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Ellie Owens Earns IET Award Nomination for Inspiring Women in STEM

Prime Highlights-

  • Sellafield reliability engineer Ellie Owens is a finalist for the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards 2026.
  • Owens supports fuel handling at Sellafield and champions women in engineering through mentoring and outreach programs across the nuclear sector.

Key Facts-

  • Rachel Chiu, Dr. Emma Findlay, Caitlin Harmer and Meriem Voinica are also finalists for the award.
  • Owens began as an electrical and instrumentation apprentice and now has over ten years of experience.

Background-

Sellafield reliability engineer Ellie Owens has been shortlisted for the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards 2026, a national honor celebrating women in the profession.

Owens brings more than a decade of experience across the engineering and nuclear sectors. She currently supports the fuel handling process at Sellafield. She applies reliability engineering principles to improve plant availability and lifecycle performance, and she helps shape the long-term strategy for critical equipment.

She also champions women and underrepresented groups through mentoring and outreach, and she promotes wider access into engineering.

Owens said she is proud of the nomination. She began her career as an electrical and instrumentation apprentice, which gave her a strong foundation. She has since taken on greater technical responsibility, handled more complex challenges and continued her education alongside full-time work.

She hopes her nomination helps others see a place for themselves in engineering and shows that many routes lead to a successful career, including practical experience, academic study and professional development.

Rachel Chiu, Dr. Emma Findlay, Caitlin Harmer and Meriem Voinica are also finalists.

Dr. Laura Norton, head of equity, diversity and inclusion at the IET, said the awards find role models who help girls and young women see that they belong in engineering. She said celebrating exceptional engineers inspires ambition and encourages more young people to consider careers in engineering and technology.