RS continues its long-term mission to encourage young people to enter the engineering profession; launches this year’s search for the UK’s most talented young electronics engineers
LONDON, UK, 16 December 2019 – RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE: ECM), a global multi-channel provider of industrial and electronic products and solutions, has announced it is partnering with Electronics Weekly for a fourth year to launch EW BrightSparks, an initiative to showcase the brightest and most talented young electronics engineers in the UK today.
EW BrightSparks is designed to celebrate a group of young engineers who are making a difference in the first years of their working life, or still in education and showing great promise towards becoming leaders and innovators in the electronics industry of the future.
EW BrightSparks 2020 is open now to nominees in the UK, aged between 18 and
30, who are working or actively pursuing a career as electronics engineers or studying electronics in further or higher education. Entries will be accepted from the nominee or from a third party and must highlight the nominee’s achievements as an engineer. Nominations are welcome from any area of the engineering industry including colleges and universities, as well as start-ups, SMEs and corporate businesses, and from any company employing engineers. Nominations can be submitted via www.electronicsweekly.com/brightsparks/. The closing date is Monday 24th February 2020.
Nominations will be reviewed and shortlisted by a panel of professionals from across the electronics industry, including: Lindsley Ruth, CEO Electrocomponents; Clive Couldwell, Group Editor at Electronics Weekly; Frederik Schulze Spüntrup, President of the European Young Engineers; and Peter Hannon, Managing Director at HARTING, UK, which is supporting the programme again this year. Further judges will be announced in the coming weeks and months.
The winning entrants will be announced on Wednesday 18th March 2020 with an awards ceremony taking place on Tuesday 28th April 2020.
“A strong engineering sector is vital to the future of the UK and the global economy. Engineering presents a huge opportunity for young people today, enabling them to contribute to the economy and to make people’s lives better, more efficient and more entertaining,” said fellow judge Isabella Mascarenhas, VP Grass Roots and Shining Stars at Electrocomponents.
“RS recognises the need to inspire and encourage young people to enter the engineering profession, and is why, as part of our Corporate Responsibility vision, we started our STEM outreach programme three years ago and recently launched our global Grass Roots university programme. Initiatives like EW BrightSparks will inspire younger people to choose STEM subjects and pursue a career in engineering, and RS is delighted to partner with EW once again on EW BrightSparks 2020.”
Further information on BrightSparks 2020 is available on the RS website at https://uk.rs-online.com, search BrightSparks.
QUOTES
Frederik Schulze Spüntrup, President of the European Young Engineers: “My motivation to participate in the panel is that I strongly believe that engineers are playing a key role in shaping our future society. Motivating and engaging the most talented of them is the best way to work towards a better future.”
Peter Hannon, Managing Director, HARTING, UK: “We are delighted to be taking part in this year’s BrightSparks programme to have the opportunity to engage with some of the UK’s most inspirational young engineers. We believe it will excite young people and hopefully will encourage them to invest their future in STEM subjects and their careers in the development of next-generation technologies and products that will have a significant impact in our everyday lives, right across the world.”
Clive Couldwell, Group Editor, Electronics Weekly: “BrightSparks are an amazing bunch of people, who continue to astonish me with their achievements. We are delighted to continue the EW BrightSparks programme, in partnership with RS Components, to highlight their work. So, the hunt is on to find the class of 2020 and we hope our readers will help to nominate worthy young friends or colleagues to ensure their work receives the celebration it deserves.”
