Bath law firm Withy King’s intellectual property and technology expert Jessica Bent has been selected to join the judging panel of a new Dragons’ Den-style competition aimed at aspiring female engineers in the South West.
Jessica, pictured, a partner with the firm, will help judge the entries to the Women with Bright Ideas competition, which is being run by the Engineering Innovation Network South West (EIN-SW). 
She said “There is a lack of women in the engineering sector and although this might be through choice, I would hate to think that it’s because women and girls are not being sufficiently inspired to choose engineering as a career. Any initiatives which demonstrate that there are successful women engineers and that engineering is a real and desirable career choice should be encouraged.
“I will be coming at this from the intellectual property (IP) angle, so I will be looking at what the participants have created or can create by way of IP, what is their thought process on IP, whether they have an awareness of what IP is and how protectable and defensible the product or process is in the market place.”
Withy King supports EIN-SW through events and by assisting its members.
EIN-SW is running the competition in partnership with Wiltshire Enterprise and NT CADCAM, one of the UK’s most established SOLIDWORKS resellers.
The judging panel comprises a wide range of industry representatives including Jessica, Paul Mullen of Cubik Innovation, Angela Hobbs of Triteq and Peter Stirling of Stirling Dynamics.
The deadline for submission of entries is July 31. Shortlisting will take place in August and the pitching their ideas to a judging panel and potential investors, will be held in October.
For an application form or to find out more go to www.einsw.org.uk or call Sheena Awdry on 01249 466800 ext 6709 or email einsw@wiltshire.ac.uk
