Louise Adams is an Australian

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

. she is

Aurecon Aurecon Group Pty Ltd is an Australian engineering, project management and consulting company based in Docklands, Victoria Docklands is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on the western end of the Melbourne central bus ...

's chief operating officer.

Early life and education

Louise Adams graduated from the Wharton Business School in 2018, through the Chief Executive Women scholarship.

Career

Adams has worked as a civil engineer for over 25 years. She served as the chief executive for Australia and New Zealand at

, overseeing a workforce of 4,300 people. In 2013, Adams became the first woman to serve as executive director on Aurecon's Global Board and is Aurecon's global spokesperson for Women in Leadership. Aurecon's chief operating officer. Previously Adams has said that the engineering sector has a "significant lack of cultural and gender diversity". She said that: "For decades, our industry has been positioned as a male-centric profession. Promoted with images of hard hats and heavy machinery, a profession most suited to men. I believe this has narrowed our thinking, our perspectives, it has created a gender imbalance, siloed cultural profiles and above all – stifled potential for diversity of thought and, in turn, innovation."

Recognition

In 2020, Adams was awarded Australian CEO of the Year by ''The CEO Magazine''. In 2021, she was recognised as a Deakin University Alumni of the Year. In November 2021 Adams was elected a fellow of the

Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) is an independent Learned society, learned academy that helps Australians understand and use technology to solve complex problems. History The Australian Academy of Technological S ...

. In 2023, she was made the Australian Business Champion to Vietnam by the Australia Vietnam Policy Institute.

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Australian civil engineers Australian women engineers {{Australia-bio-stub