Speak Out for Engineering (SOfE) competition

The Speak Out for Engineering (SOfE) competition is organised annually by the IMechE's local volunteer groups. It was originally established in 1964 to challenge young engineers to prove they could "communicate effectively", which is still an important area in developing engineers today.

The competition provides young engineers with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate and develop their verbal and visual presentation skills and competence in public speaking.

Competitors must give an oral presentation on a mechanical engineering-related subject, to be broken down as follows:
Participants will compete in area heats, which are judged by a panel of professionals and academics chosen by the local committee. The winner and runner-up from each heat will go on to compete in the Yorkshire Regional Final, and the Winner and Runner-Up of the Final will then be announced at the Yorkshire Regional Dinner.

Eligibility Requirement

• Must be an Affiliate or Associate member of the IMechE, or a Member who has been professionally registered for less than 10 years.

 

Prizes

Heat Winner: £300 and certificate
Heat Runner-Up: £200 and certificate

Final Winner: £500; engraved Philip Hilton Trophy; and certificate
Final Runner-Up: £250; engraved trophy; and certificate

All winners and runners-up will also receive a complimentary ticket  to attend the Yorkshire Regional Dinner.

For more details on the competition, visit the main IMechE SOFE Page.

Sponsored by:


https://www.elevationrecruitmentgroup.com/ 

2020 Yorkshire Competition

Winner - Robert Wright

Runner-Up - Indraneel Singh



2019 Yorkshire Competition

Winner - Abhinav Paul Kongari

Runner-Up - Callum Tinker


Photo: Abhinav Paul Kongari being presented with the Philip Hilton Trophy by IMechE President Tony Roche and Mrs Shauna Hilton at the Yorkshire Regional Dinner on 22 March 2019. 

2017/18 Yorkshire Competition

The area Heats took place in November 2017 in Leeds, Sheffield and Hull. The Yorkshire Regional Final took place in May 2018, at the Mercure Hotel Sheffield.

Our overall Winner was Ross O'Brien with his presentation on "The Duel Challenge of Energy", and our Runner-Up was Caroline Wither with her presentation on "The Importance of Building STEM Positive Communities".

“SOfE was a great opportunity to meet other young engineers and hear about the diverse range of topics that we are all interested in. It’s always amazing to see the range of places Mechanical Engineering can take you and the competition was a great platform to showcase this. It was a fantastic opportunity to practice presenting on and discussing the diverse topics affecting engineering today and I’d definitely recommend it to others in future years.” Caroline Wither, SOfE Yorkshire 2017/18 Runner-Up

2016/17 Yorkshire Competition

The 2016/17 competition saw entrants from across the Yorkshire Region compete in three area Heats in Hull, Leeds and Sheffield in November 2016. The Winner and Runner-Up from each heat progressed to compete in the Yorkshire Regional Final in Sheffield in February 2017.

The Winner of the Yorkshire Regional Final 2017 was Lisa Webster, with her presentation "An assistive/navigation aid for visually impaired and blind people". Lisa was presented with a cheque for £500 and The Philip Hilton Trophy at the Yorkshire Regional Dinner on 17th March 2017.

The Runner-Up,receiving a prize cheque of £250 for his presentation "A portable novel tyre inflator for fat bikes", was Shi Yuen Wong.