RS Components Sponsors IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award
14 Jul, 2011, 08:30 BST
OXFORD, England, July 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
RS Components (RS), the world's leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products and the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), is sponsoring the 2011 Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET) Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award.
The IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award is presented to the best female engineer under the age of 30 working in the UK today. Additional prizes include the Mary George Memorial Prize for apprentices and the Women's Engineering Society Prize, which is awarded to a graduate engineer. These accolades seek to recognise and celebrate the achievements of young women in engineering and aim to inspire others to enter the profession. The winners will be announced at an exclusive awards ceremony taking place on Thursday 1st December at IET London, Savoy Place.
"We are delighted to have RS Components on board as an award sponsor, as they share the IET's aim in encouraging more young women into the engineering and technology sector," says Linda Deleay, Awards and Prizes Manager at The IET.
Jon Hull, Head of Resourcing at RS Components comments, "Our ongoing support of this award reflects our objective of promoting women in this sector and recognising some of the outstanding talent already out there. We are keen to support the future talent in what is clearly a growing industry."
Too few women currently enter the engineering profession. The IET's survey of engineering and technology companies found that 10% of engineering apprentices, 4% of engineering technicians and 5% of professional engineers currently working in industry are female.
The lack of women in engineering is a significant problem. The engineering sector suffers considerable skills shortages. Attracting more women into engineering will help address skills shortages and boost the UK economy.
The IET, in partnership with others, is pursuing a range of measures to increase the number of women in engineering, including the Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award.
About RS Components
RS Components is the world's leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products serving 1.6 million customers worldwide. Through operations in 32 countries and 17 warehouses, the Group distributes 550,000 products ranging from semiconductors and optoelectronics to power tools and protective clothing. The product and service portfolio supports the entire product lifecycle from R&D through pre-production to maintenance and repair, shipping more than 46,000 parcels on the same day the orders are received.
RS Components and Allied Electronics are the trading brands of Electrocomponents plc. The Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the last financial year to 31 March 2011 had revenues of £1.18bn. For more information, please visit the website at http://www.rs-components.com.
About IET Awards & Scholarships
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is Europe's largest professional engineering organisation, sharing and advancing knowledge to promote science, engineering and technology across the world. Part of its remit is promoting, recognising and rewarding excellence and it does this through four awards programmes: The Ambition Awards, Achievement Awards, Innovation Awards and Young Woman Engineer Awards.
The IET Ambition Awards programme includes a range of undergraduate and postgraduate scholarships, competitions and travel awards encouraging young people to enter the engineering and technology profession and providing financial support throughout university. The IET Achievement Awards recognise the exceptional achievements of individuals working in the engineering and technology profession. The IET Innovation Awards celebrate the products, technologies and processes that lead the way in engineering innovation. The IET Young Woman Engineer Awards recognise and promote women in engineering and technology and encourage more women to join the profession.
The IET provides around £200,000 every year in awards and scholarships.
For more information, please visit: http://www.theiet.org/ywe
Further information is available via these links:
RS Components on Linkedin
http://www.linkedin.com/company/rs-components
Relevant Links:
Electrocomponents plc
http://www.electrocomponents.com
RS Components
SOURCE Electrocomponents plc and RS Components