Our 2020 finalists are:
Shrouk El-Attar, an Electronics Engineer at Elvie. She engineers smart tech that improves the lives of cis women and trans men, whilst breaking down barriers and smashing taboos. Shrouk previously worked with surgeons operating on the eye, on IoT Tech at Intel and at Fujitsu in Kawasaki and did her master’s research in Electron Spin Resonance (ESR). Shrouk has been a STEM Ambassador since 2011, teaching children about engineering solutions and most recently headed up a project, teaching maths to children of refugees.
Denize Ivy Pilarta, an Apprentice Non-Destructive Examination Engineering Technician at BAE Systems Submarines. She is responsible for ensuring the structural integrity of submarines, working alongside technicians confirming critical components are free from unwanted defects. As a passionate STEM ambassador, Denize supports many educational events including World Skills Live UK and ‘The Road to Engineering’ hosted by BAE. She has been awarded ‘MAKE UK Engineering Apprentice of the Year: Rising Star National Winner’ for her dedication to continuously improve, and actively promotes the endless possibilities within STEM to young girls.
Bethany Probert, a Junior Software Engineer at Altran UK, working in the High Integrity Software Centre. Bethany is on a graduate apprenticeship scheme and her work involves developing and testing safety-critical software to help keep people safe in their everyday lives. She is also a member of the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Young Professionals Board where she advocates for gender diversity in STEM and aims to inspire the next generation of women.
Dr Melanie Jimenez, a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at the James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow. She leads a research group focusing on rapid and cost-effective systems to improve environmental and medical diagnostics. Melanie’s work crosses the engineering, science, clinical and social science disciplines to help achieve a healthier world. Her passion for art and science communication led her to develop a wide range of award-winning engagement activities to promote engineering. The excellence of her research and engagement work has been recognised by several institutions and funding agencies.
Neera Kukadia, a Project Engineer at Transport for London. Neera works in the Major Projects Directorate, where she is currently managing works on the Elephant & Castle Station Capacity Upgrade Project. She has been a STEM ambassador for five years, working with girls’ schools in underrepresented boroughs in East London encouraging and inspiring young girls into the engineering industry. Since completing her MEng at Brighton University, Neera now volunteers in the university’s BAME mentor programme.
Ella Podmore, a Materials Engineer for McLaren Automotive. She is responsible for all the material investigations in the business across all development phases of the supercars; from concept drawings, all the way to customers in the field. Balancing her time between experiments and leading technical meetings, Ella created this department from the ground-up and plans to demonstrate the importance of materials in the automotive industry even further. As the leading STEM ambassador for McLaren Group, Ella launched the McLaren x Blue Peter drawing competition and was placed as Autocar’s Top 10 ‘Rising Star’ in 2019.
For the second year running, we’ll also be awarding the Gender Diversity Ambassador Award to an individual who has spent a large proportion of their career committed to addressing the gender imbalance within their profession.
Meet our finalists!
Join us virtually on Thursday 3 December at 1pm to meet our final six and find out about the amazing work they are doing to engineer a better world.
