The Jim Cottier Travel Scholarship
Award for BINDT members, Events Award
Award criteria
Purpose: The Institute recognises that attendance at international conferences, with the opportunity to meet a wide range of other workers active in NDT/CM/SHM, can be a very worthwhile and rewarding experience. Whilst many organisations are very supportive in professional development of their staff, it is not always possible for Institute members to demonstrate to their employers that the benefits of international visits justify the costs involved. This is particularly true of students and young professionals, but these are often the very people who would benefit most from such an opportunity.
Details of the award: The award will consist of a contribution towards travel, subsistence and conference fees, typically up to £1000 depending on particular circumstances (conference location, duration, etc), and an invitation to the NDT Annual Conference Dinner with one night’s accommodation.
Eligibility: Applicants should be full voting members of BINDT, who are either students or are within the first five years of full-time employment.
The proposer of the award should be a voting member of the Institute. If they are not, they will need to ensure the application is endorsed by an Institute voting member.
Frequency: The award will be made annually for attendance at an international conference or a coherent travel proposal, such as visiting an overseas research centre or industrial site, which is judged to benefit the professional development of the recipient.
The recipient would be asked to provide a feedback report to the Institute, indicating benefits or problems, to help ensure that future awards meet their objectives.
The prize will be awarded annually and will only be issued if suitable nominations are received.
Nomination arrangements: Candidates should submit an application that demonstrates how they will benefit professionally from the proposed visit. The application must be supported by a referee, normally their tutor or manager.
Awarding arrangements: The certificate will be presented at the Annual Conference Dinner and will be awarded by one of the Presidents.
Committee: Council is responsible for nominations and a judging panel will consist of five members, normally the Chair (or other representative) from MQ&E, CMC, NDT Sub-Committee, CMTC and the Trade & Industry Committee.
Winners
2024 winner: Denize Ivy Pilarta EngTech The Jim Cottier Travel Scholarship for 2024 is awarded to Denize Ivy Pilarta EngTech.
Denize is a detail-oriented Principal Quality Engineer at BAE Systems Submarines, motivated to support continual business development. With seven years of non-destructive evaluation (NDE) experience to her credit, she works within the NDE Engineering team researching emerging technologies and ways of working to help aid efficiency while keeping product safety at a paramount. Her responsibilities include leading research and development innovation projects, providing guidance and mentoring members of the wider NDE team and liaising with relevant stakeholders to support NDE activities.
Denize is a passionate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) Ambassador and Co-Vice Chair of the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT)’s Early Careers Branch; driven to support the next generation of engineers/engineering technicians. She is dedicated to bringing awareness of the world of NDE, raising the profile of the industry and highlighting the importance of the roles within the industry. Her commitment to supporting the early careers community is based on her own experience as a former apprentice. Within her early career, she actively made the most of every opportunity and her efforts were recognised when she was awarded the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Young Woman Engineer of the Year Mary George Memorial Prize for Apprentices 2020 and was the Make UK Engineering Apprentice of the Year Rising Star National Winner 2019.
Denize attended the 20th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing (20th WCNDT) in South Korea and believes that she could not have got there without the support from BINDT and being awarded the Jim Cottier Travel Scholarship, as well as the support from her employer for allowing her the opportunity to grow her knowledge.
Denize found her time at the 20th WCNDT really rewarding. She was fortunate to be in a space where the non-destructive testing (NDT) community came together, celebrating advancements in industry. During her apprenticeship, a goal of Denize’s was to attend the WCNDT. She proactively sought opportunities to help pave a way to get there. Fast forward four years and she finally achieved her goal, an experience she views as a definite career highlight. Denize was able to learn more about NDT and visit a beautiful country that she could never have imagined she would be able to visit. She is grateful for the opportunity and appreciates those who supported her to get there.
Past recipients of the scholarship:
2002 G J Belben
2005 Dr V Vassou and B Lanyon
2007 M Hutchinson
2017 P R Dheeraj
2018 J Mair
2019 N Shipway
2020 No Award
2021 No Award
2022 No Award
2023 No Award
A nomination form can be downloaded here.
Details of all Institute awards can be found here.
