Alexandra Bradford and Joe Smith (Civil Engineering), Sophie Sladen (Engineering Design) and Alex Creak, Adam Moss and Peter Symes-Thomson (Aeronautical Engineering) competed in a challenging selection event against 170 students from UK universities to win the national Royal Academy of Engineering Leadership Advanced Awards.

Professor Nick Lieven, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, said: “I was delighted to hear that, once again, we are jointly top of the country for these significant prizes that recognize and encourage leadership. 

“I’m now convinced that this regular success shows one of the special things about engineering at Bristol: our students are not just learning to follow, but learning how to lead.”

This year’s award winners have a diverse range of plans.  Alexandra Bradford plans to visit the Earthquake Disaster Mitigation Centre (EDM) in Japan to develop her knowledge of seismic design and to work on learning the Japanese language. 

Aerospace engineers Alex Creak and Peter Symes-Thomson are both interested in working in Formula One when they graduate, so intend to travel together to a Grand Prix in 2011 to network with F1 industry insiders. They both also have US-focused plans: while studying in Sacramento next year, Alex intends to visit the Lockheed and Boeing headquarters; Peter has plans to go to Seattle to study at the University of Washington and, back in the UK, he will work further on the University’s hovercraft race team that he leads.

Adam Moss wants to develop his experience of industrial and business environments, again in the USA.  Sophie Sladen has a particular interest in the biomedical applications of engineering, and will try to take interdisciplinary courses to boost her knowledge.  She will also work on her French language and public speaking skills.  Joe Smith will explore the impact he can have in his future career as an engineer in developing countries.

Candidates were required to participate in a range of selection activities that included presentations and interviews by Fellows of The Royal Academy, Sainsbury Management Fellows and alumni of the Engineering Leadership Advanced Awards’ Scheme.

The objective of the awards is to allow ambitious, inspiring engineering undergraduates, who want to become leadership role models, to undertake an accelerated personal development programme.  To achieve this, the winners receive £5,000 to implement their personal development plan, devised in collaboration with the Royal Academy, providing them with the opportunity to acquire the skills needed to fulfil their potential.

The event took place at Warwick University in March.  Seventy students were shortlisted to attend and 30 candidates were selected for the awards.