Heatrae Sadia has crowned Jennifer Wong, a student at Brunel University, as the winner of its 2017 Design Awards.

Entrants into the competition were tasked with designing a new, problem-solving electric water heating product for the chance to win the top prize of £10,000.

Ms Wong was announced as this year’s winner after impressing the judges with her unique and efficient creation at Heatrae Sadia’s head office in Norwich on July 27.

Ms Wong and runner up from the University of Exeter, Montgomery Cooke, along with the other finalists, had to deliver presentations to the judges, addressing the inspiration behind their ideas and how they would work in practice.

They also enjoyed a tour of the Heatrae Sadia factory and talks from some of the company’s top design experts, to learn about the research and development process involved in bringing these products to life.

Heatrae Sadia launched the awards last year, in an effort to encourage more young people into the industry in response to the current skills gap.

Richard Newman, senior product manager at Heatrae Sadia, said: “It’s vital we future-proof the engineering industry in the UK and harness all of the up and coming talent which is out there, by introducing them to the possibilities of careers within our sector.

“The standard of entries we received this year has been extremely high, which has highlighted to us just how many talented designers with promising futures there are out there.

“We’d like to pass on a very well-deserved congratulations to Jennifer, who impressed the judges with her thoroughly considered and excellent design and presentation. We’re very much looking forward to seeing what next year's awards will have in store!”