The prizes, awarded to Katharine Field (Mechanical Engineering) and Bhuma Limbu (Chemical Engineering) for outstanding academic achievement in Part I of their respective degrees, are awarded by Ede & Ravenscroft, who supply robes for Lancaster University students during graduation.
Katharine Field, studying Mechanical Engineering, is proud to receive the award, and is glad that doing so is promoting women’s involvement in scientific subjects. “I am very grateful and excited to win the Ede & Ravenscroft Prize,” she says. “I am glad women in science are getting recognition, and I am sure that there are many other people in my year, women and men, who would have been worthy of the prize, so I feel very lucky.”
Bhuma Limbu said: “I feel honoured and grateful to have been able to receive this prize. It shows that effort and hard work can be rewarded, which motivates me to perform even better in the future.”
Both students are enjoying their time at Lancaster University, and have found their first year a highly enriching and rewarding experience. “The course structure has allowed me to experience the foundations of basic engineering and other engineering courses,” says Bhuma. “This intrigued me, as it made me certain and confident in my choice of chemical engineering. I enjoyed the design group work, as I was able to put the theories I learnt in class to practice with the help of my teammates.”
The friendly and supportive environment of Lancaster University is helping Katharine and Bhuma to flourish and reach their full potential. “I love the campus and the feel of the University, as well as the mix of the practical and intellectual challenges of my degree,” Katharine tells us. “I love the lab sessions and being in the workshop, and also really enjoyed our trip to Jaguar Land Rover. I like the tutorial sessions, as I could ask questions and we could have discussions about the subjects we had been learning about.”
Highly optimistic about their future careers, Katharine and Bhuma both wish to enter the field of engineering. “As a student who has just finished her first year that covered the basics of engineering, there is still a wide range of options for me to choose from,” Bhuma says. “Hopefully my future career as a chemical engineer will allow me to use the knowledge I have gained at Lancaster University and expand on it further.” Katherine adds: “I have really enjoyed working with all different types of engineers in my first year, so I would like to go into a job where I will be working as part of a team. I don’t know specifically what type of engineering job I want to go into, but I know I want to be a successful and happy engineer.”
Prizes have also been awarded to Isobel Mawby (Theoretical Physics), Luhtu Murphy (Physics), and Monica Plotkin (Computer Science).