YWE 2022 – Eneni Bambara-Abban

A young woman engineer, based in London, has been shortlisted for the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Young Woman Engineer (YWE) of the Year Awards 2022.

Eneni Bambara-Abban (29) is a Robotics Engineer at the Techover, applying her robotic engineering experience to create custom and innovative technical projects for clients.

Eneni is the founder of two organisations, the Techover Foundation and Anime and Chill. The Techover Foundation is an international NGO that focuses on encouraging, educating and supporting individuals from underserved communities into technology. Recently, Eneni taught over 50 girls in rural Nigeria how to build their first robot with sustainable and renewable materials. Anime and Chill is a safe and inclusive community of people interested in anime and/or gaming to come together and network irrespective of gender, sexual orientation or race.

With three prizes to be won – the Young Woman Engineer (YWE) of the Year Award, the Mary George Memorial Prize for Apprentices and the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) Prize – Eneni is up against:

Ama Frimpong (32), Head of Product Development at 52 North Health
Constance Rudman (22), a Body Engineering Degree Apprentice at Jaguar Land Rover
Lauren Smith (22), a Trainee Medical Engineer at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust
Veena Kumari (27), a Group Network & Security Engineer at Telent Technology Services
Commenting on becoming a finalist, Eneni said: “In 2017 I was on the verge of dropping out of university due to imposter syndrome from not seeing any robotics engineers that looked like me. As a last resort to stay in university and seek out other women engineers, I attended the IET’s YWE awards that year. Unbeknownst to me, that choice would later become one of the most important decisions I’ve made to date. I met so many different women of all ethnicities thriving in their respective engineering fields – I finally felt seen, empowered and felt the support to continue to pursue my studies.

“Now, five years later, being selected as a finalist for the same award that contributed significantly to me being an engineer, feels like a dream. The YWE awards are truly an amazing and impactful initiative and I’m both humbled and grateful to be recognised for my contributions to engineering.

“My aim is to maximise this opportunity by encouraging even more young girls into pursuing careers in engineering, creating support-led initiatives for current engineers and amplifying the voices of those who feel marginalised. I hope my story provides a source of encouragement and inspiration for any girls who may be feeling like I did.”

As well as highlighting engineering talent, the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year 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 16.5 per cent of those working in engineering occupations are women (source: Engineering UK).

2021 Young Woman Engineer of the Year, Ciara McGrath, said: “Being the IET’s Young Woman Engineer of the Year has been an immense privilege. I have had the opportunity to inspire and excite potential future engineers – children who could someday be designing and building life changing technologies. Engineers create the technologies that shape the world around us, and I truly believe that we need a diverse community of engineers to ensure that the future we are building is the best it can be, for absolutely everyone.

“Thank you to the IET for giving me this opportunity to champion the incredible strides engineers are making today and inspire the next generation. It has been an honour. Now, as my year comes to an end, I’m looking forward to seeing what the next year brings for the 2022 Young Woman Engineer of the Year!”

Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the IET, Dr Laura Norton said: “Engineers bring ideas to life, turn dreams into reality and make solutions to big challenges possible. Engineering is a fantastic career where you really can make a difference and even change the world, but the shortage of women in the industry is a huge problem.

“With a lack of understanding around what engineering is, perceived gender norms and not enough role models for the next generation, there are a lot of reasons as to why the UK struggles to attract women into engineering.

“Our Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards are all about shining a spotlight on the incredible engineering talent up and down the country, and to find role models to get girls and the engineers of tomorrow excited and inspired about a career in engineering.

“I’d like to congratulate Ama, Constance, Eneni, Lauren and Veena for making the final five and demonstrating the tremendous talent of women working in our industry today.”

The winner will be announced at the IET’s Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards ceremony on Thursday 1 December 2022. Registration is now open for the awards – for more information and to register to attend, please visit https://youngwomenengineer.theiet.org/

This year’s YWE Awards are being sponsored by Alstom, Boeing, Capgemini Engineering, Collins Aerospace, Frazer-Nash Consultancy, GCHQ, Leonardo, MBDA, Ofcom, Rolls Royce, Royal Air Force, Royal Mail, RS Components Grass Roots, Teledyne and Thales.