Thomas Sutherland, from Edinburgh, has been named the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Apprentice of the Year.
23-year-old Thomas, who has recently completed his Technical Apprenticeship for Leonardo and now works on the Eurofighter Typhoon Radar integrating current and next-gen systems, was presented with the prestigious award at the IET Achievement Awards in central London on Thursday night.
To date, Thomas has received multiple performance awards for his work and was named the Leonardo Apprentice of the Year in 2018.
After senior management identified both his technical and leadership talents, he secured sponsorship for University and was placed on a bespoke development plan accelerating him to engineering leadership roles. Thomas has been involved in over 25 individual STEM events and is the current Treasurer and Co-Chair for the IET Scotland South East Young Professionals Committee.
On winning, he said: “It’s honestly crazy – watching all the finalist presentations and the introductions to each of us with the build-up was mad. I am speechless and it feels very special. My Mum was in the audience and got to see me win.”
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.
IET President Dr Peter Bonfield OBE, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and Thomas should be very proud to win this award amongst strong competition in his category.
“The standard of this year’s entries made the judging extremely difficult. All the IET Apprentice Award finalists demonstrated skills and knowledge through their work that went far beyond their roles. They have taken on challenging tasks and through innovation and determination to succeed have brought real benefits to their companies.”
The Apprentice and Technician Awards are part of the IET’s Achievement Awards and Scholarships programme, which this year provided over £1million in awards, prizes and scholarships to celebrate excellence and research in the sector and encourage the next generation of engineers and technicians.
Find out more about the Achievement Awards here:
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