A few weeks ago, I attended a service at Lancaster Methodist Church. I practise a different faith tradition, but moments of reflection can speak across communities and backgrounds. During the service, we sang a hymn that asked whether we would keep going when the path is difficult, use our voice when silence feels easier, and trust that the path we walk now can shape those who come after us.
One line stayed with me: “Will you use your voice?". I carried that question after the service. At first, I thought about it personally. Then I thought about engineering.
For International Women in Engineering Day 2026, #engineeringintelligence invites us to think about intelligence broadly. Artificial intelligence and automation are reshaping engineering. In structural engineering, these tools are already changing how we analyse materials, predict performance and make design decisions. In my work as a structural fire engineer and academic, I use numerical modelling, machine learning and explainable AI to understand how structures and materials behave under extreme conditions, particularly fire.
I believe these tools are useful. They can reveal hidden patterns, support safer and more sustainable decisions, and handle complexity at a scale and speed that would have taken much longer before.
But the more I work with AI, the more convinced I become that engineering intelligence cannot be reduced to algorithms. It must include judgement, ethics, courage, empathy and personal growth. AI can process data, but it cannot carry responsibility for how people are affected by our decisions. It cannot understand what it means to be the only woman in a room, decide when someone should speak up for a colleague, or show how to mentor a young engineer into believing that they belong.
Those are human forms of intelligence. They matter.
My own journey in structural engineering has been shaped by encouragement and difficulty. I have experienced the joy of finding my place in a profession I love, and moments where I had to work harder to be heard, remain confident, and continue when the path felt narrow. As a woman of colour in engineering, I know what it means to carry ambition and doubt at the same time, and to celebrate progress while still experiencing barriers.
For a long time, I thought professional growth meant becoming stronger in the technical sense: publishing more, teaching better, developing high-impact research ideas and building expertise. All of that matters. However, I have learned that growth also means becoming more honest: telling my story without hiding the difficult parts, speaking about exclusion without losing generosity, and sharing success without pretending that the journey was simple.
That is why I often share my experience as a woman of colour in structural engineering openly. Honest stories can change the atmosphere in a room. They can help a student, an early-career engineer, or a colleague realise that they are not alone. They can also help those with influence understand that inclusion is lived through how they navigate everyday interactions and support others.
I have been fortunate to experience that support in impactful ways. The Institution of Structural Engineers, particularly the Scottish Regional Group Committee, has been a model of inclusive professional culture. When I joined the committee, I was still finding my place, but I was met with warmth and generosity. I describe the group as a ‘professional family’ that opened its heart to an outsider, and I remain especially grateful to Andrew Gotts, who was the Chair, Laura Clow, and the all the committee members who valued and included me.
That sense of belonging became especially deep when I received the Best Structural Engineering Researcher/Lecturer Award at the Scottish Structural Engineering People Awards 2023. During the awards, William Crowe said something about me that I have never forgotten, that I was “a ray of light” in the Committee. Every person needs moments when they feel part of something bigger than themselves. My time with the Scottish Regional Group Committee gave me that feeling.
I have also been shaped by outstanding mentors. To name a few, Dr Lee Cunningham at the University of Manchester has been a great mentor and steady source of support. Professor Katherine Cashell at UCL has been an inspiring example of leadership, excellence and generosity. I have also been fortunate to learn from Dr John Gales at York University in Canada, whose mentorship in structural fire engineering has been deeply important. Seeing these people lead with both technical strength and humanity has reminded me that the kind of engineer I want to become is defined not only by research outputs, but by how I support others.
Another moment I return to often came from my teaching at Abertay University. A student who had been in my classes for two years told me that, after listening to our conversations and seeing how I spoke about women in engineering, he had been motivated to stand up for a female colleague at work. He said he had done it because of our conversations. Motivating these actions is exactly why I share my experiences openly.
As academics, we often measure impact through citations, grants, professional roles and project outcomes. These are important. But sometimes impact looks like one student choosing to act differently, recognising unfairness, and deciding not to stay silent. Sometimes it looks like a young person carrying a classroom conversation into the real world. That, to me, is also engineering intelligence.
For true engineering intelligence, technical excellence and professional culture cannot be separated. A safe structure is not produced by calculations alone. It is produced by people who can question assumptions, challenge poor practice, listen actively and act responsibly. In the age of AI, these qualities become even more important, because powerful tools require thoughtful users.
If we are serious about engineering intelligence in the age of AI, we must also be serious about responsible professional cultures. We need engineers who can understand data but also understand people. We need innovation, but also inclusion. We need intelligence that is computational, technical, ethical and human.
INWED is a celebration, but it is also an invitation. It invites us to recognise women shaping engineering and ask who is still missing from the room. For me, #engineeringintelligence is about the courage to grow, remain open after difficult experiences, accept support when it comes, and use your voice with grace, even when conversation is uncomfortable.
It is also about asking difficult questions: are we willing to let go of some privilege, comfort or certainty to walk this path with others? I walk this hard path anyway, as many women, women of colour and underrepresented engineers have always had to do. The question is whether the wider profession is ready to walk it with us, not as observers, but as active companions in change.
That Sunday in Lancaster, although the hymn came from a faith tradition different from my own, its questions stayed. It returned to the cost of walking a difficult path, and the responsibility we carry for those who come after. I heard that as a personal question, but also as a professional one.
As women in engineering, mentors, colleagues and members of professional institutions, we are walking a path that will shape the future of the profession. Some parts are joyful. Some require courage and willingness to keep standing when silence would be easier.
In the age of AI, I hope we remember the human intelligence that brought many of us here: courage, care, perseverance and the willingness to use our voice. That is the engineering intelligence I want to keep building. So perhaps the question is not whether I will continue to walk this path. I already am. The question is: will you leave some of your leverage, comfort and certainty behind, and join me?
Dr Rwayda Al-Hamd is a Chartered Structural Engineer MIStructE and a Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw Fellow in Structural Engineering at The University of Manchester. Her research develops structural fire safety and trustworthy AI for structural health monitoring. She uses innovative approaches that combine numerical modelling, digital image correlation, and explainable AI to forward climate-resilient solutions for structural and civil engineering challenges.