As one of the largest engineering institutions, the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) promotes engineering and technology careers to young girls and women, helping them to see that engineering provides an exciting, creative and rewarding career option.

As part of the Institution's focus, they have announced the winners of their prestigious annual awards, prizes and scholarships.

The IET celebrates exceptional STEM women in the following categories:

• IET Achievement Medals recognise individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to the advancement of science, engineering or technology
• Apprentice and Technician Awards celebrate apprentices or individuals in technical support roles who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to engineering and technology
• IET Postgraduate Scholarships and Prizes

Meet the women awarded for their excellence as we celebrate their impressive achievements.

Congratulations Thilini Wasundara as the Paul Fletcher Medal winner

Thilini Wasundara has won the IET's Paul Fletcher Medal for her outstanding volunteering contribution as Chair of the IET Young Professionals Sri Lanka, member of the Young Professionals Committee, and an IET Young Professionals Ambassador.

She was instrumental in organising the Young Woman Engineer (YWE) Sri Lanka award in 2017, the first IET YWE award ceremony outside of the UK.

She was recognised by the IET Sri Lanka Young Professionals Network for her outstanding role in promoting STEM among young women in Sri Lanka through the YWE award.

Thilini is also working on the IET’s 150 celebration event in Sri Lanka and was a member of the Volunteer Communications Working Party in 2020.

Congratulations Lauren Burns for the Engineering and Technology Apprentice Award

Early careers engineer Lauren Burns has won the IET's Engineering and Technology Apprentice Award.

Lauren has recently graduated from her final year as a Software Engineer on the Kainos Earn as you Learn Apprenticeship scheme.

She is a software engineer working on large-scale government projects designed to improve the lives of millions living across the UK.

She’s been an active member of the tech community in Northern Ireland for the past five years and has built multiple educational programmes to achieve her goal of inspiring young people to enter the tech industry.

In 2020 she won the Women Who Code global hackathon with a machine learning solution that predicts the likelihood that a patient admitted to hospital with Covid-19 would require admittance to the ICU.

Congratulations Elaine Greig for The IET Volunteer Medal

Elaine Greig receives the IET Volunteer Medal for her outstanding contribution to the IET Energy Policy Expert Volunteer Panel.

As a leader and influential role model across the renewable energy industry, Elaine has led from the front in terms of thought leadership and was the key author of the highly acclaimed Offshore Energy Landscaping Report.

Elaine has supported the IET PR and Communication teams with articles and podcasts for House Magazine, leading the debate on the Net Zero and Energy Transition alongside politicians, industry experts, and academia.

Her engagement has led to an increasingly high profile for the Energy Policy Panel and the wider IET Strategic Engagement and Policy team.

Congratulations Jennifer Morris for the Leslie H Paddle Scholarship

Jennifer Morris earns the £5000 IET Leslie H Paddle Scholarship thanks to her pioneering research.

Jennifer Morris is a PhD student in Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde.

Her research focuses on the control of power electronic converters for connecting offshore wind farms to weak AC networks via HVDC. The ongoing shift from synchronous generation (oil, coal and gas) to renewable energy is causing power systems worldwide to become ‘weaker’. This raises significant stability issues for the power electronic converters which interface renewable generation and HVDC transmission links to the grid.

Using a variety of stability analysis, simulation, and hardware methods, Jennifer’s research aims to better understand and quantify the mechanisms causing instability for power converters in weak grids. She hopes to develop new, improved control strategies and investigate the impact of multi-infeed HVDC on system stability.

The Leslie H Paddle Scholarship will help Jennifer to engage in industry and academic collaborations within her research, publish findings, and reach out to younger generations through STEM ambassador events.

Congratulations Stephanie Adeyemo on The IET Postgraduate Research Prize

Stephanie Adeyemo is a PhD student in Electrical Engineering at the University of Cambridge. She is an alumna of Swansea University where she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering.

Her PhD research work focuses on utilising terahertz spectroscopy, a contact-free and non-destructive optical characterisation technique, to study the optoelectronic properties of nanomaterials particularly of tin-based metal halide perovskites and nanowires. By studying the optoelectronic properties of these materials, she gains insight into the fundamental photophysical mechanisms important to guide the development of high performing devices for applications such as photovoltaics.

The IET Postgraduate Research Prize will enable Stephanie to explore new research ideas which will form the basis of her postdoctoral research and give her the opportunity to present at international conferences.

Congratulations Eva Bestelink, IET Postgraduate Prize

IET Postgraduate Prize winner is Eva Bestelink, a PhD student at the Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, where she is supervised by Dr Radu Sporea.

Prior to her BEng degree, Eva was a mature student undergoing a career change. During her MSc in Neuroscience, she discovered mind-controlled prosthetics and decided to pursue a career in robotics. However, without the required STEM degree or relevant A-Levels, particularly mathematics, Eva had to make the decision between a PhD in an unrelated field or start over.  Fortunately, universities offer engineering foundation years and Eva completed hers at Kingston University, which paved the way for her acceptance at University of Surrey for her BEng in Electronic Engineering. Soon after joining, Eva quickly realised that semiconductor devices were her true calling and could see parallels between neural behaviour and unconventional ways of operating transistors. This was the inspiration behind the invention of the multimodal transistor.

During her BEng in Electronic Engineering with Nanotechnology, she co-invented with Dr Sporea a new type of thin-film transistor (TFT), the multimodal transistor (MMT), which is now the main focus of her doctoral research. The MMT’s operation differs from conventional TFTs, contributing to advanced functionality with robust performance in a compact footprint. As such, it is highly suited to low-cost, high-throughput manufacturing methods, for example roll-to-roll or inkjet printing.

Eva aims to continue her work on the MMT, developing circuits and applications in high-throughput processes, towards developing energy-efficient and eco-disposable sensors for the Internet of Things.

Supported by the IET Postgraduate Award, Eva plans to reach out to young innovators and women in engineering, as well as develop scientific learning materials aimed at young children.

Receive the recognition you deserve from the IET

The IET celebrates women's achievements - and it wants you to be part of it.

The organization offers fantastic opportunities, so seize the visibility and recognition you deserve in engineering and technology fields.

Get involved with The IET's brilliant programme of activity each year.

Find out more