Young, bright, female - and an Engineer!

So why is it that only 20% of all engineers in the UK are women and of those only 6% are professionals in an industry that increasingly values them?

Is it because still there are simply not enough women role models in this male dominated profession?.

'The Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award' seeks to redress this and IIE is seeking a bright, ambitious and outgoing young woman to receive the 2003 Award.

As the most prestigious National Award for Women Engineers in the UK, 'The Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award' for 2003 follows on from the success of the last year when Helena Hutt, an ICA technician employed by Thames Water, beat 5 other finalists to win the Award.

With her title came the responsibility of raising awareness of engineering as a rewarding career path for women; a challenge that 25 year old Helena was keen to embrace.

As an excellent role model and ambassador, Helena's fame has led to national and regional newspaper coverage, appearances on television and radio, and invitations to attend national and regional events.

But the search for the 2003 winner starts now and, like Helena, this year's winner will be a dynamic and technically excellent engineer who has charisma and is able to project success in the press, on television and radio, at public events, and in visits to schools and colleges.

Jointly sponsored by IIE and The Caroline Haslett Memorial Trust, the winner of the award will receive a cheque for ?1,000 and a silver rose bowl at a national ceremony in London this autumn.

The runner-up will receive the WISE prize of ?500 (WISE - Women Into Science and Engineering).

The Ford WISE Prize, now in its second year hopes to build on the last year's success.

Sponsored by The Ford Motor Company and WISE (Women Into Science and Engineering) and supported by IEE, IIE and IMechE, the award promotes women who choose engineering as a discipline for their careers and aims to acknowledge outstanding female engineering students in their penultimate year of study.

There are as last year two categories and therefore two prizes of ?500: one for students on a four year MEng or BEng course forming the academic foundation for Chartered Engineer registration; and one for students studying on a three year BScEng or BEng course forming the academic foundation for Incorporated Engineer registration.

For further information and to download a nomination form visit the website.

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