Dr Crinela Pislaru (Chair, IET West Yorkshire Local Network) has presented the IET Local Network Prize for Student Excellence to Catherine Smith from Kirklees College on 6 June 2019.The presentation ceremony took place at Reliance Precision Ltd. in the presence of Robert Farrell (Reliance Precision Ltd.), John Plascott, Elisha Gardner, Lydia Butterworth (Kirklees College).
Universities or colleges without an accredited programme can nominate a student for the Local Network Prize for having achieved excellence on their course. The prize winner receives £250.
Catherine who is undertaking her Mechanical Engineering Technical Apprenticeship with Kirklees College and working for world-leading precision manufacturing company Reliance Precision, comes from a family of engineers with her uncle and grandfather both working in the field. Catherine took the apprenticeship route after finishing college and wanted to emulate her grandfather’s success in the field by working her way up through the engineering ranks and ultimately making him proud of her achievements.
“I’m really excited to receive this award and want to thank the support of both Kirklees College and Reliance Precision, I couldn’t have achieved this without their guidance and belief in me. I am learning so much on my apprenticeship and have such a great place of work, I can’t wait to see what the future brings,” said Catherine.
Dr Crinela Pislaru mentioned that "Catherine is a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable female apprentice who stands out from her peers and has made noteworthy achievements in her area of expertise. It was great to see that the combination between the excellent support provided by Kirklees College and Reliance Precision Ltd. and Catherine’s inquiring mind, perseverance and passion has been making an essential contribution to the success of this female engineering apprentice. My advice to all young female engineering students is to believe in themselves and develop their personal power and credibility so they come across with authority and self-confidence even when they are pushed outside their comfort zones."
“Catherine is making fantastic progression on her apprenticeship and is flourishing into a fantastic engineer. We’re delighted she has won this award as she fully deserves it. Catherine is very committed and puts 100% into everything she does. We look forward to seeing her continued success throughout the remainder of her apprenticeship,” said David Torr, Head of Metrology.
Kirklees College train approximately 2,000 apprentices over 30 occupational areas, who are employed at over 1,000 companies throughout West Yorkshire.