UWE Bristol has been named Training Provider Skills Champion of the Year at the Enginuity Skills Awards for its commitment to driving inclusive growth in the engineering industry and closing the skills gap in the West of England.
The awards recognise individuals and organisations who are supporting the next generation of engineering professionals and fostering a culture of innovation, diversity and collaboration in the industry.
The Training Provider Skills Champion award celebrates an organisation with an outstanding commitment to learning and skills development that supports sustainable engineering and manufacturing growth through partnerships between providers and employers.
UWE Bristol has supported over 1,000 engineering and built environment degree apprentices since 2017, with achievement rates up to 100%. Its Women in Industry project addresses skills and diversity gaps by partnering with employers and Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths networks, boosting female applicants by 60% in a year.
This includes Women Like Me, a peer mentoring and outreach project dedicated to increase female representation in engineering and construction. Led by Dr Laura Fogg Rogers since 2018, it pairs senior female engineers and property professionals with junior counterparts, fostering mentoring relationships.
The judges recognised that UWE Bristol is working to close the skills gap and make the industry more inclusive through mentoring, outreach and partnerships.
Simon Flenley, Assistant Director of Research & External Engagement at UWE Bristol said: “We are so proud of our apprenticeship programmes, and the opportunities they provide for increasing access and participation and addressing under representation. This award reflects the hard work and dedication from so many people, underpinned by the critical projects that UWE Bristol delivers such as Women Like Me.”
The ceremony, attended by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, celebrated individuals and organisations making significant strides towards gender equity in STEM.
Championing Women in STEM
Dr Fogg-Rogers leads the Women Like Me/Women In Industry programme at UWE Bristol which is designed to empower women in STEM by fostering mentorship and cross-sector collaboration. Her efforts have transformed support structures for over 400 women, guiding them through pivotal stages of their careers. Notably, in just one year, her work contributed to increasing female enrolment in UWE Bristol’s degree apprenticeships from 20% to 37%.
A Leader in Inclusive, Sustainable, Engineering Education
Beyond mentorship, Dr Fogg-Rogers also leads UWE Bristol’s Inspire Sustainability outreach and community engagement programme. Where her Science Communication Unit team (Sarah Behenna, Louisa Cockbill, Kat Corbett and Joshua Warren) use curriculum-linked engineering and sustainability outreach and careers support, to connect children to real-life, diverse engineering role models to widen participation and aspirations for STEM and green careers.
Laura’s research and teaching focuses on community energy, climate action, and engaging under-served audiences in sustainable development. Reflecting this commitment, she was recently shortlisted for the Teaching for Sustainable Development Award at UWE’s Student Experience Awards. This award recognises staff who embed sustainability into learning and teaching, promote interdisciplinary thinking, and empower students to develop the knowledge, skills and values needed to support a more sustainable future.
Further recognition for Women in Industryteam
UWE Bristol’s Women in Industry programme has also been shortlisted for the Training Provider Skills Champion category at the upcomingEnginuity Skills Awards 2025. This national award recognises outstanding commitment to learning and skills development that supports sustainable engineering and manufacturing growth through partnerships between providers and employers. Winners will be announced on the 3rd July!
UWE Bristol’s MAKERS project has been recognised with a Staff Award in the Sustainability category, celebrating its impactful work to improve diversity and inclusion in engineering while tackling the climate and ecological emergency. This recognition highlights the project’s contributions to fostering a sense of belonging among diverse engineering students and supporting sustainability in partnership with local communities.
MAKERS: A Hub for Connection, Creativity, and Sustainability
MAKERS, which stands for Making And Knowledge Exchange for Repair & Sustainability, bridges the gap between diverse engineering students at UWE Bristol and the local Maker and Repair communities in the West of England. With nearly £90,000 in funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Diversity Impact Programme, the project has developed a series of co-creation workshops that address multiple challenges:
Belonging and inclusion: MAKERS provides students—especially women and individuals from minority backgrounds—with a welcoming environment to collaborate and grow as engineers.
Skill-building and employability: Students enhance their practical and professional skills, working alongside experienced community mentors and STEM industry professionals.
Sustainability: Through repair workshops and hands-on activities, students and community members contribute to reducing waste, preventing 303kg of waste from reaching landfill, and avoiding 2 tons of CO2 emissions.
The project embodies UWE Bristol’s commitment to sustainability while making tangible strides in improving diversity within STEM fields.
The Impact of MAKERS
Since its launch in 2023, MAKERS has delivered significant outcomes:
Increased diversity: 32% of regular student participants are women (compared to 16% in engineering nationally), and 77% come from Global Majority backgrounds.
Community engagement: MAKERS collaborated with 17 organisations and hosted repair and making workshops for over 70 community members.
Ongoing opportunities: A monthly Repair Café on UWE’s Frenchay Campus invites community members to bring broken items to repair, fostering hands-on learning and collaboration between students and community volunteers.
The project also connects students with STEM Ambassadors and retired engineers from the Bristol Repair Café network, providing invaluable mentoring opportunities.
Rewarding Engagement and Growth
MAKERS participants not only contribute to sustainability but also gain professional and personal benefits:
Networking opportunities: Students collaborate with industry professionals and community members, creating lasting connections.
Skill recognition: Participants earn digital skills badges (bronze, silver, or gold) to showcase their expertise on LinkedIn and other platforms.
Practical tools: After attending five events, students receive repair kits or vouchers to continue their sustainability efforts at home.
In addition, students have access to cutting-edge resources, including 3D printing facilities, sewing machines, and technician support to work on personal and community-focused repair projects.
Looking Ahead
The MAKERS project’s success is being recognised on multiple levels. It has been shortlisted for the prestigious Green Gown Awards in the Benefitting Society category and featured at conferences such as the International Symposium on Academic Maker Spaces and Science in Public. With plans to publish findings in academic journals, the team aims to further contribute to research on diversity in STEM education and sustainability practices.
This award is a testament to the MAKERS project’s ability to weave sustainability, skill development, and community into a meaningful initiative that transforms lives while addressing global challenges.
The MAKERS Team are continuing to develop the evaluation. You can find some of the outcomes so far in the following publications:
UWE Engineering is proud to announce that three of its outstanding students have been selected for the Royal Academy of Engineering’s prestigious Engineering Leaders Scholarships (ELS). The programme provides support for undergraduates in UK Higher Education Institutions, who display the potential to become leaders and innovators in engineering and who want to become leadership role models for the next generation of engineers.
Massive congratulations go to:
Kate Wheatley, Aerospace Engineering Degree Apprenticeship
Leia Wright, MEng Aerospace Engineering with Pilot Studies
Neha Master, BEng Aerospace Engineering
Congratulations also go to UWE Visiting Professor John Armstrong, who supported the three students and is thrilled by their success.
More about ELS
The scholarships help ambitious undergraduates, in engineering and related disciplines, to undertake an accelerated personal development programme, which will help them to gain the necessary skills to become engineering leaders, soon after graduating.
Successful awardees receive:
£5,000 to be used over three years, towards career-related personal development activities
Dedicated training and networking events
The support of an Academy Mentor
Invitations to exclusive Academy events and opportunities
Access to an alumni community of over 300 engineers
We hope to hear more about the students plans for the scholarships in the Autumn.
On Friday 5th June, UWE Engineers revealed early plans to turn a young person’s winning design into reality.
The Leaders Award is a nationwide engineering competition (run by Primary Engineer) for young people to design inventions to solve a problem. UWE Engineering is one of the Leaders Awards partners in the South West of England and hosted this years exhibition of distinction shortlisted, highly commended & winning designs.
During the Awards ceremony, Hollie Lewis, Lecturer in Sustainable Project Management, presented plans for a UWE team to build last year’s winner Elliot James’ design, the “Smart shower”. Hollie is heading up the “Proto team” which includes Electronics Mechatronics Technical Team Leader, Steve Regester and Engineering Students: Erika Aiwekhoe, Ruth Cockroft and Naing Tun.
120 people attended the celebration event to congratulate the winners and take a look at the activities UWE Engineering’s Inspire Sustainability team had to offer. The exhibition remained up the following day for the Family Fun day, where over 900 people visited and took part in a whole range of hands-on activities.
Hollie Lewis, Proto-team lead, alongside Elliot James, inventorHollie presents at the Awards CeremonyAward winners & their families viewed the competition exhibitionElliot James and his proud family
“Smart Shower”
Last year, Elliot James, pupil at St Katherine’s sixth form, won the prize for best Year 12 design – you can see his original “SMARTH” – SMART Bath – design below. The UWE proto-team have adapted this design and are starting to build the Smart shower.
Elliot James Leaders Award design won the Year 12 category in 2023
More prototypes!
Engineers from GKN, headed up by Ian Gent, Research Engineer in Composites, also revealed a prototype machine that purifies water.
Dean of Engineering, Ramin Amali expressed at the Awards Ceremony how wonderful it is to have so many local young people participating in this Engineering competition and having their designs turned into a reality!
The Leaders Award competition challenges children of all ages – Reception to Year 12 – to invent solutions to problems they see in the world.
UWE Bristol is the Leaders Award’s partner for South West England. And we’re looking forward to celebrating those local inventions at an exhibition in UWE Engineering – South West RegionalAwards Ceremony on Friday 5th July.
Local Engineers are invited to attend the Awards Ceremony and view the exhibition of shortlisted designs.
And the exhibition will stay up for UWE Engineering’s Family Fun day on Saturday 6th July. So if you want to bring your family, please grab some tickets.
The Leaders Award competition challenges children of all ages – Reception to Year 12 – to invent solutions to problems they see in the world.
Nationwide 71,000 pupils took part in this year’s competition. UWE Engineering is the Leaders Award’s partner for South West England and hosted a wonderful panel of volunteer Engineers to assess local children’s inventions on 23rd May.
The judging panel consisted of engineers from partners GKN Aerospace, Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), Thales, Boeing and supporters from Dyson and Airbus Aircraft and DXC Technology – see photo above. The panel had a great time selecting the winners!
Now UWE Bristol is looking forward to hosting the regional Awards Ceremony on Friday 5th July.
Local Engineers are invited to attend the Awards Ceremony and view the exhibition of shortlisted designs.
UWE Bristol’s School of Engineering opened its doors for another Family Fun Day earlier this month: families from Bristol and beyond got to enjoy a range of fun science and engineering-based activities at this free event.
They explored different aspects of engineering such as coding and robotics through LEGO Mindstorms and Pepper the humanoid robot, digital engineering through Minecraft, designing the best wind turbine blades, exploring crowd-driven music programming, and the inner workings of machines and household items in the tinker zone.
Another highlight was the free We Make Our Future planetarium show: the show is co-developed with the Explorer Dome team and celebrates the ingenuity of human engineering, whilst also addressing current issues around Climate Change. It introduces Digital Engineering as a relevant and attainable aspiration for all young people, with the aim of inspiring the next generation of engineers.
Visitors also got to enjoy an exhibition of children’s engineering designs and inventions for the Leaders Award Competition, a nationwide scheme that encourages children to solve problems using engineering thinking.
This annual event is a great opportunity to inspire children to think like engineers and introduce them to technology that they may not have been able to interact with otherwise in a fun and engaging way.
The day was very well attended with around 800 visitors. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive with children expressing how keen they were on coming back, and grown-ups feeling equally inspired by the activities, stating how it made them re-consider their conceptions about the role of engineering in shaping the world around us for the better.
We would like to thank all the staff, students, and helpers involved for making it an amazing day, not to forget the children and their families who attended, for contributing so much enthusiasm, curiosity, and great energy!
UWE student Jared Newnham has been named the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Apprentice winner 2022.
Jared is a third year Aerospace Engineering Degree Apprentice, undertaking a placement as an Airworthiness Certification Manager at DE&S Air Domain, Ministry of Defence. He was nominated for demonstrating outstanding initiative by developing a new regulatory-compliant procedure that has been used for multiple complex technical queries. His work has been such a success it is being rolled out to all projects within the Delivery Team.
Well done Jared!
On receiving the award, Jared said: “I can’t believe that I’ve been chosen as the IET’s Apprentice winner for 2022. There are so many apprentices doing great things across engineering so to be given this award makes me really proud.
“For anyone thinking about taking up a career in STEM, I would definitely recommend looking into apprenticeships. My placement with the Ministry of Defence has led to so many incredible opportunities which I will look back on fondly and which will hopefully lead to a long and enjoyable career.”
Jared and the awards
As Airworthiness Certification Manager, Jared is responsible for increasing air system operational capabilities through risk reduction and type design change embodiment. But in addition to his main duties, Jared is a keen advocate for engineering within the local community, coordinating an outreach event to promote careers to sixth form students and also mentoring struggling classmates.
The IET Achievement Awards celebrate excellence and research across the sector and encourage the next generation of engineers and technician.
IET President Professor Bob Cryan said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Jared who has been making great waves in the world of engineering despite being so early on in his career. It is inspiring to see that Jared is using his passion for STEM to help teach others about the opportunities available to them, increasing awareness amongst members of his local community.
“Each of the award finalists demonstrated an exceptional level of skill and knowledge, spanning beyond their roles which made judging extremely difficult. All have taken on challenging projects and thanks to their creativity and resolve, have had a positive impact in their companies. I wish all of them the best of luck for a rewarding engineering career ahead.”
Families from around Bristol recently came to UWE’s brand new School of Engineering building to enjoy a range of free science and engineering-based activities.
The families that came to the event explored different aspects of engineering such as coding and robotics through LEGO Mindstorm and Pepper (our humanoid robot), digitally engineering solutions to citywide problems through Minecraft, designing the best wind turbine blade in our craft activity, and other stations featuring, eco-houses, crafting and a free planetarium show from Explorer Dome.
The visitors to UWE’s new Engineering building were wowed by the space available to student engineers and also by an exhibition of children’s inventions. The inventions were submitted to the Leaders Award competition – a nationwide scheme that encourages children to solve problems using engineering thinking.
The event was a perfect opportunity to inspire younger children to think like engineers whilst having fun along the way, as well as introducing them to technology that they may not have been able to interact with otherwise. One 13 year old visitor exclaimed how much she loved the fun day saying one day she “would like to come here herself (UWE) and learn more” whilst another couldn’t wait to get home and try to make their own robots.
We would like to thank all the staff of UWE, helpers, and students that made this event happen for making it an amazing day!
