The world’s most impressive engineering achievements - from stunning bridges to spacecraft - owe their existence to visionaries. Now the Institution of Mechanical Engineers has introduced its Vision Awards to celebrate the visionaries of the future.

The first three young recipients, who may change the shape of the world to come, were chosen from the pool of promising engineers who have already won IMechE awards, either as engineering technicians, undergraduates or Whitworth Scholars. The trio has also shown academic ability, technical skills and exceptional dedication to their profession.

Visionary: Whitworth Jenny Tagallie

Jenny Tagallie, 32, from Trinidad, used her Whitworth award to fund her Master’s degree. She now works as a subsea engineer for the engineering consultancy JP Kenny Caledonia in Aberdeen, and in her free time shares her love of engineering with schoolchildren.

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BACKGROUND

• A vision to inspire

• Crying out for new recruits

• Make science fun to catch them young

• Drive to beat engineering skills shortage

She says: “Maths and science always came easy to me and I love sharing my passion with younger people through the Education in Industry programme. The aim is to interest children in engineering at an early age by showing them the exciting possibilities.”

Tagallie regularly helps at Ashley Road Primary School in Aberdeen, with practical projects such as building model bridges. She says: “The pupils have a lot of passion and are clever. They might make a bridge out of lollypop sticks and paper only for it to fall down when a weight is put on it, but they ask questions about what went wrong and what to do next. We talk about the principles of the task and about how the basic laws of physics can be applied to the world.”

Tagallie’s interest was sparked at a very young age when she was given a toy racing car and immediately took it apart to see how it worked.

Instead of going to university she took an engineering apprenticeship because she did not want to burden her parents with university fees.

She says: “We weren’t particularly poor but both my parents were freelances, and university in Trinidad at that time wasn’t free, so it wasn’t financially viable. I didn’t think it fair to put that strain on my parents.”

Instead Tagallie saved up and after her apprenticeship went to Strathclyde University to study for an engineering degree. She then worked in South America and returned to Strathclyde to complete her masters after winning a Whitworth award.

“I took a long route to get where I am now, and the Whitworth award was a great help,” she says.

The Vision Awards are aimed at increasing awareness of engineering and to inspire young people to become engineers. A lot of people don’t understand how varied a career can be.”

As a subsea engineer, Tagallie designs pipelines to connect oil wells to rigs for companies such as BP.

She says: “The seabed is unknown territory with different types of soil. You have to be sure that the pipe can cope with high pressure and high temperatures and be sure that it won’t buckle and that the thickness is adequate for the pressures.”

She believes the Vision Awards will bring much needed recognition to engineers who anticipate the needs of the future. Her personal vision is that engineering technology involving renewable energy sources and processes, will minimise mankind’s impact on natural resources.

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