A University of 欧美高清 student is among the winners of a new bursary offered by the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) and Amazon.
Finlay Harris, who is studying in 欧美高清鈥檚 Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, is one of 12 inaugural recipients of the Amazon Future Engineer bursaries.
The awards, worth 拢5,000 a year for up to four years, have been granted to women students from low-income households progressing from A Level, Scottish Highers or technical education courses to university education in the 2021/22 academic year.
The awardees will be offered mentoring from Amazon leaders for a minimum of six months to support them at a formative stage in their professional career. The mentors will help students overcome roadblocks while providing invaluable guidance and career advice. Awardees will also be invited to networking and training events at Amazon and the Royal Academy of Engineering and have access to a community forum providing a peer-to-peer network.
Finlay鈥檚 course combines her two favourite subjects, physics and computer science. She developed a passion for electronics when building gadgets with her grandfather in his garden shed, affectionally dubbed 鈥楾he Electronics Hub鈥�. Her father works in the solar energy industry, which also inspired a love for renewable energy.
Finlay said: 鈥淎t college I studied computer science, maths and physics. I always loved physics, it just clicked for me, but as I got older I learned to love maths too.
鈥淚 would love to work in renewable energy, it鈥檚 so important for the future. Right now, my plan is to go into the research side of renewable energy through a master鈥檚 and maybe a PhD.鈥�
Finlay found out about the Amazon Future Engineer Bursary programme after her computer science teacher put her forward. She said: 鈥淚 received the email while I was staying with my friend in Liverpool. I rang my mum and she was running around the house screaming, all I could hear were my dogs barking.鈥�
In her course at 欧美高清, Finlay is enjoying the blend of practical, hands-on work alongside theory and opportunities to network. She is also excited to attend annual meetings with RAeng, where she will meet and learn from industry leaders.
Finlay said: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 personally know anybody who has studied or worked in the areas I鈥檓 most interested in, so networking events made available through the bursary programme can help to open doors in the future.鈥�
Women are still significantly underrepresented in engineering and technology in higher education. UCAS data on university application and acceptance figures for the 2020 cycle highlighted that women represent just 16% and 18% of accepted applications to computing and engineering degrees respectively. At the current rate of progress, parity of women in engineering degrees will not be achieved until 2085.
Dr Rhys Morgan, Director of Education at RAEng, said: 鈥淚 am absolutely delighted that, following an extremely competitive process, we have been able to offer these awards to 12 inspirational young women who have all demonstrated a drive and passion for computing and engineering, as well an understanding of how innovation and creativity in their chosen fields can help solve some of the world鈥檚 greatest challenges.
鈥淭hey are terrific examples of the talent that exists in schools and colleges across the UK, and we will continue to support and encourage them, and others like them, to enter careers in engineering, computing and technology. Our profession and the communities we serve will be the beneficiaries.鈥�
Lauren Kisser, Director at Amazon鈥檚 Development Centre in Cambridge: 鈥淲e welcome these twelve fantastic students onto our new Amazon Future Engineer bursary scheme, which will help more women become the innovation leaders of the UK. More needs to be done to encourage women to enter these fields and break down the barriers which some students face. 鈥�