Engineering her way to the top - Wrexham woman wins top national engineering award

10 January 2008

The IET (Institution of Engineering and Technology) has today announced that Lisa-Marie Martin, age 25 from Wrexham, North Wales has scooped the Mary George Memorial Prize at the national 2007 IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards.

The Mary George Memorial Prize is presented to a candidate who has completed her academic studies and shows great promise and potential within the profession. Judges were particularly impressed by Lisa-Marie’s experience to date and the responsibility she has undertaken within such a critical area of engineering and at such a young age.

Lisa-Marie is an Explosion Safety Engineer working for the explosion prevention safety provider Epsilon. Lisa-Marie’s role includes project managing the technical assessment of products which are intended for use in hazardous atmospheres. With major blue chip petrochemical companies as her clients, Lisa-Marie delivers a vital role in ensuring the safety of their products and installations.

Robin McGill, chief executive of the IET said: “I would like to congratulate Lisa-Marie on this fantastic achievement. Lisa-Marie is a very enthusiastic, dedicated and bright young woman who is passionate about her job and committed to demonstrating this to others. A great role model for other young women considering a role in engineering, I wish Lisa-Marie all the very best for the future.”

McGill continued: “This year’s IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year competition has attracted hundreds of high calibre candidates, clearly demonstrating the impressive quality of young women now following successful careers in engineering. However, the IET is concerned that only 5.4 per cent of the UK’s engineers are women and more needs to be done to demonstrate that engineering provides an excellent career choice with many great opportunities. The IET is committed to raising the profile of engineering and encouraging more young people, including women, to consider a wider participation within the profession. In particular, we hope the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards will help to address the shortage of female role models within engineering, especially in light of the current skills shortages within the industry.”

Lisa-Marie’s main responsibilities in her current role include assessing projects and client site installations against specific approval standards; conducting technical checks of reports compiled by other engineers; preparing and performing tests of a client’s products or installations and preparing assessment reports and approval certificates.

Travelling extensively to deliver complex engineering solutions for her clients, Lisa-Marie has recently completed a project in Dubai where she was called by her client who needed an emergency control panel certification in order to meet a deadline and acquire a crucial order. A project that would have usually taken months to complete was completed in five days in helping her client with much needed safety related problems taking into consideration time and financial constraints.

Lisa-Marie will be presented with a cheque for £500, and engraved trophy at the BT Centre, London presented by scientist and TV personality Dr Maggie Aderin.

The Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award is the most prestigious honour of its kind in the UK and attracts prominent supporters and sponsors including BT, Women’s Engineering Society, Shell and Arup. The awards are this year celebrating their 30th anniversary. To mark this special milestone some of the previous winners from the past 30 years will be attending the event.

All media enquiries to:

Jenny Bond

T: 020 7344 5445

E: jennybond@theiet.org