Science and Engineering Year in Industry Awards 2021

Posted on: 1 March 2021 by Richard Finch in Events & News

Staff from across the Faculty of Science and Engineering gathered on Friday 19th February for the annual celebration of Year in Industry Placement Students.

The YINI awards, hosted on Zoom by the Careers and Employability team, aimed to celebrate the successes of students who completed an industrial placement during academic year 2019/20.

Six students were shortlisted and invited to deliver a five minute live presentation during the ceremony.  Following each presentation, prospective year in industry students from the audience had the chance to ask questions of each finalists, providing peer to peer support and advice to apply in the future.

In addition to the Student Placement Award, this year’s event was the first to launch the Unlock your Potential Student Placement Award (UP), recognising students who overcome barriers to succeed in planning for their future.

The panel of judges included Professor Wiebe Van der Hoek (Executive PVC for Science and Engineering), Professor Liz Sheffield (APVC for Education for Science and Engineering), Professor Uta Klein (academic lead for employability, Physics), Mr Iwan Williams (EBP for Science and Engineering) and Dr Ewan Russel (academic lead for employability, Maths).

All six finalists were exceptional making the decision extremely difficult but after careful deliberation the UP Student Placement Award was given to Ian Simpson (MENG Mechanical Engineering) who completed his placement at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy  

Ian said: "The evening was a great event. It was an excellent opportunity to hear what other students, from all over the science and engineering departments, had been up too. It also allowed me to explain the experiences, I had gone through on my placement year and to top the evening off, I won an award! Big thanks to Dominique Mansley for organising such a smooth and enjoyable event."

The Student Placement Award was presented to Thomas Kelly (MENG Mechanical Engineering) who completed his placement at Jaguar Land Rover.

Tom said: "The Year in Industry Awards is a great way to showcase what you have learnt on your placement and allow you to reflect on the skills you developed over your time away from the University. It is also a great opportunity to offer advice and inspiration to students applying for placements in the future."

Other finalists included Lan Bell (MENG Aerospace Engineering), Harriet Townsend-Rose (BSC Chemistry), David Parrish (BSC Comp Science) and Suzy Hatton (BSC Chemistry) all of whom were very highly commended.


Professor Sheffield said about the awards: “Although a delightful choice to have, determining one winner for each award was a horrible and very difficult job as all the finalists were so professional, poised and confident whilst delivering their fascinating presentations. Seeing how they have grown as a result of their placement journey is truly inspiring, hopefully our first and second year students agree and will not be too dismayed – they can achieve similar heights I’m sure!”

Professor Van Der Hoek said “I was blown away by the presentations and advice of our students. The relationship between Careers and Employability and the Faculty of Science and Engineering has gone from strength to strength due to the collaboration amongst PS staff at academics. Our Year in Industry programme is something our faculty should be particularly proud of.”

Dr Matt Murphy, Senior Lecturer in Engineering Design said  “A university education shouldn’t only be about what our students learn, it should also be about the people they become and the things they become able to do. The work of our students presented tonight embodied this idea.”

Overall the event was a great way to celebrate the success of our industrial placement students, leaving all who attended feeling upbeat and proud of our student’s and institution as a whole.