We are proud and delighted to share the news that TeenTech Ambassador Lauren Shea has been awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for 2019.

This prestigious award recognises Lauren’s extensive work to inspire the next generation of innovators.

Lauren says ‘My whole journey started with TeenTech.It was the initial springboard into a world of opportunities I never thought I’d be part of. I am so privilledged to receive a BEM honour in recognition of all my outreach work in engaging other pupils into the world of STEM’

It is five years since a 14 year old Lauren began her engineering journey when she participated in the TeenTech Award programme at Alton Convent school in Hampshire. Supported by mentors from Airbus and Laleham, Lauren’s team worked on a remote controlled medical robot.  After winning the ‘People’s Choice’ category with her team , Lauren and her friend Lucy asked if they could do more with TeenTech to help other girls understand what they had experienced. Whilst still at school, Lauren not only enthused other children from 3 to 18 years old, she also engaged students across Hungary, Finland and Spain in the TeenTech Awards, mentoring them in English and Spanish. Along with Lucy, she received the BBC Radio 1 inaugural Make It Digital Teen Award in 2016 for this work.

She became our first International TeenTech Ambassador and was presented with a TeenTech Gold Award at Buckingham Palace in 2017.

After work experience at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Lauren developed her own space lesson materials to run a workshop for local primary children.

Lauren has also been recognized for engineering excellence as an Arkwright Scholar and has just completed her first year MEng at the University of Cardiff.

We’d like to thank all the TeenTech mentors and of course her committed teachers who played a part in inspiring and supporting Lauren along the way. We know they are just as delighted as we are.

Lauren continues to inspire and encourage younger people and more recently has been working on TeenTech projects with the Folkestone School for Girls.

Lauren’s mother, Hilary Shea says, ‘I will be forever grateful to TeenTech and Maggie because the whole TeenTech experience lit the spark that propelled Lauren into the world of STEM and beyond. TeenTech is an avenue to a powerhouse of possibilities.’.

Maggie Philbin CEO TeenTech says, “We were thrilled to hear this news. Lauren has quietly inspired hundreds of young people, giving them confidence in their abilities and helping them consider careers they may previously have thought were ‘not for me’. Lauren captures perfectly the spirit of TeenTech which is all about working together to help young people discover their talents and seeing how they can apply them in tomorrow’s world.’