A young engineer from Barrow-in-Furness has been shortlisted for the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Young Woman Engineer (YWE) of the Year Awards 2020.
Denize Ivy Pilarta, 21, is 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.
With three prizes to be won – the Young Woman Engineer (YWE) of the Year Award, the Mary George Memorial Prize for Apprentices and the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) Prize – Denize is up against:
- Bethany Probert (23), a Junior Software Engineer at Altran UK
- Ella Podmore (25), a Materials Engineer for McLaren Automotive
- Neera Kukadia (28), a Project Engineer at Transport for London
- Shrouk El-Attar (28), an Electronic Engineer at Elvie
- Melanie Jimenez (33), a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow at the James Watt School of
- Engineering, University of Glasgow
Commenting on becoming a finalist, Denize said: “From an early age, it was evident that females are majorly under-represented in STEM professions; which motivated me to pursue a career where I could break all misconceptions of what it means to work within a male-dominated field.
“I am extremely grateful to be named a finalist for the YWE awards, where I have been given a great opportunity to showcase my story as a young woman in STEM. Through being an enthusiastic ambassador, I hope to inspire the next generation of young girls to pursue their passion for STEM and aspire for professions where they could represent the future face of the industry.”
As well as highlighting female engineering talent, the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards seek to find role models who can help address the UK science and engineering skills crisis by promoting engineering careers to more girls and women. Just 12% of those working in engineering occupations are women (source: Engineering UK).
2019 Young Woman Engineer of the Year, Ying Wan Loh, said: “The IET’s YWE award is the most prestigious award for early career women in engineering in the UK. Since winning, I’ve had the chance to collaborate with a BAFTA-winning celebrity, a famous sportsperson and many senior members in the engineering community.
“With this platform, I’ve been able to raise awareness for STEM in wildly interesting and creative ways. The YWE award is recognised internationally and I’ve received invitations to give talks abroad and was also recognised in Forbes 2020 30 under 30 list.
“The IET gives female engineers a voice to be heard and I am using this platform to raise the profile of women in STEM. Representation matters, and I am so grateful to the IET for giving me this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to inspire young people everywhere to become engineers.”
Jo Foster, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at the IET said: “Engineering is a fantastic career – it’s diverse and exciting with the opportunity to do something life- or even world-changing. But the lack of women in the sector is a huge problem.
“The difficulty in attracting women into engineering is down to a combination of things, including a lack of understanding around what engineering is, perceived gender norms, the image of engineers within the UK, careers advice girls are given in schools and the way that companies with engineering roles advertise their opportunities.
“It’s also a result of the lack of engineering role models for girls, which is why our Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards are all about finding role models to get girls and the next generation excited and inspired about a career in engineering.
“I’d like to congratulate Bethany, Ella, Neera, Melanie, Shrouk and Denize for making the final six and in helping to demonstrate the tremendous female engineering talent in our industry today.”
The winner will be announced at the IET’s Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards ceremony on Thursday 4 March 2021. For more information, visit https://youngwomenengineer.theiet.org/
The IET will also be hosting a webinar on 3 December, giving people the chance to meet this year’s YWE finalists and find out more about them and the outstanding work they are doing, as well as ask the finalists questions in a live Q&A session. Details of the webinar will be shared across the IET’s social media channels in due course.
This year’s YWE Awards are being sponsored by BAE Systems, Boeing, BP, Collins Aerospace, Frazer-Nash, GCHQ, Leonardo, MBDA, Ofcom, RAF, Royal Mail, Teledyne e2v, Thales and Wiley.
