The Metropolis 2015 Elektra awards
Pictures of the 2015 winners
Photography by Danny Fitzpatrick / DFphotography.co.uk
Copyright DFphotography
Christmas must be close when it’s time to head to the European Electronics Industry Awards – The Elektras – in London. This long running event punctuates the year and provides one of just a few opportunities for the electronics industry to gather, socialise and celebrate progress, success and innovation. Alongside the many product award categories are a number of ‘people awards’ and this year Pinnacle chose to sponsor ‘Rising Star New Engineer of the Year’.
It is frequently reported that the number of ‘young people’ choosing to embark on an engineering career after their school education isn’t anywhere near as high as it should or needs to be. Indeed, research has shown that we will need nearly two million more engineers by 2020 and to achieve that we will need to see a doubling of the number young engineers graduating from university or achieving other formal qualifications in the subject.
The UK has a great engineering heritage and a history that includes the beginnings and evolution of many of the technologies that the global population depends upon or takes for granted in everyday life. Names such as Frank Whittle, Tim Berners Lee, James Dyson and Jonathan Ive are home grown talents who are now known worldwide for their engineering achievements and products.
That really is something to be proud of, and although at Pinnacle we don’t design or build products, we do promote those B2B companies that do.
As ‘engineers who do marcoms’ we understand our clients’ technologies, applications and markets, allowing us to provide innovative, appropriate and differentiated marketing communications advice and services.
The decision to align ourselves with the Rising Star New Engineer Award was an easy one, as encouraging and nurturing new engineering talent is something that is something we feel passionate about. In a separate initiative earlier this year I hosted an engineering workshop at an all-girls school as part of a Science and Technology Week. The objective being to communicate and demonstrate that engineering is an incredibly diverse and exciting career option. And of course, whilst the number of people overall starting out on an engineering career is low, the number of girls in that demographic is really, really low – in fact, only around 6% of the UK’s engineering workforce is female.
Back to the Elektras and I hope that Tom Carter (winner of the Rising Star New Engineer Award) goes on to forge a successful and rewarding career in engineering, perhaps even becoming a household name one day. Perhaps in three or four decades Tom will be back at the Elektras adding a Lifetime Achievement Award to his trophy cabinet – or maybe he will be presenting the award to a female engineer?
