Lab technologist wins IET Apprentice of the Year
16 Nov 2017
The IET has awarded its Apprentice of the Year prize to manufacturing laboratory technologist Magdalena Dyga.
A specialist science apprentice at Rolls Royce, Dyga is a STEM ambassador at schools.
She led several key projects and was a “pivotal” member of the team that achieved a 50% cycle time reduction and £160,00 annual cost savings in an electron beam welding project that won the company’s 2016 Lean Award.
Said Dyga: “I am over the moon with this award from the IET. Being nominated was recognition enough but winning is unbelievable. It shows that working hard and applying yourself really does pay off."
IET President Nick Winser CBE described the win as "a fantastic achievement" , adding she had won against strong competition.
I am over the moon with this award from the IET. Being nominated was recognition enough but winning is unbelievable.
Magdalena Dyga, IET Apprentice of the Year
“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," he said.
The IET's other award – Armed Forces Technician of the Year – went to a soldier who returned to his native country to play a lead role in humanitarian work battling a major disaster.
Royal Engineers Warrant Officer Ram Kumar Rai was the technical lead for relief work following the 2015 Nepal earthquake.
WO2 Rai said the award acknowledged the importance of the work done by army technicians in the army and was a huge boost for their profession.
Both winners – who receive a trophy, certificate, £1,000 and two years’ free IET membership – beat strong competition from two other finalists: in Dyga’s case Sellafield CE&I Design Technician Andrew Heaton and Mechanical Engineering apprentice at Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH Wesley Washington; Kumar’s competitors were Staff Sergeant John Martindale and Corporal Philip Mathews.
