Dec 15, 2022
By the EngineeringUK team
From posting a host of new research reports and the return of The Big Bang Fair after a long hiatus. To bringing the community together at our first ever Tomorrow’s Engineers Live and inspiring young people with the 10th Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, this year has had a lot in store for the engineering sector, and for the team at EngineeringUK.
As 2022 comes to an end, it’s time to reflect on the past year and look back on all we have achieved. In this blog, the EngineeringUK team shares what has made them proud this year.
Teamwork makes the dreamwork
To deliver our work to inspire young people and support the engineering community, being able to work as a team is crucial, and is something which many of us at EngineeringUK appreciate and enjoy.
“What has made me proud this year has been the whole EngineeringUK team effort and the support of the STEM community involved in delivering The Big Bang Fair as an in-person event for the first time in 3 years.” – Beth Elgood, Director of Communications
“I’m really proud of how we’ve collaborated with other teams across the organisation on projects (for example, Code Connect and Tomorrow’s Engineers Live) and through this we achieved much better outcomes!” – Cat Sturman, Senior Code Manager
“I’m proud of the extent to which people across the whole organisation contributed really thoughtfully to our strategy development.” – Dr Hilary Leevers, Chief Executive
Putting equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at the forefront of everything we do
One of our values which we are guided by is being actively inclusive, both externally and within our own organisation. We are determined to reach those people who are underrepresented in modern engineering and showcase to them that engineering is a career for anyone.
“I’m proud of our work to engage more young people from groups underrepresented in engineering. This has been wide ranging – volunteers and case studies, targeting schools that meet our EDI criteria, working with specialists to understand and cater for different needs to create inclusive programmes and offering bursaries.” – Tamzin Caffrey, Head of Communications
“Seeing the range of diversity within both our programmes and workforce is extremely inspiring and one of the many factors of why I enjoy working at EngineeringUK.” – Jess Wright, Finance Assistant
“It was great to be part of the new strategy development and I welcomed the opportunity to contribute to ensure that EDI was prevalent throughout all areas of our work. I think the organisation is taking an exciting approach and I’m looking forward to being part of it...Whilst the EDI criteria aren’t new to EngineeringUK, it’s brilliant seeing this targeting approach being improved each year and being used by programme teams and delivery partners to ensure we are working with the schools that will benefit most.” – Emma Diserens, Head of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – Programmes
Inspiring young people with our outreach programmes
Our mission is to inform and inspire young people and grow the number and diversity of tomorrow’s engineers, and we do this through delivering our various school engagement programmes.
“I feel really proud seeing young people having so much fun at engagement programmes and events like Energy Quest and at The Big Bang Fair, and being mind-blowingly ingenious at Young Engineer of the Year presentations for The Big Bang Competition and the Big Bang Explore Take Home Challenge.” – Kim Biddulph, Engagement Projects Manager
“We consulted widely with students and teachers to ensure the new series of classroom display posters developed by EngineeringUK’s careers working group, showcasing the varied career opportunities for engineers and technicians working on reducing carbon emissions and living sustainably, would resonate with students and teachers. They have been extremely well received and we plan to add more themes to the series this project year.” – Eleanor Eyre, Head of Careers
“Not only are we passionate about inspiring young people in everything we do but we also inspire each other along the way. And I am really proud to be part of an organisation which strives to showcase that anyone can become an engineer.” – Macy Richardson, PR Apprentice
The EngineeringUK culture
Having the opportunity to work for an organisation that truly cares about and listens to its employees is something that the EngineeringUK team is proud of. We are guided by a series of values that we apply to all our work – we strive to be insightful, courageous, passionate and inclusive.
“Since joining I have been welcomed into a strong and warm working environment, where everyone is friendly, approachable and kind. This has helped me to settle into my first office job with more confidence and interact with more people.” – Rob Elliot, Finance Apprentice
“I am proud to be part of such a collegiate and positive team.” – Abby Hickling, Senior HR Manager
“I’m most proud of joining a brilliant and energetic organisation, with amazing staff, who live our values and deliver our aim to inspire young people from all backgrounds into engineering.” – David Howley, Director of Finance and Corporate Services
“We are proud of our work championing mental health at work and EDI, which ensure we are looking at ourselves carefully and leading the way to more inclusivity and greater mental health and wellbeing awareness in the sector.” – Dr Isabel DiVanna, Director of Business Development and Partnerships
“As an organisation we put our money where our mouth is. We say we want to increase the diversity of young people coming into the sector and our focus I think has been quite tirelessly on that as a result. We also said we want to move towards a net zero approach to running our events and activities, as well as how our office functions, and I feel that it is sincere and efforts are truly being made. This makes us a reliable and trustworthy organisation and I like that and I am proud to be part of it.” – Beatrice Barleon, Head of Public Affairs and Policy
Collaboration across the engineering community
Learning, listening and sharing insight with the engineering community is a key part of our work at EngineeringUK. Many of our teams collaborate and build partnerships with other organisations in the sector, and we know this is key to growing our collective impact.
“It’s a privilege talking to a wide range of stakeholders all striving to lower the shortfall of young people going into engineering and tech, from industry to PEIs to STEM delivery organisations to universities.” – Kim Biddulph, Engagement Projects Manager
“I was proud to be involved in co-writing the joint T Levels report – unlocking talent. Not only was it a fantastic opportunity to partner up with external stakeholders (in particular Make UK and the Association of Colleges) but it was great to be able to shine a spotlight on an important issue within skills policy. Hearing directly from employers and colleges about offering T Level industry placements to young people as part of the report research was invaluable and the project has been a brilliant collective effort across EngineeringUK teams including policy & public affairs, research and comms. The report has been a useful way to engage with civil servants, MPs and Peers about engineering skills policy and I was chuffed to learn that it was featured across over 300 radio stations.” – Suzanne King, Policy and Voice Manager
“We're really proud, in challenging economic times, that we have been able to retain existing and bring new members into corporate membership at EngineeringUK, enriching our network and building our knowledge base of different sectors which helps to shape and influence our work. We've gone a little greener too, in engaging with more organisations in renewables.” – Moira Shaftoe, Business Partnership Manager, and the Business & Industry team
2022 has been a jampacked year for all of us at EngineeringUK where we have had many proud moments. We look forward to what the new year will have in store and to continuing our efforts to inspire tomorrow’s engineers.
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