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 go on to compete in the Yorkshire Region Final. The winner of each Regional Final will then go on to compete in the National Final later in the year.

Eligibility Requirements

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

Prizes

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

Final Winner: £500; engraved Philip Hilton Trophy; certificate
Final Runner-Up: £300; engraved trophy; certificate

The Regional Winner & Runner-Up will also receive a complimentary ticket to attend the annual Yorkshire Regional Dinner.

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

Sponsored by: Elevation Recruitment Group 
        

2025 Yorkshire Competition

Northern Area Heat (28th February 2025):

Winner - Sophie Munt
Runner-Up - Oliver Redman

South Yorkshire Area Heat (10th March 2025):

Winner - Julia Visoci
Runner-Up - Muaad Shabana
East Yorkshire Area Heat (24th March 2025):

Winner - Nicola Yau
Runner-Up - Oritseweyinmi Agbaga
 

The Yorkshire Regional Final was held on 23rd May 2025 at Elevation Recruitment Group in Rotherham:

Regional Winner - Nicola Yau (pictured below)
Presentation title: " Smart Tampon with pH Sensors: A Novel Approach to Women's Health Monitoring."

Runner-Up - Julia Visoci
Presentation title: "Shape-shifting prosthetics: taking the next step with artificial limbs."
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2024 Yorkshire Competition

Heats:

North Yorkshire Heat in Leeds - 7th February 2024

Winner - William Davis Birch
Runner-Up - Mateusz Gora
East Yorkshire Heat in Hull - 7th February 2024

Winner - Oluwamurewa Atunwa
Runner-Up - Khandakar Fayruz Tasnim
South Yorkshire Heat in Rotherham - 4th March 2024

Winner - Oliver Loader
Runner-Up - Isha Mistry


The Yorkshire Regional Final was held on Wednesday 22nd May 2024 at Elevation Recruitment Group in Rotherham:

Regional Winner - William Davis Birch (pictured below)
Presentation title: " "Engineering the Gut Microbiome for a Healthier Future"

Regional Runner-Up - Oliver Loader
Presentation title: "The Mechanics of Espresso"
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2022 Yorkshire Competition 

Winner - Sam McCloud
Presentation title: "A review on compressed air systems and the cost of waste air"

Runner-Up - Daniel Jordan
Presentation title: "Corrosion prevention on the Humber Bridge" 

 

Photo: Sam McCloud being presented with The Philip Hilton Trophy at the Atom Brewing Co. Social Event on the 5th August 2022. 

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.