The YRP judges for 2023 are:

Following the success of the Young Rail Professionals joining the NRA judging panel in 2017/18, we are delighted to continue this programme for 2023.

All six current YRPs will be involved in the judging process. As a consequence, the YRPs have widened their network within the industry and gained valuable experience to help them in their careers in rail. 

 

Michael Chung

Michael is an Electrical Engineer and a Team Leader at Atkins, member of the SNC-Lavalin Group. Since graduating from Imperial College London with MEng Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Michael has been working on a range of projects over a number of railway systems disciplines, including traction modelling, Electrical Traction Equipment (ETE), Earthing & Bonding and Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC). Michael has been working on Earthing & Bonding and EMC Safety Justifications for the Crossrail Project over the past couple of years, part of the suite of documentation to get the project onto Trial Running stage. He is an Associate of the City and Guilds of London Institute and currently pursuing chartership accreditation with the IET. Michael is a passionate volunteer as a STEM Ambassador, and also with Team London, the Postal Museum and the London Transport Museum.

 
 
Fiona Westcough
 
Fiona (Fi) Westcough is an award-winning engineering consultant at SNC-Lavalin Atkins and National Chair of the Young Rail Professionals (YRP). She recently won the Future Leader Award at the Railway Industry Association (RIA) Supplier Excellence Awards, recognising her commitment and contribution to the industry. At SNC-Lavalin, Fi has delivered in a variety of roles ranging from client facing Rolling Stock Engineering projects, to business development, strategy and public speaking on behalf of the company at major conferences such as InnoTrans. On top of her day job, Fi  is a Director of the YRP, an 8000+ member volunteering organisation which aims to promote, inspire and develop the next generation of railway talent through networking and development events. Fi is also an associate member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers; she is actively working towards Engineering Chartership and is passionate about inspiring the next generation of engineers.
 
Zak Shayler
 
Zak is a Senior Project Manager at Turner & Townsend. His career began at Transport for London in 2015, before spending some time as a Civil Servant working at the Department for Transport on HS2. Zak currently works on the Crossrail project, and more specifically looking at reliability on the railway as it moves to future stages of higher tph frequencies. 
 
 
 

Laura Smith

Laura has worked at Network Rail for just over four years, starting her career as a graduate in maintenance. This role involved working with many different areas of the business to understand how the railway is maintained and operated. It also focused on all the functions that support and help run the railway. Her previous role was in operations on North & East route, looking after the relationships with TOC and FOC colleagues. This ranged from day-to-day incident management and recovery of the railway during disruption. It also focused on improving joint performance plans and identifed areas to provide a better service to customers. Laura currently works within Capital Delivery Eastern. As Programme Manager within transformation Laura develops and leads the implementation of change programmes to improve business performance and passenger experience.