On behalf of the whole tunnelling community in Australasia, the ATS would like to extend our huge congratulations to Helen Baxter-Crawford, our 2023 Women in Tunnelling Achievement Award winner. The award was presented to Helen at the ATC2023 Gala Dinner on 7 November at Auckland Town Hall.
While the judging process was incredibly difficult, Helen’s nomination stood out for her many outstanding accomplishments in the tunnelling sector.
Helen’s expertise lies in effectively bridging the gap between geological understanding and engineering requirements. She has successfully led numerous tunnelling projects encompassing site investigation, design, and construction.
Inspired by industry pioneers, Helen has embraced a mentoring role, guiding and nurturing the next generation of geologists and geotechnical engineers. She actively encourages younger peers to contribute to the publication sector, and her diverse portfolio includes both solo and co-authored papers.
Helen’s achievements have garnered accolades, including being awarded the 2022 Australian Geomechanics Society (AGS) Paper of the Year. Notably, she became the first-ever solo female recipient of this prestigious award since 2012. Helen’s standing in the industry was further solidified by her attendance and presentation at the 2023 World Tunnelling Congress, as the only Australian-born female participant.
With her extensive experience, commitment to mentorship, and many contributions, Helen Baxter-Crawford continues to shape the tunnelling industry and inspire future professionals. Her dedication to advancing the field and her ability to effectively communicate complex concepts make her a highly respected and influential figure within the industry.
The ATS would also like to sincerely thank the other nominees, those who nominated them and those who threw their support behind them through our profiling campaign on LinkedIn. How good was it to see all those incredible women engineers filling up the feed?! They are all amazing and are no-doubt already inspiring the next generation to reach higher and dream bigger.
We thank Bouygues Construction Australia, who kindly provided the award for this prize and who are making great strides themselves through their employee-led women’s networking group Welink, formed as an initiative of the diversity and inclusion policy over 10 years ago.
Also huge thanks to the competition judges and the ATS Diversity in Tunnelling team, who are working hard to make the tunnelling industry a better place to work for everyone.
