HORIBA MIRA Celebrates Success at Autocar Great Women: Rising Stars Awards 2025
30 April 2025
HORIBA MIRA Celebrates Success at Autocar Great Women: Rising Stars Awards 2025
HORIBA MIRA is proud to announce that three of its team members have been recognised in the prestigious Autocar Great Women: Rising Stars 2025 awards, with Shani Roberts named as a winner in the Talent category.
The Autocar initiative, run in partnership with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), celebrates the up-and-coming stars of the British automotive industry. Following a thorough judging process by industry experts, three of HORIBA MIRA’s nominations were successfully selected for this year’s list.
Shani Roberts, Business Partner for Skills, was named as a category winner for her leadership in championing talent development across both HORIBA MIRA and the wider industry. Shani has been instrumental in the delivery of impactful initiatives such as the MIRA Academy, multi-company work experience programmes, and STEM engagement activities that have reached over 1,300 young people in the last year alone.
I’m incredibly grateful to have been named a winner in this year’s awards,” said Shani. “My journey with HORIBA MIRA over the past 22 years has been shaped by a shared commitment to developing talent and creating real impact, especially through the Skills programmes and partnerships we’ve grown. This recognition reflects the dedication of everyone involved in making these initiatives a success.
Shani Roberts, Business Partner for Skills
Joining Shani on the 2025 list are Robyn Spence, a Functional Safety Engineer recognised in the Vehicle Development category, and Lesha Summers, Senior Marketing Specialist for Events, honoured in the Marketing category.
Since joining HORIBA MIRA as a graduate in 2019, Robyn has played a key role in delivering cutting-edge functional safety work for advanced driver assistance and automated vehicle systems. Her work has contributed to high-impact industry projects, from safety validation of luxury electric vehicles to the development of autonomous systems for HGVs.
It’s an honour to be included in this year’s list among so many inspiring women,” Robyn commented. “Coming into engineering from a mathematics background has had its challenges, but HORIBA MIRA has supported my growth every step of the way. I’m particularly proud of the work we’re doing to make future mobility safer and more resilient.
Robyn Spence, Functional Safety Engineer
Lesha, who joined HORIBA MIRA in 2023, has made a significant impact on the company’s event strategy, leading the delivery of high-profile engagements and launching the newly opened event space on-site at HORIBA MIRA.
Being recognised in the Great Women awards is such a proud moment, not just for me, but for the whole HORIBA MIRA team that I collaborate with every day,” Lesha said. “I’m passionate about creating events that reflect the innovation and ambition of our industry, and I’m excited about what’s to come, especially with our new event space opening up even more opportunities to bring people together.
Lesha Summers, Senior Marketing Specialist for Events.
Lisa Rowles, HORIBA’s Global HR Strategy Leader and HORIBA MIRA Global People Director, said:
We are absolutely delighted to see Lesha, Robyn and Shani recognised in this year’s Autocar Great Women: Rising Stars awards. Each of them plays a vital role in shaping the future of our industry, whether that’s through world-class events, breakthrough engineering, or the development of the next generation of talent. Their achievements reflect the depth of expertise and passion we have across HORIBA MIRA and the global HORIBA Group.
Celebrating in Our New State-of-the-Art Event Space
All those recognised in the awards were celebrated at an industry event held by Autocar on 30 April, hosted this year in ‘The Atrium’ HORIBA MIRA’s newly opened event space. Located at the front of site, this versatile space is part of HORIBA MIRA’s vision to encourage greater collaboration, training, and thought leadership from the heart of its Nuneaton campus.
For more information about hosting events at HORIBA MIRA’s facilities, please visit our Events and Filming page.
