Jessica Leigh Jones | |
---|---|
Born | 22 July 1994 |
Nationality | British |
Education | Willows High School |
Alma mater | Cardiff University (BSc) |
Occupation(s) | Engineer and Director |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | Sony University of Wales Trinity St David Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education |
Website | www |
Jessica Leigh Jones MBE (born 22 July 1994) [1] is a Welsh engineer and astrophysicist from Cardiff. She is credited with becoming the first female to win the UK Young Engineer of the Year Award in 2012 [2] for her work designing a portable uterine contraction monitor which cut manufacturing costs by 99%. [3] She was later rewarded for her efforts to commercialise the technology, receiving the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Intel Inspiration Award for Entrepreneurship in the same year. [4]
Jones was born in Cardiff on 22 July 1994. [1] As a young child, her father worked at MOD St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan, as an aircraft electrician. [5] Jones attended Willows High School in Tremorfa, Cardiff until age 15, where she was taught electronics at GCSE level by Keith Allen, whom she described as one of her role models. [6] She studied Astrophysics at Cardiff University graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in 2015. [1]
From January 2016 Jones has been employed at the Sony UK Technology Centre, Pencoed, Wales, leading the development of advanced manufacturing technology with Japan for which she was recognised in The Telegraph Top 50 Women in Engineering under 35 list 2017. [7] She also holds positions as Director, Engineering Education Scheme Wales and Patron, Alton Convent School, Hampshire, England. [8] [3] Jones is a Liveryman (by Servitude) of the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers, the 84th Livery Company in the City of London.
In 2020, Jones left Sony to create iungo Solutions, [9] a technology startup company aiming to help people affected by COVID-19 to upskill, retrain and secure re-employment. [10] [11] In 2020 she was appointed as a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. [12] In February, 2021 she was awarded a place on the Royal Society's Entrepreneur in Residence Scheme. [13] [14] She serves on the board of directors of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. [15]
In May 2021, Jones was appointed Global Focal Point for Upskilling Migrants for Employment at the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth. [16] She is the youngest Welsh citizen under the age of 30 to receive this diplomatic honour. [17]
Jones was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to women in engineering in Wales. [18] Other awards and honours include:
The University of Wales is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first university established in Wales, one of the four countries in the United Kingdom. The university was, prior to the break up of the federation, the second largest university in the UK.
The University of Glamorgan was a university based in South Wales prior to the merger with University of Wales, Newport, that formed the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university was based in Pontypridd, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, with campuses in Trefforest, Glyntaff, Merthyr Tydfil, Tyn y Wern and Cardiff. The university had four faculties, and was the only university in Wales which had no link with the University of Wales.
Dame Cheryl Elise Kendall Gillan was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Chesham and Amersham from 1992 until her death in 2021. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Secretary of State for Wales from 2010 to 2012.
Mair Eluned Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Ely is a Welsh Labour politician serving as Minister for Health and Social Services in the Welsh Government since 2021. Morgan has served as a Member of the House of Lords since 2011 and as a Member of the Senedd (MS) since 2016. She was previously Minister for the Welsh Language from 2017 to 2021, Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing from 2020 to 2021, and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1994 to 2009.
Ayanna MacCalla Howard is an American roboticist, entrepreneur and educator currently serving as the dean of the College of Engineering at Ohio State University. Assuming the post in March 2021, Howard became the first woman to lead the Ohio State College of Engineering.
The University of Wales Trinity Saint David is a multi-campus university with three main campuses in South West Wales, in Carmarthen, Lampeter and Swansea, a fourth campus in London, England, and learning centres in Cardiff, Wales, and Birmingham, England.
Stephanie Rose McGovern is an English journalist and television presenter. She currently hosts Steph's Packed Lunch on Channel 4. She worked for the BBC as the main business presenter for BBC Breakfast, often co-hosting the entire programme.
Meena Upadhyaya OBE is an Indian-born Welsh medical geneticist and an honorary distinguished professor at Cardiff University. Her research has focused on the genes that cause various genetic disorders, in particular neurofibromatosis type I and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.
Karen Margaret Holford is a Welsh engineer, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Cranfield University. She was formerly Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Cardiff University. She is also a former Pro Vice-Chancellor of the College of Physical Sciences and Engineering and Head of the School of Engineering. She is an active researcher of acoustic emission and her work has been applied to damage assessment inspections on industrial components.
Kara M. Kockelman, Ph.D., P.E. is an American civil and transportation engineer, who is currently the Dewitt Greer Centennial Professor of Transportation Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, previously the Clare Boothe Luce Professor of Civil Engineering, and a published author. Kockelman’s work focuses on transportation, and includes planning for future implementation of shared and autonomous vehicle systems, and policies like credit-based congestion pricing and urban growth boundaries.
Roma Agrawal is an Indian-British-American chartered structural engineer based in London. She has worked on several major engineering projects, including the Shard. Agrawal is also an author and a diversity campaigner, championing women in engineering.
Wendy Sadler is a British science communicator and lecturer at Cardiff University. She is the founding director of Science Made Simple, which focuses on engaging audiences with the physical sciences. Her areas of interest include inspiring the next generation of scientists, engineers and communicators; women in STEM; and making STEM subjects accessible to diverse audiences.
Yewande Akinola is a Chartered Engineer who specialises in sustainable water supplies. She works as Principal Engineer for Laing O'Rourke and hosts television shows about engineering for Channel 4 and National Geographic.
Ozak-Obazi Oluwaseyi Esu is a Nigerian electrical engineer who is the technical lead at the BRE Centre for Smart Homes and Buildings (CSHB). She previously worked at Cundall in Birmingham, designing the electrical services for buildings.
The Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards are presented at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, London, England. Part of the IET Achievement Medals collection, the award was launched in 1978, and was originally known as the Girl Technician of the Year, until renamed in 1988. The award was first sponsored by the Caroline Haslett Memorial Trust, which was formed in 1945. It is now funded and sponsored by the Institution of Engineering and Technology and Women's Engineering Society. Awarded to young female engineering apprentices in the UK.
Danielle Skelley OBE MBA BEng CEng MICE FCIHT, known as Dana, is Managing Director of Grain of Sand Consulting Ltd. Prior to setting up her own consultancy business she was Director of Strategy and Operational Excellence at Skanska. She is a Council Member of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation. She was Director of Asset Management at Transport for London.
Dame Joanna Gabrielle da Silva is the Director of International Development at Arup Group.
Shrouk El-Attar is an electronics design engineer who was born in Egypt and has been living in the United Kingdom as a refugee since 2007. She is an activist for refugee rights in the UK, and for LGBT rights in her native Egypt.
Larissa Suzuki, also known as Lara Suzuki, is a Brazilian-Italian-British University Professor, computer scientist, former CEO, angel investor, Government Advisor, chartered engineer, inventor, scientist, author and entrepreneur. She is also a pianist and violinist.