Alongside the announcement that UKESF have opened the Award for Inspirational Electronics Educations 2026 for applications, we’re pleased to hear from Neil Wright, teacher of Electronics & Design Engineering at William Farr School, who was the winner of the inaugural Award last year.

Neil was recognised for his outstanding work to develop a sustainable, context-based, reusable philosophy, that he applied across all year groups to provide a clear pathway into Electronics Engineering. Neil has shared the impact the Award has had for both him and his students.

“The recognition & networking from the Award opened up a lot of new avenues. Professor John Goodenough at Sheffield University was kind enough to organise a trip for my year 10 Systems & Control students to the University of Sheffield. They participated in an interactive clean room visit, where they were able to learn about the fabrication and test of blue LED’s – an experience they all thoroughly enjoyed.”

Neil also arranged for 15 of his students to attend UKESF Girls into Electronics at Sheffield University. This trip increased visibility of Electronics and has led to a bigger uptake in numbers for next year, including an increase in the number of female students participating.

Alongside these external trips, Neil has also been able to provide more equipment for classroom teaching and extra-curricular projects, including:

  • A new year 10 project based on production line automation. The Award enabled the school to purchase equipment which clearly links the project to real-world applications and allows students to access the activity at a difficulty level suited to them;
  • A new class set of microcontrollers, allowing students to experiment with Bluetooth, IoT, and projects demanding higher performance much more easily;
  • A new store room shelving system;
  • A new bench power supply for the Electronics room.

 

At the UKESF, we are incredibly grateful to Neil, as well as all teachers inspiring the next generation of Electronics Engineers.

Applications are open for the UKESF Award for Inspirational Electronics Educators 2026, sponsored by Synopsys Inc. The Award Winner will receive:
– £500 personal reward
– £1,000 grant to support Electronics education in their school
– An invitation to the TechWorks Awards & Gala Dinner, London on 3rd December (travel & accommodation included)

Find out more and apply here

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