MBE for work in the field of engineering

Susan Bird, 67, received the honour as a mark of her work as a consultant acoustic engineer and for her efforts in trying to get more women into the field of engineering.

Mrs Bird, who said it was a complete surprise when she opened the letter from the palace has enjoyed a varied career and during the mid 1970s she worked on Concorde where she specialised in monitoring flyover noise.

She said: “It was exciting because we got to see the planes in flight.”

Later Mrs Bird worked at Greater London Council within the noise department, however when this was abolished she moved on to become a partner at Bird Acoustics based in Princes Risborough.

There she worked on the designing and monitoring of noise levels around big planning developments.

Mrs Bird has also been a member of the Women’s Engineering Society for 44 years, with two spells as president.

She said: “There are more women in engineering now but it has been a fight.”

She retired from Bird Acoustics in 2008 and lives in Shootacre Lane with her husband Peter, also a retired acoustic engineer.