We were delighted this week to host a visit from Steph McGovern – journalist, TV presenter and former winner of the Young Engineer for Britain Award.
At 19, Steph created a new design for manufacturing company Black & Decker, saving them money on one of their existing products and earning her the title of Young Engineer for Britain. Since then her career has skyrocketed through the BBC, from part-time researcher to producer and now to presenter. With this experience, Steph was in a fantastic position to advise and inspire students at UTC Leeds.
During her visit Steph had a tour of the UTC, meeting lots of students from Years 10-13 and talking to them about their current engineering projects. As a former engineer she was able to offer lots of ideas and insights into students’ projects, which included building green-power cars and robots, and a whole new factory for Siemens.
Students also talked to Steph about their aspirations and she offered a great deal of advice and motivation around different pathways and careers. This was of particular value to our female students, as Steph gave them valuable insight into being a woman in the engineering industry.
One Year 12 student, Kara, said: ‘Meeting Steph was inspiring. To meet someone who has achieved so much in their life and be able to talk to her and see how she works was amazing.’
Sophie, a Year 11 student, added: ‘It was lovely to meet Steph. She was very inspiring and very enthusiastic about women having careers in engineering!’
We were extremely proud to showcase our facilities and our fantastic students. Steph was extremely positive, and fully understood the importance of what UTCs can provide to young people with STEM aspirations. We would love to have her back again soon!
You can see Steph on her Channel 4 show Steph’s Packed Lunch every weekday from 12:30pm.
