The Scholar of the Year Award is open to UKESF scholars who have:

  • made a significant contribution to their sponsoring employer through their work placement;
  • achieved excellent results, so far, on their degree course at university;
  • actively promoted Electronics to young people by participating in STEM outreach activities

The Award

Current scholars are invited to apply for the award during September each year. A panel of professionals in the Electronics sector assesses the impact each applicant has made and selects two finalists, who are invited to the annual TechWorks Gala Dinner & Awards in Manchester in December, as guests of the UKESF, for the announcement. The winner receives £500, a trophy and a certificate, with the runner-up receiving £250 and a certificate.

The award is sponsored by IC Resources, the recognised technology recruitment partner to the global tech community. Their specialist teams’ knowledge and expertise spans the Software, Semiconductor, Electronics and Engineering (Technical and Commercial) industries.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Must hold a current UKESF scholarship
  • Must have completed a summer work placement or be currently undertaking one with sponsoring employer
  • Must demonstrate strength of contribution to sponsoring employer and education

Past Winners

2022 Nishika Chettry, Aston University
sponsored by Renesas Electronics Europe

2021 Oana Lazar, University of Southampton
sponsored by Tessent Embedded Analytics, part of Siemens (formerly UltraSoC)

2020 Emily Wayland, University of Southampton
sponsored by Arm

2019 Mary Bennett, University of Surrey & Hugo McNally, University of Southampton (joint winners)
sponsored by Embecosm & ON Semiconductor respectively

2018 Ricki Tura, University of Southampton
sponsored by UltraSoc

2017 Eliza Law, University of Southampton & Jamie Tupholme, University of Leeds (joint winners)
sponsored by Swindon Silicon Systems & Thales respectively

2016 Joanna Taylor, University of Bristol
sponsored by Imagination Technologies

2015 Josh Oldfield, University of Southampton
sponsored by ARM

2014 Robert Eynon, University of York
sponsored by Dialog Semiconductor

2013 Ashley Robinson, University of Southampton
sponsored by Qualcomm (formerly CSR)

2012 Rares-Mihai Popa, University of Edinburgh
sponsored by Qualcomm (formerly CSR)

2011 Adam Malpass, University of Southampton
sponsored by Dialog Semiconductor