A Cumbrian engineer has been shortlisted for a prestigious award celebrating women in the industry.
Natalie Parker, 30, of Workington, has been nominated for the Young Woman Engineer awards, run by the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Natalie is a technical specialist and manager for Operational Technology Group at Sellafield.
As the co-lead of Sellafield’s Women in Technology group, Natalie has led on the development of a primary school workshop and rolled it out in schools to introduce pupils to electrical circuits and programming through fun and interactive activities, showing them how STEM skills can be used in everyday life.
There are three prizes to be won – the Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award, the Mary George Memorial Prize for Apprentices and the Women’s Engineering Society Prize.
Natalie said: “I am so humbled and honoured to even be considered as a finalist. The passion and enjoyment I have promoting a career in STEM to the future generation and helping to break down barriers as a woman gives me constant motivation.
“The awards are an amazing platform to help promote all the amazing work engineers do and provide more female role models in the engineering and technology fields. I am often asked what success looks like for equality and diversity in the industry and my answer is always that we will no longer need EDI groups.”
As well as highlighting engineering talent, the awards seek to find role models who can help address the UK science and engineering skills crisis by promoting engineering careers to more girls and women. Just 15.7% of those working in engineering occupations are women.
The winner will be announced in December.
