Hundreds of nominations from across the UK for the nine categories have been shortlisted to leave 27 finalists battling it out in the Semta Skills Awards 2016.
For the first time each individual award category has at least one female engineer in the final.
The categories are:
- Apprentice of The Year
- Higher Apprentice of The Year
- Graduate of The Year
- Skills Champion of The Year
- Skills Innovation of The Year
- Training Partner of The Year
- SME Investment in Skills
- Technician of the Year
- Diversity in Engineering
The winners will be revealed at a gala awards dinner in London’s Hilton Hotel on Park Lane, on February 10, hosted by BBC journalist, presenter and engineering advocate Steph McGovern.
CEO of Semta, Ann Watson explained: “Women are under-represented in the industry so it is fantastic to see so many nominated and making it to the final.
“We need 800,000 engineers by 2020 and we will only get there if more women are inspired to take engineering up as a career.
For a full list of finalists and for more details, visit www.semta.org.uk/skillsawards
Academic ‘snobbery’
Following the recent announcement that forthcoming legislation will outlaw academic ‘snobbery’ which favours university admission – rather than vocational pathways to work, Watson commented: “This is music to our ears!”
“Semta has been campaigning for many years to end the damaging snobbery which corrodes our economy.
“Unfortunately, academics and ill-informed parents with out-of-date perceptions of apprenticeships have been limiting the career options of the young people in their charge.
“I applaud any measures that will ensure our young people are properly briefed about the life choices open to them.”
