The RailStaff Awards 2024

Nominations for Graduate of the Year

James Richards

Said the following about Inge-Sarah Andersen:

“Inge-Sarah started at Network Rail in September 2017 on the Network Rail Graduate Scheme. In January 2018, she was asked to be a part of a delivery team that were tasked with delivering the largest outreach programme in Network Rail's Year of Engineering calendar called "Fast Trackers". The accredited programme consisted of a sustained piece of early engagement that saw c200 students being given experience of university life, engineering careers and culminating in a 3-day residential to London where they completed an employer project that contributed to graduating from an Industrial Cadets Gold programme.

Aside from general delivery activities that were shared across the team, Inge-Sarah took control of the project communications, which was an immense task as it involved coordinating Clients, volunteers, student’s teachers, VIP speakers and supporting institutions.

It is to her credit that the project was such a huge success as it relied upon pinpoint accuracy in the coordinating correspondences to make sure that everyone was in the right place, at the right time and having received appropriate briefings. She also contributed significantly to the safeguarding of the students though the coordinating of media consent forms for a number of partner. She also developed and delivered the follow-up press releases that were of paramount importance to maximise the positive exposure of the project and to cement support for a 2019 project of greater magnitude.

Inge-Sarah is an exceptionally hardworking team player, who gave 100% commitment throughout and which was recognised by the Client organisations. She demonstrated a great ability to adapt throughout the project, working at all levels from CEOs to students alike. She is hugely professional and is exceptionally keen to develop to be the best she can be, such that she seeks feedback, consolidates her learning and adapts grows as a result. Her personal growth journey through the lifecycle of this project has been a pleasure to observe as she grown in confidence and capability enormously.

I have no hesitation in recommending her for the Graduate of the Year award.“

Clair Mowbray - **HAS LEFT**

Said the following about Inge-Sarah Andersen:

“This nomination is a result of the fantastic work Inge-Sarah has done, utilising her experience as a new entrant into the rail industry, to promote job opportunities and the industry more broadly to young people. This has included organising engaging events with school learners so that they consider real projects and meet experienced professional who can share experiences. Inge-Sarah has also provided her time to mentor learners and apprentices who are looking to start a career in rail. She has supported them with answering questions, providing insight and encouragement. Inge-Sarah is a role model for others, particularly women, who are considering rail as a career choice.“

Sally Pearce - **HAS LEFT**

Said the following about Inge-Sarah Andersen:

“I was fortunate to meet Inge-Sarah through the Women in Rail network in 2017 and have been impressed by her knowledge, professionalism and energy. She is passionate about engineering and has used her technical skills and personal qualities to support and motivate one of our full time learners through our College mentoring scheme.

Playing a leading role in the Fast Trackers project, Inge-Sarah collaborated with our team at the National College for High Speed Rail, gaining support from our careers advisers and from our Chief Executive Officer. I was impressed by the organizational skills which Inge- Sarah demonstrated throughout the project and her dedication to it.

Inge-Sarah also collaborated with our Commercial Finance Director. She invited him to attend a General Engineering Meeting which she organised for fellow graduates. He was given the opportunity to share his career experiences with the audience. Feedback from this event was extremely positive.

Inge-Sarah is someone who can identify and maximise opportunities, for the benefit of those around her. I am excited to watch her career progress as she is an inspiration.“

Martin Owen

Said the following about Inge-Sarah Andersen:

“Inge-Sarah was my key contact for an event at which I was speaking at that drew together graduate engineers at Network Rail's facility in Coventry. She was extremely well organized, very pleasant and professional to deal with and set me up with a clear specification of what she wanted from the event and how I could best contribute. She followed this up with occasional phone calls and emails to ensure that I was comfortable with my session. On the day, she put me in touch with the people organizing the logistics and ensured that I was in the places I needed to be. She is a great advocate of Network Rail, the rail sector and engineering and this is why I am making this nomination.“

Nicola Crocker

Said the following about Inge-Sarah Andersen:

“Inge-Sarah has a passion for Engineering and a mission to positively promote STEM careers and opportunities for all. As her engineering professional mentor for the last year I have seen her develop her technical skills and knowledge, but it is in the additional project and voluntary work she has taken on where her enthusiasm and talents shine most brightly.

Inge-Sarah is an inspirational role model, always willing to support others and this has seen her volunteer as a Network Rail Diversity and Inclusion Champion, including taking part in the Big Rail Diversity Challenge; becoming vice-chair of the Inspire Local Women’s network; mentoring a student at the National College of High Speed Rail and mentoring an AS-level student through the Social Mobility Foundation.

She is a keen STEM Ambassador, being a ‘meet the future me / STEM inspiration volunteer’ at the Big Bang Fair, mentoring a team of girls from Swanshurst School on an Engineering Education Scheme project and co-ordinating Network Rail’s presence at the Solihull Apprenticeship show.

Her leadership and organisational skills have seen her collaborating with organisations across the rail industry, as evidenced by the successful delivery of the recent Fast Trackers Programme, where she was working with graduates from other rail companies, liaising with company directors from across the industry and co-ordinating media coverage. Inge-Sarah is also actively involved with Women in Rail, Young Rail Professionals and following an invite from Group Digital Railway to speak at their ‘Future on Track’ work experience programme she got invited back to act as a judge for the student presentations.

I was personally highly impressed by Inge-Sarah’s leadership skills at the General Engineering Meeting (GEM) graduate conference, for which she acted as host for the day and where she arranged a Question Time style panel of industry senior leaders on the theme of leadership. She was a consummate professional, dealing with unsuitable questions swiftly and decisively.

Inge-Sarah demonstrates exceptional drive and determination to excel in everything she does, which is why I nominate her for ‘Graduate of the Year’.“

Kristi Fitch

Said the following about Inge-Sarah Andersen:

“I first met Inge-Sarah when she was working with the maintenance delivery teams for Signals and Telecoms. She was involved in a complex project led by the Infrastructure Maintenance Engineer, to demonstrate an asset/volume of work increase and what resource would be required. In the first meeting I had with Inge and the project team, I was instantly impressed by her appropriate challenging, inquisitive nature and overall intelligence. For a new comer to come into what can be an intimidating environment full of knowledge and acronyms, she shows bravery and such a burning personal ambition to learn. She performed complex analysis and assisted until the successful completion.

She then attended the Lean Learning 4-day Academy, in which she was shown the full methodology and efficiency tool set to identify, eliminate and keep waste away. Inge did exceptional on the academy and really understood structured continuous improvement principles. So well, that I identified her as being an early adopter for change. She demonstrated great leadership behaviours. Inge is great at debating and getting her view across in a clear concise way. I have witnessed this in numerous different environments including this one and every time I am awestruck with her varied knowledge. From women’s rights, politics, change, culture, - whatever the subject she has read the book and has some amazing insights! Her fresh eyes, along with her ability to ask the right questions I am confident will ensure she exceeds in NWR.

I would highly recommend Inge for the Graduate of the year, she certainly is with me.“