Walsall student's Amazon tech adventure

The Royal Academy of Engineering is working with Amazon on the Amazon Future Engineer bursary scheme in the UK.

Lily Nicholson is now on the first year of her course at the University of Manchester.

Growing up she was always fascinated by science and explained: “When I was a kid I was obsessed with physics, and I remember wanting to be an astronomer. Now I’m a little older I still enjoy physics, but have turned my focus to the other subject I loved at school, computer science, which I think will be better for my career.”

While studying computer science in her GCSEs and A-Levels, Lily realised she had a passion for data science – blending two of her favourite things in computer science and statistics.

“I can see myself pursuing a career in data science as I’ve always loved that since studying Physics, Maths and Computer Science at school. I’m also a bit of a gamer and a recent event at university with game developers really caught my eye, so I would love to go into game development.”

Of accessing the Amazon Future Engineer student bursary, Lily said: “I’m excited to be linked to Amazon. I like the variety to what they offer, and of course the data science aspect of their business.

“This bursary will also make it a lot easier to take my course, as it means I don’t have to worry so much about getting a job while I study. That also means I have more flexibility during the holidays to take internships and work experience to develop my portfolio.”

Awards

The scheme aims to support social mobility among women students.

It supports students from low-income households studying computer science and related engineering courses at UK universities.

A dozen awards, worth £5,000 a year for up to four years, have been made available to students progressing from A-Level or technical education courses to university for the 2021-2022 academic year.

Dr Hayaatun Sillem, chief executive of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “The academy and Amazon share an ambition to inspire and support young people to become the next generation of engineers, and I welcome the opportunity to work together in encouraging more women and girls from all backgrounds to take up careers in engineering and computing. We need a greater diversity of views and experiences working within these professions if we are to come up with effective solutions to the many challenges that society faces.

"At the current rate of progress, to achieve the same number of women as men on degree courses for these subjects would take another 74 years. We simply cannot afford to wait that long."

“Our new bursary scheme with the Royal Academy of Engineering will help more women become the innovation leaders of the UK” said John Boumphrey, UK country manager for Amazon. “More needs to be done to encourage women to enter these fields and break down barriers that students face.

"The Amazon Future Engineer bursary scheme is just one of the ways that we are helping to increase the representation of women in the UK innovation economy and exciting careers in computer science.”