A FEMALE engineer has reached the finals of a national award which recognises women in the industry.

Michelle Garthwaite, 29, a design engineer who works at Komatsu in Birtley, near Chester-le-Street, has been selected as a finalist for the Young Woman Engineer of the Year Award.

The ceremony, hosted by the Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE), will take place at the BT Centre, in London, on Tuesday, November 18, when Princess Anne will present the winner with her award, a £1,000 cheque and a silver rose bowl.

The award was set up to challenge perceptions about engineering and encourage more women to choose it as their career path.

Ms Garthwaite, who lives in Cramlington, Northumberland, said she was encouraged into engineering as a career after shadowing a female engineer while on work experience.

Now she helps promote engineering through initiatives, such as Tomorrow's Engineers, to encourage more people to take up the career.

She said: "When I left school, I wrote to a local manufacturing firm and arranged a week of work experience.

"I shadowed a female engineer and liked the fact she was always striving to achieve new goals and problem solve.

"This was a positive experience for me. It confirmed my suspicions - I knew I wanted to be an engineer."