An annual Award to encourage more women to aim for Chartered Engineer and corporate status.

•  The 2011 Winner: Dr Gemma Whatling, Institution of Mechanical Engineers
• The 2010 Winner: Julie Templeton, Institution of Civil Engineers
• The 2009 Winner: Katy Deacon, Institution of Engineering & Technology
• The 2008 Winner: Emily Spearman, Institute of Energy
• The 2007 Winner: Jane Hunter, Institution of Highway Engineers
• The 2006 Winner: Louise McDevitt, Institution of Highway Engineers
• The 2005 Winner: Katy Roelich, Institution of Water and Environmental Management
• The 2004 Winner: Suzanne Bland, Institution of Civil Engineers
• The 2003 Winner: Jane Wild, Institution of Mechanical Engineers
• The 2002 Winner: Helen Marson, Institution of Chemical Engineers
• The 2001 Winner: Beth Hutchison, British Computer Society
• The 2000 Winner: Una McQuaid, Institution of Civil Engineers
• The 1999 Winner: Rebecca Dowsett, Institution of Electrical Engineers

What is the award and who is eligible?

Launched on 3 November 1998 by WES, the Karen Burt Memorial Award is made annually to a newly Chartered woman in the following disciplines – engineering, applied science, IT.

The award recognizes the candidate's excellence and potential in the practice of engineering and highlights the importance of Chartered status, as well as offering recognition to contributions made by the candidate to the promotion of the engineering profession.

The first award, comprising a cash prize and a year's membership of WES, was made in November 1999 to Rebecca Dowsett then aged twenty seven.

How are nominations made?

Each participating accrediting engineering Institution nominates one candidate annually, following the normal institutional review process, with final selection by a WES panel on the basis of further information provided by the candidate. This latter stage focuses particularly on the candidate's contribution to the promotion of the engineering profession. The collaboration strengthens links between WES and the engineering Institutions and helps raise the profile of women engineers and encourage them to attain Chartered status.

Further information on the Karen Burt award

Individuals wishing to obtain further information about the award and the nomination procedure should in the first instance contact their own accrediting professional Institution. Institution managers who need further information should contact the WES office.

Who was Karen Burt?

As an active member and Council office holder in The Women's Engineering Society, Karen Burt was a tireless campaigner for the recruitment and retention of women in science and engineering. From her own experience and her extensive research she was regarded as an expert in the management of career breaks and women 'returners' to engineering.

Karen graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge and obtained a PhD from Reading University. She joined British Aerospace Systems at Stevenage as project engineer for scientific satellites and progressed to Senior Systems Engineer before developing an interest in management in the Total Quality Environment, and subsequently becoming Business Acquisition Manager.

Leaving BAe, she set up her own consultancy and was instrumental in establishing the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation Systems within University College, London. She had just accepted a position on the staff of UCL when her career was abruptly ended by a devastating stroke.

Karen is remembered as a gifted communicator and her fight to recover speech and mobility following her stroke was an inspiration to all who knew her.