Future Leader

Meg Panozzo

Arup

Arup’s Meg Panozzo has taken out this year’s Consult Australia Future Leader Award in recognition of her project leadership skills and commitment to improving and promoting gender diversity in the workplace. A Chartered Civil Engineer who graduated with first class honours in civil engineering, Meg is the Project Manager for the multi-million-dollar Woolgoolga to Ballina Pacific Highway Upgrade.

Arup Principal and Sydney Office Leader, Ryan Andriessen said it is unusual for someone relatively early in their career to be the Project Manager on such a highprofile project. “Meg exemplifies everything we seek in our future leaders and I am delighted that she has received this award,” Ryan said.

Within Arup, Meg has founded an initiative called ConnectSTEM to empower and support women in engineering. Under her leadership the group has grown, with more than 90 members in Sydney alone. It delivers initiatives to inspire and educate women of all ages.

Meg said she was honoured to receive the award from Consult Australia, “I am passionate about my work, the people I work with and the industry,” she said. “I am always keen to share insights and experience to help others in their career journeys and offer both formal and informal mentorship to junior members of our teams.”

Peter Bailey, Arup Principal, described Meg as an extraordinary leader and engineer, with the ability to harness her genuine interest in people and her gift for connecting with people of all types and direct them to making positive change in our industry.

“Meg has motivated many young women to become active and promote the benefits of gender diversity and seek careers in STEM and she been willing to promote her thinking through social and other media channels,” said Peter.

Through ConnectSTEM, she also aims to challenge her team and provide opportunities for skill-building outside of the normal realms of day-to-day work. Meg’s work with ConnectSTEM led to her being named Young Social Pioneer of 2019 by The Foundation for Young Australians.

Andrew Pettifer, Arup Principal observed, “Meg combines a dedication to her technical development with a really well-rounded sense of the personal skills needed to thrive in a complex high-pressure environment.

“An inspirational emerging leader and a role model for the next generation, she shares her passions for engineering and life in general with openness and authenticity.”

Judges’ Comments:

Meg is to be applauded for her win in the 2020 Future Leaders Category, year on year, the standard of candidates continues to be of the highest standard and all the nominees are to be commended for their work. Meg is a very deserving winner of this accolade though, she has demonstrated that she is a strong influencer, inspires others and is a sound project manager. Meg’s level of achievement is excellent and appreciated for the enthusiasm and commitment she brings to everything she does. Meg’s entry was extremely strong across the board, her work within Arup and her external achievements made her entry one that was truly outstanding, her professional engineering and leadership at an early age as well as her contribution to diversity in engineering and the community make her the Consult Australia 2020 Future Leader Gold Winner, a title she has richly earnt.

Meg is to be applauded for her win in the 2020 Future Leaders Category, year on year, the standard of candidates continues to be of the highest standard and all the nominees are to be commended for their work.