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I hope that through this Award I can inspire and motivate more young girls to study Electronics and showcase to them that we can do equally well as our male counterparts. The work we do in this industry solely relies on our passion and skills, not our gender.
Nishika Chettry, Scholar of the Year 2022
The UKESF Scholar of the Year Award 2022 was announced at the annual TechWorks Awards and Gala Dinner in London on 8 December. We were pleased to recognise Nishika Chettry, Aston University/Renesas Electronics Europe, as Scholar of the Year, with Leon Brindley, University of Southampton/Qualcomm, as runner up.
Nishika was praised for her significant contribution during her work placement, her outstanding academic achievement, as well as her outreach and engagement work, which she has undertaken independently, and through the UKESF and her university. She has twice won departmental awards for achieving the top results, and has received external recognition as one of Electronics Weekly’s ‘BrightSparks’.
Nishika was selected from 122 current Scholars, and is the 6th female student to receive the prestigious Scholar of the Year Award since the programme was launched in 2010.
Nikisha commented: “Being awarded the Scholar of the Year feels like my hard work from the past four years at university has been recognised. It has acted as a confidence booster for me that I am on the right track and am doing the right things. I will continue to work and do my part in making space for women in the Electronics industry, all in an effort to bridge the gender and generational gap that we currently have in this sector. But most importantly, I hope that through this Award I can inspire and motivate more young girls to study Electronics and showcase to them that we can do equally well as our male counterparts. The work we do in this industry solely relies on our passion and skills, not our gender.
I had such a wonderful time on placement at Renesas. I worked with many experienced professionals and learnt so much about embedded systems and robust coding. Everyone in the team was always ready to help me with questions. My manager, Tim Hartley, created such a positive and friendly work environment and from HR, Noemi Fabian, encouraged me to work on outreach for promoting Electronics amongst young girls. My team knew that I was involved in a number of things at university, and they were so supportive. I felt welcomed and valued by them. Hence, I am joining them back as a graduate Firmware engineer next year!”
Speaking after the event, Stewart Edmondson, CEO, UKESF said “The TechWorks Awards is always a fantastic occasion to celebrate the success of our Scholars with our partners and supporters. This year we were also delighted to see our former Scholar, Oisin Robinson, Picocom, as a finalist in the Young Engineer of the Year Award. Getting more diverse graduates into our sector is what the UKESF is all about.”
Also at the Awards, Leon Brindley was commended as the Scholar of the Year Runner-Up.
Leon commented: “The UKESF Scholarship Scheme has genuinely changed my life, and I’m incredibly grateful to both the UKESF and Qualcomm for their continued support and encouragement. Acquiring industry experience is a vital part of higher education, especially within such rapidly evolving fields as electronic engineering, so I’d wholeheartedly recommend applying for a UKESF Scholarship.
Through my UKESF Scholarship I completed two summer internships with Qualcomm Cambridge’s Power Management Unit Team, focusing on IC design and simulation in Cadence Virtuoso. It’s an honour to become the UKESF Scholar of the Year Runner-Up, as it amalgamates my academic results, internship performance and outreach activities.”
To view all the winners on the night, visit the TechWorks website. Find out more about the UKESF’s Scholarship Scheme here.
