Two female engineers based on Sellafield site, Claire Jones and Jen Corbett were nominated for international awards in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
The Young member of the Year awards consist of five categories; Key themes, Member engagement, Education, Raising the profile of IMechE, Raising the Profile of the Profession and one overall winner. Jen won the contribution to key themes category and Claire was the overall winner “Young Member of the Year 2010”
Claire who works for Babcock and is seconded to SFM projects, is the Chair of the West Cumbria Young Members Panel, member of the West Cumbria Panel and STEM Ambassador. The award was given in recognition of the extensive range of volunteering activities she undertakes to promote engineering. One of her key achievements was forming the young member’s panel in 2009, developing an active group of young members. She has also been an ambassador at events such as; Our World in 2050, Engineering your Future, School Talks and West Cumbria Annual Dinner. Claire has secured funding for a girl's in engineering event next year with support from NMP.
“I was both honoured and surprised to receive the recognition of my hard work, in the form of this award. I volunteer because I enjoy it and get to work with a wonderful group of people, all dedicated to promoting the engineering profession. To have Ross Brawn, someone I have professionally admired for a long time, present me with my award made it extra special”
Jen works for Sellafield Ltd in Magnox Reprocessing and is the Secretary of the West Cumbria Young Members Panel, STEM and IMechE Gold Ambassador. Jen has been recognised for her contribution to the key themes of Education, Environment, Energy and Transport. She has achieve this as an ambassador for; Formula Student Judge, Our World in 2050, Network Career events, Routes to Professional Development seminar, Ambassador Conference. She also initiated a Financial Management CPD course for Sellafield graduates. Jen has recently become the North Western Region Representative on the Young Members Board.
“I appreciated being nominated, let alone to win the category of key themes. It’s rare to see two people from the same area win these awards. I feel it shows just how far we have come in the last year as a panel as individuals and as a team.”
At the award ceremony in London, Claire was presented with her award from John Wood (President of IMechE) and Ross Brawn (Mercedes GP Petronas) to reward her for all her efforts. She also received a free place on the IMechE Engineering management Skills Course due to take place later this year and had a personal invite to visit Ross Brawn’s F1 facility.