Dawn Childs

In 2018, Childs was elected President of the Women's Engineering Society.

Her amazing work to promote STEM subjects and engineering to children and young adults was further recognised in 2015 when she won the Institution of Mechanical Engineers's Alistair Graham-Bryce Award for: "her significant contributions to campaigning for the promotion of engineering to children, students, young adults and particularly women". In 2016, Childs was named as one of the top 50 most influential women engineers in the UK by The Daily Telegraph and Women's Engineering Society.

Childs joined the RAF straight from school having been awarded a cadet-ship as an engineering officer. Whilst reading mechanical engineering at Bath University she was a member of Bristol University Air Squadron before officer training at RAF College Cranwell. During 23 years service in the RAF she had numerous postings and was the first female officer to hold many of her appointments. Most notably she was the first female Senior Engineering Officer (SEngO) on 216 Squadron and the first female Officer Commanding Engineering Wing (OC Eng Wg) at RAF Waddington where she was responsible for the operational maintenance and logistics of Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) aircraft based there. Childs left the RAF in 2012 and moved to Gatwick Airport where she was the first female to become the Head of Engineering at a major International airport. From Gatwick, Childs moved to Merlin Entertainments plc in 2016 and established a new central engineering function covering the governance and standards for the global portfolio of over 120 theme parks and attractions. In 2014 she became an Ambassador for Alton College. In 2015 she was appointed as a non-executive director for World Skills UK.

In 1997, Childs was awarded the Barrie Smart Memorial Award for her significant contribution to the RAF community and subsequently gained her pilot's licence. She won the CBI and Real Business First Women Award in Tourism & Leisure in 2013 for being the first female head of engineering at a major International airport. In 2014 she was bestowed with an honorary Doctorate of Science by Staffordshire University in 2014 in recognition of her notable contribution to mechanical and aeronautical engineering in her then-current role at Gatwick and throughout her career with the RAF. It also recognises her dedicated engagement with education by promoting the study of STEM subjects.

Dawn Elizabeth Childs MA MDA BEng CEng FICE FIMechE FRAeS FWES (née  Elson; born 29 November 1970) is a British engineer who has moved between several engineering disciplines including mechanical engineering, aeronautical engineering and civil engineering. She has been the first woman engineer in several Officer posts in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the first female head of engineering at a major international airport. Childs has a track record of developing women within her organisation as well as working to bring more women and girls into the discipline. Childs is currently the Group Engineering Director at Merlin Entertainments.