On course for success: Young engineer wins prestigious award from Royal Institute of Navigation
Trailblazing young engineer at Cambridge-based FocalPoint, is awarded the inaugural W.G.P Lamb 2021 Award by Royal Institute of Navigation
Rose Grey (25) joined FocalPoint in September 2019 and gained a reputation early on for being an exceptionally fast learner and tenacious problem solver. She graduated from Royal Holloway University with first class honours in Physics and within ten months of joining FocalPoint and getting up to speed with new positioning technologies, infrastructure and programming languages, Rose was promoted to Higher Software Engineer. Her first FocalPoint project was the sole management and development of the firm’s Android data logging tools and within the first three months she developed, from scratch, a new smartwatch sensor data logging app which opened up opportunities for both a new platform and a new market.
Mark Crockett, VP Technology at FocalPoint, knew that she would be a strong contender for the W.G.P Lamb 2021 Award, a prestigious award from the Royal Institute of Navigation which aims to recognise major contributions by a younger person. He says: “I knew Rose would be fierce competition for the award. She continues to provide invaluable software-engineering support and guidance to her R&D colleagues and is universally respected by all of us here at FocalPoint.”
Rose also took the responsibility for the architectural design of FocalPoint’s smartwatch technology demonstrator, a keystone software development programme at FocalPoint. The project is currently heading towards commercialization with major smartwatch companies. Applications for the product range from sport-fitness through to aiding systems for the blind.
FocalPoint was founded in 2015 by Cambridge Don, Dr Ramsey Faragher and the team includes alumni of the UK aerospace industry, The European Space Agency, Cambridge, Oxford, UCL and Imperial College. The Cambridge-based deep tech company recently announced £6m SeriesB funding from global VC, Drapers Esprit to accelerate the roll-out of high accuracy satellite positioning software for phones, drones, wearables and cars.
Dr Faragher said of Rose’s win: “I’m incredibly proud of Rose, winning this award is very well deserved. She has made a great impact at FocalPoint and has made key contributions to getting our smartwatch-focussed products into the hands of our partners and customers.”
Help create our future role models
If you know a young person with potential to make an real impact in their career, here are a few live schemes that could help them on their journey:
- Young Innovators Awards 2021/22
£5,000 grant and living costs alongside business support for young people aged 18 to 30 with a strong business idea. Opens 14 June and closes 28 July 2021. - The Prince’s Trust and NatWest Enterprise Relief Fund
Grants and support for 18-30 year olds who are self-employed or running their own businesses.
