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. The latter led her to Slovenia after finishing high school in Macedonia with only one wish: to become an engineer!

She completed her bachelor's and master's studies at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana, and in 2019 she also completed the international educational program European Energy Manager at the Jožef Stefan Institute – EUR. She developed a unique computer program in the field of mechanical building ventilation, and now she is engaged in the design of new, more efficient energy systems. As a development engineer for the areas 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 is passing 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 obstacles, including the language barrier at the beginning, she knows that her decision to study engineering was the right one. She has the energy and desire to encourage young women in deciding 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 courage and deciding on the 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 as Ljupka flew.

Selection methodology: the female engineer of 2023 was voted by a 92-member commission
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 their votes from four commissions: 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 We will be engineers! and representatives of the organizer and partners of the Engineer of the Year competition. A total of 92 female and male members of the commission voted this year.

Generation 2023: who are the nominees?
This year's nominees for Female Engineer of 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 areas of heating, ventilation and cooling of buildings and project manager of solar power plants in the company Petrol;
• Nina Krmac, head of the IT coordination group at A1 Slovenia;
• Nina Seifert, independent development engineer for innovations at Iskraemeco;
• Petra Osojnik, head of validations in the aseptic unit at Lek pharmaceutical company;
• SaÅ¡a Stradovnik, robotics and automation engineer at the company Proris and assistant and researcher at the University of Maribor's FERI;
• Simona Kek, a data scientist at Outbrain.
  
  

This year, the selection is being held six more times. in a row, namely in the co-organization of the magazine IRT3000 and the company Mediade and participating partners. The competition is part of the project We will be engineers!, which, with events at gymnasiums and school centers, makes young people even more as a decade (since 2012) has inspired engineering, technology, natural sciences and innovation.  

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