Electronics Weekly searches for EW BrightSparks 2024

Electronics Weekly is proud to announce that it has launched EW BrightSparks 2024 to search for, and highlight, some of the brightest and most talented young engineers in the UK today.

Help us celebrate engineering! We are looking for the engineers – aged 30 or under – who are already making a difference in the UK in the first years of their careers, or those who are still studying in the UK but showing the promise to become the innovators and leaders in electronics in the years to come.

Enter a deserving colleague or friend »

We are particularly interested to hear from those who have, for example, started their own business, or applied electronics know-how in the field of sustainability, or demonstrated ingenious ways of safeguarding health, or participated in STEM activities to spread knowledge, information and understanding… And we’d love as wide a range of applications as possible, whatever the individual’s background!

Entries for EW BrightSparks are now open, with a closing deadline of Friday 18 October, when an experienced judging panel will select the final ‘class’ of 2024 winners for a celebratory award event in London.

Now in its seventh year, you can make an entry for the awards (either nominating yourself or a colleague) and more information about the awards can be found at electronicsweekly.com/BrightSparks

The only criteria is the nominee is between 18-30 years of age and working or studying in the UK.

The deadline for entries is Friday 18 October 2024. The Awards Ceremony, at the Elektra Awards, will be on Tuesday on 10 December 2024 at IET London, Savoy Place.

To give a flavour of past winners, please see these four examples from 2023:

Sam Jones, Lancaster University, PhD Student
- Sam is an EPSRC-ICASE PhD student working on a unique collaborative project with IQE on telecoms-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) where GaSb quantum rings (QRs) are the source of the emission, his supervising professor told us.
- As well as helping cohorts of undergraduate students develop their practical lab work skills, he has volunteered at university open days, showing the latest devices to prospective students and parents through the use of a demonstration kit, and providing a taster of the technology required to engineer such devices.
Vanessa Kandodo, Intel, Systems and Hardware Enabling Engineer
- Vanessa has consistently demonstrated an extraordinary aptitude for engineering design, customer support, and project management, her colleague at told us. Despite graduating just over a year ago, her work has been crucial for both Intel and its customer base.
- She played an important role in ramping promotion of Intel’s 4th Gen Xeon Scalable Processor. A demo showcasing the built-in accelerator known as Quick Assist Technology (QAT) was required and her engineering skills allowed the enabling and testing of the platform.
Mary Kong, University of Edinburgh, Electronics and Electrical Engineering Student
- A member of Edinburgh’s Hyperloop Team (HYPED), Mary helped develop Greyfriar’s Poddy – a 4th generation hyperloop pod for high-speed transportation. At European Hyperloop Week 2022, her team’s design was placed top five in one category.
- For her involvement in peer-assisted learning scheme, due to her commitment and contributions towards the Edinburgh student community, she was awarded an Edinburgh Award for Leadership in Student Opportunities.
Toby Lane, Amodo Design, formerly of Ignys, Hardware Engineer
- Toby Lane was described by his manager at Ignys design consultancy as being instrumental in driving processes, taking on a test jig role and delighting customers with his involvement in idea generation workshops.
- We were told he goes out of his way to take on new learning doing exceptional work on thermal testing with environmental test chambers, willing to take on any project that gives him the opportunity to learn.