Rebeka Kropivšek Leskovar, an alumna and development engineer at Interblock Group, has been selected as the Female Engineer of the Year 2024 for the third year in a row from ten finalists. Dr. Igor Papič, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, spoke at the ceremony held at Cankarjev dom. The event, which marked the seventh edition of the selection process, was also attended by the Minister of Education, Dr. Vinko Logaj, and the Minister of Digital Transformation, Mag. Ksenija Klampfer.
The organisers of the competition, which is held under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Nataša Pirc Musar, focus on the strengths or potential of the selected female engineer of the year to serve as an example and inspiration for younger generations of girls. This year, they recognised this in Rebecca Kropivšek Leskovar. “Rebecca’s story,” they wrote in their citation, “shows that in today’s high-tech world, it is still possible to be true to yourself, to have an open mind, and to build a career on that foundation. With her ethical approach to the development of technology, she is a positive example of engineering that puts people first”. Today, the Female Engineer of the Year 2024 is working at Interblock to develop human-centred applications of machine vision technologies, with an eye on how they will impact everyday life.
Kropivšek Leskovar received the symbolic statuette from her predecessor, the Female Engineer of the Year 2023 and our alumna Ljupka Vrteva from Petrol, who said: “Dear young people, especially girls: follow your dreams, be who you are and never stop exploring. Nobody can take our knowledge away from us, but together we can create a better and more beautiful future for everyone“.
The decision as to which of this year’s ten female nominees is the greatest role model and inspiration for young girls was influenced equally by the votes of four juries: the seven generations of all previous Engineer of the Year female nominees, media representatives, female students and teachers from the ‘We will be Engineers’ consortium of secondary schools and school centres, and representatives from the organisers and partners of the Female Engineer of the Year Awards.
The selection was co-organised by IRT3000 magazine, Mediade and the participating partners. It is part of the “We will be Engineers!” project, which has been inspiring young people about engineering, technology, science and innovation through events in secondary schools and school centres since 2012.
Sincere congratulations!
Photo: Female Engineer of the Year archive