INVITATION ONLY
This mentoring meeting is designed for students, graduates, and early to mid career engineers who want practical guidance to progress with clarity and confidence. Dialogue will explore progression and skill development, how to sell yourself authentically, and navigate the realities of entering (and thriving in) industry. Participants are encouraged to submit questions in advance so the dialogue can be shaped around the backgrounds, interests, and challenges in the room.
A key feature of the session is its flexible and inclusive approach. Lydia will create a supportive space where participants are seen, heard and valued—regardless of discipline, sector interest, or prior experience. We welcome mid-career professions who could gain insights from younger engineers to attend, so learning flows both ways.
What you can expect to cover (tailored to the group):
• Understanding early career opportunities and the interdisciplinary engineering landscape
• Building a future ready skill set: identifying strengths, gaps, and development priorities aligned to your next steps.
• Presenting yourself with impact: articulating your value, evidence and potential in applications, interviews and networking.
• Growing confidence, visibility and momentum early in your career.
• Reverse mentoring mindsets to double the impact
You’ll leave with clearer next steps, renewed confidence, and actionable ideas you can apply immediately - whether you’re exploring options, applying for roles, or planning your next career move.
Since becoming a new Fellow in 2025, Lydia is even more energised to support every young engineer to see what is possible in the long term. Lydia is passionate about developing the next generation of engineers and broadening participation in STEM, frequently mentoring emerging leaders while contributing to professional bodies and industry forums.
Accessibility
It is very important to the Royal Academy of Engineering that our events are accessible to all. If you have any accessibility requirements, please contact Kirsty Chishti at your earliest convenience so that necessary arrangements can be made.
Diversity monitoring form
The Academy is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and one of our goals is to develop an engineering community fit for the future. To help us achieve this, we would like to collect some basic anonymous data about the event attendees. If you would like to help, please complete the diversity monitoring form by logging into your user account on our website and completing ‘Update my D&I data’.
Lydia Balogun-Wilson FREng
Lydia Balogun-Wilson (C.Eng., FREng, FEI, FIChemE) is an engineering and operations leader with almost three decades of experience delivering multi-billion-dollar energy projects and operational turnarounds across the North Sea, Caspian, and African regions. As bp’s Regional Technical Director (Engineering Authority) for the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Türkiye region, she provides technical governance and assurance across the region, driving reliability, safety, and value creation at scale. A Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Energy Institute, and the Institution of Chemical Engineers, Lydia has held senior leadership roles spanning asset optimisation, brownfield/late-life strategy, major projects, and digital transformation. She has led cross-functional teams to unlock production, reduce Operation Expenditure , and strengthen barrier health through pragmatic engineering, robust risk management, and data-informed decision-making. An early champion of digital twins and AI-enabled reliability, she integrates modern analytics with disciplined engineering practice to improve uptime, reduce emissions, and accelerate decarbonisation. Lydia's work operates at the intersection of technical excellence, commercial discipline, and organisational health; helping operators deliver safer, cleaner, and more profitable energy systems. Lydia is also passionate about developing the next generation of engineers and broadening participation in STEM, frequently mentoring emerging leaders while contributing to professional bodies and industry forums.
About the Experts in Dialogue series
We welcome awardees to register to attend one online event for this year’s Experts in Dialogue series, connecting a Fellow with a small group of up to 6 community members around a common theme. Each meeting will last 90 minutes and provide an opportunity for our awardees and Fellows to engage in meaningful dialogue, share insights and learn from each other.
All attendees will be required to complete their entry into the Awardee Directory so you will easily be able to find and connect with the people you meet before during and after the event.