IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year 2024 winners
These prestigious engineering industry awards celebrate women working in modern engineering – and aim to help change the perception that engineering is predominantly a career for men by banishing outdated engineering stereotypes of hard hats and dirty overalls.
Young Woman Engineer of the Year
Marisa Kurimbokus
Marisa Kurimbokus is a Chartered Engineer with a career spanning over a decade in product design and systems engineering within the automotive and power electronics industries, including Jaguar Land Rover, Triumph Motorcycles and Lyra Electronics. In her work, she has led a multi-disciplinary engineering design team and has been responsible for all engineering activities, including the delivery of projects, R&D, design, testing, and prototyping.
Marisa keenly supports engineers at all levels, and STEM is a huge passion for her, fuelled by her lack of guidance and inspirational role models when she was a student. She has been listed in the Top 50 Women in Engineering: Inventors and Innovators in 2022 for her work in net-zero and green technology.
Womens Engineering Society Prize Winner
Natalie Parker
Natalie Parker is a Technical Specialist/Manager for the Operational Technology Group at Sellafield Ltd. She provides technical advice and project support to front-line engineering teams. She is a line manager to 9 and supports the different facility-facing teams to enable an offsite location to allow engineers to share problems, innovate ideas and learn from experience.
Natalie is co-lead of Sellafield’s Women in Technology group, which helps achieve gender balance at all levels within the department. She also developed a primary school workshop called ‘Get Wired…Get Coding’ to introduce students in Years 5 and 6 to electrical circuits and programming through fun interactive activities and show how STEM skills can be utilised in careers.
Mary George Memorial Prize for Apprentices Winner
Alexia Williams
Alexia Williams is a Through Life Technical Lead for Rolls-Royce Plc. Alexia works to improve assets throughout their life, utilising data and information collected to make informed decisions to extend the products operation life and reduce maintenance periods. She joined Rolls-Royce in 2018 as an Engineering Degree Apprentice doing a BEng in Aerospace Engineering at the University of the West of England.
As a STEM ambassador, Alexia has contributed over 200 hours during the last year promoting STEM to the younger generation through Air Shows, Careers Fairs, Conferences and in schools. She is passionate about encouraging more women into engineering especially via an apprenticeship.
Gender diversity ambassador award winner
Brigid Smith
Brigid is a passionate advocate for equal opportunities, dedicating many years of her career to fostering diversity and inclusion (D&I) within the tech industry. Her D&I journey began in 2017 at Imagination Technologies, where she co-founded the Women in Tech (WIT) group. In collaboration with HR, this initiative aimed to enhance the hiring and retention of women and other minorities, setting the stage for a more inclusive workplace.
Brigid’s influence extends to her pivotal role in the Technical Women in Intel (TWIN) UK committee. As a key member, she has been instrumental in the chapter's development, contributing to its recognition as an award-winning entity. Her involvement in TWIN UK events, particularly the drop-in mentoring series, has provided invaluable support to many. These sessions feature a diverse range of influential speakers discussing topics such as change agency, business acumen, presentation skills, and decision-making, offering on-the-spot mentoring to all attendees.
As part of her committee work, Brigid has organised numerous workshops addressing critical issues like unconscious bias and has led events designed to boost employee confidence and skills. Her commitment to outreach is evident through her participation in university workshops and speed interviewing sessions, where she helps bridge the gap between academia and industry.
As a mentor, Brigid supports engineers of all genders, contributing to their professional growth. Her involvement in Intel’s mentor circle program further underscores her dedication to nurturing the next generation of tech talent.
Brigid Smith's efforts in promoting gender diversity have made a significant impact, inspiring many to follow in her footsteps and strive for a more equitable tech industry.
Highly commended for Mary George Memorial Prize
Erin Lowe
Erin Lowe is an Apprentice Electrical Engineer at Yamazaki Mazak UK. Erin is in the third year of her electrical apprenticeship, which specialises in the CV5-500 production line. She has also delivered customer and public educational tours of the European Manufacturing plant, attended numerous career and trade fairs, given countless outreach presentations, and supported our cadetship programme regularly.
Erin is involved in various STEM initiatives, including being the head judge at the final of the Primary STEM Challenge hosted at Mazak, where the goal was to inspire young minds into a career in engineering.
Finalists
Salma Al Arefi
Salma Al Arefi is a Lecturer in Engineering Education at the University of Leeds. Salma holds a PhD in Computing and Electronic Systems. She is an award-winning Lecturer in Engineering Education and Academic Lead for Inclusivity and Student Success at the School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Leeds. She teaches and supports the learning of the next generation of engineers, focusing mainly on renewable energy systems.
In 2020, Salma was elected by the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) as a Fellow in recognition of sustained encouragement in assisting the society (nationally and internationally) to break boundaries for women in STEM. Her contribution and added value to the women in science was specially commended by the 2020 Water Women at Leeds Award.