A combination of innovative flair, perseverance and a passion for communicating the benefits of engineering has won Katy Deacon, an energy engineer with Kirklees Council, the Karen Burt Award for 2009.

Given annually by the Women's Engineering Society (WES) to a newly chartered female engineer, the Karen Burt award recognises both high achievement in engineering and a commitment to the promotion of the profession.

The award nomination focused on Katy's creation of the Renewable Energy Toolkit, which provides engineers and architects with guidance and tools for integrating renewable energy technology systems into building designs.

Katy works tirelessly to promote engineering and careers in engineering. As well as mentoring junior colleagues, she regularly gives schools' talks and has worked with the Bolton Technology and Innovation Centre to create a practical engineering workshop for girls from deprived areas. A long-term leader in the Scout Association, she is developing, a year-long programme that will see local Scouts learning about issues relating to climate change and becoming more aware of their own impact on the environment to achieve their Green Footprint Award. Media work has ranged from Radio 4's Today programme to magazines such as Glamour and Cosmopolitan.

As a Chartered Engineer, Katy is convinced that this has helped her career progress. "My great passion is in using my skills and knowledge to help create a sustainable environment for the future," said Katy. "I have been fortunate enough to design and manage projects which have made a real difference to my local community and have been ground breaking in the UK. It has been my aim to achieve chartered status since I was an apprentice at eighteen years old; gaining CEng was the culmination of 10 years hard work. Now I would like to become a mentor for CEng candidates and work with the IET to encourage others to become Chartered Engineers".

The award commemorates Dr Karen Burt, an eminent physicist whose career was cut short by a tragically early death. She influenced many people with her enthusiasm for engineering, in particular she offered advice to companies on the recruitment and retention of women and became a role model and an inspiration to many women engineers and scientists.

More information on the Karen Burt award is available at http://www.wes.org.uk/?q=content/the-karen-burt-memorial-award