Engineering and Technology Apprentice Award winner
Declan Larkin
Declan Larkin is the winner of the IET Engineering and Technology Apprentice Award. He is a fourth-year apprentice Software Engineer at Kainos, alongside undertaking a part-time BEng in Computing Systems at Ulster University.
Declan has made significant contributions to NHS projects, particularly the NHS Digital Covid Testing initiative as part of the Home Ordering team. He also played a pivotal role in developing the NHS Volunteering application, from inception to its successful launch in England.
Passionate about inspiring the next generation of software engineers, Declan was lead mentor for Kainos CodeCamp in 2023 and 2024 and conducted weekly coding workshops for a local charity.
As a founding member of his university’s Apprenticeship Society, he has united apprentices from various industries and expanded events to include all apprentices in Northern Ireland.
Engineering and Technology Apprentice Award finalists
Alexia Williams is a finalist for the IET Engineering and Technology Apprentice Award. She is a Deployed Lifecycle Engineer at Rolls-Royce in Bristol. She is currently doing the Through-life Engineering Services Specialist Masters Degree Apprenticeship at Cranfield University. Alexia joined Rolls-Royce in 2018 as an Engineering Degree Apprentice.
She has led projects within the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) of the TP400 engine section to eliminate inspection capability gaps and reduce turn-around times of engines.
Alexia is the current chair of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) Apprentice Panel. During the last year she has contributed over 200 hours to promoting STEM to the younger generation. She is passionate about encouraging more women to go into engineering, especially via an apprenticeship.
In 2023 Alexia was awarded an IET Future Talent Awards Boost Scholarship.
Penny Townsend is a finalist for the IET Engineering and Technology Apprentice Award. She is a 3rd year Manufacturing Engineering Degree Apprentice at MBDA. She has worked at the company since 2021 completing a range of placements whilst studying towards a Mechanical Engineering Bachelors at the University of Bolton.
Penny has worked in departments including manufacturing, project management, mechanical design and software. Penny has aided in the delivery of future weapon systems by contributing to the process proving strategy to ease the efficiency of integrating development product into production. She also works within the Work Experience Team and New Starter Induction team.
She is an active STEM Ambassador, conducting career fairs and talks to inspire the next generation of engineers. Outside of work Penny is also a passionate hockey player competing at a national level as well as coaching juniors.
Engineering and Technology Technician Award winner
Joseph Macari
Joseph Macari is the winner of the IET Engineering and Technology Technician Award. He is an electrical biased engineer at Heysham 1 Nuclear Power Station, where he has worked for 12 years in various roles, progressing from apprentice to electrical maintenance technician and then to his current role as an electrically biased work engineering group engineer, where he specifies work order cards for defect resolution.
He has helped provide tours around the power station for adults and children interested in STEM careers.
For his BEng dissertation, he identified a problem with obsolete protection relays. Using the coding and electronics skills developed during the course, and his technical knowledge gained during his career, he designed, built and tested an innovative, low-cost electronic solution that improves on reliability and efficiency.
Engineering and Technology Technician Award finalists
Dr Alberto Astolfo is a finalist for the IET Engineering and Technology Technician Award. He has a degree in Nuclear Physics from the University of Trieste, Italy. During his studies and PhD, he worked at the Italian synchrotron Elettra. He then pursued postdoctoral research, continuing his work in synchrotron radiation x-ray imaging. In 2015, Dr Astolfo joined University College London (UCL) as a Postdoctoral Research Associate, where he began working on x-ray phase contrast imaging using conventional sources. Collaborating with Nikon Metrology, he aimed to enhance baggage-scanning security by integrating x-ray phase contrast imaging with artificial intelligence.
Dr Astolfo currently serves as the Research Laboratory Manager at UCL's Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering. He has co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications in collaboration with researchers worldwide. His extensive experience is now a vital asset to the numerous successful projects underway in UCL's Advanced X-ray Imaging Group.
Harry Ritchie is a finalist for the IET Engineering and Technology Technician Award. He began his career as an engineering apprentice and worked in several manufacturing companies before joining Queens University Belfast and finding the job he loved.
Harry served as Senior Technician in the Electrical Engineering lab for 33 years. During that time, he helped many students achieve their goals and attain their degree. Harry recently worked on a project to inspire enthusiasm for Electrical Engineering among the younger generation. He transformed a classic DeLorean Motor Car into an Electric Vehicle with the aim to start conversations with prospective students at Open Days to the university.
He was the safety officer for the school of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and represented the technicians at the school management committee.
Qian Wang is a finalist for the IET Engineering and Technology Technician Award. He holds an MSc degree from City University of Hong Kong. He is a Consulting Designer, Professional Engineer, and Project Manager at China Mobile Group Design Institute Company Ltd., Hubei Branch. Qian has made significant contributions to 2G-5G mobile network performance, addressing frequent hardware failures to enhance network stability and customer satisfaction. His efforts covered numerous base stations across multiple cities in Hubei Province, resulting in substantial improvements in key indicators of network quality and stability.
Qian led Hubei's first industry-specific cloud platform project, successfully meeting the localized deployment needs of government and enterprise clients. His leadership ensured the project's successful launch and attracted many clients. His research achievements, as the first author, resulted in the company’s first paper published in an IEEE journal, marking a significant milestone for his organization.
Armed Forces Technician Award winner
Warrant Officer Matthew Fields
Warrant Officer Matthew Fields is the winner of the IET Armed Forces Technician Award. He has been a military engineer for 30 years, specialising in Aircrew Systems and Human/Machine interface. He has worked on equipment for every aircraft type in the MOD inventory. Discovering his real passion for human factors engineering during a tour at the RAF Centre of Aerospace Medicine, he has since strived to develop equipment to better protect military aircrew.
He has been an engineering instructor at the Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering, worked within the RAF Accident Investigation team, and deputy chair of the RAF Shadow Engineering Board, he is currently employed as the Air Command Warrant Officer for Aircrew Systems at HQ Air Command. His most recent work in providing appropriate protective equipment for female aircrew is his proudest achievement in his career to date.
Armed Forces Technician finalists
Corporal Alun Williams is a finalist for the IET Armed Forces Technician Award. He has served in the RAF for 17 years, and his current role is at the defence school of aeronautical engineering Cosford as an avionics instructor/human factors facilitator.
He volunteered for a teaching role, which opened doors to other opportunities such as STEM where Alun has shared his skills in Avionics, mechanics and as a pilot, with young people from diverse backgrounds. Seeing them get stuck into STEM by building aircrafts from kits has been an incredibly rewarding experience.
One of Alun’s main interests is aviation, he holds a private pilot’s licence which enables him to share his passion with others. He also co-owns a light aircraft and he enjoys maintaining the aircraft as much as flying it. He is a also volunteer swimming coach for Swim England, and also acts as an official.
Aircraft Specialist 1 (Technician) Sam Fennell is a finalist for the IET Armed Forces Technician Award. He joined the RAF in 2019 after seeking a new challenge and a different career path in engineering. He hit the ground running in Phase 2 Training, receiving the award for highest exam results on his course. Arriving at 71(IR) Sqn for his first tour, he was sent on a repair to RAF Akrotiri on a 3-month deployment supporting Op Shader to restore a damaged Typhoon.
He went on be assigned to an 18-month repair to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at RAF Coningsby as the Lead Repair Producer to fabricate and rebuild the Spitfire Mk19 Frame 5 Bulkhead. This task saw him working with challenging engineering documentation and using modern engineering techniques and calculations.
Aircraft Specialist 1 (Technician) Charliy Spark is a finalist for the IET Armed Forces Technician Award. She joined the RAF at 27 with a keen interest in engineering, and a willingness to learn, she graduated from Cosford in 2021 as an Avionic Technician. She moved to Brize Norton for her first tour, and after two and a half years was awarded acting corporal, for her enthusiasm, professionalism, and work ethic.
Growing up, she was always interested in how things worked, and wanted to fix things, often things that were not broken before she had got their hands on them!
She is part of the Brize Norton STEM team, where she regularly takes part in events. She also provides training packages for the computer coding specific equipment. In her spare time, she has been undertaking a foundation degree in Electronics and Telecommunications at Staffordshire University, which will further her knowledge and expertise.