Cape Town – As the world celebrates International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) on 23 June 2025, AECOM proudly shines a spotlight on two inspiring engineers, Nyiko Khosa and Kerisha Govender.
Their stories reflect the spirit of this year’s INWED theme, #EnhancedbyEngineering, which highlights how engineering improves lives and how diverse voices strengthen those solutions.
INWED, established by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES), is the only international awareness campaign dedicated to raising the profile of women in engineering and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in STEM fields.
The 2025 theme emphasises engineering’s pivotal role in tackling global challenges and building a better future and acknowledging the women leading the way.
As a global infrastructure consulting firm, AECOM fosters an inclusive culture that supports gender equality and provides opportunities for women to thrive in engineering.
Through its graduate programmes, mentorship initiatives and school outreach, AECOM is helping shape the future of engineering, one diverse talent at a time.
Nyiko Khosa: Driving Water Solutions Through Process Engineering
New to AECOM but bringing over 15 years of experience, Nyiko joined the Process Water Division as an Associate Engineer in March 2025.
A qualified chemical engineer, Nyiko made a pivotal career change early on, switching from psychology to engineering after discovering her love for numbers and problem-solving.
Her motivation? “Chemical engineers bring something to life that improves the quality of life for people,” she says.
“Process engineering is foundational.
If the processes are not right, nothing else works.”
Nyiko’s passion lies in the water sector, not just as an engineering challenge, but as a matter of dignity and equity. “Good sanitation is good dignity.
My ambition is to ultimately influence policy and planning decisions around water, even internationally.
We need to prioritise access, sustainability and smarter usage of this scarce resource.”
For Nyiko, INWED is vital to correcting gender imbalances in STEM and showing young women what is possible.
“Girls at high school often do not consider engineering because it is seen as male-dominated. We need to reach them early and show them that they are just as capable.
With the right focus, maths and science skills, they can become engineers, too.”
Kerisha Govender: Passionate About Transport and Strategy
A Senior Engineer in AECOM’s Transportation Planning Division, Kerisha is currently working on both local and international projects, including a few projects based in Georgia, USA.
With over a decade of experience, she started her career at SANRAL and has since honed her expertise across the public and private sectors.
Her interest in civil engineering was sparked at the age of 11 after watching a documentary on the construction of the Dubai Palm Islands.
She was particularly intrigued by the complexity of infrastructure planning – how civil engineers analyse traffic flow, forecast traffic demand, and apply geometric design principles in determining the optimal lane configuration for a road network as well as the strategic placement of bridge structures.
This early curiosity led her to discover the specialisation field of transportation engineering, the field which provides the analytical frameworks and design methodologies she had been seeking.
Kerisha completed her Master’s in Transport Engineering in 2020 and registered as a Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa in 2021.
She is driven to deepen her technical proficiency in transportation engineering while progressively transitioning into strategic leadership roles where she can align engineering solutions with broader organizational and infrastructure development goals.
“AECOM’s global footprint gives us exposure to different standards and ways of thinking. It is a dynamic and exciting environment for any engineer.” On the importance of INWED, Kerisha says: “This platform
servers to increase awareness of female engineers’ contributions to the engineering profession and is to inspire the next generation of female engineers.”
During her tertiary education, she found that there were very few female civil engineers who she could communicate with to get a better understanding of what Civil Engineering was like in the working environment.
Today, initiatives like INWED are essential for enhancing visibility, fostering mentorship and supporting the development of a more inclusive and diverse engineering workforce.
Advice for the next generation
Both women emphasise the value of curiosity, mentorship and informed decision-making when choosing a career in STEM.
Kerisha advises young girls to “research your options, find what speaks to your passion, and connect with people in the industry.
Think short, medium and long term so you make strategic choices that align with your goals.”
Nyiko echoes that sentiment: “Find something that ties in with your strength and passion.
And never let your background define you.
Even if you are from a rural school, there are resources, mentors and opportunities out there.
You just need to believe that you can achieve it.”
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