Hayaatun Sillem

Dr. Hayaatun Sillem
CBE FIET
Hayaatun Sillem, Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Engineering, UK
Born
Hayaatun Is’harc
EducationGodolphin and Latymer School
Alma materUniversity of Oxford (MA)
University College London (PhD)
Newcastle University (HonDEng)
AwardsSuffrage Science award (2021)
Scientific career
InstitutionsRoyal Academy of Engineering
Cancer Research UK
ThesisJAK/STAT signalling (2002)
Doctoral advisorIan M. Kerr[1][2]
Websitewww.raeng.org.uk/about-us/staff-council-committees/chief-executive

Dr. Hayaatun Sillem CBE FIET (née Is’harc) is the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Education

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]

Career

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]

Awards and honours

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]

References

  1. ^ a b Is'Harc, Hayaatun (2002). JAK/STAT signalling. london.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University College London (University of London). OCLC 1124189675. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.272414.
  2. ^ a b Is’harc, Hayaatun; Watling, Diane; Kerr, Ian M. (2001). "Phosphotyrosine profiling to identify novel components of interferon and interleukin 6-family cytokine signalling". Proteomics. 1 (6): 767–772. doi:10.1002/1615-9861(200106)1:6<767::AID-PROT767>3.0.CO;2-P. ISSN 1615-9853. PMID 11677783.
  3. ^ "Godolphin Link". godolphinandlatymer.com. Goldolphin and Latymer. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  4. ^ "Battle of Ideas 2012 | speaker | Dr Hayaatun Sillem". archive.battleofideas.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  5. ^ Clarke-Ezzidio, Harry (9 February 2023). "Royal Academy of Engineering chief: "The industry has a diversity deficit"". New Statesman Online. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Dr Hayaatun Sillem | The Consultancy & Engineering Awards 2018". ace-engineering-awards.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  7. ^ Conway, Gordon (2010). "Science and Innovation for Development" (PDF). Houses of Parliament. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  8. ^ "The Use of Science in UK International Development Policy: Government Response to the Committee's Thirteenth Report of Session 2003" (PDF). Houses of Parliament. 2005-01-19. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  9. ^ "The Use of Science in UK International Development Policy" (PDF). Houses of Parliament. 2004-10-14. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  10. ^ "Office of Science and Technology: Scrutiny Report 2004" (PDF). Houses of Parliament. 2005-01-19. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  11. ^ Engineering, turning ideas into reality: fourth report of session 2008-09. London: The Stationery Office. 2009. p. 11. ISBN 978-0215529268. OCLC 317872355.
  12. ^ "Africa-UK Engineering for Development Partnership - Project Update - August 2010". Africa Transport Policy Program. 2010. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  13. ^ Guthrie, Peter; Juma, Calestous; Sillem, Hayaatun (2008). Engineering change : towards a sustainable future in the developing world. London: Royal Academy of Engineering. ISBN 978-1903496411. OCLC 392544216.
  14. ^ Report of UK-China workshops on the Future of energy storage : technologies and policy. Royal Academy of Engineering. 2012. ISBN 978-1903496916. OCLC 811323139.
  15. ^ "Engineers for Africa. Identifying engineering capacity needs in Sub-Saharan Africa. A summary report". www.evidenceondemand.info. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  16. ^ "AIWF : Activities : 2010 Programme Detail > AIWF holds 10th successful Young Arab Women Leaders conference on Women-Led Innovation in STEM". www.aiwfonline.com. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  17. ^ Reith-Banks, Tash (2015-11-13). "Out of the lab and into refugee camps: STEM and humanitarian aid". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  18. ^ "Developing a better world". imeche.org. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  19. ^ Investing in innovation. Royal Academy of Engineering (Great Britain). London. 2015. ISBN 9781909327184. OCLC 923359135.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link)
  20. ^ Amos, Jonathan (2015-09-29). "Science leaders make investment case". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  21. ^ Boardley, Aaron. "New Director of Strategy and Deputy CEO appointed to increase Academy's capacity". Royal Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  22. ^ "'STEM is not just fun – it's fundamental'". The Telegraph. 2016-09-30. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  23. ^ "Member News - The IET". theiet.org. March 2017. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  24. ^ Hayaatun Sillem introducing Inferior by Angela Saini, 2017-06-16, retrieved 2018-03-04
  25. ^ "Improving diversity and inclusion in the engineering start/scale-up ecosystem". Royal Academy of Engineering. 2017-06-23. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  26. ^ Pipa, Siobhan. "Inspiring the next generation of women STEM leaders". Royal Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  27. ^ "Dr Hayaatun Sillem to head up Royal Academy of Engineering". Engineers Journal. 2018-02-06. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  28. ^ Sutton, Jane (2017-11-29). "Academy announces new Chief Executive designate". Royal Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  29. ^ Runcie, Victoria. "#ThisIsEngineering campaign to tackle critical shortfall of engineering talent". Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  30. ^ "3 Electronic Engineering Schools that spark student engagement". Study International. 2018-02-20. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  31. ^ "Diversity and inclusion: can the engineering profession rise to the challenge?". Royal Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  32. ^ "Computer Weekly announces the Most Influential Women in UK Tech 2019". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  33. ^ Riley, Kirsten. "Governance - London Transport Museum". ltmuseum.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  34. ^ "Organisers - The St Andrews Prize for the Environment". thestandrewsprize.com. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  35. ^ Dr Hayaatun Sillem, Trustee talks about the objectives of the St Andrews Prize for the Environment, 2017-09-06, retrieved 2018-03-04
  36. ^ "Dr Hayaatun Sillem". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  37. ^ "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N10.
  38. ^ "New years honours list 2020". gov.uk.
  39. ^ "Suffrage Science award for Royal Academy of Engineering CEO". FE News. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  40. ^ "Honorary Degree for leading engineer". Press Office. Retrieved 2023-06-09.
  41. ^ "Current Honorary Graduates". Retrieved 10 June 2023.