ASEA Ecology Mitigation and Flood Defence Project

Young engineering star Sophie Rice has won the Outstanding Contribution to the Industry award at the New Civil Engineer (NCE) Graduate and Apprentice Awards 2022. Sophie has worked as an apprentice on the Avonmouth Severnside Enterprise Area Ecology Mitigation and Flood Defence project.

Sophie, who is an apprentice with ASEA project contractor BAM Nuttall, part of the BMMjv with Mott MacDonald, is studying at the Leeds College of Building to get her Level 4 HNC in construction as a civil engineer. She has also been working on the ASEA project site with the team throughout the past year as part of the Bam Nuttall apprenticeship programme.

The NCE awards highlight the best rising talent in civil engineering. Sophie won largely because of her drive to address gender imbalance in the industry. As a STEM ambassador at BMMjv, Sophie has worked hard to get out of the office and deliver talks to young people, especially girls, encouraging them to consider careers in the industry.

Sophie, who has now returned to college for her final term, said: “The percentage of female students in STEM subjects is low, and you’re not going to get more women in the industry if there aren’t the students. Although employment needs to be targeted, it needs to be approached from the studying level.”

Ray Jones, ASEA Construction Contracts Manager for BMMjv said: “It’s great to see young stars like Sophie get recognition for their brilliant work in the industry. We have really enjoyed having Sophie on site this past year, and her contribution to the project has been fantastic. This win for her is well deserved, and we wish Sophie all the best for her future career”.

 You can watch Sophie talk about her exciting work here.