanding Woman Engineer, a national award that recognises the contribution Australian women have made to the profession and to wider society.

She was one of three women recognised at the annual UNSW Women in Engineering Awards, held in Sydney last Thursday night.

“Kathryn Fagg is an outstanding member of the engineering profession who built a substantial and impressive career in traditionally male-dominated worlds of petroleum exploration, steel making, logistics and banking,” said Mark Hoffman, Dean of Engineering at UNSW. “She is an inspiration to us all, particularly young women. She shows that engineering is a discipline that can take you anywhere.”

The medal was presented by Ian Jacobs, UNSW’s President and Vice-Chancellor, at the annual UNSW Women in Engineering Awards reception held at The Mint, the elegant colonnaded coining factory that is central Sydney’s oldest public building.

“I cannot tell you how chuffed I am that this is called the Ada Lovelace Medal,” said Fagg on accepting the award. “What a role model she was, and continues to be. She was brave, she was courageous, and she was willing to go where no-one had gone before.

“I’m delighted to accept this medal,” she continued. “And I am so thrilled that UNSW is providing such support to its Women in Engineering Program, because we’re going to be a stronger society by drawing on the talent of all our people, and by reaching out to everyone who can make a difference.”

The Ada Lovelace Medal is named for Augusta Ada Byron, later Countess Ada Lovelace, an English mathematician who worked on Charles Babbage’s revolutionary mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. Her remarkable notes on the engine in the 1840s include what is recognised today as the first computer algorithm, making her the world’s first computer programmer. Her story reminds us that women have been in engineering for a long time, and making vital contributions.

Fagg began her career with ExxonMobil, moved into consulting with McKinsey & Co before entering the banking sector, holding a number of roles at ANZ, most recently Managing Director – Global Transaction Services. She later took up senior roles at BlueScope Steel and Linfox, and now serves the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia, is chairman at Melbourne Recital Centre and holds non-executive director roles at Boral, Djerriwarrh Investments, Incitec Pivot and Breast Cancer Network of Australia.

She is an active role model for women in business, serving as President of Chief Executive Women and speaking publicly on issues relating to gender equity in business. As a highly successful woman, engineer and businesswoman, she has used her influence to smooth the way for women following in her footsteps.

The two other awards were the Judy Raper Award for Leadership, won by Narelle Underwood, Surveyor-General of NSW; and the Maria Skyllas-Kazacos Young Professional Award For Outstanding Achievement, won by Cordelia Selomulya, a professor at Monash University and leader of its Biotechnology and Food Engineering group.