Member Article

Patrick Parsons Director wins Women in Construction Award

Elaine Bissell, Technical Director at multi-disciplinary consulting engineering firm Patrick Parsons, was crowned Engineer of the Year: Building Services at the prestigious Women in Construction Awards.

Now in its eleventh year, the awards showcase the brightest and the best female achievers in the construction & built environment industries. This years’ awards were presented by former royal correspondent Jennie Bond at a ceremony held at Hilton Deansgate Manchester on 1 March.

Elaine, who joined Patrick Parsons’ Manchester office in 2014, has over 29 years’ experience in the industry and currently heads up the company’s Building Services division. The firm, which has eight UK-based and two international offices, offers a full range of engineering consulting services, working with a wide variety of clients and industries throughout the UK, Europe and the Middle East.

Judges commended Elaine on her impressive career to date and vast portfolio of successful work, ranging from university buildings and hotels to new airport terminals and laboratories.

Doug Tidswell, Patrick Parsons’ Director (Building Consultancy), commented on her achievement: “Winning Engineer of the Year for Building Services is a true testament to Elaine’s hard work and commitment. Not only is Elaine a highly technically skilled professional and a motivated individual, she is also a great manager and team player, continually encouraging all members of the team to excel and progress in their careers. This is a much-deserved accolade.’’

As well as an MSc. in Building Services Engineering from Glasgow University, Elaine gained an MSt. in Interdisciplinary Design in the Built Environment from Cambridge University, before going on to gain chartered status. She is also a trainee interviewer with CIBSE for chartered engineer applicants. Elaine’s impressive academic achievements are translated into the day to day service that she provides to many prestigious clients including the Royal Northern College of Music.

In addition to her solid work ethic at Patrick Parsons, Elaine donates her time outside of work as a voluntarily STEM ambassador, and is passionate about encouraging more young people into science and engineering.

Commenting on her win, Elaine said: “It was a great honour to be shortlisted for this award. To win in it, from amongst a high calibre group of candidates, is just unbelievable. The construction industry is a great industry to work in and I hope these kinds of awards will inspire other females to come and join the industry.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Patrick Parsons .