CEO Jan Ward receives honorary Doctor of Engineering degree

Jan is from Southampton – though she has lived and worked in the United States, Europe and the Middle East – and is passionate about the city, as well as the field of engineering. She is a mechanical engineer herself, with over 30 years’ experience in metals manufacturing and distribution.

She describes how she started down the engineering road. “At school, when I was upstairs with the girls doing domestic science, I wanted to be downstairs doing technical drawing and metal work. I realised very quickly that being young and enthusiastic didn’t actually qualify me for very much. It was getting qualified that got me a job."

Jan has always been an inspiration to the rest of the team here at Corrotherm, having founded the company back in 1992 when the industry was very much male-dominated. Back then Corrotherm looked very different - Jan was working from a small home office. Over the 23 years since, she has steered the company from strength to strength, using her expertise and knowledge to turn Corrotherm into the success story that it is today.

Jan has always had a particular interest in international travel. "My career has been fantastic," she says. "I've been all over the world, and I have a hugely imaginative, creative job. That's what engineering is about, it's being creative and thinking of something new, so it's a great, great career."

Her international viewpoint has certainly been an advantage when it has come to expanding the company out of the UK. We now have 10 international offices in key countries around the world.

We don’t keep Jan all to ourselves either. As well as being at the helm of Corrotherm, Jan has several other important advisory and non-executive positions, and she has even worked with various government departments on business issues locally, nationally and internationally.

She likes to remain involved in local business issues, and is a non-executive director at the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce. She was interim chair of Southampton Cultural Development Trust and remains a trustee with an active interest in the cultural life of the city.

It’s not just the government and business bodies that benefit from Jan’s extensive knowledge. She speaks at a number of events, and attends industry trade shows and seminars on behalf of Corrotherm to ensure that the company stays at the forefront of the industry. She is keen to inspire the next generation of engineers and help nurture future talent – who knows, we might see some of the young faces that Jan has inspired at her talks turn up at Corrotherm one day!

So why is it so important to encourage the next generation? Jan explains: "At the moment we have a huge shortage of engineers, so engineering and what Solent is doing to develop engineers here is really important. Engineering these days is very specialised, so work on the area that interests you most and specialise in that area. The more skills we can get into the industry, the better our productivity will be.”

The new doctorate from Southampton Solent University adds to Jan’s already impressive list of awards and accolades. These include: NatWest Everywoman award winner in December 2009, which champions female entrepreneurs; Institute of Directors Director of the Year, London and South East 2014 and a Top 100 manufacturing role model 2014. More recently, she was given a CBE in the 2015 New Year Honours list for her services to business and she attended Buckingham Palace in May 2015 to receive her award from His Royal Highness Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales.

At yesterday’s event, Jan picked up her honorary degree, alongside the almost 2,500 students graduating during ten ceremonies over five days this week. Southampton Solent University is a popular and versatile university, offering over 200 qualifications over a diverse range of subjects. You can find out more about the university at www.solent.ac.uk.

Photo courtesy Southampton Solent University