Katy Deacon BEng MEng CEng FIET | |
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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 |
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]
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]
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]
Deacon has received several prestigious awards throughout her career:
In 2012, Deacon was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis (MS) and is a wheelchair user. [19] [20] [13] [4] She is married and has two children. [1]
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