York Electronics student wins national award

Posted on 2 December 2014

An undergraduate from the University of York has been named the UK Electronics Skills Foundation (UKESF) 2014 Scholar of the Year.

L - R: Indro Mukerjee, Chair of the UKESF Strategic Advisory Board, Robert Eynon, UKESF Scholar of the Year, Neil Dickins, Director of IC Resources

Robert Eynon, a third year student studying for a MEng degree in Electronics and Computer Engineering, was presented with the competitive award in London at the NMI electronic systems industry awards.

Sponsored by IC Resources, the award recognises students who have been exemplary role models for the industry.

Since starting his degree, Robert has designed and participated in various events to promote science and engineering to younger students in primary and secondary schools. Recently volunteering as a teaching assistant in a local school, he supported Year 9 students in science lessons on a weekly basis.

Robert is currently completing his second placement with Dialog Semiconductor, and has been working on verification projects for Dialog’s mixed-signal ICs where he has contributed to the development of standardised processes, which will be used across the company. He has also actively supported Dialog in promoting the company to students at University career events.

Rebecca Fradley-Stokes, Head of CSR, Sustainability and University Relations at Dialog Semiconductor, said: “Robert is a worthy winner of this award. It is fitting recognition for his achievements as both a promising young engineer and enthusiastic ambassador in attracting younger students to this industry. Whilst at Dialog, he has demonstrated his willingness and aptitude to develop and apply new skills and knowledge and has become a valuable team member. He exemplifies Dialog’s commitments to school and university outreach by his commitment to younger students.”

Robert Eynon added: "Receiving this award is of great value to me, not just on a personal level but also because I can use it to demonstrate the marketability of attaining an engineering degree from a top university like York. I also want to highlight the wider benefits of volunteering in the community to support the development of younger students while at the same time honing your own transferable skills.”

UKESF was founded in 2010 by a collaboration of public bodies, private companies and UK universities to address the threat of a diminishing skills base in the UK electronics sector. Its principal aims are to increase and sustain the supply of industry ready graduate engineers and boost career take-up in an industry, which has the potential to contribute £120 billion to the UK economy and provide 1 million jobs by 2020.

Further information:

For further information about the UKESF Awards, visit: http://www.ukesf.org/news/articles/2014-scholar-of-year
For more information about the Department of Electronics at the University of York, visit: http://www.elec.york.ac.uk/