The Vision Awards celebrate the achievements of engineers who are not only doing excellent engineering, but who are inspiring other young people into the profession. They are fulfilling the Institution’s vision to improve the world through engineering - by inspiring, preparing and supporting tomorrow’s engineers to respond to society’s challenges.
The Institution's President, Jon Hilton, said: “This annual ceremony is an important way of recognising the young people who will be the future of our industry. The Vision and Prestige Awards raise the profile of budding as well as successful engineers. They all talk about the exciting world of engineering, and I believe that this will encourage even more to join them.”
The principal winners recognised at the ceremony were:
Undergraduate Visionary: Katie Winkle
Katie Winkle has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bristol and is now doing a PhD based at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory. She has been a long time STEM volunteer visiting schools and also teaching at a local children’s hospital, acting as a superb inspiration to those she meets.
Young Member Visionary: Matthew Marson
Matthew Marson IEng MIMechE is a Consultant at Accenture where he advises large companies on digitised real estate and how to design and operate their spaces. He is responsible for the Corporate Citizenship initiative within Accenture, and has also worked with Engineers Without Borders and VSO.
EngTech Visionary: Keith Wylie
Keith Wylie completed his apprenticeship while with the RAF before becoming the UK Engineering Manager at Heat Trace Ltd. He is a committed supporter of EngTech registrations, and encourages apprentices not only to be professionally registered but also continually update their skills and embrace lifelong learning.
Whitworth Visionary: Sophie Morrison
Sophie Morrison joined BAE Systems on their Nuclear Engineering Trainee Scheme. Having completed her apprenticeship, she did a part time degree in Mechanical Engineering. She is now doing a PhD at the University of Cambridge looking at the management of the UK plutonium stockpile.
Jacob Wilshaw, Apprentice of the Year winner
Apprentice of the Year: Jacob Wilshaw
Jake Wilshaw completed his Advanced Apprenticeship with Siemens in Congleton, and now works in their industrial engineering department. He is a STEM ambassador and mentors school children on the Siemens Rollercoaster Challenge. He also champions apprenticeships locally and nationally, including an appearance at the Houses of Parliament.
EngTech of the Year: Katja Srbljanin
Katja Srbljanin EngTech is a Senior Technical Communications Engineer in Technical Data Services at Siemens, Aero-Derivative Gas Turbines (AGT) in Warwick. She is on the Siemens Warwick STEM committee setting the STEM strategy and coordinating events in the local community and schools.
Modern Day Visionary: Suzi Gray
Sqn Ldr Suzie Gray IEng MIMechE has a degree in Aerospace Engineering from Southampton University and is in the RAF. She is keen to demonstrate the potential of engineering careers within the RAF, and has hosted girls at RAF Cosford to get hands-on experience of engineering.
Thomas Hawksley Gold Medal: Hayato Yoshino, Takumi Hosoya, Hiroshi Yabuno, Shihpin Lin and Yoshihiro Suda
The group won the Medal for their paper: ‘Theoretical and experimental analyses on stabilization of hunting motion by utilizing the traction motor as a passive gyroscopic damper’.
George Stephenson Gold Medal: Bridget Eickhoff, Laura Mazzola, Yann Bezin, Gareth Tucker, Hinnerk Stadtmann, Andreas Haigermoser, Hugues Chollet and Jérémy Landais.
They won the Medal for their paper: ‘Track loading limits and cross-acceptance of vehicle approvals’.
The Award for Risk Reduction in Mechanical Engineering: Daeil Kim, Seibum B Choi and Mooryong Choi
They won this award for their paper: ‘Integrated vehicle mass estimation for vehicle safety control using the recursive least-squares method and adaptation laws’.
James Watt International Gold Medal: Professor Dame Ann Dowling
Professor Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FREng FRS CEng HonFIMechE is Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Cambridge, a non-executive Director of BP plc, a member of the Board of BEIS and a technical consultant to Rolls-Royce. She has been awarded this medal for her work associated with efficient, low emission combustion; and understanding, modelling and reducing the noise from cars, helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Professor Anne Neville received the James Clayton Prize
The James Clayton Prize: Professor Anne Neville
Professor Anne Neville FREng, FRSE, FRSA, FIMechE, FIM, BEng, PhD, CEng, MICorr holds the Chair in Tribology and Surface Engineering at Leeds University, as well as the highly prestigious position of RAEng Chair in Emerging Technologies. She wins this award for her work in the fields of corrosion and tribology problems in the oil industry and biomedical applications.
Alastair Graham-Bryce Award: Paul Stinchon
Paul Stinchon is a Manufacturing Systems Engineer at Rolls-Royce Barnoldswick, working in the Compressor Components team. He has developed a programme for young people to visit the Rolls-Royce aerospace manufacturing facility to learn about Rolls-Royce, engineering, and technical careers.
Engineering Director Colin Brown explained the importance of the day. He said: “It is vital to recognise potential, and to celebrate engineering in a way that young people can relate to. Many of our winners today are young graduates and apprentices who are not only making an impact on their workplaces, but also finding time to visit schools, host visits and talk to pupils. It’s brilliant to see the breadth and depth of engineering talent in UK industry today, and feel confident that we are succeeding in attracting people like this into engineering careers.”
Jon Hilton concluded: “I strongly believe there is much to learn from the experience of these winners. Bringing together inspirational young engineers and Prestige Award winners reminds us that senior engineers like us have a duty to mentor and support the next generation coming through. It has been exciting to see the range of career paths that are now on offer for mechanical engineers. We need to make sure that we are on hand to encourage youngsters to follow them and recognise how we can help them to achieve these amazing things.”
Thanks to support from Eaton, Amec Foster Wheeler and Jaguar Land Rover, we are able to celebrate the engineers of the future with our Undergraduate Awards. The IMechE 'Amec Foster Wheeler - Clean Energy Europe' Scholarship Award was won by Emlyn Dafydd Williams, while the IMechE 'Eaton' Undergraduate Scholarship Award was won by Daniel Alexander Ellis. The IMechE 'Land Rover Spen King' Sustainability Award was presented to Zhenteng Shen.