The IET: “Enthusiasm for engineering” nets RAF engineer prestigious award
An RAF Flight Sergeant has won a prestigious award in recognition of his energy and enthusiasm for engineering.
Flight Sergeant Steve Williams is the recipient of the 2013 Baroness Platt of Writtle Award, presented by the Worshipful Company of Engineers. The prestigious annual award recognises the achievements of a newly registered Incorporated Engineer (IEng). Steve, a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) was presented with a prize of £1000, a certificate and a medal.
Steve has served in the RAF for 28 years and has worked on the maintenance of the Harrier and the Sea King, has been assigned to the Merlin Project Team and has managed the Typhoon Avionics Regional Centre. He currently supervises engineering and generic training at the Air Warfare Centre at RAF Waddington. He is well acquainted in the maintenance of aircraft and components, devising and developing processes and equipment or ensuring the provision of tooling to reduce safety risks.
Steve said, “I am delighted to have received this award. The recognition enhances my credibility as an engineer and helps me build my future career goals. I think my skills as a professional review interviewer have helped me to encourage others to add robustness to their careers through professional registration, whether they are an Engineering Technician or Incorporated Engineer, and looking also to become a Chartered Engineer. I hope that this award will encourage others in their own pursuit of professional registration with an engineering institution such as the IET.”
The award co-ordinator, Dr Peter Blair-Fish said “We had some very strong nominations for the Baroness Platt award. Steve impressed the judges with his energy and enthusiasm for engineering, problem solving and innovation, work for professional institutions, as a role model for younger people, and tenacity in pursuit of IEng”.
Commodore Barry Brooks, a former nuclear submarine engineer, now Deputy President of the IET, Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Engineers, and a strong advocate for engineers and technicians achieving professional registration, said: “Congratulations to Steve for showing the strengths and agility that military engineers possess in undertaking complex engineering tasks in difficult circumstances, whilst always setting an example for high standards of professionalism.”
Steve also helps the development of other engineers, is a Professional Review Interviewer and supports the engineering profession as a STEM ambassador, mentoring school teams in, for example, the design, build, test and flight of model aircraft.
ENDS
History of the award:
This year is the first time that the Baroness Platt Award has recognised an outstanding newly registered Incorporated Engineer. The Award was originally established by the Worshipful Company of Engineers to recognise engineering excellence amongst those pursuing final year studies leading to the academic qualifications needed for Incorporated Engineer status. It was awarded in this form from 2002 to 2012, with the assistance of Institution of Engineering and Technology in selecting the Award winner. The award is limited to British citizens or those who have resided in the UK for at least five years and whose principal residence is in the UK
About Baroness Platt of Writtle CBE:
Baroness Platt studied engineering at Cambridge University, and worked on the testing and production of fighter aircraft during the second world war. After the war, she worked on air safety in the research department of British European Airways. Later, she chaired the educational committee of Essex County Council and the Equal Opportunities Commission, was chancellor of Middlesex University and a non-executive director of British Gas. She was instrumental in setting up WISE – Women In Science and Engineering, and a champion of the role of Incorporated Engineers. Baroness Platt is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, an Honorary Fellow of both the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and an Assistant Emeritus of the Worshipful Company of Engineers.
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