AWE staff recognised in national awards
AWE is delighted to announce that two of our employees have been selected as potential winners of the 2014 WISE Awards.
WISE is a celebration of female talent in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
Samantha McRae from AWE's Skills Academy has been shortlisted for the WISE Apprentice Award in recognition of her achievements in inspiring more females to take up apprenticeships as a route into a career in STEM.
Samantha has helped attract females to AWE apprenticeships through events such as the AWE Girls in Engineering Challenge.
This year, seven females joined the Academy, which takes the number of females to 15%, the highest number to date.
The WISE organisation received a record 24 nominations for the Apprentice category, sponsored by the Institute of Chemical Engineers (ICE).
The Executive Board at WISE narrowed this down to seven nominations for the judging panel to debate over.
AWE's Chief Scientist, Andrew Randewich said: “Recent government reports have indicated that an additional 820,000 STEM professionals will be required in the UK by 2020 to sustain our knowledge-intensive economy. UK organisations are therefore urged to do what they can to encourage young people to take up careers in science, engineering and related subjects. With an increasingly demanding technical programme, this is a really important area of work for AWE and it's wonderful to see AWE's own employees celebrated for their efforts.”
AWE's Jenny McGrother, representing Prospect Union, was short listed for the WISE Leadership Award. The WISE Leadership Award recognises an organisation for making a difference to the participation of women and girls in STEM, and to improve diversity and inclusion within their sector.
Prospect Union has organised several events to highlight the importance of gender diversity and inclusion which has involved AWE and other organisations. Jenny has been a guest speaker on behalf of Prospect at various talks and workshops, including a high profile lobbying event at Westminster to increase the number of Women in STEM roles.
Samantha and Jenny will attend the annual awards dinner hosted by WISE in association with Bloomberg on November 13th. Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal will be presenting the awards as patron of the WISE organisation. Currently just 13% of the UK STEM workforce is female. This is still the lowest of all EU countries. The WISE organisation works to promote STEM careers to females, from classroom to boardroom, and aims to significantly increase female participation in STEM roles by 2020.
AWE are proud sponsors of the WISE awards 2014 and are working in association with the WISE organisation to encourage young females to choose STEM disciplines in later and further education, and ultimately to take up careers in STEM professions.
Notes to Editors:
- AWE plays a crucial role in national defence by providing and maintaining warheads for Trident, the UK's nuclear deterrent
- AWE is contracted to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) through a Government-owned Contractor Operated (GOCO) arrangement. Whilst our sites and facilities remain in government ownership, their management, day to day operations, and the maintenance of the nuclear stockpile is contracted to a private company AWE Management Limited (AWE ML). AWE ML is a consortium comprising three equal partners: Serco Group plc, the Lockheed Martin Corporation and Jacobs Engineering Group.
- AWE press releases are available on our website: www.awe.co.uk<http://www.awe.co.uk>. For further information contact Media@AWE.co.uk – Tel: 0118985588
