UCW Engineering Degree Apprentice, Jared Newnham, has been named the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Apprentice winner.

At age 20, Ministry of Defence Aerospace Engineering Degree Apprentice, Jared, is currently undertaking a placement as an Airworthiness Certification Manager, where he is responsible for increasing air system operational capabilities through risk reduction and type design change embodiment. As part of his apprenticeship, Jared created a robust, regulatory compliant procedure that has been used for multiple complex technical queries and is being rolled out to all projects within the Delivery Team.

Jared’s apprenticeship is delivered through University Centre Weston (UCW) in partnership with UWE, Bristol. The course offers apprentices just like Jared the opportunity to combine full-time paid work with part-time academic study. All engineering courses at UCW are delivered in the fantastic facilities on offer at our South West Skills Campus. This ensures students like Jared have access to the highest of industry-standard facilities, in order to learn and develop inside and outside of the classroom.

In addition to his main duties, Jared has become a keen advocate for engineering within the local community, coordinating an outreach event to promote careers to sixth form students and mentoring struggling classmates. Outside of work, Jared has a keen interest in exploring the outdoors through hikes and amateur astronomy.

On receiving the award, Jared said: “I can’t believe that I’ve been chosen as the IET’s Apprentice winner for 2022. There are so many apprentices doing great things across engineering so to be given this award makes me really proud.

“For anyone thinking about taking up a career in STEM, I would definitely recommend looking into apprenticeships. My placement with the Ministry of Defence has led to so many incredible opportunities which I will look back on fondly and which will hopefully lead to a long and enjoyable career.”

The IET Achievement Awards exist to recognise individuals from all over the world who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of engineering, technology and science in any sector. This can be through research and development in their respective technical field or through their leadership of an enterprise.

Professor Bob Cryan, IET President said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Jared who has been making great waves in the world of engineering despite being so early on in his career. It is inspiring to see that Jared is using his passion for STEM to help teach others about the opportunities available to them, increasing awareness amongst members of his local community.

“Each of the award finalists demonstrated an exceptional level of skill and knowledge, spanning beyond their roles which made judging extremely difficult. All have taken on challenging projects and thanks to their creativity and resolve, have had a positive impact in their companies. I wish all of them the best of luck for a rewarding engineering career ahead.”

The Achievement Awards are part of the IET’s Awards and Scholarships programme, which celebrate excellence and research in the sector and encourage the next generation of engineers and technicians. All IET awards seek to inspire and reward engineering excellence, including apprentices at the start of their careers, through to reputable, established professional engineers and technicians.

Amazing work Jared!