At the age of 19, she was awarded the Young Engineers Clubs' "Young Engineer for Britain", and during a gap year Year in Industry before a then-planned mechanical engineering degree at Imperial College, McGovern was a junior member of Black & Decker's Six Sigma team in Spennymoor, saving Black & Decker £150,000 a year by improving production techniques used for the Leaf Hog (Blower/Vacuum/Mulcher) later receiving EEF/Year in Industry Award for Contribution to the Business.