Terminal 5 at London Heathrow Airport, 2008

Dervilla Mitchell Honorary CBE,

FREng Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and Scholarship, fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in the UK a ...

, FIEI is an Irish engineer and a director and joint deputy chair of

Arup Group Arup (officially Arup Group Limited) is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London which provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment ...

. She led the management of the design for London Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5, and as of 2019 was project director for Arup for a 2-billion dollar airport terminal development in

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

. She is a Fellow of two national engineering academies, and the holder of an honorary

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

Early life and education

Mitchell grew up in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Ireland. Her father Thomas Austin was an architect, and her grandfather Tony Woods and three of her uncles were engineers. She gained a degree in Civil Engineering from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

in 1980, and later a Diploma in Project Management from

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

Career

Mitchell joined

in Dublin after graduating. She moved to Massachusetts in 1984 to work with

Weidlinger Associates Weidlinger Associates, Inc., was a U.S.-based structural engineering firm that designs and rehabilitates buildings, bridges, and infrastructure and provides special services in applied science, forensics, and physical security. Weidlinger's clien ...

and then returned to Arup's London office in 1986. She has worked on projects including

Portcullis House Portcullis House (PCH) is an office building in Westminster, London, United Kingdom, that was commissioned in 1992 and opened in 2001 to provide offices for 213 members of parliament and their staff. The public entrance is on the Embankment. Part ...

at Westminster, Action Stations for the

Portsmouth Historic Dockyard Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is an area of HM Naval Base Portsmouth which is open to the public; it contains several historic buildings and ships. It is managed by the National Museum of the Royal Navy as an umbrella organization representing f ...

, the London 2012 Olympic Village, and

Heathrow Terminal 5 Heathrow Terminal 5 is an airport terminal at Heathrow Airport, the main airport serving London. Opened in 2008, the main building in the complex is the largest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom. Terminal 5 is currently used exclusi ...

where she was Head of Design Management for the project. Mitchell joined the board of Arup in 2014 and was then described as "the most senior female in the business". In 2017 she became Chair of Arup's UK, India, Middle East and Africa (UKIMEA) Region, and in 2021 joint deputy chair of Arup Group.

Recognition

Mitchell is a

Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in the UK and from aroun ...

, a Fellow of the

Institution of Engineers of Ireland The Institution of Engineers of Ireland ( ga, Cumann na nInnealtóirí) or the IEI, is the second oldest Engineering Society on the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and was established in 1835. The institution primarily represents mem ...

, and a Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering. In 2014 she was appointed an honorary

(honorary because she is not a British or Commonwealth citizen). In 2016

awarded her an honorary Doctorate of Science. In 2020 she was awarded the RAEng President's medal.

Personal life

Mitchell is married and has three children, has been a local school governor, and enjoys cycling.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Honorary Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Female Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Irish women engineers Ove Arup Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Engineers from Dublin (city) 20th-century Irish engineers 21st-century Irish engineers {{Ireland-engineer-stub