04 July 2008

Future star in quantity surveying

Shahida Rajabdeen, an MBA graduate from the University of Sheffield, won the Future Star award at this year’s Inspire Awards designed to herald the success of female professionals working in the built environment.

The hotly contested award was won by Shahida, a graduate quantity surveyor from Faithful&Gould, a member of the multinational design and engineering consultancy Atkins group. The awards ceremony took place in London on Friday June 27.

Shahida said: "The last few years have been extremely challenging - but nevertheless, very rewarding. I have been juggling work, studying for the quantity surveyor chartership and an MSc along with family life. I feel honoured and blessed - a truly fulfilling moment of recognition."

"Having had the opportunity to experience different industries, the challenges faced by construction industry attracted me to choosing it as a career. I definitely think more women should consider construction as a career as the industry has a lot to offer at all levels.

Rajabdeen works with architects and client project managers estimating, planning and controlling construction costs. She says: “The excitement for me is in bringing in a project on budget. At the moment I am working on a £100 million residential development in London.” She laughs and admits that male heads turn when she walks into a construction site canteen full of men but says: “They quickly get used to it.”

Rajabdeen plans to stay with the company and aim for a directorship. Her mentor is her line manager – another woman ten years her senior.

The Atkins sponsored awards attracted exceptional entries from women drawn from all over the worlds of architecture, building services, commercial property, construction, engineering and quantity surveying.