1. Best Engineering Society of the Year 2020

Running an engineering society takes dedication and commitment on top of studying. Successful entrants will need to show excellence and outstanding achievement in managing a society.

The judges will be looking for:

• Success and achievements in the engineering society.
• The impact the society has had beyond its members.
• How the society has created a lasting effect.

Eligibility criteria:

• You will be an engineering society at a university, college or school which brings together individuals with a shared interest in an engineering discipline.

2. Engineering Apprentice of the Year 2020

Studying whilst working is a big commitment and there is a way to go to challenge stereotypes about what apprenticeships are, and what an apprentice looks like.

The judges will be looking for:

• Demonstrated success of your technical skills.
• Evidence of the ambassador roles you have taken on.
• How you are promoting diversity in engineering.

Eligibility criteria:

• You will be registered on an apprenticeship in an engineering discipline working at an employer and spending a portion of time on training. This award is open to apprenticeships at all levels.

3. Engineering Graduate of the Year 2020

After studying at university, making the transition to the working environment can be challenging.

The judges will be looking for:

• Demonstrated success of your technical skills.
• Evidence of how you act as an ambassador for engineering.
• How you are promoting diversity in engineering.

Eligibility criteria:

• You will have recently completed a degree in engineering and have secured a role on a graduate training programme working towards chartership.

4. Engineering Student of the Year 2020

Studying for an engineering degree is a full-time commitment. Diversity is the key to life keeping a positive balance between working hard and maintaining one’s wellbeing. A portion of what spare time we have can be used for helping others.

The judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of what you do to promote engineering alongside your studies.
• Examples of any adversity you have had to overcome personally.

Eligibility criteria:

• You will be a registered student on an engineering degree course.

5. Chartered Engineer of the Year 2020

Achieving chartered status is a landmark achievement in every engineer’s career. It requires dedication and commitment.

The judges will be looking for:

• How you are inspiring others to consider a career in engineering.
• Evidence of how you support and mentor existing engineers.
• Examples of any adversity you have had to overcome personally.
• Engineers challenging the status quo of being an engineer.

Eligibility criteria:

• You will be a chartered engineer, registered with the Engineering Council.
• Open to any engineer registered with a professional engineering institution.

6. Engineering Returner of the Year 2020

This award is for an inspiring individual who has left the profession (for whatever reason) and has made the conscious decision to return to the profession and has done so with ongoing success.

The judges will be looking for:

• Examples of how you overcame any barriers you faced in getting back into the profession.
• Evidence of your ongoing success to date since returning.
• Evidence of what you are doing to support bringing more people back into engineering.

Eligibility criteria:

• You will have returned back to a role in engineering within the last 12 months after having been out of employment from the industry for over 12 months.
• This award is aimed at people in technical roles.

7. Best Professional Engineering Institution of the Year 2020

This award recognises Professional Engineering Institutions who go above and beyond to support their members, and who are particularly increasing awareness of diversity, inclusion and positive mental wellbeing.

The judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of activities to date on what the institution has been doing in relation to diversity.
• Data on how the institution has better understood the composition of its membership.
• Evidence of an action plan to ensure diversity efforts are focused on a wide array of strands as possible.
• Demonstrable record on what the institution has been doing on mental health.

Eligibility criteria:

• Organisations applying, will be recognised as a professional engineering institution by the Engineering Council.

8. Large Employer of the Year 2020

This category will celebrate an employer (>250 employees) who comprehensively supports its engineers, and who proactively promotes diversity and creating an inclusive profession.

The judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of activities to date on what the organisation has been doing in relation to diversity.
• Evidence of action plan to ensure diversity efforts are focused on a wide array of strands as possible.
• Demonstrable record on what the organisation has been doing on mental health.

Eligibility criteria:

• Organisations with >250 employees with an engineering focus

9. Small-Medium (SME) Enterprise of the Year 2020

This award recognises an SME (<250 employees) which has made a commitment to support the development of its people and is doing what it can with resources available to widen participation and create a more diverse and inclusive engineering industry.

The judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of activities to date on what the organisation has been doing in relation to diversity.
• Evidence of action plan to ensure diversity efforts are focused on a wide array of strands as possible.
• Demonstrable record on what the organisation has been doing on mental health.

Eligibility criteria:

• Organisations with <250 employees with an engineering focus.

10. Best Inclusion Programme of the Year 2020

Inclusion is widely recognised as the mind-set needed to increase attraction and retention within engineering. Accessing some communities is easier than others and understanding the hidden identities of who you attract is difficult.

The judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of an inclusion program which has gone truly intersectional.
• Evidence of how the organisations’ efforts tie back to business key performance indicators.
• Evidence of what commitments have been set from the top, and across which aspects of diversity.
• What does success look like for your organisation?

Eligibility criteria:

• Award is open to individual organisations as well as cross-organisation collaborations.

11. Best Recruitment Team of the Year 2020

This award recognises organisations (inhouse and recruitment companies) that minimise the impact of bias in recruitment and have successfully increased diversity amongst the workforce.

The judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of measures are in place for addressing bias in recruitment process.
• Evidence of support given to hiring teams.
• Demonstratable track record on improving the diversity of recruitment in engineering evidenced via a case study.

Eligibility criteria:

• You will work in a recruitment team recruiting technical engineers.

12. Best Engineering Project of the Year 2020

This award will honour projects that have been exemplary in proactively trying to close gaps in inequality, opening engineering up to more people in both public sector project organisations as well as private sector project consortia.

The judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of what metrics were set for supply chain organisations and how they were they met.
• Evidence of success on improving diversity through the project.
• Evidence of what has been the legacy of the project.

Eligibility criteria:

• Award is open to individual organisations as well as cross-organisation collaborations, joint-ventures project and consortia working on engineering projects e.g. UK infrastructure project.

13. Employee Network of the Year 2020

Employee networks bring people together with a shared common identity or interest. These networks can become strong influencers in changing the culture of an organisation.

The judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of how the network has made an impact on inclusion in the business.
• Evidence on any collaboration the network has made to extend the reach.
• Insights into how embedded the network is to’ business as usual’ for the organisation.

Eligibility criteria:

• Award is open to employee networks which are formally recognised by the organisation and which have a core committee to govern operations.

14. Best Innovation of the Year 2020

Innovation can be achieved through many different routes e.g. achieving better outcomes in a different way to a standard process, thus creating a more optimised product or inventing something completely new.

The judges will be looking for:

• Evidence of the innovative solution to the problem faced.
• Evidence of what impact the innovation has had
• Evidence of how the innovation has led to the creation of new skills, knowledge or experience.

Eligibility criteria:

• This award is open to anyone studying or working in engineering.

15. Executive Leader of the Year 2020

People look up to leadership teams for examples on ‘how to’ role model behaviours. This award will recognise an individual who has made it their mission to improve the culture of engineering.

The judges will be looking for:

• Evidence on how you are inspiring others in your organisation.
• Evidence of how you support and mentor existing engineers.
• Examples of any adversity you have had to overcome personally.

Eligibility criteria:

• This award is open to an individual who is part of a leadership team for an engineering organisation.

16. Overall Excellence in Engineering Award

This award will be presented to one of the winners from the fifteen awards categories. The winner represents an individual or organisation whose performance has significantly excelled across all the awards categories. They will have had significant and demonstrable impact on the area which they influence, and they represent best in class for advancing equality, diversity and inclusion in engineering.