Joanna Gabrielle da Silva, former Fellow at Sidney, has been awarded a damehood in the New Years Honours List for her contribution to humanitarian relief.

Jo da Silva, Director of Arup Group Ltd, has been awarded a damehood for services to Engineering and International, Sustainable Development. Dame Jo was an Engineering Fellow at Sidney from 2001 to 2006 when she was also a Senior Visiting Fellow in the Engineering Department.

Dame Jo established Arup International Development (AID) in 2006. The not-for-profit organisation works with local groups, governments and non-governmental organisations to reduce risk, enhance resilience and improve the quality of life for vulnerable communities around the world.

In 2011 Dame Jo received an OBE in recognition of her contribution to her services to engineering and humanitarian relief. In 2017 she was awarded the Gold Medal by the Institution of Structural Engineering for humanitarian engineering and pioneering work on resilience. Dame Jo is currently the Global Sustainable Development Leader at Arup.


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