Mrs Alison Watson

Honorary Doctorate of Engineering (Hon. DEng)

Graduation Ceremony: Tuesday 10 December, 2019

Alison Watson is a former land surveyor and the founder and chief executive of social business Class of Your Own.

She created the innovative Design Engineer Construct! (DEC) accredited learning programme for secondary school students aged 11-18, supported by some of the UK's leading companies, professional bodies and universities through the ground breaking 'Adopt A School' scheme. The programme is delivered in schools throughout the UK and now internationally, and has resulted in young people entering the sector to pursue a wide range of technical and professional careers through technical and degree apprenticeships, and traditional university entry.

Alison was presented with The Survey Association's President's Award in 2013 and the Richard Carter Prize by the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors in 2014, and in September 2019, was elected Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors, all in recognition of her commitment to raising awareness of the geospatial surveying sector in schools.

In 2015-17, Alison represented Youth and Learning on the CITB Council and led on the BIM4Education research project which focused on improving the teaching of digital built environment subjects in the secondary, further and higher education sector.

This year, to mark the tenth anniversary of Class of Your Own, she will launch a new curriculum for ‘Future Infrastructure'.

In recognition of her perseverance and dedication, Alison was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in Her Majesty The Queen's 2018 New Year Honours for services to education.