Katy Deacon
British engineer and accessibility advocate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Katy Deacon is a British engineer and accessibility advocate. She specialises in inclusive engineering design and is the founder and Managing Director of Towards Belonging Ltd,.[1][2] Deacon is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)[3][2][4] and serves as the organisation's Vice President and trustee.[5][1][2][4] She has received numerous awards for her work in engineering and inclusivity, including the Disability Personality of the Year award in 2025.[4][6]
City University, London (BEng)
Loughborough University (Masters)
Katy Deacon BEng MEng CEng FIET | |
|---|---|
| Education | UHI Perth (HND) City University, London (BEng) Loughborough University (Masters) |
| Occupation | Managing director |
| Known for | Leading the Change in Engineering and Inclusion |
| Awards | Awards and Recognition |
| Website | towardsbelonging |
Early life and education
After completing her A-levels at Greenhead College, Deacon joined the British Airways Professional Engineering Programme as an avionics graduate apprentice. She gained an HND in Aeronautical Engineering at Perth College and a BEng (hons) degree in Transport Engineering at City University, London.[3][2]
She later earned an MSc in Renewable Energy, Low Carbon Buildings, and Electrical Building Services Design from Loughborough University while working in the building services industry.[2] During her studies, she developed an award-winning toolkit for architects and engineers to design buildings with renewable energy systems.[2][7] She also completed a postgraduate degree in Information Governance and Assurance from Aberystwyth University.[8]
Career
After completing her degree and apprenticeship with British Airways, Deacon transitioned to the building services sector due to difficulties in the aviation industry.[3] She worked briefly as a technical support engineer at Daletech Electronics[9] before joining Kirklees Council, where she progressed through various engineering roles.[9][3][2] At Kirklees, she specialised in energy conservation, low carbon building design, and renewable energy implementation for educational institutions.[10][11][12][2] Her later position at the council was as Information Governance Manager & Data Protection Officer.[3]
She has since established her own business, Towards Belonging Ltd, where she serves as Managing Director.[13][3][14][1][2] The company connects the disabled community with the engineering industry and promotes inclusive engineering design principles.[2]
In 2024, Deacon was appointed as a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at both the University of Aston and the University of Huddersfield, specialising in Inclusive Engineering Design.[13][3][1][2][4] At Huddersfield's School of Computing and Engineering, she contributes to curriculum development with a focus on inclusive design principles.[4] Her academic work incorporates perspectives gained from her experience as a wheelchair user.[13][2][4]
Awards and recognition
Deacon has received several prestigious awards throughout her career:
- IIE Mary George Memorial Prize for outstanding UK engineering apprentice (2004)[9][1]
- IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year award (2006)[15][16][7][6][3][1]
- NICEIC Energy Efficiency Product of the Year award for the Renewable Energy Toolkit (2006)[7][6][3][1]
- Women's Engineering Society Karen Burt Award for most outstanding newly Chartered Woman Engineer of the Year (2009)[3][1][17]
- Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 (2024), recognising her work as a disability changemaker and advocate for inclusive engineering design[18]
- Disability Personality of the Year at the Empowerment Awards (2025)[4]
