BT funds the Institution of Engineering and Technology Diamond Jubilee Scholarships
BT has today announced a multi-year sponsorship of the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) new Diamond Jubilee Scholarship Programme
Scholarship programme with at least 50% female quota will inspire and support UK’s brightest students
BT has today announced a multi-year sponsorship of the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) new Diamond Jubilee Scholarship Programme. The BT funded scholarships will provide 75 of the UK’s brightest engineering and technology students with invaluable financial and practical support for the full duration of their degree courses, to encourage and inspire the most talented undergraduates into careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.
The IET’s Scholarship Committee, which will include a representative from BT, will select 25 students each year for three years, with the first 25 Diamond Jubilee Scholarships set to be announced shortly after the new university year commences in October. Students who wish to be considered must be UK residents joining an IET accredited degree and have achieved three A Level grades at A grade or above.
The BT-funded IET Diamond Jubilee Scholarships will encourage greater female participation in the engineering and technology sectors by guaranteeing at least 50% of the places on the programme to female students. In addition to offering annual financial support to all 75 scholars during the full term of their studies, BT will deliver regional mentoring programmes and work placement opportunities, plus workshop schemes to help the Diamond Jubilee Scholars secure employment after their undergraduate studies.
BT’s support of the IET Diamond Jubilee Scholarship Programme will be recognised by the naming of the Tommy Flowers room at the IET’s London home, Savoy Place. The room will be named in honour of Tommy Flowers, the legendary telecoms research engineer who designed and built the world’s first electronic computer, Colossus. This was widely acknowledged to have shortened the Second World War by many months and saved tens of thousands of lives. Colossus was built at the Dollis Hill research station, the predecessor of BT’s Adastral Park research laboratories.
Gavin Patterson, BT Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “The IET’s Diamond Jubilee Scholarship Programme is an inspiring initiative that BT is proud to support. It is vital that our most talented and brightest students are given every opportunity to fulfil their potential and realise their career ambitions. BT’s scholarship and apprenticeship schemes provide career pathways, which will ensure the UK remains at the forefront of global innovation in engineering and technology. I look forward to following the progress of all these Diamond Jubilee Scholars and the valuable contribution they will make to British enterprise and our industry in the years to come.”
Nigel Fine, IET Chief Executive, said: “It has never been more important to encourage young people – particularly girls – to study engineering. Over the next ten years we need to double the number of apprentices and graduates just to meet employer demand.By working in partnership with influential engineering employers like BT, we can tackle this shortage of engineers head on and help protect the UK’s economic prosperity.”
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About the IET:
The IET started the Diamond Jubilee scholarships scheme in 2013 to address the skills shortage in the UK. Supporters of the scheme include BAE Systems, the Belling Charitable Settlement, BT, the ERA Foundation, the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and Siemens plc.
The IET is one of the world’s largest engineering institutions with over 163,000 members in 127 countries. It is also the most interdisciplinary – to reflect the increasingly diverse nature of engineering in the 21st century. Energy, transport, manufacturing, information and communications, and the built environment: the IET covers them all. The IET is working to engineer a better world by inspiring, informing and influencing our members, engineers and technicians, and all those who are touched by, or touch, the work of engineers. For more information, visit www.theiet.org
