Engineering and Technology Apprentice Award winner
Luke Kwan
Luke Kwan is the winner of the IET Engineering and Technology Apprentice Award. He is in his fifth year of a degree apprenticeship at JLR (Jaguar Land Rover), and is studying part-time for a BEng in Applied Engineering. He has worked across various functions contributing to JLR’s reimagine strategy by supporting the delivery of the next generation of modern luxury vehicles.
His highlights include placements within Body Engineering, Vehicle Engineering, Global Product Strategy and Global Customer Insights. He is also an active Early Careers and STEM ambassador to inspire students into STEM careers.
In 2022 he was awarded an IET Future Talent Awards Boost Scholarship.
Finalists
Lance Corporal (LCpl) Jacob Gabel is a finalist for the IET Engineering and Technology Apprentice Award. He is currently servicing within the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). As a REME Soldier, he has had many fantastic experiences, including deploying with the United Nations on a Stabilisation Mission to Mali, and spending six weeks in Germany on a NATO Multi-National exercise.
He has had the responsibility of helping to maintain 107 Vehicles, over 300 weapon systems and more than 250 optronic and electronic line replaceable units that routinely travel vast distances cross country and at pace to deter the growth of terrorist violence across the British Army’s area of operations.
Morgan Kennedy is a finalist for the IET Engineering and Technology Apprentice Award. He is a control and instrumentation apprentice at Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd.
He has worked alongside the innovation team, demonstrating enthusiasm and vision with modelling, and developing modifications to a Sample Transfer System (STS) for the Laboratories.
He embraced the opportunity whilst supporting and leading a team of Engineers with 3-D printing of prototypes for aiding understanding of faults and providing support for subsequent modifications to the systems.
He is currently working towards a BEng Electrical Engineering.
Noah Main is a finalist for the IET Engineering and Technology Apprentice Award. He is a fourth year Aerospace Engineering Degree Apprentice at Defence Equipment & Support. Noah supported a bid that was completed in extremely tight timescales and with significant technical and organisational challenges.
Working with senior members of the team, an external partner, and adjacent bid team, he helped to pull together an extensive technical document detailing a proposed experimental aircraft, within budget, timescales, and resourcing. He is currently studying towards a BEng in Aerospace Engineering.
In 2020 Noah was awarded an IET Engineering Horizons Bursary.
Engineering and Technology Technician Award
Isaac Jones
Isaac Jones is the winner of the Engineering and Technology Technician Award. An undergraduate engineer at Dyson, his enthusiasm and commitment has provided benefits to the undergraduate community and wider business, and his motivation has driven the success of several initiatives.
Joining the business in September 2020 Isaac identified a knowledge gap that undergraduates would be ideal candidates for Professional Registration due to the simultaneous academic and industry learning undertaken. One year into the course, his EngTech application was successful, and he became the first Undergraduate Engineer on their course to achieve Professional Registration.
He went on to champion Professional Registration and IET student membership on the course, and served as the Professional Development and Apprenticeships Rep, working to improve the workplace experience.
Armed Forces Technician Award winner
Lance Corporal (LCpl) Connor O’Neill
Lance Corporal (LCpl) Connor O’Neill is the winner of the Armed Forces Technician Award. He is a member of the 14th Signal Regiment, Electronic Warfare (EW), British Army, and has a genuine passion for engineering and technology.
He assumed a leading role in developing new working processes and practices to maximise operational effectiveness and survivability for potential future deployments.
He has worked to identify the feasibility of adopting a new vehicle platform to operate from by leading a 3-person team testing the fitment and operation of the Squadron’s primary EW system within potential new vehicles.
The technical nature of his role within the Armed forces has enabled him to put his passion into practice and has continuously delivered successful results.
Finalists
Air Specialist Class 1 Technician (AS1(T)) Thomas Chalkley is a finalist for the Armed Forces Technician Award. He started his career in the Royal Air Force in 2020. He undertook specialist training at No1 Radio School RAF Cosford, to become an ICT Technician.
Thomas was assigned to RAF Lossiemouth where he joined the newly formed Distributed Cyber Protection Team (DCPT), undertaking extensive further specialist training and becoming the first fully qualified DCPT member on the station.
As part of a training event, Thomas developed a cyber escape room to assess personnel from across a variety of backgrounds and their understanding of cyber security threats.
As a STEM Ambassador Thomas hopes to inspire the next generation in the realm of STEM.
Petty Officer Air Engineering Technician (PO(AET)) Joseph Hague is a finalist for the Armed Forces Technician Award. He joined the Royal Navy in 2009 as an Aircraft Engineering Technician and has worked on Lynx and Wildcat rotary wing platforms in various roles in the USA, Oman, The Gulf and Afghanistan.
He was the Technical Coordinator on a pan-Defence Technical Data Exploitation solution project focussing on Rotary Wing aircraft maintenance and usage data insights and analytics.
Outside of his role, he has worked to gain the digital skillset required to code, script and design marketable software solutions.
He has consistently demonstrated a high level of innovation, technical creativity, and digital expertise in delivering cutting-edge solutions that have benefitted the organisation and the wider community.