Last week, Loughborough University’s Women’s Engineering Society (WES) was delighted to announce the inspirational winners of the second Female Engineer of the Year Awards by video on their social media channels.

These annual awards aim to identify one undergraduate and one postgraduate student who have gone above and beyond their studies, with the potential to become future leaders in the sector. 

The judging panel – which included Loughborough WES Chair Naomi Richardson, Professor Andy Dainty, Professor Chris Reilly, Professor Cees de Bont, Professor Andy Harland and Caterpillar’s Graduate Engineering Manager Sam Stubbs – chose the winners as Lucy Wootton and Zahra Razaie-Yazdi.

As a result of winning the undergraduate award, Lucy Wootton, (pictured above right), an MEng Aeronautical Engineering student, has been offered a prize from Caterpillar; originally this was a summer placement but due to the coronavirus pandemic an alternative prize will be provided. 

Zahra Rezaie Yazdi, (pictured above left), a PhD Chemical Engineering student, has been awarded the opportunity to present a 30-minute talk about her research at a celebration evening planned for the next academic year, which will be hosted by the IMechE Leicestershire Young Members Committee. The winners will also receive trophy shields and a monetary prize at the event.

Congratulations go out to both of the prize winners from the School of AACME - we look forward to seeing what else you achieve in the coming years! Find out more about the Female Engineer of the Year Awards here.