The engineer of 2023 is Ljupka Vrteva

An engineer with imagination

Growing up in a family of musicians and economists, Ljubka Vrteva wanted to be different. As a child, she created a lot, but above all she wanted to turn her imagination into something visible and tangible. She says that it was her imagination that led her to the path of engineering. After finishing high school in Macedonia, the latter led her to Slovenia with only one wish: to become an engineer!

She completed her undergraduate and master's studies at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana, and in 2019 she completed the international educational program European Energy Manager - EUREM at the Jožef Stefan Institute. She developed a unique computer program in the field of mechanical ventilation of the building, and now she is engaged in the design of new, more efficient energy systems. As a development engineer for the field of heating, ventilation and cooling of buildings and a solar power plant project manager, she is currently employed by Petrol.

Ljupka is constantly looking for new challenges in the field of energy, and above all, she passes on her knowledge and experience from the field. With a mission to make everyone more aware of the efficient use of energy in buildings.

Everyone has wings, they just have to fly

Despite many, including the language barrier at the beginning, she knows that her decision for engineering was the right one. She has the energy and desire to encourage young girls to decide on their career path: »I have the opportunity to share my story with young girls. That everyone is capable of following their desires and that there will come a moment in their life when they will be grateful and proud of themselves for having the courage to choose an engineering profession.”

Her central message to young people is short, simple, but encouraging: "Everyone can do everything. Everyone has wings, they just have to fly." To fly with spread wings, high - just like Ljupka flew.

Selection methodology: the female engineer of 2023 was voted by a 92-member committee
The decision of which of this year's 10 nominees represents the greatest example and is an inspiration to young girls was equally influenced by four committees with their votes: all six generations of nominees for the Engineer of the Year award, representatives of the media, female students and teachers from the consortium of gymnasiums and school centers Engineers and Engineers we will! and representatives of the organizer and partners of the Engineer of the Year competition. A total of 92 members of the commission voted this year.

Generation 2023: who are the nominees?
This year's nominees for Engineer of the Year 2023 are (in alphabetical order of names):

• Anka Ilc, head of the laboratory at Structum;
• Jelena Vasiljević, research and development engineer at Filc;
• Kristina Batistič, cyber security consultant at NIL;
• Leja Prezelj, expert associate for food safety and quality in the production of fresh products at the Ljubljanske mlekarne company;
• Lovely garden, development engineer for the field of heating, ventilation and cooling of buildings and solar power plant project manager at Petrol;
• Nina Krmac, head of the IT coordination group at A1 Slovenia;
• Nina Seifert, independent development engineer for innovation at Iskraemeco;
• Petra Osojnik, head of validations in the aseptic unit at Lek pharmaceutical company;
• Saša Stradovnik, robotics and automation engineer at Proris and assistant and researcher at FERI University of Maribor;
• Simona Kek, a data scientist at Outbrain.
  
  

This year, the selection is being held for the sixth time in a row, namely in the co-organization of the IRT3000 magazine and the Mediade company and participating partners. The competition is part of the project We will be engineers!, which has been inspiring young people for more than a decade (since 2012) for engineering, technology, science and innovation with events at gymnasiums and school centers.

More about the selection on the Engineer of the Year website.