Sophie makes Luton proud as she’s named one of top 50 women in engineering

Sophie Caffrey, 22, of Leonardo, was selected by the Women’s Engineering Society because despite only being in her fourth year, she has made a big impression at the aerospace engineering company.

The young employee has displayed ability well beyond what would typically be expected from an apprentice, having already designed and printed circuit boards which have been used in trials across the world.

Sophie said: “I’m so honoured to be named in this year’s Women’s Engineering Society’s top 50 women in engineering. It’s incredible to be included with so many women passionate about engineering. Since joining Leonardo, I’ve had the opportunity to develop a really fulfilling career and hope my story inspires others to do the same!”

Last year, Sophie was selected by Naomi Campbell to star in a Nike advert alongside nine other young women, whose work challenged cultural stereotypes.

The group had a photoshoot for Vogue and Sophie tweeted: “Amazing to meet all of these young women and to help put #engineering alongside the #arts, #athletics and #medicine.”

While women currently make up approximately 12 per cent of engineers in the UK, just over seven per cent of engineering apprentices are female. This year’s Top 50 Women in Engineering highlights 22 current and 28 former apprentices at the forefront of UK engineering.

The Women’s Engineering Society (WES) is a charity which celebrates its centenary this year.

Elizabeth Donnelly, its CEO, said: “We want a world where women are as likely as men to choose an engineering career, and it can be seen from this list that women are excelling across an impressive range of sectors.”

Sophie is currently being supported by Leonardo to study a degree in electronic engineering, while she works full time at the Capability Green company.